Note: This synopsis applies to European and Japanese productions only. The Broadway version was heavily rewritten. In addition, portions of this synopsis may reflect later changes to the European show, which will become clear when reading the song list below.
Act I Sometime in the early 20th century, Professor Abronsius and Alfred, his bumbling young assistant, arrive in a small Jewish
shtetl somewhere in the
Carpathians, where they hope to prove the professor's theory that
vampires exist. Nearly freezing to death in the nearby woods (
He, Ho, He), the two are taken in by Chagal, an
innkeeper who spends most of his free time lusting after Magda, his beautiful
chambermaid, much to the disdain of his long-suffering wife, Rebecca ( – "Garlic"). The professor, upon noticing the countless strings of
garlic hung about the place and around people's necks, is overjoyed, confident of the nearness of his goal, and immediately starts probing Chagal for information. The villagers, evidently frightened, pretend to be completely oblivious, silencing the local fool, who still manages to blurt something about the castle and the count that lives there. After exploring the rooms upstairs in which they are staying ( – "Please, Gentlemen"), Alfred discovers and is smitten by Chagal's beautiful 17-year-old daughter, Sarah. Chagal is very protective of his child, going as far as boarding up her room so she wouldn't bathe around the two guests ( – "A Beautiful Daughter is a Blessing"). That night, Alfred and Sarah sing of their mutual attraction, while Chagal tries to coerce his way into Magda's bed and Abronsius is swiftly knocked on the head by Chagal's wife ( – "Never Seen"). Unbeknownst to Alfred, late at night Sarah is serenaded by a mysterious stranger, who promises her eternal life and power ( – God is Dead"). The next morning, the Professor bears witness to a small business exchange between Chagal and Koukol, a hideous
hunchback living somewhere in the woods ( – "Everything's Bright"). He inquires about the odd man ( – "truth"), but Chagal refuses to discuss the matter. That same night, Sarah tricks Alfred into giving up his bath for her ( – "You're Really Very Nice") and as she joyfully soaps her sponge, Count von Krolock, an aristocratic vampire, breaks into the bathroom from the roof above and invites her to a midnight ball at his castle ( – "Invitation to the Ball"). He is about to bite the girl, but Alfred, who has been spying on Sarah's bathing ritual, screams for help. Chagal and Rebecca arrive, furious. Sarah's father spanks her and forbids her to ever go outside. However, later that night, Koukol arrives at the inn and leaves a red bundle for Sarah on the doorstep. She sneaks outside and discovers it to be a pair of expensive red boots. Alfred comes outside as well and professes his love to her ( – "Outside is Freedom"). The two plan on running off together and Sarah asks Alfred to go back into the house to fetch her sponge. With Alfred gone, Sarah fantasizes about the fantastical, romantic vampire ball she could be missing and decides to accept the Count's invitation ( – "Stronger Than We Are"). She runs off into the woods. Alfred starts to panic, Chagal and Rebecca rush outside, but it's too late and Sarah's gone. Chagal wraps himself in garlic and runs into the woods after his daughter. The next morning, Chagal's frozen body is found; Rebecca is devastated ( – "Mourning for Chagal"). Professor Abronsius discovers small puncture wounds all over the body, but the villagers, still in denial, incorrectly assume they came from
wolf bites. The Professor hands Rebecca a wooden stake and explains she must puncture Chagal's heart in order to prevent him from becoming a vampire. Hysterical, Rebecca chases him and Alfred out of the room, covering her husband with a bed sheet and swearing that she would never let anyone violate his corpse. In the middle of the night, Magda sneaks downstairs to look at Chagal's corpse, expressing mixed feelings about his death ( - "To be Dead is Strange"). Suddenly, Chagal sits up, now a vampire. Magda tries to fend him off with a
crucifix, but being a Jewish vampire, he manages to overpower her and feed on her blood, killing her in the process. Alfred and the Professor sneak into the room as well, planning to stake Chagal, but they find Magda's body there instead. A chase ensues and the two finally corner Chagal, who begs for mercy and promises to show them the route to the vampire's castle where his daughter supposedly is held if he's spared. Chagal leads the two heroes to a giant castle in the woods ( – "Through the Wilderness to the Castle"), where they are greeted by the mysterious Count von Krolock and his flamboyant son Herbert, who is instantly attracted to Alfred ( – "In Front of the Castle"). Von Krolock invites the two men into his domain and the two reluctantly accept his invitation.
