Interview:
PHANTASMAGORIA
DIANA DURANGO
1. Tell us a little about how Phantasmagoria came to be.
For years I had always dreamt of a “Horror Circus” but really did not know what form that would take. I would come up with ideas, . . sometimes even test a few of them out, but overall it was not something that stuck yet. Then, when up in Atlanta I saw a multimedia performance of a Faulkner novel, done with storytelling, and music, and projections and puppets and I realized I was thinking too far IN the box and needed to dream more out of the box. That summer while teaching up there, I started to write the very first Phantasmagoria – which was only envisioned as a one year thing! About halfway through our sold out performances, audience members started asking me what we were doing the following year and that they could not wait to see it . . . and we slowly realized that we could continue this! So we all stood around and I asked “Want to do this again next year?” and everyone said YES, and then I shared the fact that would be great, but that the next years show would be all original – not the same one we did that year. And that has been what we have done for going on 15 years now! Starting in our third year we began adding events and appearances, which made the troupe a 12 months out of the year endeavor. About 7 years ago we started adding Christmas shows, the year or two before that we started touring shows at varying times, and shortly after we began touring all of our mainstage and mini-shows. We have performed on Riverboats, trains, water taxis, at libraries, museums, specialty stores, private residences – you name it we can adapt the show to the environment!
2. What is your favorite part of your involvement with it?
As director/artistic director it is amazing working with all the people we do. It becomes such a collaboration – bringing in talents that each individual has. The troupe has constantly evolved based on those talents – from danger arts to fire dancing, to belly dancing, to magic, cabaret and opera singing – you name it we have played with it in the troupe. And we all learn from each other on a constant basis. We call it a Phamily, and it truly is. We see each other all year long. The troupe is made of people who have been there the full 14 going into 15 years now, and others who have joined over the years. The largest majority have been there around 8 – 10 years, with others about 5 – 6 years, as well as brand new members we add each year.
3. Tell us what the average person can expect when going to a show.
Someone once referred to us a “tapestry” and that has sort of stuck with us. We merge dance, music, storytelling, combat, puppetry, projections all into a tapestry of what Phantasmagoria is. Always elegant, sometimes terrifying, oftentimes whimsical, we play in all those worlds. As a Victorian Horror Troupe that is the genre we relish in – ghost stories, mysteries, terror tales, haunted poetry form a wide swathe of authors. Of course Poe is one of our mainstays, and last year for Phantasmagoria XIII we celebrated an entire show of just his works. Lots of that feel of sitting around a fire, with candles blazing, and ghost stories coming to life around us.
4. Where and how can they see the events?
We perform 12 months out of the year at private and public events, festivals, appearances, etc. so look for us at those. Our big sort of cornerstone events for the year are MegaCon where we perform ten mini-show teasers, as well as have our booth, perform at the Cosplay contest, and even do children’s shows, and our Halloween tour and our Holiday/Christmas tours where we normally tour through 5 – 6 counties around Central Florida. Next year as we celebrate our 15th year of production, we are also in a major collaboration with Opera Orlando to direct and perform with them in their Juniper Tree in May at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (Note: This is our third collaboration with them). Our fall tour is now named Phantasmagoria XV “Grim and Grimmer Tales” and we are ready to start developing our holiday tour for 2024! Along the way we will be doing ongoing events, and have one of our Phantasmagoria in a sort of different mode happening in April with the Orlando Museum of Art. (our members, our style, but a whole different kind of show to support one of their art exhibits).
5. Do you see Phantasmagoria growing and or expanding in the near future?
We have had in the past small troupes in Atlanta, GA, and St. Louis, Missouri. The pandemic pulled a lot of that to a close, but right now we opened a show in Syracuse, NY that was a roaring success (a theatre that licensed our version of “Christmas Carol” and “The Canterville Ghost” so we are planning on an ongoing collaboration with them and seeing how that expands, and we are in talks for shows in a town in Southern Georgia. So it is always exploring and expanding. Next year we are building a new mini tour that can be nimble and ready to go to new towns and experiences, and we are in talks for a number of immersive experiences.
6. Are there any plans of possibly incorporating your group in a film of some kind at this point?
Well in 2020 that is exactly what we did. We rented a studio for a month, and actually filmed our tour show for that year since most theatres were closed down. It was called Phantasmagoria XI “Plague Tales” and worked wonderfully as a pay to view streaming experience, so yes, that is always on our minds. We are looking at a number of options for this new year and into the future using that as well as other technologies and emerging medias – I can say no more. LOL.
