Once you visit this zoo, you may just discover that you are the animal in a cage…
On Halloween Weekend, join members for an intimate theatrical experience and a Benefit Musical Theater concert! This event series is the second immersive-play collaboration between ESB and New York Broadway alumni Matt Shingledecker.
There will be three events:
- 2 Immersive Performances of ~ “The Zoo Story” ~Friday, October 30 & Saturday, October 31st (Halloween!)
- 1 Benefit Musical Theater Concert ~ Halloween! ~ Saturday, October, 31. Learn more & register for the benefit concert here.
Profits from these performances and the benefit concert go directly to the artists, creating our version of an “Artist Relief Fund” to support these incredible individuals, who like our colleagues in food and beverage, have lost all employment and performance opportunities during the pandemic.
Play Production featuring Tricks & Treats
The first event is performance of “The Zoo Story”, featuring Broadway alums Matt Shingledecker, Wicked (Fiyero), West Side Story (Tony), and Bill English (Anything Goes, Twentieth Century). Performance is limited to 13 guests. Transport yourself to Central Park, NYC (Pre-Covid-19, of course), where you’ll hear the distant sounds of saxophone, and partake of Halloween-inspired New York bites and adult beverages in a walk around setting, until you are seated, and transported into this Stephen King-like narrative. The Zoo Story, as bitingly funny as it is shocking, is a one-act play by Edward Albee, widely considered the foremost American playwright of his generation.
Peter, a publishing executive, is reading on his favorite bench in New York City’s Central Park. Suddenly he is approached by a stranger named Jerry, who makes his entrance with the announcement “I’ve been to the zoo…” Do you want to know what happened at the zoo? Then join us, won’t you? Once you visit this zoo, you may just discover that you are the animal in a cage…
All events will be held at a private residence, and guests will be seated in a spacious backyard, with ample room for physical distancing. We ask that all guests respect the personal space of others and maintain distance during this time! ESB will be following strict guidelines to ensure the safety of all guests and staff.
Matt Shingledecker is delighted to be working with Epicurean SB again after last year’s developmental reading of Private Lives. Prior to the pandemic, he was touring North America as Enjolras in the Musical Phenomenon Les Miserables, and he recently mounted his first concert: Matt Shingledecker and Friends “From Charleston to Broadway and Back Again” in his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Broadway credits include Wicked (Fiyero), West Side Story (Tony – Featured in Arthur Laurent’s Memoir “The Rest of the Story: A Life Completed), and Spring Awakening. Off-Broadway credits include Rent (Roger – