"Fortune favors the bold."

[exitmurderer]

SNM #27-30 19-21 Feb 2022

And we’re back. Everything is as it was, except for all the things that are not as they were. And things are still changing. Even just doing four shows in three days, there were logistical differences between the Saturday double and the Monday show. I would imagine this will continue. Some random observations…

Such a joy to see Lindsey Matheis, who I think is currently the swing who can handle the most roles, in the show. Her Lady Macbeth, the queen of physical and emotional articulation. Blundering into her Tiny Town, so moving, even moreso given the reopening–many tears. Her DeWinter, a journey of in-the-moment decisions.

Lots of new content, what some folks are calling the un-1:1s. Oh, Lady Macduff goes there now. Oh, look at Matron and Nurse. Hey-o, Porter.

So great to see a Lost Immersive sticker up on the parking sign out front. Even greater to see some of the other Lost Immersive crew in the flesh. If you weren’t there, you know we missed you.

Suddenly Ida Saki! Not represented in the current residents gallery but there she was, hurling limbs around as the Witch Briefly Known As Fate and as Matron Who No Longer Just Hangs in the Pagoda.

Maybe they’ll iron out the Oz’s List entry, so that folks splashing out for it for first entry (instead of reserved table) can get that without hiding their ribbons.

The perpetual complaints … locking phones is great, although it kind of just shunts the bad behavior to even more hand-holding and chatting, “should we stay here?” in English and other phrases in other languages. Creepy twitchy folks who are all up in the performer’s faces, leaning in way too close, even though the pre-show spiel includes a line about giving people space.

Having the lobby open as a bar after is a nice change that I hope stays. More chill, more conducive to group conversations. And some walkouts (runouts) end there now, which can be a bit of a surprise if you think you’re sprinting toward the Manderley.

As @maskedmohawk noted, no 1:1s means no crowd dispersal. Characters acquire followers and keep them, pretty much. 5 is way busier than it used to be. Will be interesting to see what happens if/when 1:1s return.

It’s been scientifically proven: gin is superior to vodka. (I kid; drink what you like.)

It had been a million years; it had been the blink of an eye. Long live this thing, whatever form it takes.

[mckittrickbold]

Beautifully written recap. Can’t wait to be back.

[readwithjoy]

Scorched is back!!!

@scorchedthesnake has returned!!!

I've written about this before, but it's worth saying again. When I first saw Sleep No More, back in 2011, I was enthralled. I couldn't understand what I was experiencing or why it was affecting me so deeply, and I had no one to process it with. I was the only person I knew who felt this way and the only person I knew who wanted to experience the show more than once.

And then I found Tumblr and @scorchedthesnake. Evan's writing about the show (and later @bloodwillhavebloodtheysay's blog) helped me to understand my own experiences and eventually led me to find the amazing community of friends who make up my life here in New York. Almost all of my dearest friends have come from the Sleep No More community or have been connected to the show in some way. How many of you have experienced the same?

We connected first over the show and our mutual love of it, and I'm so grateful for everyone. And Evan was really the beginning of this for me. We didn't actually meet until a few years after I devoured his entire blog, and I think he may have even slowed down his writing by that point. But his blog is a wonderful picture of the earlier days of Sleep No More fandom and is worth reading through. Start at the beginning and enjoy the ride!!

And now...

Evan is a fantastic human and has offered to match donations to The Lost Garden fundraiser this week!!!!!! Can you give?

The performers and staff who have already applied for help are in real need. They are trying to cobble together work in various ways, but it's incredibly difficult even now. Though things are starting to slowly work their way back to normal, regular paychecks for artists are still months away. Many have been forced to leave the profession and the city they love because it's just not possible to keep going.

Would you have bought a ticket to Sleep No More or Then She Fell or another show this month? How much would you have paid for your ticket(s)? Would you have bought a ticket to the Mayfair party? What about a couple of cocktails in the Manderley? Can you do the math and give what you would have spent in April to help these artists who have given us all so many rich experiences? Join Evan this week and your gift will count double!!!

[mckittrickbold]

Please give as generously as you can! Thank you so much for supporting immersive arts workers from the shows we all love!

