Amanda Norman
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Best Birthday Cake Ever!
Well, last week I turned 40 and well I don’t feel any different, but I just have to show you my Birthday cake.
It broke my heart to cut it up, but my daughter was begging for a piece of cake so I got her to dissect it. 
Finally, as I had my party celebration on Saturday just gone, an old friend turned up and asked where all the vampires are as she was under the impression that a lot of them would be in attendance. I really don’t know where she got that idea from as the bar don’t stock True Blood yet. 
Dracula On Stage
If you’re visiting New York soon and you’re a fan of vampires and Dracula like me, you don’t want to miss out on this new adaptation for the stage. More information is included below in their official press release.
GET BITTEN & WIN A TRIP TO NEW YORK TO MEET THE COUNT!
The Dracula team are giving you the chance to win tickets to the show, merchandise and a trip to New York to meet Count Dracula. To enter the contest all you need to do is play the game titled ‘Get Bitten’ via Twitter by tweeting a message and/or liking them on Facebook, which will provide you with numerous entries into the contest.
For further information and your chance to win, please click here for the rules!
DRACULA PRESS RELEASE
By Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston based on the world-famous novel by Bram Stoker
Starring Tony Award-winner George Hearn (“La Cage aux Folles”), Thora Birch (“Ghost World,” “American Beauty”), Timothy Jerome (“Tarzan,” “Me and My Girl”) Jake Silberman (“As the World Turns”), John Buffalo Mailer (“Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps”)
And introducing the American debut of Italian star Michel Altieri as Dracula
Limited Run! 13 Weeks Only!
December 14-March 13 at the Little Shubert Theatre, (442 West 42nd Street) New York.
Count Dracula, the world’s most famous vampire, returns to the New York stage this fall in DRACULA by Hamilton Deane and John L.Balderston, based on the eponymous novel by Bram Stoker. Previews begin on December 14, prior to its official press opening January 5 at the Little Shubert Theatre (442 West 42nd Street). Paul Alexander to direct.
Based on the world-famous novel by Bram Stoker, DRACULA is the classic Gothic drama about the power of seduction and the nature of true love. When the mysterious Count Dracula takes an interest in the beautiful, young Lucy who suffers from horrific dreams and a strange illness, he arouses the suspicions of her fiancé Jonathan Harker and Professor Abraham van Helsing. Following a series of grisly murders and unexplained occurrences, the men fear Dracula may be one of the undead that prowls the darkness and preys upon innocent souls.
Last seen on Broadway in WICKED, George Hearn who is best known for his Tony Award-winning performances in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES and SUNSET BOULEVARD as well as acclaimed work in SWEENEY TODD, WATCH ON THE RHINE, A DOLL’S LIFE, PUTTING IT TOGETHER, and THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, leads the cast as Abraham Van Helsing.
Thora Birch, who gained international prominence playing Jane Burnham in Sam Mendes’ acclaimed film “American Beauty,” received a Golden Globe nomination for her work in “Ghost World” and an Emmy nomination for “Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story,” and whose film credits also include “The Hole,” “Hocus Pocus,” and “Dungeons & Dragons,” stars as Dracula’s love interest Lucy Seward.
Jake Silbermann, best known for his role as the popular character Noah Mayer on “As the World Turns,” is set to portray Jonathan Harker.
Recently seen in the film “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps,” John Buffalo Mailer portrays Renfield.
In the role of Dr. Seward is Timothy Jerome, a Tony and Drama Desk Award nominee for ME AND MY GIRL. Mr. Jerome was last seen on Broadway as Professor Parker in Disney’s TARZAN.
Making his American stage debut, in the title role of Dracula, is Michel Altieri, a major star of the Italian stage who recently starred as the Beast in the Italian premiere of Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and as Tom Collins in the Italian premiere of RENT, produced by Luciano Pavarotti, who handpicked the actor out of 5,000 hopefuls. Among his honors are an Italian Tony Award and a scholarship to study at the Strasberg Institute, awarded by Anna Strasberg and Dennis Hopper.
Also in the cast are Emily Bridges as Miss Wells and Rob O’Hare as Butterworth.
DRACULA features scenic design by Dana Kenn; lighting design by Tony Award-nominee Brian Nason (METAMORPHOSIS); costume design by Tony Award-winner Willa Kim (THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES, SOPHISTICATED LADIES), sound design by Chris DelVecchio; and special effects by Greg Meeh.
Adapted by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, DRACULA premiered in New York in 1927, starring Bela Lugosi. DRACULA was last seen on Broadway in 1977, starring Frank Langella. Winning two Tony Awards, including Best Revival, the production ran for more than 900 performances and inspired the 1979 film adaptation featuring Mr.Langella and Sir Laurence Olivier. Bram Stoker’s horror novel “Dracula,” which itself is based on European folklore, has been an international phenomenon since it was first published in 1897. The novel’s influence on the popularity of vampires has been singularly responsible for numerous stage, film and TV interpretations, including the modern-day vampires of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series, HBO’s “True Blood,” and L.J. Smith’s “The Vampire Diaries.”
Director Paul Alexander is the author of STRANGERS IN THE LAND OF CANAAN and EDGE, which he directed. Developed at The Actors Studio, EDGE, the critically acclaimed one-woman show about Sylvia Plath earned an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination and was performed more than 400 times in four countries. A major European tour starring Spanish actress Sofia Alves begins in February 2011.
