The Queen Mary's Monster Reunion

The veteran ghouls and monsters gathered on board the Queen Mary in what has become their Halloween tradition. It was the annual audition for the Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor production.

I was there.

I’d expected to see the Ringmaster as well as Jackie, the young child who’d drowned in the ship’s pool and other of the Dark Harbor ghosts. They may have been there, but these folks didn’t look like ghouls and monsters at all! Paint, makeup and costumes weren’t required for the audition, although there was a mask or two around.

It’s a tough schedule.

During the casting call Friday and Saturday an eclectic group of over 400 persons auditioned for cast parts in the annual production. Of these, over 200 will be accepted. The obligation is tough. The successful ghosts, ghouls and other paranormal creatures will sign up for 30 days straight of performances (A-list). They will be on the street, in the mazes and performing on stage. The audition was not just for actors: it included a garbage truck operator and a doctor. I guess in every job or profession there is someone with the desire to dress for Halloween. What better way than this? Auditions are done for this year, but if you were interested but not able to perform every day, you might get on the B-list. You never know when someone is going to be sick.

Despite the rigorous schedule, about 60% of the cast will be returning. Some of the folks I spoke with had been there since the very first Dark Harbor replaced the Shipwrecked production, 6 years ago.

Wouldn’t you like to be the Street Monster Supervisor?

I spoke with Street Monster Supervisor, Holly Ahlborn, who spoke of some of the community the creatures share. You might know that a Street Monster Supervisor is so mostly only at Halloween time. At other times she organizes and participates in other performing arts events and shows.

It’s a small world!

I met the Voodoo Priestess Burdetta Jackson who is a fire dancer in the show. It turns out that we have a friend in common - another fire dancer. The fire dancing community intersects just a little with the Dark Harbor production community. It, too, is a tightly knit community so it was no surprise to me that my fire dancing friend was known to Burdetta and Blake Scott, both fire dancers in the production.

Find your inner monster!

Director David Wally invited me to watch some of the auditions. In the very bowels of the ship, down many flights of stairs, was a partial maze where the actors shared their inner monster. They needed to get into the role and stay in the role. Grunts, growls, loud banging came from the maze. Giggling after a scare is definitely not OK.

I wonder if I’ll recognize any of them when I visit in October...

Trish Tsoiasue likes to visit the Dark Harbor production, but in the role of “scared” as opposed to ”scary”. You can see her typical response in this video. She likes to make monsters, not be one. You can see some of the things she has made at http://www.makersville.net/blog.