[mckittrickbold]

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A post shared by The Lost Halloween (@losthalloween) on Sep 4, 2020 at 8:11am PDT

[mckittrickbold]

How do you like to get taken to the finale?

We all know we get sent to the ballroom at the end of the show, don’t we...audience?

But how do you like to be ushered there?

For me, if I have nothing else going on, you can find me watching the Porter and Danvers sharing a lovely cup of tea. I never get tired of watching that scene.

Bonus: it guarantees you a late arrival to the ballroom if you’re not up for your 6th banquet scene of the night. 🙂

What’s your favorite way down? Comment below!

[mckittrickbold]

McKittrick Halloween 2020!

While we are all sitting at home, the McKittrick has quietly posted a schedule and tickets for Halloween. No details except that it’s again McKittrick Halloween and not Inferno, which I find exciting and refreshing. Hope this gives a bit of hope to those of us missing our favorite hotel. (Also, NYE tickets are posted - we can think about saying goodbye to 2020! And tickets to the show are on the calendar starting on June 8. Not sure whether that June 8 date is new, but it was nice to see anyway.)

[rottenwoodandwiltedsunflowers]

Social Distancing

Hey everyone!

How is your social distancing going? Hope everyone is healthy and getting by in this weird, rough time. Kae and toddler are officially homebound and I am considered an essential employee so I am still working 6 days a week. One thing that has helped with the stress and social isolation has been our network of friends on social media (a good number of whom we met through the show).

Instagram has been a lifesaver. Not only are we able to keep up with friends while sheltering at home but many of the lovely talent from the McKittrick are using the platform to do live performances. It’s wonderful to share the experience with all of our friends in live time chat and either connect to the outside world or forget the stress of a workday.

If you haven’t hopped on over to Instagram to follow the talented performers of the McKittrick, we suggest doing it now. They are providing a lot of wonderful internet content. If you like what they are doing, remember that like many people they are also not earning a paycheck right now and contribute some money if you are able and they ask. Performers in NYC were some of the first people in the country to lose their livelihoods. Here are some of the awesome accounts we recommend:

@johnwilliamwatkinsmusic: JWW is performing music live on Saturday at 6:30 EST.

@agirlnamedmallory: Mallory has gone live the last 2 weeks to do a Follies-like show as Evelyn…from the closet.

@gingerkearns: Ginger has also gone live to let Kit out to play. The last Follies type performance featured Calloway and was utterly delightful.

@chelseyng: Chelsey is going live Friday night as Cordelia for Cordy’s Crisis Hotline. Looks to be a glittery good time. 

@nickatkinsonofficial: Nick is doing a weekly installment called Nick Atkinson’s Bedtime Story. Every Sunday he is doing a dramatic reading of Rebecca chapter by chapter.

@breshort: Bre went live to perform original music earlier this week and we really hope it happens again!

@stephamoroso: Steph has also been singing some covers and playing piano live every week in what she dubs Quarantunes Live.

@jdocimo: Jeff is going to be sharing an original short film (Salzmann) also featuring Steph C. on Saturday night.

@dubinmagic: Gregory Dubin is a regular at the McKittrick Follies and does a variety show every night.

@movement_for_hope: This is a new group formed in response to the Coronavirus that offers a variety of free online classes from yoga to dance to movement to meditation. It features a lot of names familiar to fans including Annie Rigney, Lindsey Matheis, Isadora Wolfe, Taylor Drury, Kelly Todd, Marc Cardarelli, Ida Saki, Jason Cianciulli, Jenna Saccurato, Troy Ogilvie, and Ryan VanCompernolle.

[mckittrickbold]

These performances have done wonders for my mental health. They are amazing and an important reminder of how lucky I am to be a part of this awesome community. Thank you to all the performers who are sharing their talent with us!

And thank you to those who are sharing information about our beloved hotel residents, including @readwithjoy @dunwannawakeup and of course @rottenwoodandwiltedsunflowers . Looking forward to meeting everyone in person in our favorite place someday soon.

[elderflowerchampagne]

142

I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, because I’m not, but sometimes it upsets me that I turn to the McK when I have nothing better to do. Beloved building, forgive me. 

God save us all from the straights.

