#maya lubinsky

[beantownbailout-blog]

In The Night We Trust - A film by Mark Tinter

Rob McNeill & Maya Lubinsky

[antihero]

Oh my gosh, I didn't know Maya Lubinsky left! She was fantastic as Hecate. I only just found out after reading deliriumdog's post. I had a very similar experience when she pulled me in to her lair, and made this for her in thanks.

Flying home today & going to see the show on Tuesday. If anyone has noticed anything interesting / any new performers in the last few months I should look for, please do tell :)

[deliriumdog]

Of Goats and Masked Men

I just noticed that the date is 12/12/13, which means I was journeying to Sleep No More exactly one year ago. I’ve been a few times since as well, but that was on the numerically ominous 12/12/12 and I never wrote a proper recap. I haven’t written any recaps since, either, and it’s way too late to recollect the events of that evening in any detail. But there was this one thing…

[Spoilers, dear reader.]

Fairly early in the show, I came across Maya Labinsky’s Hecate out in the rep bar. We were alone as she readied her room and then she slowly turned to me and her eyes locked onto mine in a creepy-yet-deeply-gratifying way. She was very good at that. (I say “was” because -sniff- she’s no longer in the show, though I imagine she’s still good at that. Just less likely to actually do it.) She pulled me into the lair and, having been so swept away that I actually audibly said “Yes” to the question of whether I would find her ring, I felt some compulsion to spend at least a little time searching for it.

Mind you, I did not actually believe the ring to be anywhere if Careena was not in the house, but maybe there was that slightest chance. I waited until later in the show, when the hallways got crowded and I felt in-between things to journey up to the 5th floor and root around a bit.

It was up there that I was no more than thirty seconds into feeling up a particular stuffed goat in a forest that I felt the eyes of another white mask upon me. I looked up and saw a total stranger looking at me quizzically (at first) and I initially figured that he had made me for a looney. Now, a looney I might be, but at that particular moment I had perfectly sound, rational reasons to be feeling up that particular goat and I did not care if the masked stranger thought otherwise. So after a moment’s pause I continued with the task at hand.

It was then that not only did the stranger fail to retreat as I expected, but rather leapt right in and began feeling up the goat himself. It’s a large goat, and sizable enough for two, but after I had finished working around the base of it, I decided to leave the rest to my motivated stranger.

I continued along and around the maze, feeling up the branches and twigs instead, and found myself rooting into one dark corner where, if I were a lost ring, I would most certainly be. The force of my convictions must have been palpable because when I glanced up from my searchings I saw that my new friend had left the goat behind in favor of the latest target of my own fruitless quest. How was it that I exuded such confidence in something so meritless an endeavor? How I wish I could take whatever vibe I was putting out there and bottle it for later consumption at such times when it might actually be useful.

Overcome by the situation’s farcical aspects, I made my way for the closest door, half expecting my new shadow to follow, but he did not. I left the floor entirely in order to pursue other theories and leaving the shadow to come up with his own. About ten minutes later I abandoned my quest completely. I cannot now remember exactly what it was that diverted me, but there in the McKittrick events have a way of redirecting one’s attention.

[elderflowerchampagne]

I've seen Sleep No More

seven times and I have not at any time, in any role seen Maya Lubinsky. I don't think this is normal.

[akajakeedwardmarks]

"Behind the Scene:  Sleep No More":  Interview w / Maya Lubinsky

"Spellbound by the performance, we spoke to Maya Lubinsky, who plays none other than the crimson clad witch Hecate, about the challenges of Sleep No More, which parts still gives her the chills, and why being true to yourself is the most important part of enjoying the performance."

- via GrandLifeHotels, Best of New York:  January 11, 2013

[thebloodybusiness]

Doing the double, or "How I learned to forget about my personal safety and hop stairs like Luke Murphy"

From the desk of the Thane of Cawdor

Two shows in a single day, with travel time, a guarantee that we won't be on our way home until 5:35 AM and Glamis feeling like hell in a bucket? Absolutely. No self-respecting superfan can truly earn the right to wear a cape without a double, right? Right. This is really such a great idea I can't imagine why we haven't done it sooner.

