Paul Roland is taking his three-act contemporary gothic ballet ‘Nosferatu or the Strange Case of Jonathan Harker’ to Italy this September. The show will play at a medieval castle in the surrounding countryside near Piacenza this Autumn where Paul is expected to perform a semi acoustic set with his Italian band. This incarnation of the show follows on from its acclaimed sold-out run at the Open Space 360 in Piacenza on April 29th this year.
As the subtitle suggests, the ballet is centred not on the count but on his alleged victim, Jonathan Harker, whose fevered imagination recasts the aged aristocrat as a vampire. The events recounted in Bram Stoker’s gothic novel are now a macabre fantasy experienced in Harker’s mind. This makes Roland’s ballet fundamentally different from others based on ‘Dracula’, which are straight adaptations of Stoker’s novel.
‘Nosferatu or the Strange Case of Jonathan Harker’ is composed and recorded by cult English singer-songwriter Paul Roland and the Cigar Box Chamber Orchestra. The contemporary gothic ballet continues Roland and ground-breaking Italian label Dark Companion’s collaboration that saw the artist compose a lengthy and ambitious project ‘A Grimm Fantasy for Orchestra’ due to be recorded by the Conservatoire Piacenza later this year.
Orchestral composition marks a move away from Roland’s previous 60s inspired psych-pop stylings, despite the remaining signature gothic and supernatural undercurrents in the artist’s work. His body of music, spanning many albums over 3 decades, has seen him praised by top industry publications including Record Collector, Louder Than War, Shindig, Classic Rock/Prog Rock, Uncut, and many more.
‘Nosferatu – The Curious Case of Jonathan Harker’ also features an entirely original script and narration between scenes.