On Friday night, Redmoon's Spectacle Lunatique doubled as a fund-raiser and 20th-anniversary celebration for the theater, which specializes in surrealist performance art. "The night was intended to be a wild, raucous birthday party," said associate artistic director Vanessa Stalling, "and we wanted to make guests feel like it was their birthday as well."
Artistic director Frank Maugeri said he and the planning crew "designed an evening full of wild and beautiful experiences"—a series of short performances he referred to as "moments"—that involved the work of about 100 artists and a month of rehearsals. As guests turned up at Redmoon Central, the theater's homebase, performers outside the door serenaded them with loud choruses of chanted "oohs" and "aahs." At the same time, a pianist played a short song customized with guests' names and a spotlight operator illuminated individual arriving guests.
Inside the space, the personal attention continued as performers rushed up to guests to give them foam cupcakes that opened at the top to reveal poems and fortunes written on strips of paper. A crew of singers dressed as skeletons serenaded attendees with birthday-related songs, and yet another team of actors pranced through the space, blowing out imaginary candles on miniature pastel cakes that they held in their hands.
The warehouse space was decked in decor meant to evoke "a birthday wonderland," Maugeri said. Overize white balloons hung from the ceiling and handmade centerpieces contained toy goldfish capped in party hats. And lest the theme escape any partygoer's attention, a performer stationed atop a towering bike inside the main entrance shouted "It's my birthday," each time the door opened.