Act II Sarah is now at Count von Krolock's castle, wandering the dark empty halls and considering what her relationship with the Count truly is. The Count appears to welcome her and manages to resist biting her, planning to save her for the
ball the next night ( – "
Total Eclipse"). At the same time, Alfred is asleep with the Professor in a guest bedroom in another part of the castle, suffering from terrifying
nightmares, with one nightmare in which he loses Sarah to the bloodthirsty vampires ( - "Seize the Night"). The next morning, Alfred wants to find Sarah and flee the castle ( – "A Perfect Day / For Sarah"), but Professor Abronsius is more concerned with staking Von Krolock and Herbert. Alfred and the Professor make their way to the crypt ( – "In the Crypt"), where they locate the two vampires. The Professor becomes stuck on a
banister as he attempts to get into the crypt and assigns Alfred to kill von Krolock and his son, but Alfred can't bring himself to drive a stake through their hearts. Before the Professor can think of something else, he hears a noise and the hapless duo flee the crypt just as Chagal arrives with Magda's coffin. Magda climbs out, now a vampire, and finally concedes to having a sexual relationship with Chagal. Alfred and the Professor continue searching the castle and separate in the library ( – "Books, Books"). Alfred comes across a small bedroom where he finds Sarah in the bathroom, apparently unharmed. Alfred begs for her to leave, but Sarah refuses, saying she wants to stay for the midnight ball. She coaxes Alfred to leave the room (involving another encounter in the library, – "Even More Books") while she gets dressed, but when Alfred returns, Sarah is gone, and Herbert is in her place. Herbert tries flirting with the confused and terrified "hero" ( – "When Love is Inside You"), which culminates with him lunging at Alfred's neck, but the Professor comes in the nick of time and hits the young vampire with an umbrella. As Alfred and the Professor make it outside, the sun sets and they are confronted by von Krolock, who mocks the Professor's naïve attempt to destroy him ( – "You're Wrong, Professor"). To their horror, the two watch a whole mob of vampires rise up from a nearby
church yard and head towards the ballroom ( – "Eternity"). As the vampires leave their resting places, von Krolock reflects on his painful damnation as a member of the undead ( – "The Insatiable Greed"), which Alfred overhears, but the Professor dismisses von Krolock as nothing more than a monster. The vampires arrive in the castle and the ball begins ( – "The Dance Hall"). Alfred and Professor Abronisus sneak their way inside dressed as members of the undead. Count von Krolock appears at the top of the stairs to introduce his "guest", whom he forbids the other vampires to touch. Sarah enters the ballroom in an elegant red
ballgown and approaches von Krolock. He is quick to embrace her with a bite, draining her blood. The Count then proceeds to dance with the weakened Sarah as the other vampires join them in a
menuet. Alfred and the Professor plan to sneak Sarah out during the dance, but unfortunately for them, a
mirror is unveiled, blowing their cover since they're the only ones reflected. Von Krolock commands his vampire flock to attack Alfred and his mentor, but the former manages to form a makeshift cross out of two
candelabras, causing a diversion. The three humans make their escape as von Krolock, furious, sends Koukol chasing after the girl. Koukol chases Alfred, Sarah and the Professor through the woods, but is attacked by wolves and killed. The three heroes stop on a small hillside to rest. Alfred once more professes his love to Sarah and the two lovers embrace ( – – "Outside is Freedom (Reprise)"). However, Sarah is already turned and bites Alfred mid-song, turning him into a vampire as well and both of them flee into the woods. Professor Abronsius, too consumed by his note-taking, does not see what is happening behind him until it is too late. In the epilogue, all vampires rejoice in their eternal dance ( – "Dance of the Vampires").
