Children of the Night, presented by Katselas Theatre Company, opens Oct. 10; plays Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm; through Nov. 1. Tickets: $25. Beverly Hills Playhouse, 254 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills. 310.358.9936 or katselastheatre.org

“Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make.”-Count Dracula

Since his 1984 debut, staging the Leonard Bernstein opera Trouble in Tahiti at the Skylight Theatre in Hollywood, David Galligan has become one of the more acclaimed directors of musical theater and cabaret in the US. Currently helming the world premiere of Scott Martin’s dramatic musical, Children of the Night, Galligan is happy to be doing the work he loves but less than enthusiastic about the current state of theatre in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

David Galligan

“There are some basic problems inherent in trying to direct a waiver (99 seat plan) show today,” he affirms. “I don’t see the commitment to the work. Many shows are double cast because if you have two people to lean on rather than one in a role, it is easier for the director to keep a show going. Someone can be inserted into the part when and if the other person has a job or personal conflict. And there seems to be so many more personal conflicts. This has become much more prevalent today than when I started directing in the early ’80s.”

Children of the Night, based on the true story of Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, features an accomplished 12-person ensemble which presents some realistic problems for a director, working in a 99-seat theatre environment. “We have been in rehearsal for four weeks and I’ve yet to see an entire cast,” says Galligan. “When Equity waiver theatre first took off, there was a hunger to be part of a live theater community. Also, there didn’t seem to be as many distractions.

“For instance, the other night we were rehearsing in the producer’s home in the living room. I was working with two of the lead actors sort of down center stage. The other actors in the area were not specifically on stage. They were just waiting for their cues. Five stage left men were texting. Three stage right women also were texting. Eight people! I told them they could never do that again. I banned all cell phone privileges during rehearsal. Maybe it’s a matter of my age but I don’t get it. After my tirade, one of the lead actresses came over and kissed me and said, “David, it isn’t like it used to be.”

Galligan’s ire isn’t confined to Los Angeles-based theater. “I guess it isn’t like it used to be all over the country. I went to see Hair when I was working in New York. I opened the program and it was like confetti. All the leads were out. I couldn’t believe all these people suddenly got other work. I think there were some who just didn’t feel like being in the show that night. It is a new era. They can just walk away and they do.”

Scott Martin, patiently listening to his director expound on the contemporary state of thespian-ism, is benignly smiling, knowing he has an outstanding cast, his director is fully in charge and this theatrical vision he has been working on for more than a decade is finally reaching fruition.

“My interest in Bram Stoker began about 10 years ago,” he recalls. “I was looking for a subject for a new show. I always had an interest in horror films and science fiction and became fascinated by an article in a magazine about Bram Stoker. It mentioned his theatrical connection to the renowned 19th century British actor Sir Henry Irving. I had never known this and neither had most people. For all the fame Dracula has achieved over the years, very little has been written about Stoker’s personal life.”

Since his youth, Martin has been naturally drawn to telling a story through the musical theater genre. He has worked extensively in LA for many years as an actor, director, writer, composer and musician. Some of his other successfully-produced shows locally include Scream Queens-The Musical (published by Samuel French), originally developed as part of Stephen Schwartz’s Disney/ASCAP musical theatre workshop; Little Green Men (Kentwood Players) and children’s shows for Storybook Theatre at Theatre West.

“The Bram Stoker story just took hold of me,” says Martin. “I found it very interesting that Stoker was the theater manager for Henry Irving. The more I delved into it, the more fascinating the story became. Even though he was a successful published writer of pulp horror fiction, it was only a sideline. His main activity in life was managing Irving’s theater for 20 years.

“Stoker moved in the same circles as the legendary actress Ellen Terry, playwrights George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde. All these Victorian creative artists knew and interacted with each other around this time. In fact, Stoker’s wife frequently went to functions with W.S. Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan. But what really turned it over for me was finding out about this stage reading Bram did of Dracula on May 18, 1897, just before the novel was about to be published.

Gordon Goodman as Sir Henry Irving and Robert Patteri as Bram Stoker

“Stoker so wanted to be a playwright like his friends Shaw and Wilde. He was hoping this stage version of Dracula would be his breakthrough from being a pulp fiction writer to being an accredited writer for the stage. Stoker expected Henry Irving to play Dracula. He went through all this rigmarole with the actors to do this formal stage reading at the theatre and then Irving, for some unknown reason, did not want to do it. That is the basis of the musical, this conflict between Stoker and Irving. It is a dramatic story with serious emotional relationships and manipulations; but it does have its comedic moments.”

“I first heard about this project almost nine years ago but I was never available,” Galligan adds. “I’ve known (co-producer) Jane Hamil for a long time, since she was a waitress at the Gardenia (supper club) and I used to book the cabaret acts there. Jane finally arranged a reading of Children a year ago last June at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, at the invitation of (co-producer) Gary Grossman. We did it and it was a fine read. Despite my occasional grumpiness, I am having a great time with this show. I am working with some first-rate talents.”

The production stars Robert Patteri, Gordon Goodman, Teri Bibb and Gibby Brand, with Melissa Bailey, Ashley Cuellar, Joey D’Auria, Freddie Lara, Amanda Majkrzak, John Racca, Gilmore Rizzo, Alison Robertson, Mark Rohner and Gabrielle Wagner.  Musical director is Ross Kalling. Choreographer is Lee Martino. The design team includes Jimmy Cuomo (sets), A. Jeffery Schoenberg (costumes) and David Barber (lighting).

“One of great pleasures has been working through the dramatic intent of the songs with the actors,” says Galligan. “We have dealt with the songs as scenes, leaving out the music. Once the dramatic and thematic highlights have been achieved in context to the throughline of the play, we add the music. This interweaves the songs seamlessly into the fabric of the play. It is a marvelous way to work and the cast has been very responsive.”

For the past 25 years, Galligan has directed and co-produced the annual Los Angeles all-star S.T.A.G.E. fundraisers for AIDS charities as well as two other annual benefits in San Francisco. He recently staged Songs, Tyne Daly’s acclaimed nightclub debut at Feinstein’s in New York as well as My Trip Down the Pink Carpet, written by and starring Leslie Jordon, which is soon to open off-Broadway. Other notable credits include Carole Cook’s one person show Dress Up; Mame, starring Carol Lawrence and Sally Struthers and Showboat, starring Dale Kristien, for Musical Theatre West; and for Pasadena Playhouse, The Lion in Winter starring Cook and Tom Troupe, and Lettice and Lovage starring Jane Carr and Mary Jo Catlett. Next week he opens Rip Taylor’s new show It Ain’t All Confetti at the Magic Castle.

“In January, I’ll go back to do Tyne’s second show at Feinstein’s,” says Galligan. “I’ll stay on and do Leslie’s run of Pink Carpet. Right now, I am happy to be working on Children because Scott has such a strong vision that deserves to be seen.”

“Part of that vision is an intriguing speculation on my part,” says Martin. “Despite his personal ambitions, Bram Stoker was devoted to serving the will of Sir Henry Irving. And his description of Count Dracula can be likened to the imperious bearing of Irving. It is not too farfetched to surmise that Stoker was Irving’s Renfield.”

Feature image of Patteri, Goodman and Teri Bibb by Chris Kane

Article by Julio Martinez