Cedar Crest College Performing Arts Department presents its first in-person drama in 18 months with the classic vampire thriller, “Dracula,” for the Halloween weekend, Oct. 28 - 31, Samuels Theatre, Tompkins Center, Allentown.

The production is based on the Gothic novel, “Dracula,” written by Bram Stoker in 1897.

The stage adaptation by Crane Johnson changes the gender of vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing to a woman. The original production opened in the Royal Playhouse, New York, in 1973 and ran for one season.

In the show’s plot, while preparing for her wedding, Lucy Harker has been afflicted by a mysterious illness, much to the concern of her aunt, Mrs. Harker, and her fiance, the scholarly Dr. Seward. Two small pin pricks on the young woman’s neck are the only clue to her malady.

Matters are not helped by the disconcerting presence of Renfield, a strange man whose bizarre behavior of eating flies and birds is being observed by Seward for scientific purposes.

Concerned that Lucy’s illness may be rooted in some unnatural phenomena, Seward calls Van Helsing for assistance in investigating Lucy’s strange ailment.

Under Van Helsing’s questioning, the odd facts of Lucy’s case begin to emerge. When a new neighbor from Carfax Hall, Count Dracula, comes to call, Van Helsing begins to suspect the count may not be exactly who he seems.

Once the truth emerges, there’s a desperate race to save Lucy and the others from Dracula’s evil clutches, and to find and destroy the vampire in his secret hiding place.

Clair M. Freeman directs the cast of Cedar Crest College students Carter Reichard (Dr. Van Helsing), Lizbeth Parra (Lucy) and Sofia Barbour (Abigail), Northampton Community College students Brandon Costanzo (Renfield) and Alex Kleinschmidt (Dr. Seward), Lehigh Carbon Community College student London Griffith (Mrs. Harker) and Ryan Patrick Allen (Dracula) of Lincroft, NJ.

Performances are 7 p.m. Oct. 28, 29 and 30 and 2 p.m. Oct. 31.

The actors will wear face masks. Audience members are required to wear face masks.

This is the second in-person performance of the college’s 2021-’22 season. The first show, “Broadway or Bust,” a musical revue, was presented in September.

The last stage show presented in-person by the Crest performing arts department was “Into the Woods” in February 2020, prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdown.

The fall performing arts season includes “DanceWorks,” Nov. 18 - 21, and “V.O.I.C.E. Concert,” featuring the Voices Of Inclusion Choral Ensemble, Dec. 5.

The spring season includes the musical, “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,” Feb. 24 - 27, and a dance recital, April 21 - 24.

Tickets: www.cedarcrest.edu/stage; 610-606-4608

“Curtain Rises” is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com