Broadway Version The plot for the American production of the musical is rather different than the European productions, as follows:
Act 1 In the region of
Transylvania,
Romania in the year "1880-something", three days before
Halloween, three little girls are trekking through a dark forest. Two of the three girls, Nadja and Zsa-Zsa, are overwhelmed by the fact that their friend Sarah does not appear to be afraid to collect mushrooms "three nights before Halloween". Trying to comfort her friends, she sings an old Transylvanian prayer (
Angels Arise) to calm them down. They sight in the distance Castle Von Krolock, as Sarah ponders dreams where someone is calling her name and wherein she dances in red velvet boots and dress. As the girls finish their prayer, some vampires jump from the shadows of the forest and dance ravingly around the trio. The girls try to flee, when the vampires take Nadja and Zsa-Zsa and leave Sarah alone for their master (
God Has Left The Building - dance number). Sarah screams for God's help, when, all of a sudden, a huge
sarcophagus decorated with iron chains shoots out from under the church, blocking Sarah's path of escape. From there emerges the vampires' charismatic leader named Count von Krolock, who introduces himself to Sarah in an extremely charming way and, as a token of his gratitude, he invites her with flattering words to his annual big midnight ball in three days' time to celebrate her birthday (
Original Sin). Meanwhile, the villagers of Lower Belabartokovich celebrate and sing the praises of garlic for its health and protection properties (
Garlic), when their dance and song are interrupted by a duo of newcomers: a professor named Professor Abronsius and his student assistant Alfred. They arrive at an inn hosted by Sarah's father, a lecherous innkeeper named Chagal. There, the Professor inquiries about a castle in the area, in which the villagers vehemently deny when one of them notices the sunset, whereupon the villagers scamper home. In the villagers' place, a mysterious personage named Madame Von Krolock enters the inn for a business exchange with Chagal, asking for red silk. Suspicious, Abronsius inquiries about the strange woman, but Chagal refuses to discuss the matter. Abronsius presses on the matter, saying that through his deductive logic, he can understand the world (
Logic). After Chagal takes the professor to their rooms, a employee of Chagal's, Boris, is converted to a thrall of Von Krolock. In a room, Alfred meets a naked Sarah taking a bath, as her parents enter the room to cover Sarah's shame. Abronsius notices the girl has some bite marks on her neck, and suggests a blood transfusion to heal her. The professor also fears an ancient prophecy about a girl named Sarah being willing bitten by a vampire, which will grant the undead world domination. As Abronsius and her family help with her blood transfusion, Alfred and Sarah sing about falling in love with each other (
A Girl As Beautiful As She). Sarah and Alfred bond a bit after her transfusion, when Chagal enters the room and expels the youth, then sings about having Sarah as a daughter (
When a Man Has Got a Pretty Daughter), while barricading her windows. Chagal's efforts are in vain, as the planks are removed by magic. Chagal tries to fix the window, when he falls through the window. Krolock bursts in through a window in Sarah's room and invites Sarah to the ball in his castle for her eighteenth birthday, which is exactly midnight on Halloween, promising her a red silk dress and red velvet boots as a gift before he is chased away by Abronsius and Alfred (
A Good Nightmare Comes So Rarely/Invitation to the Ball). The next day, Abronsius tries to gather intel from the villagers about the vampires that live nearby, when some villagers bring Chagal's dead body. Rebecca wants to have a moment alone with her former husband, and their servant Magda joins her in their mutual mourning (
Death is Such An Odd Thing). Chagal rises from the dead, grabs both women's behinds and howls in approval at buxom Magda, his maidservant, and escapes to the wilderness. Abronsius rushes to protect Magda and Rebecca, and sends Alfred to inform Sarah. Seeing Chagal now a vampire, Sarah finally seizes the opportunity to run away from home before he catches him leaving his property, even when Madame Von Krolock leaves her the promised red velvet boots with best regards from Krolock. Alfred suggests coming her back with him to Königsberg University to be rehabilitated in his stead since he is expelled. Sadly, Sarah turns him down and disappears into the darkness, wearing her new red boots as she sets out in search for a better place to live (i.e. Krolock's castle, where the ball will be taking place) - ''Braver Than We Are/Sarah's Dream Ballet
. Sarah says she is sorry, then flees to the castle. Abronsius takes the charge and leads Alfred to the Castle to bring Sarah back, while the Count welcomes her with sweet declarations of love and leads her inside the eerie building - Midnight Serenade (Come With Me)''.
