In fact, I got to play Renfield myself one night when both he and his stand in were just too drunk to go on at all. But that is another story.
C,mon, Murph.
That's the story we want!
OK, but I may be revealing something that might haunt me in years to come. 'Remember Murph, the guy who ___ the ___ ___.'
I was a mere canteen worker when the call came to step in.
The regular was a drunken lush but equally hilarious actor who added his own take on the character by giving Renfield a perverted crush on Dr. Seward, head of the Asylum. I knew a lot of the lines and some of his ad libbed stuff from watching what I could in between opening, break and closing. However, I would never get to see the sections when I had the canteen open. I was told to adlib the best I could which they assured me should be easy, since this was an insane character. If you messed up, it still worked.
I was getting a lot of laughs and beginning to feel rather confident when I tripped over the hidden, rolled up carpet from the living room scenes and landed smack on top of Dr. Seward's leg. My shoulder hit his leg and both arms were on either side. I knew immediately what it must look like to the audience, so I made a good/bad decision and went for it. I began dry humping the good Doctor's leg like a dog.
I have to say, the actor playing the doctor was a pro. After very nearly cracking (I heard muffled spitting noises), he shook me off and said something along the lines of "Renfield, I told you if you keep doing that I was going to lock you in the kennels."
I got my one and only standing ovation that night when I came out to greet the audience at closing. Usually only Dracula himself got those.
PS
The actor who played Dracula did so in traditional garb but fashioned his persona after the B&W film character, Nosferatu. He was the spookiest Dracula I have seen yet, live or on screen. I wish I could remember his name to see if he ever made it to big time. Probably not, but you never know.
