Costume designer Willa Kim, set creator Dana Kenn and fight expert Rick Sordelet, allege they have yet to be paid for their work on the $1 million (£666,700) production.
Director and co-producer Paul Alexander has assured the group Dracula bosses are dealing with the discrepancy, telling the New York Post, “All of the designers did a wonderful job on the show, and it was a pleasure to work with them. I realise they have some concerns, but we are doing all we can to resolve the situation. Everyone will be paid.”
But the designers fear they will lose out altogether as the show faces closure following a disastrous opening night on Wednesday (05Jan11), when it was panned by critics.
One reviewer described the performance as “horribly anaemic”, while a New York Daily News writer dismissed the production as “elaborately tacky, unintentionally hilarious and totally bloodless”.
Kenn tells the Post, “We’re unwitting investors in a flop.”
Dracula bosses are expected to cut their losses and close the show as early as this weekend (08-09Jan11).
The stage adaptation of Bram Stoker’s horror classic has been troubled for some weeks – actress Thora Birch was fired from the cast in December (10), days before the first preview performance, after the director fell out with the star’s father, Jack.
Emily Bridges replaced Birch as the love interest of Dracula, played by Italian actor Michel Altieri, while Tony Award winner George Hearn starred as his nemesis, Dr. Van Helsing.
