Dance of the Vampires is a musical adaptation of the 1967 Roman Polanski film (known as The Fearless Vampire Killers in the United States). Polanski also directed the musical’s original German-language production (titled ). The music was composed by Jim Steinman, orchestrated by Steve Margoshes, and Michael Kunze wrote the original German book and lyrics.
Plot Note: This synopsis applies to European and Japanese productions only. The Broadway version was heavily rewritten. In addition, portions of this synopsis may reflect later changes to the European show, which will become clear when reading the song list below.
Act I Sometime in the early 20th century, Professor Abronsius and Alfred, his bumbling young assistant, arrive in a small Jewish shtetl somewhere in the Carpathians, where they hope to prove the professor's theory that vampires exist. Nearly freezing to death in the nearby woods (He, Ho, He), the two are taken in by Chagal, an innkeeper who spends most of his free time lusting after Magda, his beautiful chambermaid, much to the disdain of his long-suffering wife, Rebecca ( – "Garlic"). The professor, upon noticing the countless strings of garlic hung about the place and around people's necks, is overjoyed, confident of the nearness of his goal, and immediately starts probing Chagal for information. The villagers, evidently frightened, pretend to be completely oblivious, silencing the local fool, who still manages to blurt something about the castle and the count that lives there. After exploring the rooms upstairs in which they are staying ( – "Please, Gentlemen"), Alfred discovers and is smitten by Chagal's beautiful 17-year-old daughter, Sarah. Chagal is very protective of his child, going as far as boarding up her room so she wouldn't bathe around the two guests ( – "A Beautiful Daughter is a Blessing"). That night, Alfred and Sarah sing of their mutual attraction, while Chagal tries to coerce his way into Magda's bed and Abronsius is swiftly knocked on the head by Chagal's wife ( – "Never Seen"). Unbeknownst to Alfred, late at night Sarah is serenaded by a mysterious stranger, who promises her eternal life and power ( – God is Dead").
The next morning, the Professor bears witness to a small business exchange between Chagal and Koukol, a hideous hunchback living somewhere in the woods ( – "Everything's Bright"). He inquires about the odd man ( – "truth"), but Chagal refuses to discuss the matter. That same night, Sarah tricks Alfred into giving up his bath for her ( – "You're Really Very Nice") and as she joyfully soaps her sponge, Count von Krolock, an aristocratic vampire, breaks into the bathroom from the roof above and invites her to a midnight ball at his castle ( – "Invitation to the Ball"). He is about to bite the girl, but Alfred, who has been spying on Sarah's bathing ritual, screams for help. Chagal and Rebecca arrive, furious. Sarah's father spanks her and forbids her to ever go outside.
However, later that night, Koukol arrives at the inn and leaves a red bundle for Sarah on the doorstep. She sneaks outside and discovers it to be a pair of expensive red boots. Alfred comes outside as well and professes his love to her ( – "Outside is Freedom"). The two plan on running off together and Sarah asks Alfred to go back into the house to fetch her sponge. With Alfred gone, Sarah fantasizes about the fantastical, romantic vampire ball she could be missing and decides to accept the Count's invitation ( – "Stronger Than We Are"). She runs off into the woods. Alfred starts to panic, Chagal and Rebecca rush outside, but it's too late and Sarah's gone. Chagal wraps himself in garlic and runs into the woods after his daughter.
The next morning, Chagal's frozen body is found; Rebecca is devastated ( – "Mourning for Chagal"). Professor Abronsius discovers small puncture wounds all over the body, but the villagers, still in denial, incorrectly assume they came from wolf bites. The Professor hands Rebecca a wooden stake and explains she must puncture Chagal's heart in order to prevent him from becoming a vampire. Hysterical, Rebecca chases him and Alfred out of the room, covering her husband with a bed sheet and swearing that she would never let anyone violate his corpse.
In the middle of the night, Magda sneaks downstairs to look at Chagal's corpse, expressing mixed feelings about his death ( - "To be Dead is Strange"). Suddenly, Chagal sits up, now a vampire. Magda tries to fend him off with a crucifix, but being a Jewish vampire, he manages to overpower her and feed on her blood, killing her in the process. Alfred and the Professor sneak into the room as well, planning to stake Chagal, but they find Magda's body there instead. A chase ensues and the two finally corner Chagal, who begs for mercy and promises to show them the route to the vampire's castle where his daughter supposedly is held if he's spared.
Chagal leads the two heroes to a giant castle in the woods ( – "Through the Wilderness to the Castle"), where they are greeted by the mysterious Count von Krolock and his flamboyant son Herbert, who is instantly attracted to Alfred ( – "In Front of the Castle"). Von Krolock invites the two men into his domain and the two reluctantly accept his invitation.
Act II Sarah is now at Count von Krolock's castle, wandering the dark empty halls and considering what her relationship with the Count truly is. The Count appears to welcome her and manages to resist biting her, planning to save her for the ball the next night ( – "Total Eclipse"). At the same time, Alfred is asleep with the Professor in a guest bedroom in another part of the castle, suffering from terrifying nightmares, with one nightmare in which he loses Sarah to the bloodthirsty vampires ( - "Seize the Night").
