Quotable Quotes: Interviews With the Vampires

Who: Dance of the Vampires stars Rene Auberjonois who plays Professor Abronsius, Michael Crawford Count von Krolock, Mandy Gonzalez Sarah, Leah Hocking Magda, Ron Orbach Chagal, Asa Somers Herbert and Max von Essen Alfred… Director John Rando, choreographer John Carrafa and Michael Kunze, who co-wrote the book

What: Opening night celebration

Where: The new Copacabana, located at West 34th Street in Manhattan

When: Monday, December 9, 2002, 9:50pm

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"Rando came out the first day of rehearsal and pulled the cast together and said, 'What we're about to do is insane!'"—John Carrafa

"Everybody said, 'Oh, you're not going out of town?!' and then I thought about it and realized that every musical that I've done on Broadway that has run opened cold in New York, so I'm used to it. It's great. I like having the preview audience be the New York audience. There's no BS—they're right there telling you what you need to fix and hopefully we did just that."—Rene Auberjonois

"We were lunatic. We were totally insane. But we had a lot of time and we worked very hard and very slowly. Each day we did changes, each week we totalled up our changes and kept focusing. We were also strangely out of the loop because we were working on the show with blinders on. On the other hand, we very influenced by what the audience was feeling about the play and how the Internet was responding to the play. They were very instrumental in some of the notes that we did."
—John Rando

"I rechoreographed the entire show except for one number in the preview process because everything was so radically different once we got in the theater and actually saw the piece. I had to completely reconceive the show. You know, I work a lot in film, so I'm used to working really fast. The cast was astounding and really went with it. Everytime we made a number better, everybody felt like, 'Yeah, let's go! Let's do the next one!"—John Carrafa

"People send me messages that have gone out, describing what we [were doing during previews]. I think if we'd believed what we read at first, we might have given up. I'm glad that we stuck with it."—Michael Crawford

"It's been agony to be in previews for 60 performances. There are some regional theater runs that aren't that long!"—Ron Orbach

"I'm more tired now than I was when my baby was two months old!"
—Leah Hocking

"I've never done a show from scratch like this. What a crazy experience to come into the theater and be handed pages from David Ives or music from Jim Steinman and have them say, 'Try this tonight' because such and such didn't work last night or the audience felt this way about something… It's an amazing thing, but it keeps you on your toes."—Max von Essen

"It's my favorite part. You really have to stay focused and believe in the project. I'm good at staying focused and [dealing with] change."—Mandy Gonzalez

"To just go out there in front of everybody with our pants down was an amazing experience, and a character-building one, I can tell you that!"
—John Carrafa

"I hope I was funny at the right times!"—Michael Crawford, when told he was funny in the show

"I think New York is the hardest when it comes to people [being critical]. We were judged a lot at first. I think it was pretty brave to open in New York. If it was different, I don't know if they would again, but I'm really proud that we did it. We really pulled it off, I think."—Mandy Gonzalez

"It's huge! It's got to be one of the biggest shows on Broadway right now. And there was so much to work out."—Leah Hocking

"You saw the wig fight? I'm hoping the wig fight will become one of those classic things like, 'Did you see the wig fight?!?' It was one of those things that in my mind was a great idea but when we finally put it up there it was like, 'Well, maybe not.'"—John Carrafa, on an early version of his "Carpe Noctem" dream ballet

"It was a dream sequence. It was supposed to be funny."—Asa Somers

"I did a lot of research [on the show] that I threw away because it didn't really matter. It's kind of all about responding to the music. Ultimately, I went into the studio and put the music on and just started dancing and that became the choreography for the show. I turned out the lights and ran around to the music. That's what it's about, really."—John Carrafa

"It was an opening night gift from John Carrafa's assistants. It's an expression they always used in rehearsals when you fall down or something didn't work. They'd say, 'It's all good. It's all good.' And I just thought it was such a great hat…positive vibes."—Rene Auberjonois on his baseball hat that read "It's All Good"

"I wanted it to get even more scary. That was part of the process in the preview period—to try to find moments where we could allow for the show to be scary, or at least eerie."—John Rando

"I've never been into blood and horror, stuff like that. I saw Jaws when I was a kid and I thought there were sharks living in my closet. I saw Night of the Living Dead one summer that my family was staying in Sag Harbor. It was my first drive-in movie. I didn't sleep that whole summer. I hate horror movies. I don't like blood, guts, you know? It's not my bag. I like costume dramas. Pretty period pictures."—Leah Hocking

"It's such a different reality. It's silly and fun and kind of glamorous, too. These vampires sort of pull you in and you find you're turned on by them, too!"—Max von Essen

"It's a wonderful, Gothic playground."—Ron Orbach on the world of Dance of the Vampires

"This is my third role as an alternative lifestyle eastern European. I was Hedwig, I was in Rocky Horror and now I'm in this. I feel I'm being typecast as a gay vampire, but whatever! It works!"—Asa Somers on his character Herbert

"It can't get better than the town slut, right?"—Leah Hocking on her character Magda

"We were singing our big duet and we were this close and we had to back up from each other because our voices were ringing in each other's heads. We were just blending instantly and I just knew, she's gonna get it. And hopefully I'll get it, but I think it's us. I had this moment of, I think this is it. You can feel it in the room. Our voices just… it was incredible."—Max von Essen on clicking with co-star Mandy Gonzalez at an audition

"Because the process has been long and arduous, the cast has [become] so tight. And they're so talented. I hope that comes through every night."—Asa Somers

"Tonight is a celebration. Our company has been through a lot and our director is just wonderful. He's really done a lot for us."—Mandy Gonzalez

"This is quite an extraordinary company that has put so much energy… they just worked tirelessly. Everyone's been working 11, 12 hour days for the past 60 shows."—Michael Crawford

"Michael is the consummate perfectionist. He works so hard and never stops. He's always concentrating-you go back into his dressing room and he's totally focused from two hours before the curtain goes up. Watching him go through so many dramatic changes during preview was exceptional. He was so focused in trying to make the changes. And he accomplished them with such sensitivity to the course we were trying to take the play on."—John Rando

"He's incredibly generous and such a hard worker and a great company leader. It's been terrific."—Rene Auberjonois on Michael Crawford

"He's an inspiration and a teacher for me. He's such a joy."—Mandy Gonzalez on Michael Crawford

"I get to hear him sing every day. That's a blessing. Can you imagine that? Every single day of your life you get to hear that voice. It's been a real treasure."—John Rando

"We're just there on stage every night to have a little fun, which is nice."—Max von Essen

"I'm signed for a year. If we're fortunate enough to run, that's how long I'll be here. And then I'll be in a nursing home, no doubt!"—Michael Crawford