Showtimers host blood drive, as it presents “Dracula Rides Again”

Ad Blocker Detected

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) -”Dracula Rides Again” is saddling up to Showtimers Community Theatre next month, just in time for Halloween season.

But it’s not your traditional vampire tale. This one has a western twist.

“We all have an image in our head of this dark, Transylvanian castle, and then we also have an image in our head of the wild west. And it really is a marriage, a coming together of the two,” says producer Jessie McKeon.

Don’t expect a helpless heroine in this show, either.

Gabrielle Shelton plays the new character, Della.

“It’s been a very fun experience playing this laid back girl boss character. That’s been one of the most fun things. She’s very much a girl boss. She runs the town,” says Shelton.

Gene Marrano is playing the title role of Dracula, aka “The Count”.

He says it’s all about the preparation.

“It’s difficult. It’s a difficult accent. You raise your eyes a lot. That helps also. Lots of this and all that and just having a lot of fun. This is a grind. We work on it for like, two months before we get on the stage. So we’re all getting it down. We have a great cast,” says Marrano.

Speaking of the cast, “Dracula Rides Again” features plenty of newcomers.

“We have had a really good influx of new people, which we love. We’re a community theatre, so as much community involvement as we can get, we highly encourage,” says Showtimers fundraising chair Jamie Stewart.

Community involvement is what led to the idea of a Dracula-themed blood drive.

“And one day I was just trying to brainstorm some ideas and I was like, well this is a no-brainer. We’re doing a show about Dracula. Let’s do a blood drive,” says Stewart.

Stewart says anyone who donated blood October first will be entered into a drawing for two free tickets to what promises to be an unforgettable show.

“Be prepared to laugh. It’s going to be a good one,” say McKeon.

“And if you don’t, there will be consequences,” jokes Marrano.

Here are the details for the blood drive at Showtimers.

It’s happening October 1 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the theatre.

To sign up, just click on this link. Type Showtimers in the code box, instead of your zip code.

“Dracula Rides Again” runs October 7 through the 16th.