Michael Counts Will Return to NYC with PARADISO: CHAPTER 1

Immersive Escape Productions LLC and producing partners Michael Counts and Jennifer Worthington are proud to present PARADISO: Chapter 1, created by Michael Counts with his creative and technical team behind the hit immersive event The Walking Dead Experience. PARADISO: Chapter 1 begins on Wednesday, July 20 for an open ended engagement. Press Opening is Sunday, July 24 at 8 PM. The performance schedule is Wednesday - Friday from 6pm - 9:30pm; Saturday from 2pm - 9.30pm, Sunday from 2pm - 8:30pm, with audiences entering every half hour. PARADISO: Chapter 1 happens at a secret location in Korea Town that is not unveiled until audiences arrive at a designated meeting point shared when their tickets are booked. Ticket prices start at $45. Tickets are available via http://www.paradisoescape.com/. Advance booking is required.

Inspired by the classic story of the Divine Comedy, the epic tale of one man's journey through the Nine Circles of Hell, PARADISO: Chapter 1 drops 10 Audience members into a 60-minute noir-styled, futuristic nightmare that they must navigate through. With a company of actors guiding the experience, PARADISO introduces a narrative structure that makes audiences feel as if they have truly entered a world where the circumstances, characters, risks and drama represent an immersive "reality." A gripping, multi-layered story unfolds in this genre-bending, immersive psychological thriller, complete with actors and 3D holographic projection technology and special effects from multi-media design + Production Company BeSIDE.

Creator/director Michael Counts, hailed as a "mad genius" by the New York Times, marries his signature blend of interactive performance and high tech stage craft to the escape room format to create the next level in immersive entertainment environments. "With PARADISO," Counts explains, "We blur the lines between audience and actors; creating an emotional experience for participants, setting them on a thrilling journey into an authentic alternative reality."

The production team includes Counts' longtime collaborators: Lindsay Pitzer (The Ride: New York) - Line Producer; Gabriel Evansohn (Woodshed Collective, Queen of the Night) - Production Management and Associate Direction; Ryan O'Gara (Hamilton, New Disney Show Tokyo) - lights; BeSide Digital (Walking Dead Experience and GQ x Giorgio Armani Grammy Party) - Video and Special Effects; Caleb Sharp (Walking Dead Experience, The Box Variety Show, Fighting Gravity) - Sound Design; Katie Fleming (The Walking Dead Experience, Sleep No More, Queen of The Night) - Props, Set Dressing and Associate Scenic Design. Additional production and creative development support has been provided by Captain and Rabbit Immersive.

BIOS

Michael Counts (creator/director) is a theatrical designer and stage director, visual artist, and media and entertainment entrepreneur who has been focused on creating large-scale immersive installations, theatrical productions and innovative media and entertainment experiences, often in unconventional spaces, for the last 20 years. He is one of the early pioneers of immersive theater and has been called a "visionary" and a "mad genius" by the New York Times and "one of the most fertile imaginations working in New York City, today" by Time Out New York Magazine. Two of his recent productions (Moses in Egypt with New York City Opera and Philharmonic 360 with the New York Philharmonic) were listed on the New York Times Top 10 Lists for 2011 and 2013 and his projects in a wide range of media have been critically acclaimed and featured in press and media around the world. His recent partnership with Skybound Entertainment (the LA based media company lead by "The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman) and The Walker Stalker Convention resulted in his creation of The Walking Dead Experience, an immersive touring attraction that received broad critical acclaim as it launched a national tour throughout 2016 (http://wdrv.it/1rufrSK).

Upcoming Counts productions include: The Beacon, a 60 foot tall projection mapped video public artwork for Joe Lewis and his Tavistock Development Company at the Lake Nona Town Center in Orlando Florida; The August Moon Drive-In, an immersive experience that transports audiences to a country drive-in movie in 1965, which has been created as a partnership with music industry legends Ken Levitan (Vector Management) and James Deiner (A&M Octone and Freesolo Management) that will launch in Nashville in early 2017; The Ouroboros Trilogy, an Opera production that will complete the Pulitzer Prize-winning Madame White Snake saga with the addition of two new operas Naga and Gilgamesh, in September 2016; Permadeath, by librettist/producer Cerise Jacobs, which will be the first fully staged video game opera, premiering in 2018. For more information on Michael Counts, visit www.countsprojects.com.

Jennifer Worthington (producer) began her diverse and unique career as a producer, and through the years has successfully forged her path as an entrepreneur. She is the ultimate triple threat - wife, mother and influential career woman - making her mark in Hollywood, establishing numerous successful restaurants and night clubs and developing a celebrated children's entertainment franchise.

As Senior Vice President at Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Worthington worked on numerous film projects, including: Armageddon, Enemy of the State, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Rock, Black Hawk Down, Remember the Titans and Crimson Tide, as well as "Dangerous Minds" and "Soldier of Fortune" in the television sector of the company.

In 2000, Worthington decided to strike out on her own and opened a variety of successful restaurants and nightclubs in New York and Las Vegas, receiving praise across a variety of national and regional media, such as: W Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Women's Wear Daily, "Access Hollywood," "Entertainment Tonight," "EXTRA!" and MTV, amongst others. She was also the subject of a documentary on E! Entertainment Television.

Most recently, Worthington was CEO of Little Angels, a division of Hearst Entertainment and, in partnership with Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, where she created "Little Angels," an animated DVD series for pre-school children. To date, there are four "Little Angels" DVDs, and the brand's expansive collection includes: books, digital, plush toys, and games.

Worthington graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and in 2003, attended the prestigious Harvard Business School's "Women Leading Business."

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