DRACULA is produced by Bram Stoker’s Dracula LLC, Tony Travis, George and Dona Shipley, Ed Bankole, Megan Barnett, Leslie Evers and Michael Alden.
Performances of DRACULA run December 14-March 13 at the Little Shubert Theatre (442 West 42nd Street):
December 13-19: Monday (dark); Tuesday at 7pm; Wednesday at 7pm; Thursday at 7pm; Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 2:30pm and 8pm; Sunday 2:30pm and 7pm.
December 20-26: Monday (dark); Tuesday at 7pm; Wednesday at 2:30pm and 7pm; Thursday at 7pm; Christmas Eve (dark); Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 2:30pm and 7pm.
December 27-January 2, 2011: Monday at 7pm; Tuesday at 7pm; Wednesday at 2:30pm and 7pm; Thursday at 2:30pm and 7pm; New Year’s Eve (dark); Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 2:30pm and 7pm.
Regular performance schedule begins January 3, 2011: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm; Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 2:30pm and 8pm; Sundays at 2:30pm and 7pm. (With the following exception: Opening Wednesday, January 5 at 6:30pm). Tickets are $89.50. For reservations, call Telecharge (212) 239-6200 or visit Telecharge.com.
For more information about Bram Stoker’s DRACULA at the Little Shubert, visit www.draculaonstage.com
Christopher Lee Desire
‘Amanda, we are granting you permission to take a horror portrait of your most favourite person, but you only have one choice. Who will you choose?’
If someone approached me with the above question, I would have no hesitation in choosing Christopher Lee.
It would be an absolute dream come true to meet him and take his portrait.
Best Dracula
Christopher Lee is without doubt my favourite Dracula actor. His interpretation of Dracula was dark, mysterious and erotic. He sent shivers down my spine every time he seduced the buxom Hammer scream queens with their see through flimsy gowns and he and Hammer Horror are responsible for my love of vampires today.
In most Hammer films, Lee hardly spoke. His stare with those bloodshot eyes, his tall masculine physique in that long black cape was enough to scare most impressionable teenagers like myself, yet, I couldn’t help fantasising about waking up to Dracula being stood at the bottom of my bed and silently overpowering my will.
I wonder how many men fantasised about being Dracula based on Lee’s performance?
It would be my honour to take his portrait and immortalise him in my ‘Dark Portrait’ gallery.
Amanda’s Inspiration for her Horror Photography
As a child watching the old black and white movies of Universal Horror, I would be mesmerised in a world of excitement and wonder. To me, it was a different world altogether, one where I could escape, one that was attractive and full of amazing characters.
I was introduced to wonderful gothic architecture and mobs of angry peasants with blazing torches chasing the Wolfman, Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula down to an unfortunate end.
I was touched when Frankenstein’s monster was given a bride.
I loved the dramatic acting style from the likes of Lon Chaney Jr, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi against the backdrop of a musical score that built in intensity as the drama unfolded.
I have a lasting impression of these monsters faces, not only in the films, but on horror posters and in magazines.
These images have stood the test of time and almost everyone I know relates them to Universal Horror.
I’ve paid homage to Universal Horror with the creation of my ‘Horror Posters by Amanda Norman Photography ’. I just love the style of them.
The old graveyards in these films looked beautiful with the white smoke and the long casting shadows. This has undoubtedly influenced my passion for photographing graveyards in order to try and capture the same eerie atmosphere that Universal Horror projected so well.
I can’t ever remember being scared of these movies!
A few years on and I stumbled across The Munsters.
This TV programme made me laugh and it still does to this day as I have both season one and season 2 on DVD. I always remember wanting a family like The Munsters and for Herman to be my Dad.
As a teenager, I fell in love with Hammer Horror.
These films were like the modern day Universal Horror, but they were in colour and they were illicit with their sexual undertones. No wonder I was captivated as a teenager going through puberty.
I was totally mesmerised with Christopher Lee. He was scary, yet very sexy.
The power he had over the numerous women who would fall weak at his knees and beg to become his vampire lover and be with him for all eternity, obeying his every command. How I often wished that I would be woken by Dracula standing beside my bed. It must have been the forbidden desires of falling under his erotic spell that I loved so much.
Lee turned Dracula into a master of horror while Hammer Horror put the sex into vampires.
Not a lot of people are aware of this but Hammer Horror did base some of their films on true storylines.
The story of Countess Dracula played by Ingrid Pitt was based on the very real Elizabet Bathory (1560-1614) who was sentenced to live out the rest of her life in an asylum for the murder of over 600 young women. She tortured and killed them for her sadistic pleasures.
Hammer Horror based the story around her thirst for blood. When she bathed in virgins blood, Countess Dracula believed it kept her looking young. For an interview with Ingrid Pitt and her comments about Bathory, click here.
Hammer also based 3 of their films on the character Carmilla Karnstein created by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu in 1872.
The first film was ‘The Vampire Lovers’ starring Ingrid Pitt, this was followed by ‘Lust for a Vampire’ starring Yutte Stensgaard and finally The Twins of Evil starring the Collinson twins.
I could waffle on all day about Hammer Horror, but they are without a doubt, one of my inspirations for my horror photography and my love of vampires.