'Van Helsing's Dracula,' a dinner theater experience in Van Nuys, has aerialists, ballerinas and plate-spinners in the tale of vampire versus vampire hunter.
Inside the Vatican Banquet Hall's castle-like exterior and fog-filled middle-of-the-room runway interior stage, it's not hard to envision the longtime struggle between the Van Helsing family of vampire hunters and the Transylvanian nobleman, Count Dracula, playing out. Only here, the classic tale also happens amid aerialists, acrobats, ballerinas, musicians and plate-spinners.
' With Dracula poised to assassinate her longtime rival, Tan rightfully brought this sensibility, and her aerialist abilities, to the role. When putting the circus-centric event together, Mann looked for performers with these instincts and different skills during the casting process. The music and the food are also key to the experience. Mann's father, Hummie, created music for 'Dracula: Dead and Loving It,' 'Master of Horror' and many other titles.