'Dracula' and 15 more LI shows with bite

Dracula the Musical (Theatre Three in Port Jefferson, through Oct. 30)

Frank Wildhorn has never been the critics' favorite, but his fan base has made his "Jekyll & Hyde" a cult hit with its lush, if repetitive rock-opera score. "Dracula," making its Long Island premiere, was notable in its brief 2004 Broadway run for sexy scenes with the thirsty Count and actresses Kelli O'Hara and Melissa Errico of Manhasset. Handsome Jon Rivera stars in the title role at Theatre Three.

My Fair Lady (John W. Engeman Theater in Northport, Sept. 16-Oct. 30)

Despite a hot, dry summer, the rain in Spain still falls mainly in the plain in the most famous elocution lessons in theater history. Henry Higgins tries an extreme makeover of Eliza Doolittle in this ravishing musical do-over of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion." A worthy choice, indeed, in the Engeman's season of classic musicals. engemantheater.com, 631-261-2900

Homecoming X 2 (Tilles Center at C.W. Post, Oct. 2 and Dec. 11)

Two Long Island natives who've made it big on Broadway - first, Idina Menzel ("Wicked," "Rent") who grew up in Syosset, then Patti LuPone ("Sweeney Todd" and "Gypsy" revivals) of Northport - make one-night-only appearances, singing some of the songs that won them Tonys, plus some of their other show-tune favorites.

Rabbit Hole (Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts, through Oct. 3; Hampton Theatre Company, Oct. 21-Nov. 7)

A pair of "Rabbit Holes": David Lindsay-Abaire won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for drama with his story of parents coping with the death of their child when he was struck by a car, and dealing with the remorseful teenage driver who seeks their forgiveness.

Phantom (BroadHollow's BayWay Arts Center in East Islip, Oct. 9-24; BroadHollow Theatre, 700 Hempstead Tpke., Elmont, Nov. 13-28). The other musical version of "Phantom of the Opera" - not Andrew Lloyd Webber's. Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit's moving take on the classic tragedy focuses as much on the father of the disfigured music lover who haunts the opera house as on the soprano he loves.

Monty Python's Spamalot (Tilles Center, Oct. 10)

The national tour of the 2005 Tony winner for best musical makes its only Long Island stop, spreading mirth and mayhem drawn (and quartered) from the film spoof "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Steve McCoy of Patchogue, familiar to Long Island theater fans, stars as King Arthur.

Fifty Million Frenchmen (Levitas Arts Center in  Southampton, Oct. 14-24)

Cole Porter's star-crossed 1929 musical - it opened just after the market crashed - makes its Long Island debut 81 years later, directed and narrated by Westhampton Beach theater historian Lee Davis. As the song says, "Fifty million Frenchmen can't be wrong."

God of Carnage (Arena Players Second Stage, Oct. 15-Nov. 14)

The Long Island premiere of Yasmina Reza's parent food-fight play that swept Broadway a couple of seasons back and featured a Tony-winning performance by Marcia Gay Harden. One couple's son has hit the other's, breaking his teeth. The four grown-ups gather to sort it out. Serving drinks is a bad idea.

The Sound of Music (Engeman Theater, Nov. 18-Jan 9, 2011)

We never thought of the Rodgers-and-Hammerstein inspirational as a holiday show, but apparently the Engeman folks think it has enough nuns and kids running about to carry it off. Never mind the Nazis.

The Understudy (Airport Playhouse in Bohemia, through Sept. 26)

So you thought Broadway was glamorous. In Theresa Rebeck's backstage romp - a Long Island premiere - the star doesn't "get" the play and the stage manager is the thankless understudy's spiteful ex-fiancee.

Raindogs (Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, Oct. 16)

A workshop production of a new musical based on Lanford Wilson's "Balm in Gilead" inaugurates the new Annie & Eli Second Stage at Bay Street, named for Anne Jackson and Eli Wallach.

Two Gentlemen of Broadway (Tilles Center, Oct. 23)

Songsmith Marvin Hamlisch ("A Chorus Line") and cabaret star Michael Feinstein pool their resources for an evening of show tunes they love best.

The Passion of Dracula (Arena Players in E. Farmingdale, Nov. 5-28)

In case you can't get enough of the world's first vampire celebrity: a Gothic drama set in the English countryside, where the Count has taken up residence.

Desperate Affection (Hampton Theatre Company, Nov. 12-21)

Maddie's biological clock is ticking and she's worried that her new boyfriend must be hiding a terrible flaw. Turns out she's right. The guy she's dating is an assassin and his target is the president. Happily, this thriller is also a comedy.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (BroadHollow's BayWay Arts Center in East Islip, Dec. 4-26)

Meredith Willson wrote back-to-back hits with "The Music Man" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." But he never recovered from his first flop, a stage adaptation of "Miracle on 34th Street," based on the movie that proved Santa is no myth. Maybe it was the title: "Here's Love." We prefer this one.