Review Rundown: NYC Heats Up, Toronto Blasts Off, and ABBA Take London… wait ABBA?

It never rains but it pours, and this week there is so much going on that we’ve split this week’s Rundown into two halves, with the SoCal Spooky Season material — Angel of Light, Delusion, Halloween Horror Nights, Knott’s Scary Farm — in one corner and in this corner everything else that’s going on we caught in the past few weeks.

And it’s a lot!

A technical marvel involving ABBA in London, a journey to Space in Toronto, LARPing, haunts, and sizzling dance in NYC, and queer burlesque in Philadelphia.

You know, the usual.

Looking for more? Check out last week’s edition of the Review Rundown, and Blake Weil’s ongoing Philadelphia Fringe Festival Diary, or that link to the SoCal Spooky Season... okay fine I won’t make you scroll.

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ABBA Voyage — ABBA
£55 — £256.95; London, UK; Ongoing

Despite disbanding 40+ years ago, ABBA remains one of the most recognizable names in popular music. The Swedish quartet has fielded many reunion requests, including a $1B USD offer in 2000, and gone on record stating “there is simply no motivation to re-group.” As such, there’s an understandable hype surrounding the ABBA Voyage virtual concert.

With tickets ranging from £55 — £256.95, the show isn’t cheap, but as I entered the 3000 capacity custom-built ABBA Arena, the cost of entry began to justify itself. Featuring 291 speakers, 500 moving lights and mirrors, and a 65m tall screen that wraps around the room, it’s an incredible space. Interestingly, despite playing to consistently sold-out crowds since May 2022, the show has yet to turn a profit. At an initial budget of $175M USD, this is one of the most expensive live music experiences ever.

During the show, the ABBA digital avatars (or “ABBAtars”) appear both as life-sized figures onstage, as well as closeup shots. Though these closeups invoke a sense of uncanny valley — the pores a little too smooth, the eyes a little too dull, the ABBAtars look incredibly realistic. At times, I caught my eyes flicking between the life-size avatars and in-person band and couldn’t see a difference.

At 90 minutes, ABBA Voyage is the same length as a typical concert set. During their 22-song setlist, the band performed popular selections from their discography. However, many well-loved tunes were absent, including Money Money Money, Take A Chance On Me, and Super Trouper. Considering the show’s stars are digital entities free from human physical limitations, it’s surprising the showtime wasn’t extended to include more hits.

Is this an ABBA concert? No. There’s an intangible humanness that digital avatars don’t quite capture. At one point, the live band took center stage alongside several singers. The difference between this live performance vs the ABBAtars’ pre-recorded studio vocals was clear. For me, this show is a fascinating exercise in left vs right brain thinking. My analytical brain wanted to scrutinize the ABBAtars the way one tries to rationalize a magic trick. Meanwhile, my creative brain wanted to sing and dance along.

Whether you’re an ABBA devotee, a tech enthusiast, or curious about the evolution of the concertgoing experience, ABBA Voyage is a spectacular show… but it’s not a concert. As a lover of live music, I’m grateful that this divide exists. At least for now.

— Katrina Lat, Toronto Curator

BLACK WOOD — Gunnar Montana
$45, $350 VIP Table, Through October 31

The other night, I found myself watching The Wicker Man. No, not the garbage Nicholas Cage version (which I also love, for obviously different reasons), but the darker, steamier 1973 movie. Going through its tale of pagan madness and human sacrifice, I found myself in the odd position of a sort of giddy joy as opposed to horror. After all, as a queer Jewish man in modern America, I’m frequently the outsider. Yes, Summersisle is home to a murderous cult, but as a topsy-turvy mirror where they prey upon the state, the masculine, and the pious? There’s a certain twisted funhouse delight to us outsiders, the kind some women reported to me of their experiences watching similar cult delight Midsommar.

All of this is a means of introducing the world of BLACK WOOD, the latest of Gunnar Montana’s immersive burlesque fantasias. BLACK WOOD (shockingly for the burlesque space, the name is not a double entendre) is a dark fairy tale forest, in which a coven of witches perform their grizzly, giddy sacrifices. The choreography largely sees their practices as exuberant, or meditative, or rooted in love, no matter the horror of each vignette’s subject. The witches may sacrifice an innocent camper, but see how they joyously dance around his corpse, and ride the frame of his tent as a carnival ride, clutching each other lovingly and grinning as they spin through the air.

To be sure, Montana’s choreography and stagecraft is excellent. Creeping through the dark tunnels of the coven’s lair into a fully-realized forest clearing was as good an intro as the most lavish and large scale immersive productions. Dances were inventive, saucy, and rooted in burlesque without ever feeling pandering.

