PUT OUT YOUR FANGS, THIS IS A DISASTER.
One of Melbourne’s most enduring, and certainly its spookiest, institutions is coming to an unexpected end, with management of Dracula’s Cabaret issuing the surprising announcement that the theatre restaurant will be closing its doors after 37 years in business.
The Carlton venue, on the city fringe, has been operating ever since the original, decidedly grimier and more punk rock-ish iteration of Dracula’s outgrew its original Drewery Lane home in 1990, but the theatre restaurant itself has been operating uninterrupted since its inception in 1980.
Operated by Newman Entertainment International – the company owned by the founding Newman Family – the restaurant has long been a tourist drawcard and often attracted long lines at its Cardigan Street box office.
But recent leaner years appear to be the deciding factor in closing the venue founded by Tikki & John Newman, who pioneered musical dinner theatre in Australia with the legendary Tikki & John’s Music Hall.
In a statement posted to Facebook last night, the Newman family confirmed that the final performance at Dracula’s Melbourne will take place on December 23rd this year.
After an unprecedented and incredible 37 years of entertaining in Melbourne, Newman Entertainment International (NEi), have made the difficult decision to close the doors of our Carlton venue.
We are extremely proud of our venue and show, both of which are receiving great feedback from happy customers, however we are seeing the demand for our style of live entertainment in the region we offer has diminished in recent years despite our earnest efforts to maintain our popularity.
We want to take this time to sincerely thank each and every one of you for your contribution to what has been an incredibly rewarding and successful business over almost four decades. We hope you’ll have as many fond memories of the venues as we do.
The Newman’s announcement only affects the cornerstone Melbourne location of Dracula’s, with both the Gold Coast location and the five-storey Dracula’s Haunted House on the Sunshine Coast to remain open and operational, with the latter scheduled for a “complete reboot.”
Fare thee well, Spooky Prince. Ne’er was there a better place to have a fang.
