Hough High School broke in the new theater with its first dramatic production, Dracula, on Oct. 28, 29 and 30. Directed by Theater Department Chair Jared Taylor, about 60 students worked on the production, including the performers, set builders, lighting designers, painters and make-up artists.

“The students are the managers for all the different crews,” Taylor said. “It gives them a real sense of ownership over the final production.”

Taylor held open auditions the second week of school, and by the third week, rehearsals were up and running. Students devoted about 12 extracurricular hours each week to the show, which drew crowds of more than 100 people each night.

“I wanted to pick a show that would attract both theater and non-theater people alike,” Taylor said. He chose Dracula because of its Halloween weekend opening and because “vampires are really popular right now.”

Ticket sales brought in about $2000, which will be used for future theater projects, Taylor said. Currently he is reading possible scripts for a spring musical.