Company XIV Founder Austin McCormick Talks 20 Years in Bushwick and More
We sat down with the visionary behind the popular nightlife venue about challenges, cocktails, and the new show, Petite Rouge!
Company XIV in Brooklyn is unlike any other theatre company around. The Brooklyn-based space is set up in an unassuming warehouse with a fantastical interior of glitter and gold, and blends a variety of entertainment to hit the stage, including Baroque dance, ballet, and burlesque for a night out to remember.
Founder and artistic director Austin McCormick brought Company XIV to Bushwick in 2006, creating one of the most unique performance spaces in the city. We chatted with Austin about Company XIV, his continued vision behind the institution after almost 20 years, and what makes the latest show, Petite Rouge, a must-see right now.
Company XIV is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. Congrats! How are you celebrating this milestone?
Merci. Twenty years feels both impossible and like it has flown by. When I’m in the middle of making work, I rarely stop to count the years. I measure time by productions, collaborators, and the audiences who've joined us along the way. Looking back, I'm overwhelmed by the thousands of performances we've produced, the hundreds of pounds of glitter and confetti that's fallen from the sky after every can-can, and the hundreds of thousands of cocktails and bottles of Champagne we’ve served.
Company XIV has grown from a passionate experiment into a home for artists and audiences who crave something decadent, welcoming, sensual, transporting, and life-affirming.
The greatest celebration is continuing to create. This season we're marking the anniversary with Petite Rouge at Théâtre XIV. We're toasting the incredible community that has sustained us. Our artists, our creative team, and the audiences who have believed in this rhinestone-studded, beautiful vision for two decades.
What have been some challenges you have experienced along the way? Greatest achievements?
The challenge has always been believing that there was room for something that didn't fit neatly into an existing category- in many ways it still is. My dream was not simply to make ballet, burlesque, circus, opera, or theater. I wanted to dissolve those boundaries entirely. Convincing people that this hybrid art form deserved respect took persistence. Many critics still write us off as merely bawdy entertainment, but the diversity and variety of talent on our stage is undeniable.
Building an independent company is also a constant balancing act. You're simultaneously dreaming impossibly large while solving very practical problems every day. There have been countless heartbreaks and upsets over the years coupled with insane recognition and opportunity. The business of producing theater is so incredibly challenging; we survive only on ticket and bar revenue- no magical benefactors, no grants. Finding and running Théâtre XIV was an enormous undertaking, but it gave me something I needed to grow: a permanent home where every detail, from the decor to the cocktails, is part of the storytelling.
The greatest achievement isn't any single production. It's that we've cultivated a world with its own language and aesthetic. People now know what it means to experience Company XIV. We’ve survived this long, and that's incredibly meaningful.
When you started Company XIV 20 years ago, what were you hoping to achieve? Has it been fulfilled?
My intention was simple: to create the kind of theater I desperately wanted to experience but couldn't find outside of my imagination. I wanted audiences to feel wonder and to step into another world where beauty, humor, sensuality, virtuosity, sexuality, and fantasy coexist. That desire hasn't changed. What has evolved is my understanding of hospitality. Today I think as much about what happens before the curtain rises and after the applause ends as I do about what happens onstage. The cocktails, the music, the lighting, the decor, the performers greeting guests—it's all theater. I want people to feel like they've crossed into another realm from the moment they arrive. In many ways, the vision has expanded rather than shifted. Every production gives us another opportunity to deepen that experience for our guests.
Petite Rouge at Théâtre XIV is your latest show. How does this show vary or tie into what you have done in the past?
Petite Rouge continues my tradition and fascination with reimagining classic stories through a distinctly Company XIV lens. I’ve always loved taking familiar tales and uncovering their darker, stranger, seductive possibilities. This production draws inspiration from Charles Perrault’s Baroque fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, but it's filtered through French pantomime, Belle Époque cabaret, circus, song, and our signature sense of playful mischief. It's intimate, sexy, and visually sumptuous, while still celebrating extraordinary physical performance.
This particular production has a lot of virtuosic dancing and partnering work, which is a return to my roots. Like all our productions, we’re not simply retelling a story. We’re inviting audiences inside a living fantasy where they become participants in the journey through the woods.
Speaking of shows, what is it like to see this brand new one take the stage compared to witnessing your very first show take place?
The emotions are surprisingly similar. The first performance of every new production is a leap of faith. No matter how many shows we've created, there comes a moment when only the audience witnessing it completes the work. Until then, it exists only inside rehearsals and our imaginations. What's different now is experience. Twenty years ago, everything was brand new. Today I trust our process, our collaborators, and the incredible artists who bring these worlds to life. That confidence allows for more playfulness and more risk-taking. Ironically, experience has made me bolder rather than more cautious. I want to continue trying new things and pushing the company forward.
You're also behind the creative drink program at Company XIV. Walk us through the inspiration behind that, how it's changed throughout the years, and what patrons can expect when they come to the show and order at the bar.
I've always believed a cocktail can function the way an overture does: it prepares your senses for what's about to happen.
Our drinks aren't an afterthought or simply a concession. They're extensions of the production itself. I create cocktails that reflect the themes, colors, moods, and emotional landscape of each show. Sometimes they're inspired by historical recipes, sometimes by perfume, drinks famous courtesans loved, fairy tales, or anything else that delights or amazes.
Over the years, the program has become increasingly theatrical. We think about presentation, ritual, glassware, aroma, and I want ordering a cocktail to feel like the beginning of the performance.
Guests can expect imaginative seasonal creations alongside beautifully executed classics, all designed to encourage delicious conversation and glittering celebration.
What else is in store for Company XIV? What can visitors expect in the future?
The future is about continuing to transport. We'll keep creating original productions that blend dance, circus, music, illusion, and immersive storytelling in ways that surprise audiences. We’ve also expanded the experience surrounding the performances with lipstick fortune telling and tarot readings. I have a few future shows in mind, embracing my love of classical ballets and transformative fairytales. My longtime collaborator, costume and set designer Zane Pihlström, continues to delight and amaze with his creations, and we are excited to continue pushing each other to experiment and reinvent the XIV aesthetic.
After twenty years, I still feel like we're just scratching the surface of what's possible- when I feel like I am not learning, I will be done.
As long as audiences continue seeking beauty, wonder, and a little enchantment, we'll keep inviting them to step through the unassuming doors on Troutman Street and into our Baroque Burlesque wonderland.
(Photos courtesy of Company XIV)