*cough*

We arrived and met ilostmyreasonpatron for dinner and Q&No A. By which I mean he asked me ring questions and I tried to stonewall him while appearing helpful. ;) The lovely and sparkling Annabella showed up, with some news that I'd discovered moments earlier: someone cut down my sunflower. What kind of person would do that?

I'm pretty sure I know exactly what kind. 

Sad news aside, it was gift time.

That is a hand-carved box covered in triskelion symbols in a design specific to Hecate. Inside is a rainbow purple amethyst crystal ball, wrapped in 100% silk and scented with Hecate's oil, Holy Wood and Seven Sisters incense. The purpose, aside from paying thanks to a woman who continues to invest huge amounts of time and energy into helping Glamis and I, is to help Annabella increase her already formidable powers. Amethyst increases the clarity and focus of a medium, as well as brings a sense of peace and tranquility needed to see and understand. The color is Hecate's as well. Many think it's black or red, but Hecate's color is violet.

In addition I brought her some sage from the miracle sage in my yard. The miracle is, I abandoned it three years ago and it Just. Kept. Growing. So this year I rescued it and it's coming back with a vengeance. I also brought her a bottle of Hecate's Oil.

Adelle whisked Glamis away for a few minutes, and then it was time to board a train for the McKittrick. Almost instantly our cards were called, I downed my shots and away we went.

Once inside, I flitted from character to character, unable to focus on any one thing for too long. I did stick with Chelsea's Agnes for a bit, seeing some of the quieter moments. I watched her flirt shamelessly with poor Creepy Matty's Fulton, steal his money and run away. Watched her take abuse from the Porter. Saw her take a nap. Watched Fulton creeping on her. Watched her wake up and primp in the mirror. There's something so innocent yet so ridiculously intimate about watching a woman getting ready. Or is that just my thing? :) When she left through Narnia, I stayed behind to search for something. Fruitless.

I left soon after and bounced a bit until I came across Emily Terndrup's Catherine Campbell. I decided that this time, I was going to stick with her after she went to Lady Macbeth's room. I'm so glad I did.

Aside from her dance with Duncan, I've never really seen Emily dance. I've seen her walk around and shoot daggers at LMD, exchange barbs with the Porter, crush pills, draw LDM around with glasses of poison, but dance...really dance? I'd just never caught it. More's the pity, because let me say now, this woman is fantastic. I mean truly remarkable.Watching her stalk through the Macduff residence and break out into these graceful-yet-powerful little solos was just beautiful.

Something else I've never seen: She touches each and every mirror that LDM later flips around. Interesting. Watching her spit on the little family relief statue was illuminating as well. She isn't just in the employ of Lady Macbeth. This Catherine Campbell genuinely hates the Macduff family.

Continuing on, I saw all of her work with Duncan to put him to sleep...this constant need to be around him, but unable to give herself over, seemingly knowing his coming fate. His almost desperate desire of her was abundantly clear.

Aside: the crypt stinks horribly again. Love that.

Can we talk about the door dance? I've never seen it before. I had absolutely no idea that was coming. Nor did I understand how dangerous it could be to stand too close! I just about got my head taken off. My fault entirely, I thought they were going down the hall and stepped forward at just the wrong moment. What that did, though, was spike my adrenaline and make me see how risky and dangerous the entire piece is. I was enthralled. Also, her solo in his bed after he's asleep is a little bit heartbreaking. Even though CC is kind of a terrible person, Emily still made me feel for her.

At some point she dragged me into a room. Yes, Catherine, I have always wanted to see this room! I didn't know that until this exact moment, of course. The experience is incredibly intense. I'll not spoil anything except to say this: it is 100% confirmed that as of 10/6/2012 they were using real cow's milk for that scene. This is a terrible idea, and one I hope the show soon changes. I'll let Glamis tell her side of that, but serving real milk seems unnecessary to the scene. Rice milk would work just as fine and have far, far less chance of causing severe negative reactions in guests.

That minor rant aside, I was incredibly moved by the whole experience. Emily has quickly become one of my favorite dancers in the show, and I can't wait to see her in other roles.

