Count Dracula is coming to Lake Avenue the old-fashioned way: by radio. The Lake Worth Playhouse opens its 2026-27 Radio Play Series on Halloween weekend with Dracula, a live staging built on the Mercury Radio Theater adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, the version Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air produced during the golden age of radio drama. There are two performances, Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2 p.m., on the Playhouse's Stephanie Smith Main Stage at 713 Lake Ave. in Lake Worth Beach. Seats are general admission at $25.

A radio play on a stage is its own kind of theater. Instead of sets and costume changes, the story is carried by voices, music and sound effects made in front of the audience, and the listener's imagination fills in the rest. The Playhouse describes its Dracula as suspenseful storytelling with atmospheric sound effects and richly drawn characters, following the count from Transylvania to England while a small group of allies works to stop him.

Three classics, told for the ear

Dracula is the first of three titles in this season's radio series, and the other two lean on names film fans know. In March, the Playhouse stages Rebecca, adapted from Daphne du Maurier's novel and inspired by the Lux Radio Theatre broadcast that followed Alfred Hitchcock's Academy Award-winning film. It is the story of a shy young woman who marries the widower Maxim de Winter and arrives at his estate, Manderley, only to find the house still shaped by the memory of his first wife. Performances are Friday, March 26, 2027, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 27, at 2 p.m.

The series closes in May with Casablanca, adapted from the Warner Bros. film and also inspired by a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast, with performances Wednesday, May 12, and Thursday, May 13, 2027, both at 7:30 p.m. The Playhouse frames it as a story of romance, intrigue and sacrifice, told through performance, music and classic radio-style storytelling.

An old movie palace with a long memory

The building itself suits an evening of vintage storytelling. The Playhouse occupies the former Oakley Theatre, which brothers Lucien and Clarence Oakley built as a movie palace and vaudeville house. It opened on Nov. 3, 1924, with a silent film and the first concert of a new Wurlitzer pipe organ, and the Playhouse notes it is the oldest building on the register of the Art Deco Society of Palm Beach County.

The theater company came later. A group of local residents incorporated the Lake Worth Playhouse on Dec. 1, 1953, and for its early seasons the troupe performed in the third-floor auditorium of the old Lake Worth City Hall. In October 1975 the company bought the Oakley building for $60,000 and moved in. Next month marks 102 years since the theater first opened its doors on Lake Avenue.

More on the Playhouse calendar this fall

The radio series is one of several programs running alongside the main stage season. The Playhouse's film program screens in its smaller Stonzek Studio Theatre, with showings Oct. 23 to 25, and its holiday fundraiser, Cabaret for a Cause, takes place Dec. 10 at Rudy's Pub in support of the Lake Worth Playhouse Preservation Fund.

For Dracula specifically, the Saturday matinee lands on Halloween afternoon itself, which leaves the evening free for trick-or-treating. The Friday show is the evening option for anyone who wants the full lights-down effect.

How to go

Dracula plays Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2 p.m. at the Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach. General admission is $25 with open seating, and tickets are sold online through the Playhouse's website. For discounted offers, the Playhouse asks patrons to call the box office directly at 561-586-6410; box office hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and 90 minutes before each performance. Tickets for Rebecca and Casablanca are available through the same radio play series page.

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