The stage goes dark. Cutting through the silence, a beam of light illuminates a towering castle. Soon, Count Dracula, dressed in a dark crimson shirt, slowly appears. Commanding the stage with a presence that overwhelms the audience, Dracula begins to sing.
"From the moment I first saw you, everything changed. The only love of my life~." With just one line, the air in the audience shifts. The voice confessing love is sweet, but within it linger centuries of obsession and loneliness. Dracula vows eternal love to only one woman, but to others he compels submission by dangling the sweet temptation of immortality.
The musical "Dracula" raised its curtain on the 10th at LG Art Center Seoul's LG SIGNATURE Hall in Gangseo District, Seoul.
Based on Bram Stoker's classic novel, the work portrays the fated love of Count Dracula, who has loved only one woman, Mina, for 400 years. Since its Korea premiere in 2014, it has remained a representative licensed musical beloved for its grand scale, dramatic narrative, and Frank Wildhorn's addictive music.
This season as well, it delicately unravels the loneliness and yearning for love hidden behind Dracula's strong exterior, and Mina's complex emotions as she is drawn to him as if by fate, yet wavers between reality and love.
Shin Sung-rok, Kim Junsu, Jeon Dong-seok, and Ko Eun-sung are cast as Dracula. Kim Junsu, who has been an emblematic presence since the premiere, completes Dracula's heartrending love with his signature explosive emotional expression. Shin Sung-rok renders deeply human anguish through nuanced acting, Jeon Dong-seok exudes an overwhelming presence with a weighty low register and explosive vocal power, and newcomer Ko Eun-sung adds fresh appeal by completing a new Dracula imbued with his own color.
The role of Mina, who falls into a fated love with Dracula, is played by Cho Jung-eun, Park Ji-yeon, and Kim Hwan-hee, each completing the character with distinct charms.
The scene that marks the peak of the play is the moment when Dracula, Mina, and Mina's fiancé Jonathan face each other on the same stage. Different loves and desires collide head-on.
Dracula tries to draw Mina into his world, and Mina wavers between reason, which tells her to refuse, and a pull that feels like fate. Jonathan desperately reaches out to protect her.
As the three actors lock eyes and exchange glances in the same space, with restrained shifts in expression and music interlocking, the tension reaches its peak. A clash of emotions from which no one can retreat goes beyond a simple love triangle, distilling the meanings of love and obsession, sacrifice and salvation.
The overwhelming stage design is also a can't-miss viewing point. A four-layer revolving turntable that moves without rest throughout the show switches spaces in an instant—from Dracula's grim castle to a romantic garden. With scenes flowing seamlessly without breaks, audiences experience immersion as if watching a film. Red lighting and fog effects deepen the signature mood of gothic fantasy.
The ending of the musical Dracula is not easy to predict. There is an unexpected twist hidden as well. It is well worth watching to the end to see how a love that has lasted 400 years meets its conclusion. The show runs through Oct. 18.