In a match made in Halloween heaven, Orlando’s own Victorian-style horror troupe Phantasmagoria has teamed up with the estate of the darkly whimsical author Edward Gorey to perform some of Gorey’s tales. It’s in celebration of what would’ve been Gorey’s 100th birthday.
If you’ve seen a Tim Burton movie, especially an animated one, like “Nightmare Before Christmas,” you’re familiar with Gorey’s style - Burton cites Gorey as a major influence. Many Gen X kids grew up with Gorey’s strange illustrations, characters and short but memorable stories like “The Ghastlycrumb Tinies,” an illustrated ABC book with an absurd but mortal danger sketched out on each page, or “The Wuggly Ump,” a representation of the ubiquitous childhood fear of a kid-eating “monster under the bed.”
Phantasmagoria’s director John DiDonna said Gorey’s Victorian-like stories go hand-in-claw with the troupe’s unique style, developed over sixteen years of performances. “They come to life through our storytelling, our stage combat, our puppets, our projections, our dance, our original music [by Josh Solomon], so we build this kind of tapestry of Victorian tales.”
The Wuggly Ump in particular gets the puppet treatment in much-larger-than-life fashion – its head alone is taller than a person and will take multiple people to operate.
And as for the partnership with the internationally beloved Gorey, DiDonna says that’s a story of taking a leap of faith.
“This started as a lark,” said DiDonna, himself a lifelong Gorey fan, “a quick email to the [Gorey Charitable] Trust saying, ‘Hey, we're this Victorian horror troupe in Florida, and we'd like to do maybe one of the stories.’”
No response.
A friendly follow-up email from DiDonna, he said, and more silence.
But then, a response, “saying, ‘We're sorry that we have taken this time. We needed to vet you. We needed to see who this was, and we're very interested in talking to you,’” explained a still pleasantly surprised DiDonna. “So we started the conversations, and it kind of exploded. We wanted to do maybe one story. They said, ‘Why don't you do a whole show?’’”
Phantasmagoria has worked very closely with the trust to develop the show in a manner true to Gorey’s stories and aesthetic. It’s all a part of an international celebration of Gorey’s work to mark his 100th birthday.
DiDonna said expanding on stories told by Gorey’s illustrations has been a challenge that presented new opportunities to stretch the troupe. “He gives us these wonderful one lines, and he gives us this wonderful little image to go from, and then…what's really happening? What happened before? What happened after? So we've had to create this physical life. It's probably the most physical show we have ever done.”
“I would imagine, the movies have a problem with this too,” DiDonna explained. “Like Marvel [movies based on comic books] - here's a panel, what's the rest of the story? Because this is, if you think about it, a graphic novel. So, that's been new for Phantasmagoria. It's a whole new way of telling stories, which is what we love.”
