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Auction History Result 6h0015 DRACULA stage play herald 1928 vampire Bela Lugosi billed & pictured four times, ultra rare! Date Sold 4/14/2024 Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Original Vintage Stage Play Herald (measures 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" [14 x 22 cm]; 4 pages) (Learn More) Dracula, the 1928 Ira Hards Broadway stage play production ("The World Famous Vampire Thriller"; of the classic Bram Stoker novel) starring Edmund Blake, and later Raymond Huntley and Bela Lugosi (in the title role as Count Dracula), Edward Van Sloan (as Abraham Van Helsing), Bernard Jukes (as Renfield), Terence Neill (as Jonathan Harker), and Dorothy Peterson (as Lucy Seward). Note that this play opened in London in 1923 with Edmund Blake in the lead role. When Blake left, Raymond Huntley took over the part of Dracula. Huntley played the role on Broadway in 1927, and then was offered to continue in the role in 1928 when the play moved to Boston, but he turned it down (likely because he did not want to live in Boston, and because he was unhappy with the $150 a week salary), and Bela Lugosi got the part instead! Later in 1928, a traveling production of the show toured the U.S. with Huntley reprising his role, and it played for two years throughout the U.S., until 1930. Of course, the classic Universal movie, with Bela Lugosi as Dracula, was made in 1931! NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography. Important Added Info: Note that we have previously auctioned a few window cards, a playbill, and a souvenir program book from this stage play, but there is a GIANT difference between those and this herald (which we have NEVER auctioned before)! What is the difference? Those window cards and other items were from stage plays where Raymond Huntley played the lead role, but this wonderful herald is 100% surely from when Bela Lugosi played the role in stage, because he is both billed and pictured on it! So this is the first and only advertising we have ever auctioned from the Bela Lugosi version of this stage play! And there is even more to the story behind this herald. As noted above, Raymond Huntley was intended to move to Boston from New York on October 1, 1928, to continue in the play, but, as also noted above, he turned it down at the last minute, and Lugosi took his place. Since this herald says "Starting Mon., OCT 1st", and since it bills and shows Bela Lugosi, it must have been printed at the last minute! Note that this is one of a remarkable collection of 31 heralds we are currently auctioning (in 31 separate auctions). They were collected over many decades, and include many wonderful horror ones, plus other very top titles. If one tried to duplicate this collection, it would likely take many years to do so! Condition: very good. The herald has a diagonal cut in the top center, which does not affect any printing, and may have been done intentionally when the play was showing. Otherwise, the herald is in nice condition (see our images). Learn More about condition grades 
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