Masquerade NYC: Paper Facades on Parade
Environmental storytelling in immersive theater doesn't have to wait until Previews
Masquerade NYC has been a whispered rumor in the New York theatrical world for months now - “Immersive Phantom”, as people have taken to calling it, will be an official adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic musical that is taking over the historic building that once housed Lee’s Art Shop, at 218 W 57th Street.
No official date has been announced for the show, but with construction starting on the building, the construction on a fanbase for the show has also commenced, with multiple people who hyped up the rumored show getting personalized letters from the O.G. (“Opera Ghost”) himself. But the fun hasn’t stopped at letters by post…
Last week, the TikTok user @malcs_creative went to the venue and filmed footage of the venue’s exterior, noting that there was an in-universe newspaper on display, blocking the view from the building’s front windows.
As a noted sucker for in-universe ephemera, I used my lunch break today to get a closer peek through the looking glass at what the Phantom has in store for us.
The Veil Between Worlds Becomes Increasingly Thinner
Curiously, if you pay a visit to the future home of Masquerade NYC, the show’s easter eggs don’t exactly jump out at you: most of the pages keeping the Phantom’s secrets are from modern newspapers. If it weren’t for the faint glimpse of yellowed paper, it’d be easy to walk on past yet another NYC building under construction.
But upon closer inspection, the fictional papers call attention to themselves, a physical transition from the real world into the show’s fictional universe. As one of the personalized letters explains, “A Masquerade awaits when the moment comes. Be prepared to cross the veil from fiction into reality.”
The most overt newspaper feature of the lot comes from Les Chroniques du Faubourg, a Paris paper dated October 21, 1881 whose back cover bears the dramatic headline, “THE LEGEND OF THE OPERA GHOST: FACT——OR FOLKLORE?”
The article is penned following the events of the ill-fated Il Muto premiere, citing spectral manifestations like “eerie footsteps echoing through the deserted corridors…shadows flitting past dressing-room mirrors when no one is near…flickering gas lamps and sudden drafts in windowless rooms…sheet music disappearing only to be found days later.” The piece provides all the necessary warnings: stay away from Box Five (left vacant at his insistence), and protect yourself from his magical lasso by keeping your hand at the level of your eye.
That is far from the only reference hidden across the pages, of course - the front page mentions how the prior night’s performance of Hannibal saw Carlotta Giudicelli unwell, replaced by Christine Daae. Les Chroniques du Fauberg isn’t the only paper in-play, however.
Le Monde Nouveau, cheekily embracing the slogan “Le futur se lit aujourd’hui” (the future is ready today), is actually dated on year prior to the paper warning us of the dangers of the Opera Ghost. Articles within this paper highlight the retirements of Messrs Debienne and Poligny and the transition of the opera house to Messrs André and Firmin.
There are countless references peppered across the pages of the in-universe periodicals, and some pieces that are just delightful, plain and simple.
“A NEW THREAT TO DECENCY? THE CYCLING CRAZE”, one article decries. “The boulevards of Paris have been playing host to a most alarming spectacle: men—and, more shockingly, women—mounted upon two-wheeled contraptions, careening…it is the sight of women upon these machines that has caused the greatest outcry. The petite reine, as the bicycle is affectionately called by its devotees, requires a firm and balanced posture, and, if the rider hopes to avoid disaster, a loosened skirt or even—mon Dieu!—a modified costume allowing for ease of movement.”
Easing into the Fictional - Drawing on an Immersive Legacy
It’s almost impossible to talk about immersive theater in New York City without referencing Sleep No More at some point (the last post on this Substack was dedicated to the show’s closing)…and that temptation is even stronger here, as Sleep No More also engaged in some in-universe fun that escaped the bounds of the McKittrick Hotel to celebrate its launch. As Jenny Weinbloom notes on her blog, the New York debut of Sleep No More was teased by the alternate reality game Gallow Green, a two week experience that involved over a thousand players and live events across London, Boston, and New York City itself.
Masquerade NYC is not Sleep No More. And yet, we are seeing its promotional marketing asking interesting questions about exactly where and when the Parisian Opera House begins. What I find the most compelling about this particular teaser is how naturally it blends into its environment.
Mere days earlier, I had walked through the neighborhood on my way to CrosswordCon (because I am a nerd). And it is entirely possible I walked by this very building facade without a second glance, because covering up the windows of a closed building with old newspapers is all too common a practice. But once you know it’s there, the papers become a thin membrane separating us from the fictional world we’ll hopefully visit soon.
See below for additional photographs of the newspapers on display, and try and spot some of the deeper pieces of lore…maybe even pay the O.G. a visit, yourself. You can also sign up for updates at MasqueradeNYC.com, or follow them on Instagram for updates.
(…and thanks, @AmberAlice, for helping spot some of the deeper cuts in the in-universe lore dumps)
UPDATED TO ADD: The MasqueradeNYC Instagram account shared the locations of newsstands giving out the paper earlier today, and I was able to get a copy during an early lunch break. Here’s the contents of that, which might be more readable.
