Big Bang Boom! Collective of Belle Isle Florida presented Masquerade of the Red Death at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. The show was directed by Sean Holloway with Aurora Fable (costumes) and Foxy D’Ville (Choreography). The show was built around Edgar Allen Poe’s story, The Masque of the Red Death. It is an allegorical short story about Prince Prospero’s futile attempt to escape a deadly plague, the Red Death, by secluding himself and his court in a fortified abbey, only for a mysterious, masked figure representing the plague to appear at a masquerade ball and kill everyone, proving death is inescapable.
Prince Prospero sealed himself and 1,000 guests inside a fortified abbey to wait out the plague. He hosted a masquerade gala for his guests which became a burlesque fantasy. While individual dancers performed glittery flesh filled routines, there were also some well-rehearsed group numbers that were well choreographed. A skull masked guest wove her way through almost every scene.
The Masquerade of the Red Death showcased sensuality and grandeur but under all that flesh on display was the inevitability of death. As the show progressed the prince began coughing more in every scene. This was rather unnerving so soon after the worst of the COVID pandemic. I wondered if Prospero was a deep RED State Republican who refused to understand that the plague might be airborne. A prince cannot understand what he can not see.
Masquerade of the Red Death won the Critics’ Choice Award for Outstanding Individual Performance (Musical). Lead performer Tymisha Harris won this award for her trifecta of roles across three shows, which included her featured dancing performance in Masquerade of the Red Death.
The show also won a Tech Award. The production’s backstage crew and technical team won a special Orlando Fringe Tech Award for their work on the show.