Dracula, Entre l'Amour et la Mort is a musical retelling of Dracula's story, created by Bruno Pelletier (who plays as the eponymous Dracula) and first aired in 2006. The story begins with Vlad the Impaler marrying the love of his life, the vampire Elhemina, who sires him before being fatally staked by a mob.
Flash-forward to 2050, when a group of five people come in Vallachia to investigate a serie of events that might be related, including the disappearance of many citizens, purported sights of dead people returning from the grave, and the outbreak of a virus that is transmissible with a bite. The investigators are Mina Murray (Andrée Watters), Jonathan Harker (Sylvain Cossette), Renfield (Daniel Boucher), Doctor Van Helsing (Pierre Flynn) and the later's daughter, Lucy (Gabrielle Destroismaisons).
Despite similar names, the show has little to do with Dracula: A Love Stronger Than Death besides being adapted from the same franchise.
Dracula, Entre l'Amour et la Mort contains examples of:
- Adaptational Nationality: This adaptation has Dracula as a Wallachian character, whereas he is Transylvanian in the book. This is due to the misconception that Dracula is the historical Vlad III Dracula was Wallachian. Meanwhile, it is strongly implied that the members of the Five-Man Band are Canadian French, while most of them are British in the book.
- Adaptation Inspiration: The piece ignores many elements of the original book in favor of Rule of Cool. In fact, it's probably shorter to make a list of the things that don't change, rather than trying to list the changes.
- Addled Addict: Renfield. He may have kept his job and it's unclear if the Five-Man Band was aware of his addiction, but Dracula knew about it from the start and exploited it. He does an overdose in Enfin Plus Rien, and Dracula kills him to shorten the pain.
- Anyone Can Die: Elhemina and Lucy in Act I, Renfield, Van Helsing and Dracula himself in Act II.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Jonathan has seen Lucy rise from the grave and being staked by Van Helsing, but later, when the Doctor mentions the historical Dracula as the culprit in Act II, Jonathan dismisses him as a legend.
- Arc Words: "Loubov Moya" note , which are also Elhemina's dying words.
- Badass Boast: Doctor Van Helsing and Dracula during L'Affrontement, the later of which outright goes into Blasphemous Boast territory.
- Dracula also has an A God Am I moment in Cruelle et Tendre, which is set before he becomes a vampire.
- Badass Longcoat: Doctor Van Helsing wears a duster.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Doctor Van Helsing does not talk much until after Lucy's death. Turns out he's also good at staking vampires...
- Bittersweet Ending: Dracula confesses his unconditional love for Mina before killing himself. Meanwhile, Van Helsing and Lucy are reunited in the afterlife, and its implied Renfield is as well.
- BSoD Song: Pourquoi?, sung by Van Helsing when he finds Lucy's body.
- Heroic BSoD: Obviously, since Van Helsing is one of the good guys.
- The Cavalry: Jonathan comes and saves Mina, but he was too late for Van Helsing.
- The Chosen One: Dracula depicts himself as this on numerous occasions, including (in chronological order) Je Suis, L'Affrontement and Règne. Meanwhile, in L'Affrontement, Van Helsing claims to be the Horsemen of the Apocalypse prophecized to defeat Dracula.
- Crapsack World: Humanity is depicted as Always Chaotic Evil, and this trope is the main reason for Dracula's Start of Darkness and the Five-Man Band's Call to Adventure. Dracula is also partially responsible for causing this trope in the present day.
- Just Before the End: Implied and discussed.
- A World Half Full: The world has its flaws, but there is also beauty in it. Règne is about Dracula tasking Mina to preserve the world and undo humanity's evil.
- The Dead Can Dance: Mystérieux Personnage has Dracula and Mina doing tango.
- Deal with the Devil: Dracula asks Renfield to serve him in exchange for making Lucy a vampire and his girlfriend. It costs Renfield dearly.
- Despair Speech: Van Helsing sings his despair at the human death of Lucy in Pourquoi?. Dracula does it on three occasions: the first in his solo Entre l'Amour et la Mort after becoming a vampire, the second in Qui Sera la Prochaine? the night of Lucy's burial, and the third in his second solo Je Suis after killing Renfield.
- Despair Event Horizon: Je Suis really has Dracula go over the edge.
- Did Not Get the Girl: In the end, Mina chooses Jonathan over Dracula.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: Dracula dies by smashing his coffin against the ground so hard it breaks his castle's windows.
- Eternal Love At First Sight: Dracula and Elhemina.
- Foreshadowing: A case of this trope overlapping with Only I Can Kill Him. In Je Suis, Dracula says that his death can only be self-inflicted. In the end, he is Spurned into Suicide.
- Glamour Failure: When encountering Count Vallachia, Renfield takes a picture of him. The Count reprimands him, then hints that Renfield may have discovered something. Renfield then notices that the Count does not show up on the picture...
- Casts No Shadow: After becoming a vampire, Dracula is shown to have a very visible shadow in Entre l'Amour et la Mort. In L'Amour Aux Deux Visages, it's implied his shadow left him.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Renfield has a vertical scar on the right cheek, apparently to show how addicted and desperate he is. He also makes a pact with Dracula.
- Hero Killer: Dracula, who kills Van Helsing.
- Holy Burns Evil: In L'Affrontement, Van Helsing weakens Dracula's power by reciting latin Christian texts. Dracula fights it off and kills him anyway.
