The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica and The Speakeasy Society present the world premiere of WILD PARTY: A Jazz Age Immersive Experience on Saturday, February 3 at 6:00pm and 9:00pm. This special event is part of The Broad Stage's 10th Season Celebration programming and funds raised will help sustain The Broad Stage's programming, operations and student education and community initiatives.
The Speakeasy Society is an LA-based immersive entertainment company creating intimate and epic experiences in unexpected places. They create 360-degree worlds providing escape through total engagement, crafting a shared experience where audience interaction becomes a vital aspect of the performance.
For WILD PARTY it's 1926 and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald are hosting the must-attend event of the season. The guest list is a who's who of Hollywood's Golden Age including
Buster Keaton,
Fred Astaire, and
Josephine Baker.
The evening will feature song, dance and salacious secrets in this immersive theatrical event as these eccentric characters spiral out of control revealing their desires for wealth, fame and each other.
As part of the experience, performances for WILD PARTY will take place in multiple locations throughout the venue. Attendees can expect to climb a flight of stairs upon entry and be mobile throughout most of the event. The evening begins in the ballroom of a historic, swanky Santa Monica establishment. Period attire is encouraged, but not required.
Tickets are on sale at
www.thebroadstage.org or by calling 310.434.3200.
About The Speakeasy Society
The Speakeasy Society, named Best Emerging Immersive Theater Company of 2015 by the LA Weekly, was officially formed in a women's restroom at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 2012.
Longtime collaborators Julianne Just and Genevieve Gearhart, along with newcomer Matthew Bamberg-Johnson, created The Weird Sisters, a witch-centric adaptation of Macbeth that gave audience members a very up close and personal experience of the classic narrative. As the experiences have grown so has the company, Associate Artistic Director
Chris Porter joined the team in 2015 followed by Producing Director John Henningsen, and their newest member,
Michael Bates.
Since then, each production has explored a new audience/performer relationship. Many times the company will find a story that is intriguing and then go on the hunt for the perfect environment. Other times the company will find an exciting location and let a story develop from the space itself.
Productions have included a dinner party in a private residence (Kitchen/Sugar/Bullet/Blank), a "sandbox style" interactive adaptation in a hidden pub at a local brewery (Ebenezer: An Immersive Christmas Carol), and a private conversation created for an audience of one at a local restaurant (The Stronger). In 2014 the company embarked on a multi-year journey creating The Johnny Cycle: a three part production loosely based on
Dalton Trumbo's novel Johnny got his Gun. Part I: The Quick and the Dead ran at the American Legion in Pasadena and was listed by LA Weekly as one of "2015's Five Times LA Theater Felt Bold".
Part II: The Shell continued Johnny's journey in July and August of 2016 engulfed in the Gothic architecture of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Glendale, again earning a spot on LA Weekly's "LA's Best Theater from 2016." Part III: The Living concluded the cycle in May of 2017 at the stunning Mountain View Mausoleum in Altadena to rave reviews.
A radical shift in form, The Kansas Collection is a serialized immersive narrative that explores the intersection between video games and live performance. Chapter One: The Key was launched at IndieCade 2016, an independent game festival, and allows participants to determine the story they experience through the choices they make. This production is set in a traveling circus tent that changes locations each time it is performed.
The company has an ongoing collaboration with Two Bit Circus: Engineering Entertainment (twobitcircus.com), a technology based entertainment company, to create an immersive experience utilizing new software that imbues every audience member with a unique character. The Speakeasy Society has also received institutional support from
Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Entertainment.
While the company and their list of collaborating artists has grown, the goal remains unaltered: they work to change what it means to "go to the theater" in Los Angeles, one performance at a time.
Photo: The Speakeasy Society. Courtesy of the artists.
