COMING SOON: Pompeii

We’ve become big booster of the work of Detour Productions, the devised dance & drag theatre company based in San Francisco, here at NoPro. Past works like We Build Houses Here have hit our “Most Anticipated” lists and the upcoming Pompeii is no different.

Billed as “part Fosse fantasy, part queer cabaret, part end-of-the-world dance party,” Pompeii will invite guests to explore “four stories, three floors of performance” populated by over two dozen performers set as characters from the expansive “Fosse cinematic universe.”

We checked in with Eric Garcia, Director of Pompeii, about the new show which opens July 31 and runs through August 17.

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No Proscenium: Tell us a little bit about your experience! What’s it about? What makes it immersive?

Eric Garcia: Pompeii is our latest immersive fever dream — part Fosse fantasy, part queer cabaret, part end-of-the-world dance party. We’re taking over a multi-story building in San Francisco and inviting the audience to move between floors. Each level has its own vibe and rules. You’ll find yourself in the basement — Hernando’s Hideaway — a gritty, minimal space full of tension. Then there’s the mezzanine, El Morocco, with a full bar and a balcony view of the main event. And that’s the Fandango Ballroom: an epic dance revue on the main floor, full of tightly choreographed chaos. Finally, at the top of it all, the Kit Kat Club — a drag cabaret in full-blown glittering denial as the world burns below.

This is a new format for us. Instead of a bunch of simultaneous scenes packed into one floor, we’re taking over the whole damn building — and letting the audience loose in it. It’s immersive because you get to follow your curiosity. Want to stay upstairs and vibe with the drag queens all night? Great. Want to bounce between dance numbers and a sweaty basement ritual? Go off. It’s immersive because it’s abundant. Maximalist. A little chaotic. A lot fabulous. It’s not just a show — it’s a full-bodied, end-of-the-world blowout.

NP: What was the inspiration for your upcoming experience?

EG: I’ve been obsessed with Bob Fosse for a long time. There’s something about his cinematic universe that feels both theatrical and dangerous — precise and messy all at once. His choreography is razor-sharp, but the characters are always a little unhinged, a little too much, a little too easy for me to want to be one of them. For Pompeii, we imagined what would happen if all of his iconic characters were invited to the same end-of-the-world party. Sally Bowles, Roxie Hart, Lola, Angelique — what sort of kiki are they having? What’s the confluence of these plotlines and arcs and morals and desires?

And in typical Detour fashion, the politics are baked in. We always start from a place of queerness, displacement, and the search for sanctuary — and Pompeii holds all of that. It’s named after a city that was destroyed overnight, but also preserved in this hauntingly beautiful way. People held each other. They danced, they flirted, they threw parties — and then their world ended. That feels… timely. Climate crisis, late-stage capitalism, queer and trans communities constantly navigating the edge — we’re not short on metaphors.

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There’s something cathartic about exploring collapse through the lens of cabaret. Fosse’s work already flirts with doom, so bringing it into a queer, immersive context just made sense. We’re not interested in replicating the past — we’re here to queer it, wreck it, and rebuild it in our image. That’s the heart of Pompeii: joy, defiance, make believe, and grief — all tangled together on the dance floor.

NP: What do you think fans of immersive will find most interesting about this latest experience?

EG: The scale of this thing is ambitious. For a company of our size, it’s the biggest project we’ve ever taken on — four stories, three floors of performance, and over two dozen performers. It’s dynamic, it’s layered, and it gives us space to go full-out with what we love: the fusion of dance and drag. You’ll see that blend everywhere — in the stunning costumes by Abdiel Portalatín Pérez, the tight choreography by myself, Chuck Wilt, and the deviser-performers, the gorgeous set design by Matt Owens, the epic lighting by Del Medoff, the haunting, iconic sound scores by Jaren Feeley, and the unapologetically queer lens that drives it all.

What I think fans of immersive will really love is how many different ways there are to engage. We’ve built three distinct performance zones — a drag cabaret, a high-energy dance revue, and a moody, intimate basement installation — each with its own tone, rhythm, and social rules. Maybe you plant yourself in the Kit Kat Club and vibe with the drag artists all night. Maybe you roam between numbers in the Fandango Ballroom. Maybe you end up in the shadows downstairs, catching something tender and strange. Each space offers a different kind of access — emotionally, physically, energetically.

We’re not asking the audience to solve a puzzle or chase a plot. We’re inviting them to feel their way through. To follow the sound, the movement, the characters, the tension. It’s a party, yes — but it’s also about choice, mood, context. That’s what makes it immersive: you decide where to be when the world starts to fall apart.

NP: Once you started designing and testing what did you discover about this experience that was unexpected?

EG: I don’t know if it was unexpected so much as clarified — but these Fosse films are dark. Like, yeah, there’s jazz hands and pelvic rolls and iconic silhouettes, but underneath all that is this heavy moral weight. Loneliness, consequences, a kind of slow, glamorous unraveling. Even the most dazzling characters are basically circling the drain — which feels… very relevant right now.

And I mean, let’s be real: Fosse himself wasn’t a great guy. He was a well-known misogynist. That’s important context. But it’s also true that his work has been inspirational to me — and so iconic in queer nightlife. These dances, these characters, these aesthetics have offered generations of us fantasy, escape, and performance vocabulary. That’s where the artistry and the drag come in. We’re taking the blueprints he laid down and wrecking the damn thing. Queer and trans POC mega-babes stepping into these roles? It shouldn’t be surprising that it’s absolutely iconic.

So yeah, Pompeii isn’t just about spectacle (though don’t worry — there’s plenty of spectacle). It’s about what people do when they know the end is coming. Every floor of this experience offers a different lens into the characters’ choices, and with each choice, we edge closer to our own little Vesuvius. There’s glitter, but there’s also grief. There’s joy, and there’s judgment. And the tension between those things is where this piece really lives.

NP: What can fans who are coming to this, or thinking about coming to this, do to get into the mood of the experience?

EG: Honestly? Start with a movie night. Queue up Sweet Charity, Cabaret, All That Jazz, Chicago, Damn Yankees, and The Pajama Game — these are the building blocks of the Fosse cinematic universe, and you’ll start to clock the references we’re twisting and queering. Then go full goblin-mode on a Liza Minnelli rabbit hole.

And if you’re the cosplay type — this is your time. Think Kit Kat Girl meets end-times realness. Fishnets, suspenders, bowler hats, rhinestones, rouge, sweat, smudged eyeliner at 3am. Desperation, decadence, delusion — whatever makes you feel like the star of your own final act. Big lashes. Bigger feelings.

You could also brush up on your Pompeii history — you know, volcano, ash, sudden obliteration. The people of Pompeii didn’t know the end was coming… but you do. Dress accordingly.

Pompeii opens July 31 and runs through August 17 in San Francisco.

Discover the latest immersive events, festivals, workshops, and more at our new site EVERYTHING IMMERSIVE, home of NoPro’s show listings.

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