Spooky Cape Cod theater for Halloween: What our reviewers say about why you should go

October is the time for ghost stories, or vampire stories, or anything creepy and spooky and a few Cape Cod theaters are offering that those told live. Here are our reviewers' looks at Halloween-season productions: "The Vourdalak" from the Academy of Performing Arts in Orleans; "The Addams Family Musical" at Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre; and Chatham Drama Guild's "Dracula." (And notice that one man is behind two of these scary choices...)

‘The Vourdalak’

By Shannon Goheen

Written by: Bragan Thomas; directed by Thomas and Jonathan Ryder; presented by the Academy of Performing Arts

What it’s about: A British Lord is traveling by horseback to Bucharest when he gets caught in a serious thunderstorm. He takes refuge under a tree with others and meets a local who invites him to spend the night. He finds himself among a worrisome family and a beautiful woman who steals his heart. The family, however, has other horrific plans for him – and his horse, for that matter. He’s clearly doomed but his overwhelming attraction to the woman blinds him to any possibility of escape.

See it or not: When the play ended, the child behind me said, “That was so good!” It’s a spooky, creepy Halloween play, just right for the season and not so gory that children can’t handle it. You can take the whole family – except the very young and impressionable – and can expect to feel a little anxious while you watch this one-hour play.

Highlight of the show: Zdenka (Vaida Armonaite) has Lord Nicholas Somerville’s (Bragan Thomas) best interests at heart and she makes an effort to save him. His hesitation to leave her has serious consequences. “You must choose death or life everlasting,” she tells him. Armonaite and Thomas together blur the line between the two realities, our familiar world and a world with vampires. That fuzzy boundary is where the real discomfort happens in this play.

Fun fact: Thomas presented an early version of the script, based on a novella by Tolstoy, at the Academy’s 24-Hour theater festival in March. He says this fully staged world premiere too him three years and 34 drafts to produce. The theme fits in nicely with the Academy’s goal of performing live theater throughout this Halloween season and they are integrating parts of this play into their month-long Haunted House project.

Worth noting: The members of the small cast all offer their own turbulent touches to the action. Fred Carpenter’s Jorg is abusive and fearsome from the get-go and it’s clear that he’s a bad egg. His wife Elizavet, played by Diane F. Parkes, doesn’t like him – nor should she because he’s so nasty – and she uses effective body language to let us know just what she thinks. Peter Eldridge is Jorg’s brother Pyotr who spends most of his time whittling wooden stakes with a giant knife. His sinister habit of holding the sharp blade near Nicholas’ neck is unsettling. Mishka the vampire child is a role shared by Charlie Tobin and Toby Goers. On opening night, director Ryder stepped into the role of Gorcha, the man who turns the whole family into vampires. It’s clear that the cast is having fun with this Halloween special and they together turn out an entertaining production.

One more thing: “There is a small price to pay…” for everlasting life, says Armonaite. Really? It’s an unanswerable good/bad question - the prospect of living forever. Being unachievable, it remains a concept to grapple with that will endlessly pique the human psyche. Thomas’ “The Vourdalak“ entertains and confounds. It’s the best kind of creepy!

If you go: 2 p.m. Oct. 23, 6 p.m. Oct. 20 and 27 at the Academy Playhouse, 120 Main St., Orleans; $15; boxoffice@academyplayhouse.org, 508-255-1963, https://www.academyplayhouse.org/.

‘The Addams Family Musical’

By Sue Mellen

Written by: Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa; directed by Nick Cearley; presented by Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre.

What it's about: Here’s the Addams family, in all their ghoulish glory, and just in time for the Halloween season (most certainly the Addams’ favorite time of the year). There’s Gomez (Anthony Teixeira), ever the debonair (if a bit charmingly wacky) leader of the clan. Then there’s Morticia (Brittany Rolfs) the forever sultry siren at Gomez’s side. Maryana Crawley is the somewhat sullen teenaged Wednesday, while Kelly Martin is the delightfully mischievous Pugsley. And who could forget Grandma (Trish LaRose) with her hunched back, wild hair and equally wild attitude about … well, everything.

Rounding out the household are John O. Fennell as the somewhat bumbling but always lovable Uncle Fester and Matt Gardner as the silent, enigmatic, 8-foot Lurch. (It would be fascinating to know exactly how the company managed to get Gardner up to that impressive height. And you have to wonder how Gardner became so sure-footed on the apparatus.)

Considering the above, it would almost be enough to see the Addams gathered together in their Home Sweet Mausoleum. And, in fact, when the play opens with a seemingly disembodied hand reaching through the curtain and the familiar music and finger-snapping in the background, the audience bursts into applause.

But there’s actually a plot. Wednesday is contemplating marriage, and her intended’s family is from (horrors) Ohio. (Gomez comments that it’s a dreaded “swing state.”) The patriarch is the first to know about the impending union, and Wednesday asks that he keep the news to himself until after a dinner with the (of course) conservative Beinekes, boyfriend Lucas (Salvatore Guillermo Garcia), mom Alice (Jess Andra) and dad Mal (Ed Donovan). So Gomez is trapped “like the moderate wing of the right,” he says. He doesn’t want to disappoint Wednesday, but has never lied to Morticia.

