A few years ago, writer/director Cynthia von Buhler invited us to her immersive theater show Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic, and we had a great time. There was a recreation of an old-time Broadway revue, an investigation of a scandalous celebrity death, and the chance to wander around a beautifully appointed space, mixing with the actors and audience members — sort of like Sleep No More, only instead of having to wear masks, Cynthia let us wear nothing at all from the waist up. Can’t do that at Hamilton!
So when Cynthia let us know she had a new new show opening last week, we were there. This show is called Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini, and it’s based on Cynthia’s graphic novel of the same name, about the death of the famous magician, escape artist, and debunker of phony spiritualist mediums. The mystery to be solved this time is: did Houdini die of natural causes on Halloween 1926, or was he a victim of a plot by the spiritualists…?
It’s all very exciting stuff. Along the way the audience gets to attend seances and have their palms read by mystics with swinging pendulums…
…sip bootleg absinthe cocktails (this is during Prohibition, remember)…
…and watch Houdini prepare for and perform (and teach his lovely new assistant to perform) his famous straitjacket and rope tie and Water Torture Cell escapes.
Minky is the private eye hired by Houdini’s wife, Bess, to find out whether Houdini is cheating on her, only to discover there are bigger games afoot. (Speaking of which, Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, is in the show too. He and Houdini were friends in real life. For a while. Until they were enemies.)
The show takes place not in a Broadway theater but up and down the three floors of a Prohibition Era speakeasy building.
There is a theater on the ground floor…
…but you’re also transported to hotel rooms, hospital rooms, bedrooms, barrooms, and more.
Oh, and? We were — possibly for the first time in our history — not the nakedest people in the room. Seems the spiritualist mediums of the 1920s sometimes did their stuff completely in the nude. (The adulterers, too. Go figure.)
The chance to participate in a show like this in our customary state of undress was a treat, especially since we also got to combine it with 1920s-style garb and decoration.
We didn’t attract too many stares inside the theater (maybe other audience members thought we were part of the cast?), and even when we found ourselves out on the sidewalk, crossing from one of the building’s entrances to another, passersby took our appearance in stride. It all felt free and fabulous.
The show runs until November 10, so if you’re in NYC, by all means check it out. We can’t promise there will be topless audience members there the night you go — but there always can be, if you’re feeling brave enough! Just tell Cynthia hi, from us.
And tell Houdini to watch his back.
Hey! I saw “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” there. Years later, I was there scanning tickets.
Great show!
Welcome back to the theatre! Many of you wore jewelry that accentuated your beauty. You remind me of my time in Paris, the Riviera, and Amsterdam where breast jewelry was common…and beautiful.
Sounds amazing! Wish I was in NY!
“free and fabulous” very aptly describes this latest adventure.
Cool that they let you take pictures too. Which night did you attend? I saw the dress rehearsal and am going back for the finished production on Friday. And which character did you follow? I didn’t see the palm reader so you must have taken a different route.
This was opening night, Wednesday the 26th. They wouldn’t normally let audience members take photos — this was a special accommodation for us, and partly because we had one of the people behind the show as part of our group, and he was taking photos for the show’s use as well. And we were all in Minky’s group.
Excellent. I had wanted to attend opening night but way back when I bought tickets the first week was listed as previews and Opening Night was this Friday. I’m hoping to be in Minky’s group too — should be a 50% chance — but if not, thanks for the pictures so I can compare those scenes with the route I get.
When I saw the show again, I was struck by a question for you: did your presence in the audience have any impact on the scene near the beginning at Margery’s seance where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tells the gathered guests that if they are offended by nudity they should leave? It seems that would become a silly thing to say to people many of whom were partly naked themselves. I’m guessing they took that into account, since the cast is good at adapting to audience interaction, but I was curious about that instance.
Sir Arthur says that at the start of each of the night’s three seances, and I believe said it pretty much the same whether we were in the room or not. There may have been a small titter through the room, or a knowing glance or two exchanged, when he said it with us present.
May I please trouble you with one more question about the Houdini show? I’m interested in the jigsaw-puzzle-like nature of the show and you’re the only other people I know of who have seen it.
Last week I saw the show from the point-of-view of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and I’m having trouble reconciling that with your statement above that he provides the disclaimer for all three seances. I’ve seen two seances: the VIP “Favored Guest” one that Minky attends where the Ouija board spells out “HOU” and the one where the doctor heckles and Lady Doyle does spirit writing. I’m just guessing that the third one matches the scene in the comic book where Minky impersonates Margery, since this is mentioned in another scene later, but I don’t see how Sir Arthur could have been at that one since I know where he was the whole time, and he’s not in that scene in the comic book.
So is there another seance I missed, or did another character take that line in the last seance? Since you followed the Minky route, I’m hoping you can confirm that it was the posing for the artist and impersonating Margery scenes that I missed. Thank you for your help.
That’s right. In the seance where Minky impersonates Margery, the Conan Doyle lines are spoken by Whitehead. But it’s also possible Cynthia might have changed the script since we saw the show, so maybe the lines don’t get repeated anymore. And yes, it sounds like you missed the posing for the artist and fake-Margery scenes.
Thanks a lot. I’m sure I missed a few other scenes too, but I was glad to hear about the ones from the book.