The next morning, Alfred wants to find Sarah and flee the castle ( – "A Perfect Day / For Sarah"), but Professor Abronsius is more concerned with staking Von Krolock and Herbert. Alfred and the Professor make their way to the crypt ( – "In the Crypt"), where they locate the two vampires. The Professor becomes stuck on a banister as he attempts to get into the crypt and assigns Alfred to kill von Krolock and his son, but Alfred can't bring himself to drive a stake through their hearts. Before the Professor can think of something else, he hears a noise and the hapless duo flee the crypt just as Chagal arrives with Magda's coffin. Magda climbs out, now a vampire, and finally concedes to having a sexual relationship with Chagal.
Alfred and the Professor continue searching the castle and separate in the library ( – "Books, Books"). Alfred comes across a small bedroom where he finds Sarah in the bathroom, apparently unharmed. Alfred begs for her to leave, but Sarah refuses, saying she wants to stay for the midnight ball. She coaxes Alfred to leave the room (involving another encounter in the library, – "Even More Books") while she gets dressed, but when Alfred returns, Sarah is gone, and Herbert is in her place. Herbert tries flirting with the confused and terrified "hero" ( – "When Love is Inside You"), which culminates with him lunging at Alfred's neck, but the Professor comes in the nick of time and hits the young vampire with an umbrella.
As Alfred and the Professor make it outside, the sun sets and they are confronted by von Krolock, who mocks the Professor's naïve attempt to destroy him ( – "You're Wrong, Professor"). To their horror, the two watch a whole mob of vampires rise up from a nearby church yard and head towards the ballroom ( – "Eternity"). As the vampires leave their resting places, von Krolock reflects on his painful damnation as a member of the undead ( – "The Insatiable Greed"), which Alfred overhears, but the Professor dismisses von Krolock as nothing more than a monster.
The vampires arrive in the castle and the ball begins ( – "The Dance Hall"). Alfred and Professor Abronisus sneak their way inside dressed as members of the undead. Count von Krolock appears at the top of the stairs to introduce his "guest", whom he forbids the other vampires to touch. Sarah enters the ballroom in an elegant red ballgown and approaches von Krolock. He is quick to embrace her with a bite, draining her blood. The Count then proceeds to dance with the weakened Sarah as the other vampires join them in a menuet. Alfred and the Professor plan to sneak Sarah out during the dance, but unfortunately for them, a mirror is unveiled, blowing their cover since they're the only ones reflected. Von Krolock commands his vampire flock to attack Alfred and his mentor, but the former manages to form a makeshift cross out of two candelabras, causing a diversion. The three humans make their escape as von Krolock, furious, sends Koukol chasing after the girl.
Koukol chases Alfred, Sarah and the Professor through the woods, but is attacked by wolves and killed. The three heroes stop on a small hillside to rest. Alfred once more professes his love to Sarah and the two lovers embrace ( – – "Outside is Freedom (Reprise)"). However, Sarah is already turned and bites Alfred mid-song, turning him into a vampire as well and both of them flee into the woods. Professor Abronsius, too consumed by his note-taking, does not see what is happening behind him until it is too late. In the epilogue, all vampires rejoice in their eternal dance ( – "Dance of the Vampires").
Broadway Version
Act 1 Transylvania in 1880, three days before Halloween. Sarah, the pretty innkeeper's daughter, and her friends Nadja and Zsa-Zsa collect mushrooms in a dark forest. In a clearing where there is a ruined church, they take a break and Sarah, because it is already dawn and her companions are afraid, strikes up a prayer song.
The song is abruptly interrupted when suddenly a horde of vampires breaks out of the forest, kidnaps Nadja and Zsa-Zsa and performs a wild, at first hectic, but then increasingly passionate and conjuring dance. At the ecstatic climax of the round, a huge sarcophagus decorated with iron chains suddenly shoots out of the forest floor. From this emerges the charismatic Count Giovanni von Krolock, who introduces himself to Sarah in an extremely charming way and, on the occasion of her upcoming eighteenth birthday, invites her with flattering words to his annual big midnight ball. With the promise to come back, he bites her neck briefly and gives her a bath sponge.
In the only inn in the village of Lower Belabartockowich, the villagers gather around the innkeeper Chagal, his wife Rebecca and the buxom maid Magda to celebrate the 666th Garlic Festival. In the middle of the hustle and bustle, the first two strangers in twenty years burst: the international vampirologist Professor Abronsius from Heidelberg and his faithful factotum Alfred. Just as the professor inquires about a castle in the area, a woman notices the sunset, whereupon the other villagers flee in panic to their dwellings. As if to confirm Abronsius' suspicions, the sinister Madame von Krolock enters the inn to buy red silk for a ball gown. During the short conversation between the Countess and Chagal, Abronsius overhears that Sarah recently came back from the forest very late and has been behaving very strangely ever since. After a brief flirtation with the professor, she disappears and he himself reveals the reason for his presence: the destruction of the last master vampire, Count Giovanni von Krolock. He also demands to see Sarah.