Photos: First Look At DARK LADIES Off-Broadway 

Be Bold! Production of Dark Ladies: Ghostly Tales by Gothic Ladies is continuing its Off-Broadway run at The Players Theatre in Greenwich Village after opening this past weekend. The play runs through November 3, 2024. See photos from the production.

Based on the writings of Victorian women between the times of 1820 and 1926, Dark Ladies embraces the macabre with spine-tingling tales adapted by playwright Brenda Bell from authors such as Edith Wharton, Emily Brontë, Mary Howitt, and more. It is accompanied by all original live music performed by Michael Sgouros.  

Opening with what Bell refers to sweetly as one of the “ditties”, audiences are presented with the “Spider and the Fly”. It is narrated by Bell as the Spider (Shino Frances) tries to lure into her web the Fly (Avery Ilardi), who dances her way around the stage – just out of the spider’s reach. Will she get caught? 

The first vignette “Drowning in Love” follows, and audiences meet Collette (Andrea Woodbridge), a medium in the 1890s who feels her journeys to the other side of the veil during her séance sessions are becoming harder to return from. She is doted upon by her loving maid and companion Louise (Sue-Ellen Mandell), who wants her to give up this “ugly business”. Her fiancé Jules (Eric Fletcher), however, wants her to continue, as he enjoys the attention it brings him. When grieving mother Madame Moreau (Lexie Showalter) arrives for what Collette insists will be her last séance, things take a turn as we see her lost daughter Sarah (Rosie Ilardi) physically manifest. 

The next “palette cleansing ditty” is “Skeleton Bones and Xylophones”, where two black-lit skeletons (Avery Ilardi and Lexie Showalter) perform a vaudeville-esque style dance, complete with top hats and canes. They are accompanied by a skeleton who appears to be dancing on the xylophone, which is played by Michael Sgouros. 

“Dead Ringer” follows, where we are transported to the 1910s and introduced to Frances (Eric Fletcher), who is visiting his society friend Julia (Shino Frances). He soon tells her of a trip he took to visit an old family acquaintance Miss Mary Pask (Sue-Ellen Mandell), who he only remembers hearing had passed away once he arrives at her apartment. He is surprised to be greeted by Miss Mary Pask in all her ghostly glory. 

The next brief and beautiful ditty is set to “Spellbound”, a poem by Emily Brontë. Avery Ilardi performs a lyrical dance set to the narration, embracing the storm and wowing audiences with her spine-bending skills and gorgeous interpretations. 

The final vignette is “Will Death Do Us Part?”, taking us up to the 1920s where we meet housewife Charlotte (Andrea Woodbridge), who welcomes a visit from her sister-in-law Katie (Lexie Showalter) as she awaits the arrival of her husband Kenneth, who has promised to take her on a spur of the moment getaway. There has recently been an unwelcome presence in their new marriage, and Charlotte has begun to suspect that Kenneth’s first wife Elise (Shino Frances) is trying to interfere – possibly from beyond the grave.  

The last ditty is “Hush”, an original poem by Brenda Bell that encompasses the life stories that were all too common for women of a certain era who were told from childhood on to be “seen and not heard”, prim and proper. It’s a celebration of the distance women have come from that time to the present, and how women should never be “hushed”. 

The brilliant Lighting by Jessica Choi helps tell the story, accompanied by gorgeous period costumes by Courtney Hansen and Shea Coughlin, along with a masterful set by Elizabeth Chaney, and live music by Michael Sgouros. 

“Dark Ladies” runs through Nov 3 on Fridays and Saturdays at 7p and Sundays at 2p. There is an additional matinee performance Saturday, September 28 at 3p.  Performances are at The Players Theatre located at 115 MacDougal Street (between Bleecker and West 3rd). Tickets are $40-$60 and can be purchased at: www.BeBoldNY.com or at the box office. 

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