I’ve wasted an awful lot of time not paying attention to Kristen, but she’s a wonderful Bald - during the rave, in the midst of all the screaming, I heard this quietly demonic giggle - brilliant. Her solo in the ballroom, before Macduff shows up, made me think that Bald could be graceful. I never considered that before. I’ve certainly thought it of the women who’ve embodied her over the years, but never I’ve never thought of my beloved brutal witch as particularly graceful.

Last time I was here I was wondering if there are still things I haven’t seen, and decided that couldn’t possibly be true after eight years. It was. I hung out with Joe’s Porter for a while and watched him in the vanity off the lobby. Also, shoutout to him for managing to fling his jacket so perfectly that it ended up hanging on the hook in the lobby. I feel like this is something I should have noticed by now but did not.

Sometimes I’ll look at certain objects or scenes and remember things I meant to write about in a previous recap - in my line of work I come into contact with the word “yonic” more than most people typically do, I think, and the statue of the Virgin in the lobby is INCREDIBLY YONIC. I’ve grown up all my life seeing Mary-on-the-halfshell, but I’ve been meaning to tell you guys that in this particular one her head is obviously the clitoris. You’re welcome, I think, but that’s also something I probably should have noticed by now but did not.

I had my first encounter with Aliza Russell as the nurse, and I don’t have much to say except that I was very impressed she was able to press her face into the laundry so precisely I could see all the details on the other side.

 I’ve seen Marija/Lady MB a couple of times but never before heard her tortured screaming on the fifth floor. She’s also laughing as she and Macbeth come crashing down to the banquet, so make of that what you will.

This is an embarrassingly facile observation and essentially meaningless in terms of all the things I’ve seen her do these eight years (my first Lady Macbeth!), but Tori’s so pretty.

Bostyn is the only Agnes, indeed the only character (except Lady Macduff when she’s drunk), I’ve ever seen who sings along with the soundtrack. I guess I’ve never really considered whether or not the characters can hear the music. Thoughts?

The list of People I’m Never Not Happy to See is relatively short, but Virginia is certainly on it. I got a tarot reading from her and managed to pull three mothers in a row - Sword, Wands, and Pentacles. Apparently my current self is ferociously ambitious and protective of what’s mine, which is not news. She also has an ox (I think?) named Nelson, so go visit when you get a chance. 

xoxox

K

[mosaicprince]

i heard Nate’s Speakeasy sing along to the soundtrack one time (to the song that plays after the card game but before Fulton comes in, or maybe it’s the intro to his and fulton’s duet- i think it’s every night about this time or now that ive found you?) then on another visit, he was humming along, then on yet ANOTHER visit, i heard Jason’s Fulton humming to whatever song comes on before he takes Taxi’s measurements. when he was humming, an obvious regular near the front of the crowd started humming too and i didn’t know if i should be embarrassed or not lol.

[shrineofapollo-deactivated20251]

I followed Nate Carter as Speakeasy once and he sat down and sung along to ‘I’ll Never Smile Again’. I know he’s not the only one though and I haven’t spent a lot of time with Taxi but I’ve had friends tell me about him singing or humming along to the music.

I haven’t really thought about it for other floors but on 4th I always viewed it as if it’s a radio station playing throughout.

I’ve only ever followed Bostyn Ashjian as Lady Macduff so I don’t know if everyone does this, but in the lobby she was singing ‘Goodnight Childern’ which plays in the Macduff apartment so that leads me the think the music playing there could be a radio station also. Especially because of the outro to ‘Slumber Song’, which i believe is the last song to play in their apartment during the loop.

Or it could just be a Bostyn thing to sing along! I adore her.

I think maybe songs could be something heard by everyone but ambiance and scores are heard just by us.

[mckittrickbold]

Jeff Docimo as Speakeasy likes to perch on a crate, stare intensely at audience members, and sing along to the music in his bar. Makes me giggle every time!

[gallowgreengal]

My 2019 Hitchcock Halloween 2-minute recap

[mckittrickbold]

Great video from @gallowgreengal that captures the party well! I love the walled garden part—we did not film that enough—and the last shot.

[mckittrickbold]

I so loved the Hitchcock party that I made a playlist of the songs that were referenced and used in it.

While I am super proud of the fact that I found the song that appeared in the amazing walled garden performances, I know I have missed some from other parts of the party. Feel free to post suggestions for additions!