After I left CC, I wandered into the lobby, with the intent of heading toward Manderley. I realized as I headed up the stairs that I could hear a woman singing about a fire. Some people reading might know this, but I'm a Boy Witch virgin. I've spent a good amount of time with various Boy Witches, but never had the luck or the pleasure of being dragged into a phone booth. On this night, as I crossed the room, Conor Doyle was pouring his heart out. He shot me a look from the stage and I froze in my tracks. I just stopped moving and watched. When it was over, I walked with him to the Porter, and the next thing I knew, I was wrapped up in a phone booth.

At one point he was quite simply sobbing on me, so I wrapped him up and hugged him. I wanted to say something but it just didn't seem right. He just needed to cry. So I let him. I almost came close to crying myself.

I am no longer a Boy Witch virgin.

I finally made it to the bar, where I was treated to Archibald and Celeste. Celeste and I are becoming fast old friends, and she did me the pleasure of formally introducing me to Archie. We talked at length about how silly we're going to look on Gender Night at the Carnival Corbeaux, what with all the facial hair. I get the feeling he's going to look a lot less silly than I am. :)

I was also treated to something I've never gotten to see. It was the lovely Annabella dancing up a storm! She and Archie danced and danced and danced, and I stayed to watch it all. Alba Albanese can exude joy like no one else. There was actually a moment when I wished more than anything that I knew how to dance, because I would have absolutely tried to cut in. :)

I ended up staying with her until after the first show was over...I never went back in for the finale or anything. Some runes were thrown, some wisdom imparted  some homework was given. She read my mind like thirteen times in 15 minutes.

Outside. Line up. We're doing this again? Shove food in face. Drink everything liquid in my bag. share some brief conversation with revolveroftheloom and takeoverinspats. So nice to see you both again! Met up with one half of the Paisley Sweets couple (the prettier half was en route!) and Maxim's beautiful sister. Away. Inside. Deja vu! VIOLET!

Ahh...Violet. Nothing settles me like Violet's delightful smile and smooth voice. And Leopold as well? What a treat.

Ace cards!

Ballroom. Austin's Boy Witch. Well...yes. Away we go. No phone booth, but we did have a lot of moments all throughout the building. That Boy. Always racing around a corner and then stopping to shoot you Boy Witch Eyes as you round the corner and come to a grinding halt. :)

We flitted around the hotel for what I assume was a loop. Who knows. We did things. There was an incredibly aggressive and obnoxious gang of girls pushing and shoving. I sort of gave up trying to be close, they just suck the joy out of it when they get like that. You don't have to be literally attached to a performer's ass for them to know you're paying attention, girls. And there is never an excuse to intentionally shove. People bounce around off of each other all the time, but to put your hands out and shove just makes you...well, it makes you something that the Scottish love to use as an insult. 

By the way, there's never a reason to snatch the Boy Witch's clothing out of my hand either. It's not just you in there, honey. Of course aggro-girl was rewarded with phone booth time, so what do I know, right?

Spent a lot of time in the Rep Bar with Mia Mountain's Hecate. Wow, has she really elevated her performance for the woman in red. This distraught, broken thing, putting on a brave face, never really reaching a point where she's comfortable or satisfied with what she's doing but she does it anyway.

Can we just stop for one moment and appreciate how incredibly gorgeous Mia is, especially in that dress, with that hair, under that spotlight? She's a living, breathing painting. And that smile! I was pulled into the lair and when that smile broke, I thought "well, that's slightly unfair to the rest of humanity, I'm pretty sure a blind man would fall for that smile!" I was given a wet boat and sent on my way.

I hit the Manderley again for refreshment and heard tell that Glamis had "taken the choo-choo" to three. I found her curled in the corner of the Macbeth's room, not feeling well. She was taking a rest and hoping to catch the rock garden dance. She sent me away, so I headed back to the lobby to test a theory about...well...something. I ended up seeing something else I'd never managed to catch. Macbeth killing LMD. Lily Ockwell's blood-curdling screams will never leave my head, and Nick Bruder's vicious treatment of her, with so little care, such utter indifference...it was brutal.