You know what’s coming: It’s literally a feast of hilarity, as the family introduces its favorite parlor game, “Full Disclosure,” to the staid Ohioans. In fact, sunshiney, rhyme-spouting Alice drinks a potion meant for Wednesday and launches into a siren’s song, eventually draping herself along the dining table. Considering the chaos, will Wednesday and Lucas stay together? And how about Fester? Will his dream of a romance with the moon (that’s right, the moon) ever be realized?

See it or not: Go for a deadly delightful trip back in time to those days in the 1960s when the original Addams Family graced TV screens on a weekly basis. But whatever your age, go for the sheer fun of the show. The one-liners alone — especially those delivered by a deadpan Teixeira — are worth the price of admission. When Alice asks to use “the little girls’ room,” he answers, “We used to have one but we had to let them go.” Priceless!

Highlight of the show: There is so much about this show that’s outstanding that it’s hard to zero in. Excellent direction from Cearley means that the characters are all spot-on and scenes flow seamlessly from one to the next. And the theater’s longtime musical director Robert Wilder and his behind-the scenes musicians provide deftly delightful accompaniment to the action, beginning with the opening, ensemble number, “When You’re An Addams.” The voices are almost universally strong and trained, with Rolf’s and Crawley’s standing out. And choreographer Suzette Hutchinson has ensured that numbers like the show opener (featuring a youthful ensemble of deceased Addams ancestors), and the sultry “Tango de Amor” performed by Rolfs and Teixeira, are perfect.

Interesting fact: The incomparable Jackie Coogan played Fester in the original TV series, with Christopher Lloyd assuming the role in the two feature films.

Worth noting: Set design by James P. Byrne and costumes by Robin McLaughlin are also fun and authentic, fueling the trip back in time.

One more thing: The intimate CCTC/HJT theater is perfectly suited to this trip into the fabulously freaky corridors of the Addams abode.

If you go: 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 30; Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre, 105 Division St., West Harwich; $35, under 21 $18; 508-432.2002, https://capecodtheatrecompany.org/

‘Dracula’

By Sue Mellen

Adapted for the stage: by Bragan Thomas; directed by Anna Marie Johansen, presented by the Chatham Drama Guild

What it's about: We’re approaching the season of witches, werewolves and ghostly ghouls, so it must be time for a visit from the Count of Transylvania himself, along with his forever faithful servant Renfield. This version of the “Dracula” story begins far from the Carpathian Mountains in the library of an estate in North Yorkshire, England. It’s 1931 and life is light and lovely for Lucy (Rachel Walman), the young mistress of the estate, whose greatest concern is deciding which of her many suitors to marry. (At the top of her list is fiancé Arthur, played by Devin Massarky.) And life is just as carefree for her cousin Mina (Emily Entwisle) and her beau Jonathan (John Hanright), who happens to be a solicitor (lawyer). Also on the scene is Dr. Jack Seward (Mark Roderick), a physician who is experimenting with the reanimation of flesh at the local insane asylum. (Of course he is!)

But all is not well in the venerable halls of Whitby House. For one thing, Lucy’s mother, Lady Mary (Amanda Gordon), is hearing something scratch at her bedroom window and seeing “dark eyes from the other side of the mirror.” (Can the count be far behind?) Sure enough, Renfield (Bob Shire) shows up to cart Jonathan off to Transylvania to get Drac’s signature (in blood no doubt) on the bottom line of a contract to buy an abbey in merry old England. Cut to Castle Dracula, where the Lord of the Vampires (Bragan Thomas) greets Jonathan. As the count plies his visitor with a super-deluxe wine from the Drac family cellars, we hear about the soon-inebriated traveler’s journey. When Drac says he is excited about moving to London where there are “so many healthy people with fine blood,” we know it can’t be long before Jonathan is joining the count in quaffing another bright-red beverage.

See it or not: A visit with a vampire is often just the ticket in the season of All Hallow’s Eve. But this version sometimes suffers from an identity problem. At certain points on Thursday’s opening night, the action and dialogue under Johansen’s direction were so melodramatic that there was laughter in the audience, as it appeared the play was a spoof. Then it became clear that no humor was intended. Still, Thomas succeeds in hitting the right, creepy note as Bram Stoker’s beast, often keeping the audience engaged.

Highlight of the show: The scene in Hotel Transylvania may be the best in the show. Hanright feigns drunkenness very effectively and there is undeniable tension and chemistry between him and Thomas. When Jonathan joins Team Drac just before intermission, it’s clear he and his coach will be seeking new recruits in Act II.

Interesting fact: Bela Lugosi was the first to play a film version of Count Dracula, in 1931. Other actors who followed his lead include Christopher Lee and Frank Langella.

Worth noting: The final scene is set in the subterranean catacombs of the London-based abbey the count owns at that point. Set designers Johansen and Roderick have created an interesting setting here, complete with ancient stone walls and a thick mist.

One more thing: There are some pretty graphic moments as actors feign blood- sucking. So this is probably not the best Halloween show for youngsters.

If you go: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16 at Chatham Drama Guild, 134 Crowell Road; tickets: $25 cabaret seating, $22 regular seating; 508-945-0510, http://www.chatdramaguild.org/

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod theater: Halloween season with 'The Addams Family,' Dracula