And special shout out to @rottenwoodandwiltedsunflowers whose awesome videos helped me a lot.

[mckittrickbold]

Perhaps a bit early for some, but just discovered this gem from Ana Gasteyer. Definite McKittrick Christmas vibe in the title track: “Sugar and Booze.” It would play well in a Follies!

She’s also got a non-Christmas album that I am loving too.

[mckittrickbold]

Shout out to the many Sleep No More performers who did the show and then had a role in the party afterwards.

In particular, Marc Cardarelli gets a special shout out for being Malcolm in the show (all those stairs!) and then performing in party scenes that went on until at least 3 am.

What an impressive and dedicated group of performers we get to see in our beloved hotel night after night. We are all so lucky!

[dunwannawakeup]

Do you know who played boy witch last night?

I was not at the show. @mckittrickbold @manderleyghost do you remember?

[mckittrickbold]

It was Nate Carter.

[mckittrickbold]

“Complete with a Hitchcock takeover of the hotel in its entirety”  !!!

Getting very excited about this party!

[mckittrickbold]

Creepiest Space in the McKittrick?

I am inspired by @theaterguy105-blog and his question about the spookiest character. So I have to ask, what do you think is the creepiest space in the hotel?

I have a lot of possible answers to this question, but I have to go with that back hallway on 5 with the padded room. I almost never go there, though I have played a game where I see how long I can stay in the padded room before I get creeped out and leave (I think ten seconds?).

[readwithjoy]

How strict are they with the costumes at the Halloween parties? I loved this year’s theme, but a Hitchcock character wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for my costume lol

Not strict at all. Seriously. Wear whatever you want. I mean – I recommend wearing something that is Halloween in theme, but that’s just because I love looking at everyone’s costumes!  You can wear simple and plain black if you want, or a costume based on something else.  I have seen some VERY off theme costumes in previous parties and it’s been totally fine. 

I’ll be wearing something that could be, perhaps generously, described as “celebratory attire” on Saturday. And perhaps it could be “The Victim” (that seems pretty vague…)  And then on Thursday I’ll be in something inspired by “The Birds.” But not a character. 

The current dress code, which has changed at least once since tickets went on sale, is below:

Come dressed inspired by the master of suspense, and step into the glamorous world of Hitchcock at The McKittrick Hotel. Select from:  Hitchcock Blonde, The Victim, The Detective, The Leading Man, Melanie Daniels in The Birds, Mrs Danvers in Rebecca, Norman Bates in Psycho, Marian Crane in Psycho, Mother in Psycho, Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest,  Jeff Jeffries in Rear Window or any other Hitchcock character of your choosing. You may also dress inspired by: Birds, Binoculars, Rope, Aeroplanes, Eyeballs or Black and White psychosis. Please note dress code will be strictly enforced.

The original dress code was:

Guests are required to come dressed in their finest celebratory attire for Hollywood’s deviant master of suspense. Dress code will bestrictly enforced.

So, all that to say, wear what you want to! It’s Halloween…

[mckittrickbold]

Great answer, @readwithjoy! This costume verbiage has been confusing and sounds so strict when in practice it isn’t. I hope it doesn’t *scare* people away from attending what sounds like an awesome party!

I am thrilled about a new theme this year. So just come out and get your spooky or Hitchcock on (and please, don’t be stressed about something that is supposed to be fun!).

[readwithjoy]

Do you think that there is any evidence that Margaret Fulton could be sexy witch?

I’ve always heard the theory that Sexy Witch is the other Agnes who’s family name has flown right out of my head. Not Naismith, the other Agnes. (Someone put it in the comments!) 

I don’t think I’ve heard anyone talk about Sexy as Margaret Fulton, but that certainly puts an interesting spin on Cunning Man watching the Rave and his response to it, doesn’t it? 

[mckittrickbold]

The idea of Sexy being Fulton’s wife puts such a great spin on all of his interactions with her, especially what goes on in the mortuary. This is a super fun idea to mull over, as @manderleyghost and I just did. I love thinking through all of this stuff.

[mckittrickbold]

Spooky season is starting at Michael’s craft stores! Ready for it. 🧛🏻‍♂️🧟‍♀️🧙🏻‍♂️🦹🏾‍♀️