{
  "title": "DRACULA",
  "category": "[STAGE-PLAY]",
  "article": "Bram Stoker’s vampire Transylvanian first came to the airwaves on March 30, 1928 as the fifth\ninstallment of Mortimer Stewart’s series Stardom of Broadway. The program’s raison d’etre was\nthe presentation of tabloid versions of currently-running stage shows featuring members of the\noriginal casts. For his abridgment of Dracula—then in its 26th hit week at the Fulton Theatre—\nStewart utilized the services of Bela Lugosi, Edward Van Sloan, Dorothy Peterson and Terrence\nNeill in their characterizations of the Count, Van Helsing, Lucy and Jonathan Harker,\nrespectively.\nAlthough the Stardom of Broadway series would shortly afterwards shift to an evening slot, it\nwas—at the time of the broadcast of Dracula—firmly positioned in WJZ’s mid-afternoon line-up.\nConsequently, at half past three, startled housewives and children comprised the majority of the\naudience for this precursor of horrific things to come. Bela Lugosi, when interviewed in San\nFrancisco the following year, recalled the furor over the broadcast: According to the Call and Post\nreporter, Lugosi said that “there was much indignation among the listeners. One\nwoman...telephoned in demanding that it be stopped, because she had six children who had to\nlisten to it.”\nSurprisingly, despite this early appearance on the air (and in his most famous role), Lugosi did\nvery little radio work over the years—partially due, no doubt, to his own stated antipathy for the\nmedium. (He did, however, play the Count one more time upon the air—in a 1939 comedy sketch\nentitled “Dracula of Sunnybrook Farm” on the Texaco Star Theatre.)\nSTARDOM OF BROADWAY (WJZ, NEW YORK—NBC-BLUE)\n[???day—3:30-4:00 PM]\nMarch 30, 1928\n“Dracula”\nSCRIPT: Mortimer Stewart.\nPERSONNEL: Mortimer Stewart (producer).\nCAST: Bela Lugosi (Count Dracula), Terrence Neill (Jonathan Harker), Dorothy\nPeterson (Lucy), Edward Van Sloan (Dr. Van Helsing).",
  "origination": "",
  "duration": "",
  "personnel": "",
  "extant_recordings": "",
  "chronology": "",
  "sources": "",
  "gallery": "",
  "images": []
}