As she lay on the floor, Matty Oaks' Macduff runs to find her. No one moves, but we'd been given the "steward green light" so I moved closer. People started to gather around. Macduff picked her up and sat with her. He rose up, presented her to a man, who backed away. "Why would you back away?" I thought  "Clearly this man is grieving his dead wife. Help him!" Macduff turned, wit a look of bewilderment on his face and brought her to me. I slid my arms under her. Matty slid his hands over mine and turned me around and sat me on the couch, depositing his dead wife in my lap.

HEY, THIS GUY JUST GAVE ME HIS DEAD WIFE, WHAT DO I DO WITH HER?

Never had that happen before. Guys don't generally toss their wives at me. :)

She awoke in the blue light, slid herself off of my lap and had me put her coat on. And she was gone.

I stuck my head in the Porter's office, looking for clues. Paul's Porter walked in, took a look at something on me and kicked a chair out, motioning me to sit. I did. He took a sheet of McKittrick letterhead and folded a giant paper boat, taking great care to note the logo of the hotel on the outside of the boat repeatedly. He then took a ring, wedged it up high inside the "sail" of the boat and pressed the paper to keep it in. he put the boat on the desk and walked away.

Uhh. Is that for me? I genuinely didn't know what to do, but I know that folded things and rings are tokens...so I took it. I've since checked and it is not a Major Clue to the Big Mystery. It was just Paul being awesome and creating a moment.

Headed up to the fifth floor just because I hadn't even seen who was Nurse and Matron tonight, but I'll be honest, I had some theories that required a look into the hut. I found the door closed but the window open, with Maya Lubinsky's Matron staring at a painting with great focus. I tried my best to get a look at various areas of the hut but you just can't see in there. A fly in the ointment of an interactive show that encourages curiosity, methinks.

Anyway. I have only seen Maya's Matron in passing, so I stuck around. It was mirror dance time, and Omagbitse Omagbemi's Nurse showed up. I tried to follow Maya all the way to the gate, but honestly, at the tail end of a double I just couldn't run any more. As she stared at Nurse Shaw leaving, I slowly made my way around the maze. As I was getting closer, she came toward me and took my hand and led me through the maze into the hut.

First of all the tea was warm and delicious. Secondly, Maya's eyes! She shifts from looking like a porcelain doll to having these huge, expressive eyes that just suck you in. She told me a story, then held me for a while. Then it got weird and of course...it will have blood. I wandered away and checked a few more theories, all fruitless. I decided to head back to the lobby and nose around.

More wandering. Met up with Glamis again who was not feeling well at all. Stood guard outside the bathroom door for her, then deposited her in the Manderley where Violet took care of her. Went back in just to catch the finale. After, Kelly's Bald slipped her hand in mine and we walked arm in arm back to Manderley. Who says you can't go back? I do it all the time. One of these days, Kelly, I'm going to spend an hour with you. I saw those looks in the ballroom, it's just that Austin already claimed me! :)

Drinks with the Paisleys & Sister, People Vs. Larsen rocking the place, I'm a total cad and accepted drinks from a woman all night who's name I have totally forgotten because I'm a jerk. Saw Kat and finally, after what feels like months of trying to connect gave her the charms we've been collecting, and we finally got to give Elizabeth a Hecate-related thing.

The story that accompanies this pin:

In ancient Celtic lore, there are many ways to reach Otherworld. This pin tells the story of one of these ways.

When some Celts passed into the spirit world, it is said that their souls take the form of snakes and lizards to travel to the lands where they can be transported across the veil. These souls seek out the homes of living fisherman, asking to be taken to Otherworld via their ships. This motley procession is escorted, both in this world and the Other, by Hecate’s dogs. These dogs are bound by the same honor found in their mistress: They are guardians of the weak, the meek, the mild and the unjustly maligned. Hecate has blessed this procession by sending her guardians, and their presence makes the transition between worlds possible.

Spent a little time explaining to Emily that she's blowing my damn mind on the regular. Spoke to a few people, the incredibly brilliant smile of Mia Mountain lit up my world, introduced Maxim to his crush, Lily Ockwell (and ratted him out to boot!). Was able to say goodnight and goodbye to Matty, who has done so many amazing things for so many, many shows. It was an honor to see his last night.

The bar staff sort of had to throw us out. "Ten minutes, folks." 

