HHN 30: Puppet Theater: Captive Audience

[Brian G.]

Bump

Puppet Theatre: Captive Audience

The demented side of puppetry and theatre will take center stage in Puppet Theatre: Captive Audience as guests are transported to San Francisco’s abandoned Grandeur Theatre in the early 1900’s. They’ll find the Pasek’s Puppet Troupe trapped within its ruins in the midst of rehearsing for their next grisly performance. With a fanatical need to entertain any captive audience, the troupe has turned to transforming trespassers into living puppets – dismantling and sewing them back together as life-sized marionettes for additions to their horrific encore. Will guests escape in one piece or will it be their final curtain call? No matter what, the show must go on…

 

[HHNManics]

I feel like what it needs to be said has already been said when the Puppet Theatre BTS video came out last year.

Gorgeous costumes, huge sets for a Sprung Tent, and some really cool and unique triggers.

I expect this one and Hill House to be the creepiest houses of the event.

 

[ChaseTuff]

Already loved the look of this one from the BTS video and I like the story and look they're going for. The originals are just so good this year.

 

[JMalez]

Not noticing any mention of an earthquake in the descriptions. Could this have possibly been dropped? Maybe as a result of the Surfside collapse?

 

[ChaseTuff]

Not noticing any mention of an earthquake in the descriptions. Could this have possibly been dropped? Maybe as a result of the Surfside collapse?

The description at the top of the page still mentioned the troupe being "trapped in the ruins". The earthquake portion was never the big selling point in the first place, but I wouldn't be surprised if they...adjusted some wording.

 

[uso345]

So incredibly STOKED for this house! From what we saw in the preview, just the design alone is stunning, especially for that location. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it is the event's first house that takes place inside a theatre (not a movie theater, a performing arts theatre). This is very much my niche and I am so excited to see it come to life. If they nail the aesthetic, timing, and types of scares, this could be a sleeper hit.

 

[PlatinumFate]

So I was looking at this post from the Animal Actor's seating which shows the Puppet Theatre facade and noticed the quality of the photos allowed for me to read the signs, so I wanted to over-analyze them. I wrote this for my friend who doesn't know much about HHN so excuse the overexplaining haha. Here's what I saw:
-The left sign advertises a ballet being performed by the Gurian Republic, a community that existed between the years of 1902 and 1906 in the region of Guria in the Russian Empire.
-The left sign says that the Gurian Republic's first performing date is March 31, 1906, giving us the setting of the house as Spring, 1906.
-San Francisco is also shown on the left sign to be the city the theatre is located.
-Advertised across the facade, Pasek's Puppet Troupe's first performance in April 19. On April 18, 1906, there was a huge earthquake in San Francisco, which may explain why the building has been abandoned and is in ruins and also why the Puppet Troupe is trapped inside, as they were likely moving in and getting ready the day before their first show.
-The name "Pasek" is likely a reference to Benj Pasek, a member of the songwriting duo "Pasek and Paul" which has been behind musicals such as "Dear Evan Hansen" and "The Greatest Showman."
-In two spots (Lower left sign and middle sign) we can see that the director of Pasek's Puppet Troupe is a "Chas. Gray," a reference to Universal's senior show director Charles Gray.
-The middle sign also announces that the music was composed by "M. Coredero," a reference to Maneul Cordero, a senior set designer for Universal.
-The top right sign seems to advertise a show titled with the word "Myriorama." A Myriorama was a card game where you would take apart and rearrange the cards to form new pictures. This could mirror how the Puppet Troupe "takes apart" the patrons and rearranges them into marionettes.
-A myriorama in this context, however, most likely means a a traveling panorama show, where a narrator would describe and interpret the story as the events were acted out behind the panorama using shadows and effects.
-The same sign advertising the myriorama also shows a skeleton with red eyes, possibly a manifestation of Death, looking down at a scene of chaos, where fire and destruction seems to plague a theatre. This could be a forewarning to the chaos that is about to ensue once you enter.
-While you cannot see it in this photo, there is a building to the left with a sign reading "A.L. CAINE & Co." A.L. Caine is a reference to the HHN icon Albert Caine, known by most as "The Caretaker."

 

[OrlandoGuy]

So incredibly STOKED for this house! From what we saw in the preview, just the design alone is stunning, especially for that location. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it is the event's first house that takes place inside a theatre (not a movie theater, a performing arts theatre). This is very much my niche and I am so excited to see it come to life. If they nail the aesthetic, timing, and types of scares, this could be a sleeper hit.