If I could point to any significant flaw, it would be in the second vignette, a fairly rote if expertly danced story of an abused woman awakening to her power as a witch, finally slaying her creep of a partner with the help of her coven. Not only did the sequence feel more derivative in an evening of otherwise entirely inventive sequences (yes, Gunnar, we’ve all seen AHS: Coven), but it disrupted the tone of the evening. When all other sequences found empowerment in feminine joy unshackled from morality, closer to the feral beauty of the werewolf fantasy than a typical witchcraft narrative, the return to the more traditional exploration of witchcraft within a violent gender binary felt jarring and disjointed.

This flaw, however noticeable, is at the very least dwarfed by the magnitude of the spectacle Montana crafts. I find myself in an almost twitchy state, fuming that I’ve missed previous Gunnar Montana productions. When even in this deep dark theme I found such wonder and exuberance, I can only imagine the full shotgun blast of sunshine that earlier, cheerful and sexy productions like Motel Montana and Bathhouse offered.

The fact that Gunnar Montana is only a household name among Philadelphians is a damn shame; not that Philadelphia isn’t a wonderful venue for his brand of queer burlesque. Moreso, I wish I could bottle and ship the experience of Gunnar Montana, this year in the spicy flavor of BLACK WOOD, across the world.

— Blake Weil, East Coast Editor at Large

Hypnotique — Emursive/The McKittrick Hotel
From $65; New York; through Oct. 14

Are you an immersive theatre or dance fan who loved Sleep No More? Do you wish you could see another, weirder, dreamier dance show at the McKittrick Hotel? Do you simply just like the idea of strange, slightly disturbing yet erotic art?

If you’re reading this newsletter, you probably answered ‘yes’ to all of those questions. If so, oh boy, do I have the show for you — Hypnotique, the McKittrick Hotel’s latest offering, is billed as a “late night sultry spectacle” filled with “dreamlike dances that wrap around you in an otherworldly atmosphere.”

That’s a pretty good way to describe Hypnotique, which sort of defies description. It’s held in a single windowless, neon sign-bedecked room below Gallow Green, the venue’s rooftop restaurant, which lends it the feeling of being out of both space and time. The dance numbers are like something out of a fever dream — they are bright, loud, sometimes beautiful and sometimes scary, and always right in your face.

Spoilers for Hynotique continue below…

Over the span of the show, each dance flows into the next, aided by fantastic choreography and a gorgeous score. Someone is a human disco ball, another is doing gymnastics to Gregorian chants, someone else bathing nude in a claw foot tub, champagne pouring over her glistening back as bubbles float through the air, borne aloft by her kisses.

Groups dances each have different vibes — once, the performers are glow-in-the-dark jazzercise dancers with matching white blonde bobs with threatening auras, then they are having a pillow fight in tiny marabou nighties, thousands of feathers exploding in a shower each time they make contact. When the strobe lights hit (a reference to the famous witches’ rave in Sleep No More) the voyeuristic view is made even more magical.

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Overall, the show is hauntingly gorgeous and succeeds in creating a magical and darkly whimsical environment.

My biggest and only issue with Hypnotique is that the single-room venue makes it difficult to see the performers if you’re not in front for each dance. I’m short, and if I didn’t make my way to the front lines, I was craning my neck to see parts of each dance through gaps in the crowd. There were entire performances I essentially missed, much to my disappointment. When I was in front, it was awesome, but I felt bad for the people that werent. Like Sleep No More, it fostered a competitive — bordering on pushy — atmosphere that not everyone will enjoy.

I’m not a choreographer, but I wonder if this issue could be rectified, or at least reduced, by spreading out the dancers across the venue, or putting them on higher risers. If the venue offers more expensive, seated tickets, I’d suggest you don’t waste your money (unless you anticipate needing a chair to rest on) because you’d have extremely limited visibility.

In its current format, prepare yourself — as with Sleep No More — not to see everything that happens over the course of the evening. Maybe that’s okay. What I saw was dream enough.

— Cheyenne Ligon, NYC Correspondent

Sacrament — Sinking Ship Creations & Omen Star
$95; New York; Run Concluded

LARPs, like dreams, are nearly impossible to explain to people who weren’t there. No matter how vivid or funny or exciting they feel in the moment, as soon as you try to put the experience into words it comes out like an unhinged ramble, and sort of crumbles like sand through your fingers.

That said, I’ll spare you the details of my particular LARP experience, but the basic plot of Sacrament sees fifty Nephilim — children of fallen angels, essentially demigods in the Judeo-Christian tradition — convene for a ritual in an East Village bar to call forth a prince of Hell. The ritual will decide which of the seven deadly sins will reign supreme over the human world.

Players are separated into groups based on the “sin” they feed on and where in Manhattan they like to hunt (avarice nephilim, for example, who feed off human greed, were largely concentrated near Wall Street). Over the next five hours, players campaigned and waged complex political maneuvers — or in the case of the gluttony nephilim, just straight-up bribed people with free shots from the cash bar — to get votes for their favored sins.

