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Exhibit Is Flying High At The Brooklyn MuseumA 1,000 pound plane is now hanging in the lobby of the Brooklyn Museum as the first of approximately 275 objects that will be included in the exhibition %u201cThe Machine Age in America 1918-1941,%u201d which opens October 17.The airplane, with a wingspan of over 30 feet, arrived at the Museum by truck on September 30 and was reassembled in the lobby by the plane%u2019s owner, Colen Palen. Museum engineers then lifted the plane to the ceiling and suspended it in a banked position as if flying around a racing pylon.%u201cThe Machine Age in America 1918-1941,%u201d will examine the impact of the machine on American art in the period between the two World Wars and will illustrate how the machine permeated all aspects of American culture from painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, and the decorative arts to fashion and industrial design and forms of transportation and communication.The Brooklyn Museum is located at 200 Eastern Parkway. For info and hours, 638-5000.'Dracula' Missing Suspenseful Bite At The River StageBY SUSAN SPANO WELLSThe River Stage opened its third season last Saturday night with a production of %u201cDracula,%u201d adapted for the stage from Bram Stoker%u2019s horror classic by Crane Johnson. The vampire legend is, of course, older than the Transylvanian hills from whence it comes. Stoker, however, set his version of the story of the undead in Victorian England, with Count Dracula having abandoned his castle in the craggy mountains of his homeland because a team of scientists and metaphysicians were hot on his trail. He%u2019s established himself in a heathside manor house by the time Johnson%u2019s theatrical version of Stoker%u2019s novel begins, and hasn%u2019t forgotten to bring along a coffinful of his native soil, so he can rest easy during the day.In fact, when the curtain rises at TheP i v o r S t o a o iV m P m in t H o c n ln im A /1---- -----Cf-f ---%u201d --------- **\his first victim, sweet Lucy Richards, fiancee and guest of Dr. Seward, who owns the manor next door to Dracula%u2019s. Since Dr. Seward%u2019s medical science can%u2019t explain Lucy%u2019s condition, the noted metaphysician, Von Helsing %u2014 played in this production bya woman %u2014 is called in to consult.Von Helsing recognizes immediately what ails Lucy, but alas, it%u2019s too late to do anything other than drive a stake through her heart and go after the Count. But it takes the good doctor and the hunchbacked occultist an unaccountably long time to do so, since they must first jabber about the merits of science versus metaphysics, figure out that%u2019s it%u2019s the fellow next door who%u2019s at the root of the evil, and locate his daytime lair.Undoubtedly, the tale itself still has the power to fascinate, but Stoker has little to thank his adapter, Johnson, for. On stage, the story creaks and groans, though not without blood-thirsty vampires treading on squeaking floorboards, but with stilted dialogue, odd manipulations of the original plot (whose purpose seems to be to allow uic lu Like place wiliiuui change of set), and a striking lack of drama. All the really juicy parts of the story are recounted instead of dramatized; we%u2019re told at the beginning of Act II that Lucy%u2019s been caught on the heath with her fangs in the throat of a country child, then put out of her miseryin customary vampirical fashion %u2014 a speech which brought guffaws from the audience on Saturday night instead of the intended breath-bated silence.So, The River Stage company had their work cut out for them in bringing the legendary Count to life. As it turned out, they were never able to find quite the right acting style to suit the evening%u2019s lurid events. Theresa Ciesinski as Von Helsing did manage to deliver her lines with intelligence and clarity, though whether she was playing her character as a woman, or simply an actress playing a male role never came clear. Fran O%u2019Brien as poor, dear Lucy and Glen Thomas as the Count both made believable vampires, as well as a visually striking stage silhouette %u2014 with the tall Count wrapping his blood bride in the billowing folds of his black cloak; the traditional gesture, but it still works.Other aspects of the production didn%u2019t work as well. The character of Renfield, one of Dr. Seward%u2019s oddest patients, was difficult to even see because he dragged himself along the floor for the entire evening. The country lass Abigail, a maid in Dr.Seward%u2019s house, was played for broad comedy by Louise M. Heit, which didn%u2019t match the tone of the rest of the production, though it hinted at how all the other characters could have been effectively played for laughs.In all, audiences have seen better work at The River Stage, so perhaps the problem lies in the choice of this difficult and ungainly material. The River Stage is still the best-situated theatre in Brooklyn, lying at the threshold of the Fulton Street landing, surrounded by bistros perfect for pretheatre dining, backed by the panorama of the river, the bridge, and the Manhattan lights. But we must look to future productions for more satisfying evenings of theatre %u2014 and in the case of this %u201cDracula,%u201d let the undead bury the undead.DRACULA runs through October 31, with performances at 8pm Thursdays through Sundays and Sunday matinees at 3pm. The River Stage, 46 Old Fulton Street. Telephone: Call 852-7360.O c to b e r 9 ,1 9 8 6 , T H E P H O E N IX , Page 2