Mobile Ballet Dracula Opens 2026-27 Season Oct. 24 at the Saenger With a Costumed Pre-Show Party

MOBILE, Ala. — Mobile Ballet will raise the curtain on its 2026-2027 season with a gothic twist. The company’s all-new Mobile Ballet Dracula production takes the stage at the Saenger Theatre for a single performance on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m., one week before Halloween.

The ballet is a fresh creation built for this season, not a revival of an older staging. It brings back a familiar face to lead the creative team, adds digital projections and special effects, and comes with a new pre-show reception that invites audiences to dress for the occasion.

A former Dracula returns as choreographer

The new version is the work of guest choreographer Raul Peinado, who knows the material from the inside. Peinado danced the title role of Dracula with Mobile Ballet in 2014. Twelve years later, he is back in Mobile to build the production from the ground up.

“Dracula has always been one of my favorite roles, both as a choreographer and as a dancer,” Peinado said. “My choreography allows us to explore the tension and danger at the heart of the story while giving the dancers an opportunity to make these characters come to life in a very physical and expressive way.”

Artistic Director Katia Garza said the collaboration has energized the company. “Working with Raul on this production has been an incredible experience, and I think audiences are going to see Dracula in a whole new light,” she said.

Garza, a former principal dancer with the Orlando Ballet, has led Mobile Ballet since 2017, when she and her husband, ballet master Israel Rodriguez, joined the company. Under her direction, the company has made a point of staging original productions rather than recycling older ones, a philosophy that carries through to this season’s opener.

Spellbinding, not scary

The ballet draws on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, the book that turned the Transylvanian count into one of the most recognizable villains in popular culture. Mobile Ballet’s telling centers on the count, his three brides and the constant pull between light and darkness, expressed through a blend of classical and contemporary ballet.

Organizers describe the show as spellbinding rather than frightening. Digital projections and special effects are designed to give the stage a cinematic look, framing the dancers in an atmosphere that suits a Halloween-season story without turning it into a horror show. That makes it a reasonable option for families with older children who enjoy a little gothic drama but are not looking for a scare.

Dracula is a natural fit for dance. Much of the story unfolds through attraction, pursuit and power, themes that ballet can express without a single spoken word. Partnering, lifts and contrasting movement styles let choreographers show who holds control in a scene, and the duality of light and dark gives a designer plenty to work with.

Meet the cast

Daniel Benavides dances the title role. He is joined by a cast that includes company leaders and Mobile Ballet’s own dancers:

• Dracula: Daniel Benavides
• Van Helsing: Israel Rodriguez
• Jonathan Harker: Andres Castillo
• Lucy: Natalie Crepeau, Mobile Ballet Company
• Mina: Aubree Cate Joiner, Mobile Ballet Company
• The Four Suitors: Felipe Valentini, Zion Harris, Jackson Borowski and Humberto Ramazzina
• Additional roles: Members of the Mobile Ballet Company

Readers who know Stoker’s novel will recognize the characters. Abraham Van Helsing is the Dutch professor who leads the fight against the count, Jonathan Harker is the young English solicitor whose trip to Transylvania sets the story in motion, and Lucy and Mina are the two friends at the emotional center of the tale. Casting Rodriguez, the company’s ballet master, as Van Helsing puts one of Mobile Ballet’s most experienced artists opposite the title character.

Bite Before the Ballet

New this season, Mobile Ballet is pairing the opening night with a VIP reception called Bite Before the Ballet. The event runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Mobile Arts Council’s Room 1927, next door to the Saenger.

Sponsored by Aloha Hospitality, the reception will offer custom savory bites and sweets, themed cocktails, and a chance to meet the cast. Guests are encouraged to come in costume, and there will be a contest for the best Dracula-inspired outfit. Because the reception ends half an hour before curtain, attendees can park early, skip some of the pre-show crowd and walk next door for the 7:30 p.m. performance.

Tickets for Bite Before the Ballet are $75 per person and can be added when buying performance tickets or purchased separately. Space is limited.

Why the Saenger matters

Mobile Ballet now builds its productions for the Saenger after the closure of the Mobile Civic Center Theater forced the company to change venues. The historic theater on South Joachim Street opened in 1927 as part of the Saenger chain of movie palaces and was restored after the City of Mobile purchased it in 1999. Known locally as the “Jewel of Joachim,” it is also home base for the Mobile Symphony Orchestra.

The ornate setting suits a story like Dracula, and the theater’s location puts audiences within walking distance of the restaurants and bars along Dauphin Street for anyone who wants to make a night of it.

The rest of Mobile Ballet’s season

Dracula is the first of three mainstage productions at the Saenger this season. The holiday tradition and a spring story ballet follow:

• Dracula: Saturday, Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m.
• The Nutcracker: Dec. 19-20
• The Little Mermaid: March 13-14

The company is also taking ballet beyond downtown Mobile. A shortened Nutcracker Suite performance will be staged on Dec. 11 at Coastal Alabama Community College in Bay Minette as part of the Christmas Fest there.

Mobile Ballet’s Discover Dance program offers performances for K-12 students on school field trips:

• The Nutcracker, Dec. 11, in Bay Minette
• The Nutcracker, Dec. 17, in Mobile
• The Little Mermaid, March 12, in Mobile

Special events round out the calendar, including the Nutcracker Holiday Brunch on Dec. 20 and the Little Mermaid Tea on Feb. 28.

A busy downtown weekend

Dracula lands in the middle of one of the fullest arts weekends of the fall. Mobile Opera’s “Romeo and Juliet” plays The Temple Downtown on Oct. 23 and 25, the Alabama Contemporary Art Center holds its Wild Things Ball costume party the same night as the ballet, and the Mobile Museum of Art hosts a free family day for its GATEWAY exhibition earlier that Saturday. Anyone planning to attend the ballet should allow extra time for downtown parking.

If you go

• What: Mobile Ballet’s Dracula, opening the 2026-2027 season
• When: Saturday, Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m. (one performance only)
• Where: Saenger Theatre, 6 S. Joachim St., Mobile
• Tickets: $25 to $69
• Season packages: $65 to $186 for all three productions
• Bite Before the Ballet: 5:30 to 7 p.m., Room 1927, next to the Saenger; $75 per person; limited space
• Good to know: Costumes are welcome at the reception, where a Dracula-inspired attire contest will be held