Act 2 Sarah wanders restlessly through the massive castle until she meets Count von Krolock in the great hall. They get incredibly close to each other, but he turns away at the last second and saves the longed-for bite for the midnight ball (
Vampires in Love (Total Eclipse of the Heart)). In the meantime, Abronsius and Alfred have succeeded in infiltrating the castle. In the library, where every book ever written is kept, they come across the Count, who pretends to be an admirer of the professor and makes some ambiguous jokes with Alfred, who unintentionally captivates Herbert, the Count's homosexual son (
Books). Later, in the pompous guest room that has been assigned to the two, Alfred is plagued by terrible nightmares in which he finally loses Sarah in a struggle against the Count (
Seize the Night). Alfred wakes up from the nightmares and reaffirms his vow to find and keep Sarah safe (
For Sarah). Abronsius and Alfred use the last hours of the almost completely sleepy day to search for the crypt. After endless wandering, they discover the dark vault, but instead of Krolock, they see Chagal lying on top of the count's sarcophagus. Rebecca, accompanied by a buxom waitress in her husband's inn named Magda, suggests she drives the stake into his heart herself since he is beyond saving. Alfred agrees and separates from Abronsius to continue looking for Sarah, whose voice is coming from somewhere in the castle. However, Chagal has been pretending to be asleep the whole time, seizing the opportunity to suck Rebecca and Magda dry, ultimately turning them into his lovers to join him in undeath. Alfred follows Sarah's voice, only to end up in Herbert's room where he discovers cuffs on his bed, ready to prevent him from reaching Sarah. Without any other options left, Alfred shoves a tome between Herbert's teeth to prevent him from biting him (
When Love Is Inside You). By the end of his search, Alfred finally finds Sarah in her new quarters and tries to convince her that Krolock isn't as friendly as he seems. However, Sarah does not have the means to return to the village as she is already home — with Krolock —, informing Alfred to forget her and return to the university, in which he hesitates due to trespassing charges as he is already expelled for being an accomplice to the Professor, who shows up and calls him outside, where he has made a horrific discovery. One by one, the vampires rise from their graves in the castle cemetery and, stretching their stiff limbs, march towards the direction of the ballroom (
Eternity). Abronsius is still shaken by his discovery and lets Alfred in on the secret of an old prophecy: "If a virgin voluntarily allows herself to be bitten by a vampire on her eighteenth birthday, which occurs at midnight on Halloween, they would henceforth be able to walk around by day and achieve world domination." Suddenly, the Count appears in person to eliminate the uninvited guests for not listening to Sarah, only to be pushed back thanks to the Professor's crucifix. After the Professor implores him to spare Sarah, Count von Krolock privately turns him down with an ultimatum despite his insatiable hunger for real life that eternally plagues him (though being an undead vampire he will never be able to experience anything else) (
Confessions of a Vampire). At the ball, Abronsius and Alfred follow the vampires disguised as two of them, as Boris announces Von Krolock, who comes in and greets his flock, signing autographs for some of them. The Count presents Sarah and bites her, to the vampires' celebratory screams. Sarah admits that "now, there's only layers of dark", when Alfred reveals himself. As Krolock leads his flock into mocking Alfred's valor, the Professor also reveals himself, having come to terms with Sarah's plight, and distracts the gathering with a cross improvised from two large candles. As Alfred seizes the chance to pull Sarah to the safety outside the ballroom, Abronsius then fights his way towards the top of a grand staircase where he smashes a large window to allow the rays of the sun, which has risen in the meantime, to fatally engulf all the vampires at once. With one last ounce of strength left in him, Count von Krolock dies, but decrees that Sarah "will live forevermore" (''The Ball / You'll Live Forevermore''). The trio is back at the village. As the Professor prepares a transfusion for Sarah, she and Alfred reunite and enjoy their reunion, until she bites his neck and turns him into a vampire. On the other hand, the Professor is delighted that he finally found the specimen he is looking for to prove to the world that vampires are absolutely real. Contrary to Abronsius's further ultimate goal to secure his
Nobel Prize win, by the
present day, the vampires (including Chagal, Rebecca, Magda, Herbert, Boris, even Sarah's friends Nadja and Zsa Zsa—and finally, Alfred and Professor Abronsius) dominate the
human race, celebrating their successful
global conquest under Sarah's lead as their new vampire queen in Krolock's honor (
Dance of the Vampires (Finale)). ==Productions and casts==