- Hope Spot: This happens in the final scene. Dracula almost kills Jonathan, but is interrupted by Mina, who begins to talk in Ukrainian. It appears as though Mina remembers her past life and is about to choose Dracula, but Jonathan stands up and she goes with him.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Fully played out in Nous Sommes Ce Que Nous Sommes, in which Count Vallachia invokes it by discussing how they're not so different. Later, vampires are implied to be Always Chaotic Evil because they are human, only Beneath the Mask.
- I Am What I Am: Dramatically inverted in Je Suis, which is about Dracula's unacceptance and despair at his existence and how he's His Own Worst Enemy.
- I Gave My Word: Dracula does this twice. After becoming a vampire, he swears to retrieve Elhemina at all costs. The next promise is made after Lucy rises from her grave, but just before Van Helsing stakes her. Dracula swears to never cause any more casualties except for those that were already sentenced to die, and to stop his rampage of crimes.
- Jade-Colored Glasses: During Cruelle et Tendre, in which Elhemina is still alive, Dracula is clearly the most optimistic of the two. After becoming a vampire and seeing Elhemina being staked, he becomes much, much more cynical, and begins his Start of Darkness.
- Living Forever Is Awesome: Deconstructed. Dracula initially seems to believe it in Act I, but his failure to avoid Lucy's death coupled with Renfield's overdose pretty much convinces him that he was wrong.
- Love Makes You Evil: Dracula does all the horrible things he does to bring Elhemina back.
- Meaningful Echo: "Lubov Moya" is this in Qui Sera la Prochaine?, the final song of Act I. To make it all the more obvious, the song has the echo of Elhemina's voice playing in the background. Règne, the last song of Act II, also takes some of the expressions from Entre l'Amour et la Mort, but gives them a much lighter meaning.
- Mercy Kill: In Act II, Dracula kills Renfield, who was doing an overdose at the time, to shorten his pain.
- Muggle and Magical Love Triangle: Mina has reciprocal love for Dracula and Jonathan, except the former is a Vampire Monarch, and the later an Intrepid Reporter. She chooses Jonathan.
- Near-Villain Victory: Wasn't it for Mina's love for Jonathan, Dracula would have killed him and bedded her.
- "Not So Different" Remark: The Nous Sommes Ce Que Nous Sommes song ends with Count Vallachia telling Jonathan and Renfield that we are creatures of darkness. Since the Count is Dracula, he was actually making the statement for both humans and vampires, but only Renfield (who noticed the Count's Glamour Failure) and the audience know it.
- One-Man Army: Dracula is one, if his Badass Boast in L'Affrontement is any indication.
- One Scene, Two Monologues: In Mystérieux Personnage, Dracula and Mina sing unrelated lyrics, giving the last line of the song a double meaning.
- Only I Can Kill Him: As confessed by Dracula in Je Suis, he can only die by killing himself.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Vampires create others of their kinds by biting a victim on the neck in a way that produces a savage growling sound. They drink blood, but the reason for it is not explained. They apparently begin with a shadow, but may lose it later on. They can Mind Control human beings, can disappear in the darkness at night, have a supernatural sixth sense allowing them to track a reincarnated loved one and can cause that loved one to feel their presence and remember a past life. Sunlight or a stake through the heart is fatal to them, and the recitation of holy Christian texts painfully cripples them, making staking easier. They also host within them a demon, but the true cause of their Always Chaotic Evil tendencies is apparently their humanity.
- Vampire Monarch: Dracula is specifically noted as the host of Satan, and can resist sacred texts and staking, making sunlight the only way to kill him.
- The Pollyanna: Of all characters, Lucy is the most optimistic. Even after dying an becoming a vampire, she decides that she likes it. Then, in Act II, she doesn't seem to mind her father dying and looks quite happy to reunite with him.
- Questionable Consent: Double subverted. Dracula uses his vampiric powers to make Lucy have intercourse with him, but the drama is mostly played out in Act II, after Lucy's death.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Averted. Thinking about it makes Van Helsing visibly upset, but the rape of Lucy isn't played out as any worse than the countless other atrocities commited by Dracula.
- Reincarnation Romance: Dracula has been looking for the reincarnation of his wife, Elhemina, for over 500 years.
- Staking the Loved One: Van Helsing does this to Lucy.
- Stalker with a Crush: Renfield to Lucy.
- Talking Down the Suicidal: Dracula attempts this on Renfield. He only makes things worse, and ultimately does a Mercy Kill to shorten his death by overdose.
- The Undead: A vampire biting an human to the neck curses her to vampirism after her death. The only way to break the curse is to kill the (new) vampire again, thus allowing it to pass to the afterlife, become a psychopomp, or reincarnate.
- Title Drop: Dracula's first solo, Entre l'Amour et la Mort, gives its name to the piece.
- Token Religious Teammate: The Doctor Van Helsing is a Christian, though which denomination is not clear.
- Torches and Pitchforks: Elhemina dies this way. Another one chases Lucy away when she becomes a vampire, but she is ultimately killed by Van Helsing, her father.
- 20 Minutes into the Future: Most of the action happens in 2050.
- Villain Protagonist: Dracula, obviously.
- Villain Song: Entre l'Amour et la Mort is the song closest to count, since it explains Dracula's Start of Darkness.
- What You Are in the Dark: In Act II, after killing Renfield, Dracula shows his good side with Je Suis.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Lucy, in her human and psychopomp appearance.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Dracula comes to realize it, after indirectly causing the death of Lucy and killing Renfield.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: The one thing Dracula wanted was to reunite with Elhemina.