Dead Silence has it beat, but for what it’s worth that did end up being a great house

 

[Ringwraith]

So I was looking at this post from the Animal Actor's seating which shows the Puppet Theatre facade and noticed the quality of the photos allowed for me to read the signs, so I wanted to over-analyze them. I wrote this for my friend who doesn't know much about HHN so excuse the overexplaining haha. Here's what I saw:
-The left sign advertises a ballet being performed by the Gurian Republic, a community that existed between the years of 1902 and 1906 in the region of Guria in the Russian Empire.
-The left sign says that the Gurian Republic's first performing date is March 31, 1906, giving us the setting of the house as Spring, 1906.
-San Francisco is also shown on the left sign to be the city the theatre is located.
-Advertised across the facade, Pasek's Puppet Troupe's first performance in April 19. On April 18, 1906, there was a huge earthquake in San Francisco, which may explain why the building has been abandoned and is in ruins and also why the Puppet Troupe is trapped inside, as they were likely moving in and getting ready the day before their first show.
-The name "Pasek" is likely a reference to Benj Pasek, a member of the songwriting duo "Pasek and Paul" which has been behind musicals such as "Dear Evan Hansen" and "The Greatest Showman."
-In two spots (Lower left sign and middle sign) we can see that the director of Pasek's Puppet Troupe is a "Chas. Gray," a reference to Universal's senior show director Charles Gray.
-The middle sign also announces that the music was composed by "M. Coredero," a reference to Maneul Cordero, a senior set designer for Universal.
-The top right sign seems to advertise a show titled with the word "Myriorama." A Myriorama was a card game where you would take apart and rearrange the cards to form new pictures. This could mirror how the Puppet Troupe "takes apart" the patrons and rearranges them into marionettes.
-A myriorama in this context, however, most likely means a a traveling panorama show, where a narrator would describe and interpret the story as the events were acted out behind the panorama using shadows and effects.
-The same sign advertising the myriorama also shows a skeleton with red eyes, possibly a manifestation of Death, looking down at a scene of chaos, where fire and destruction seems to plague a theatre. This could be a forewarning to the chaos that is about to ensue once you enter.
-While you cannot see it in this photo, there is a building to the left with a sign reading "A.L. CAINE & Co." A.L. Caine is a reference to the HHN icon Albert Caine, known by most as "The Caretaker."

Just a hunch, but I'm guessing the A and the D are missing from either side of the N in Grandeur to represent Art *N* Design

 

[PlatinumFate]

Just a hunch, but I'm guessing the A and the D are missing from either side of the N in Grandeur to represent Art *N* Design

That was my thought too but I thought maybe I was just looking too far into it. I'm so happy somebody else shares my thoughts lol

 

[ultimateforce]

Amazing house but the walk through pace was insane. My group actually RAN through part of the house to fill the gaps. Never experienced anything like that before at HHN.

 

[April]

That was my thought too but I thought maybe I was just looking too far into it. I'm so happy somebody else shares my thoughts lol

They told us this during our behind the screams tour

 

[HHN Maddux]

This just sky-rocketed to my favorite. Cast was insanely aggressive tonight and none of the scares held back.

 

[Disneyson1]

This house was really fantastic. While I knew some rooms had holes, this house’s innovation in terms of scares nailed it for me, and as a theatre-person I can’t imagine a better homage.

Spoiler: House Spoilers

I really enjoyed the distraction scare tactic used throughout the house. The dancing clown was iconic, as was the “tiny dancer”. I loved the use of real life puppets, including the awful marionettes and the shadow puppets. Shakespeare guy is undoubtedly the GOAT and I’m sure he’ll appear at future anniversary events. Loved walking through the dressing rooms, and while the stage scene was not as impressive as I might have hoped, they really did a killer job with squeezing a lot into a small space.

 

[SeventyOne]

Feel like people are sleeping on this one, but it's risen to my #3 spot. and neck and neck with my top 2. Great cast, clever effects. Doesn't get the lines like the other three houses in that back corner, but definitely a must-see.

 

[ReelJustice]

Feel like people are sleeping on this one, but it's risen to my #3 spot. and neck and neck with my top 2. Great cast, clever effects. Doesn't get the lines like the other three houses in that back corner, but definitely a must-see.

It’s my favorite, and I wish I could’ve seen it as originally intended

 

[ssirin88]

I haven't had a real good run in this house, but I do like the design of it.

 

[Tobias]

My family and I really dug the heck out of this house, I love how this one constantly shifts from tight, compact spaces to larger open rooms. Some really fun tricks and characters in this house as well. Also, this house is just plain creepy in all the right ways.

 

[ghostsarejerks]

The scare actors in this maze were really performing, like full on invested in their characters theatrical acting. Love these casts so much.

 

[Kichkinet85]

Is there a scare actor in here that mask is the comedy and tragedy? I think I heard that somewhere but I havwnt seen him. I'd so what room is he in?