Then we thought "Well we can't get a train until 5:30 in the morning" so the Paisleys and we thought maybe we'd fine a diner and relax. None of us know the area. Glamis was not feeling well at all, so the hike to find someplace about wiped her out. We ended up in a cab to the train station, which of course is frigging closed until 5:15. 

Doubles aren't really gonna work out in our future, methinks. Especially in the winter! I'm damn glad we did it. We earned our capes, dammit. But it's probably going to be a good long while before it happens again.

Lastly, explaining the title of this recap...I ended up behind Luke at some point early in the night as he was hitting those stairs three at a time and vaulting over the railings. I'm not a skinny guy, nor am I limber, or lithe, or tall. But I'll be damned if I didn't figure out a way to stay within half a flight of him by taking the stairs down three at a time. It hurt. I probably won't be doing it often. :)

[behindawhitemask]

During a recent visit to the hotel, I asked Maximilian how many wives he's had with the surname "DeWinter."

He took a sip of his drink, thought a moment, and held up three fingers. 

From left to right: Constance DeWinter, Celeste DeWinter, and Violet DeWinter. 

[deliriumdog]

Visit #8: The Marathon Begins on the Rooftop

Three Shows, Two Nights. Ready? Go!

(This is one in a series in which I'm documenting my 6-shows-in-two-weeks Sleep No More experiment. See earlier posts for prior exploits. I'll post at least one more for the final 6-hour visit, and some deep thoughts on what I've learned about myself after all this.)

Standard Warning: Here Be Spoilers... 

The magical draw of the McKittrick was extending well outside the boarders of NYC as I made my way into town last Thursday. I had a ticket for the 6:30 garden entry and approaching the Lincoln Tunnel at 5:00, thought I had timed my drive from Baltimore just right. Then traffic came to a standstill. At 5:30, the radio said the tunnel is "1 hour in." By my estimate, it would take me a good hour just to get to the tunnel. After parking, I was thinking I'd be lucky to get there 30 minutes after the show starts.

As the numbers added up inside my head, inside a car that was not moving, I suddenly felt a strong urge to scream. Instead, I phoned a friend. 

I'm not a consummate bluetooth cell phone user, but this time I was glad I had it. I was instructed by said friend to take the last available exit just as my front bumper had edged past the Orange Barrel of No Return. I decisively jammed it into reverse and, without anyone honking at me, somehow got into the exit lane. The next miracle was negotiating all of the traffic and construction and, thanks again to said friend, catching the 6:10 fairy across the river to a taxi that got me to the McKittrick at...wait for it...6:29PM.

I was to meet some folks at the rooftop garden, but they did not have the same blind luck I did. So I was sipping my Campari & Soda all alone up there, with a smug confidence that from here on in, I can do no wrong. The fact that I was pretty much the only person there by myself did not bother me as much as it typically would.

I love that there is a moratorium on spoilers for the rooftop entry, and I will not be the one to break silence. However, I would like to thank one of the new cast members for taking pity on this lonely guest, chatting with me for an extended period of time, and checking in a couple more times as the hour wore on. I may have tested the limits of her improv abilities, except no limits were evident. In other words, she was charming, funny, and a great new addition to the cast of characters. When I was up there the following night with two actual friends in tow, she made a point to stop by and tell me how glad she was that I had found them. She remembered my name and how many times I had attended the show (even when I stumbled over the number myself). Bendemolina and when-strange-becomes-normal found her equally charming. If you see her, tell her Glenn says hi. Really, I insist.

Ok, so here's how the new entry works, step by step...

Hah, just kidding.

I was in the show very early and was treated to my first 12:1 (give or take). That is, I had the entire Ballroom scene to myself. A woman walked in towards the end just in time to catch Lady Macduff, and then was gone a few beats later. I was more torn than usual about where to go from there. In fact, I must still be torn because I can't exactly remember what my next move was, other than watch some of Hope Davis's solo as Bald Witch and to ascend some steps.

The first hour was amazingly sparse and beautiful. I happened into an early 1:1 simply because I was the only one in the entire area at the time.

Inside the show, I did see one of the rooftop no-show friends and edged and her out for Careena Melia's first Hecate 1:1. She didn't know it was me (neither the friend nor Careena for that matter), so I could have gotten away with this scott-free if I hadn't come clean later. 