It was hilarious and fun to mingle with the other players and hear their backstories, and to try to sway others to my team’s side. The venue — Madame X, a bordello-themed bar drenched in dim red light and crushed velvet everywhere — was perfect for the event. The LARP creators from Omen Star, who both flew in from London to run the event, were professional and deeply knowledgeable about the world they’d created.

Best of all, the world of Sacrament was incredibly deep. No matter how hard players poked, or what questions they asked, there always seemed to be another layer to peel back, another level of the world that we could descend to, which really rewarded creative play.

The size of the world of Sacrament, despite how cool it was to learn about, lent itself to one major issue, however. Without getting into the weeds of the plot, Sacrament almost felt as if it were meant to be a recurring, campaign style game — organizers gave tasks and directions for things that could not be accomplished in the space of the game, and when the end came it felt abrupt and left many things unfinished.

Gripe aside, I had a wonderful time at Sacrament. It was my first LARP with both Sinking Ship and Omen Star, and it left me eager for their next event in New York.

LARP, like dreams, allows the player to be anything they want to be. Whether it makes me sound silly trying to explain it afterwards or not, that’s a rare and beautiful thing to experience, especially as an adult with bills to pay. Whether you’re a veteran LARPer or simply LARP-curious, I recommend attending Sacrament the next time it comes to a city near you.

— Cheyenne Ligon, NYC Correspondent

SPACE: A Journey To The Moon & Beyond — Illuminarium & Secret Location
$30 — $35; Toronto; Ongoing

Illuminarium, known for its 360° immersive shows in Atlanta and Las Vegas, is traveling across the border to Toronto. Taking up residence in a 13,500-square-foot complex in the historic Distillery District, it’s the second permanent large-scale immersive space in the city, after Lighthouse Immersive. In conjunction with local Toronto-based immersive studio, Secret Location, Illuminarium aims to deliver “Virtual Reality, without the glasses.”

We’re ushered into a small room by an actor wearing a space uniform. Once seated, projections bring the room to life. As a liftoff sequence comes to a close, rocketfuel flares beneath our feet “propelling” us into outer space. A door opens, and we enter the main experience room, joining others who opted for an earlier entrance time.

You can tell that the room was custom built for its purpose. Rounded edges where the wall meets the floor creates the illusion of unending space. The walls are a single flat surface, free of random fixtures that might remove us from the experience. Their surface absorbs sound, reducing the noise of a relatively busy crowd to hushed murmerings. Furthermore, mirrors placed strategically within the space prevent the room’s support beams from breaking the immersion.

Throughout, we are surrounded by space visuals, both specifically rendered for the show as well as photos taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. It’s a captivating way to admire the beauty of the cosmos, and I imagine would be especially great for space fanatics or as a field trip. Audience members are encouraged to take photos, and many individuals were having impromptu photoshoots. Interestingly, many of the visuals showed up better in my photos than in real life.

The experience has no overall narrative. Visuals jumped from nebulas, to constellations, to moon walking, to future space civilization. Text descriptions provided additional context regarding the different celestial objects, but without an overarching thread. Meanwhile, a surprisingly star-studded playlist featuring the likes of Radiohead, Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, and Sting soundtracked our space explorations. Promised interactive elements were elusive; the show’s advertising claims the presence of “interactive environments,” but these either did not exist or were not well communicated.

Illuminarium Toronto is a great space, and I’m excited to see what the Illuminarium and Secret Toronto teams do with it. Its debut show, SPACE, is a calming experience filled with beautiful imagery, but its lack of overall narrative and central purpose left me wanting.

— Katrina Lat, Toronto Curator

TerrorVision — TerrorVision

From $39; Manhattan, NY, Through November 5

Steps away from the hustle and bustle of Times Square, a “casting agent” with a suspicious limp, and an undead look in his eyes surveys the throngs of people, and invites me to audition to join the crew…

TerrorVision is an exciting haunt experience in the middle of New York, taking place in the fictional dilapidated “Horrorwood Studios”, this fun walk-through attraction cleverly utilizes its space by creating an absurdly tight and winding maze to explore, allowing for “20,000 square feet of rooms” to be enjoyed. With terrifying lighting, sound effects, and of course, many spooky monsters to encounter, I had a thrilling time and was certainly glad I didn’t go alone!

The tone of the haunt does have some issues, with an initially campy over-the-top attitude being quickly replaced with just traditional loud noises and jump scares. There are some great animatronic moments to be found in the space, but the occasional larger open spaces tend to lack the interaction I was hoping for from the actors (who are performing admirably). The mention of “three tales” to explore from the publicity was lost on me, but I did enjoy moving through various Horror tropes and settings through the clever maze.

I was disappointed that the end of the experience led to me walking down a very brightly lit emergency staircase. Given the dark nature of the world I had just been in, this felt like a very abrupt end to the thrills and could have been improved on.

However, if you are looking for a quick scare (approx 15 minutes) this spooky season while you are in the heart of NYC, this is a fun way to get your quick Halloween fix.

— Edward Mylechreest, NYC Correspondent

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