Cripple Creek’s Melodromatic history lives on with performances filled with town inside jokes

CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. (KRDO) - It's the final weekend showing for "The Vampire of Cripple Creek" at the Butte Theater, a classic Dracula melodrama with the theater's signature Cripple Creek twist.

The Butte Theater is one of the last in the country to perform classical American Melodramas regularly, according to its website. Made popular in the American West in the 1800s, Melodramas are classic "hero saves the damsel in distress from the villain."

At the Butte Theater, each script is molded to reflect the town's charm. In this play, you'll hear references to historical Cripple Creek figures, visits to Cripple Creek's 1800s "red light district," jokes about rising home prices on the front range and, of course, donkeys.

The final weekend of The Dracula of Cripple Creek purposefully coincides with Halloween. The final five performances are Thursday through Sunday.