I know for some old-timers Hecate's note delivery mission may seem a little ho-hum, but this was a first for me and I found it to be a fun new way to experience the show. There are not many truly gamified portions of the show like this (bring your arguments), and it's not entirely obvious how the timing of it is supposed to work, so every aspect of it was surprising and interesting to me. 

Later on, when I was looking for Hecate's ring for the first time, I again realized that I was taking a much different approach to the show. I had exactly zero hope that I would find the ring, and yet I did enjoy walking through the sets thinking "If I was hiding a ring, would I put it in here?" Much of the set is so dark that it requires as much looking with the hands as it does with the eyes. As pointless as it seemed, and as odd as my thoroughness must have appeared to other masked onlookers, I enjoyed taking time out to scrutinize the small details of the set.

Later in the show I noticed that even though it felt like a smaller audience, Haylee Nichelle's Nurse Shaw had a sizable crowd following her around the 5th floor. I remember last year when the 5th floor seemed largely undiscovered, but that's no longer the case. I have had little success following the nurse in the past, and I knew that with such a crowd this would not be our night, so I continued exploring the set while keeping tabs on her whereabouts. 

Now that I've seen three Nurses in action over the past two weeks, I am sure that parts of their cycle are completely of the performers' own design. I've seen Ching-I Chang, Isadora Wolfe, and Haylee Nichelle all inserting different routines in between what I now recognize as the required marks. Also, the Nurse may see the biggest change between the first cycle and the later ones because her compatriot, the Matron, is not there for the first hour or so.

Of the three performers I saw, Nichelle adds more interactive elements to the role while the others maintain a consistently inwardly focus. Nichelle's Nurse can sometimes appear to "see" the audience, though not in quite the same manner as the witches who are fully engaged and present. Hers is a more ghostly, dreamlike state of interaction as if you could just as well be a part of her imagination. I have noticed Nichelle being more generous with her gaze when playing Lady Macduff as well. One time she stared intensely into my eyes, came close and whispered in my direction, as if I was an apparition she could barely see, then shaking it off and moving on to the next scene. I've never seen Isadora Wolfe do the equivalent as Lady Macduff (has anyone?)--she maintains an inward focus more consistent with the other non-supernatural characters.

I'm not saying either approach is better, but I think it is a very significant and interesting difference. Nichelle comes across as striving to connect with and involve as many audience members as possible. Wolfe, who's Lady Macduff ranks among my favorite characters in the show, approaches the part differently. She's very disciplined in how she intuits the crowd in her peripheral vision and only connects visually at very specific moments. Both performances of Lady Macduff are intense, but for entirely different reasons. 

As I have always discovered: if there is a crowd in one area, somewhere else is practically vacant. So it was with the nearby woods, and I found the window to the the Matron's hut open and Maya Lubinsky sitting in there all alone. This was the first time I had the same 1:1 with two different actors. It's difficult to compare my experience with Ms. Melia last week because it was heightened by the fact that we had met in person beforehand and it was the first time she unmasked me in-show. It felt extra-intense, and her performance went from comforting to creepy to vulnerable in rapid succession. Also, encountering Ms. Lubinsky quietly alone was far different from the crowded, breathless chase scene that preceded my last visit to the hut. When Maya closed the window, I saw an empty forest rather than a gaggle of white masks looking up at me. I have not had the chance to see much of Ms. Lubinsky in the show, and found her to be quite radiant as she spoke with a touch of melodic Irish lilt in her voice. Her comparative gentleness made for a more comforting visit to the hut. Even the second time through, I felt as if I was magically transformed into a storybook character visiting this mysterious stranger who confides to me her deepest fears.

Somewhere in there, I was following Banquo (David Botana) also completely alone, when he entered his 1:1 room but did not take me in. He just disappeared in there. I have noticed other times when performers have taken a pass on their 1:1's for whatever reason. So Banquo would remain elusive for another night. Same goes for the Taxidermist, who I did not see much of at all.

As for the Nurse, she did happen to find me at the end of the evening and walk me out to the bar. A lovely capper to a wonderful night.