The first sign of a bite is an insatiable hunger to create themed experiences. The next? Becoming something scarier than the undead: a graduate student.
UCF Themed Experience graduate students have transformed the space at Orlando Shakes’ Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, running through November 8. Students designed immersive lobby experiences and installations that transport audiences to modern day Dracula’s lair.
The centerpiece is the oh-so-batty Patron’s Room, which transforms throughout the evening. Before the show, guests enter Dracula’s lair, complete with a central bar, fireplace, life-size Dracula portrait, and three uniquely designed coffins. After the show, guests have now been “bitten” and can return to find the space transformed into Dracula-after-dark featuring black light art, and a Dracu-fested atmosphere.
Students also helped create two massive outdoor inflatables promoting the production: a 15-foot-wide set of chatterbox teeth and a 15-foot-tall, rock-and-roll-inspired Dracula.
The experience lets audiences grab a drink, take photos, and immerse themselves in the world of the production before and after the curtain goes up.
The Infected Include:
Student Leadership
Asheton Arnold
Molly Mars
Project Mentors
Kurt Bippert
Faculty Advisor
Adora English
Core Design Team
Cynthia Jelke
Rachel Kwiecinski
Adam Stremmel
Zoe Utsler
Jeana White
Volunteers
Hannah Bagley
Juli Buck (Spring ’26)
Dani Greif
Emily Kraus
Clarice Lowther (Spring ’26)
Jessie Marr
Rylie McBride
Emily Moore
Jake Newman
Val Portilla
Ryan Ellis Reynders
Lauren Ros
Courtney Spaeder (Spring ’26)
Kaitlyn Wasserman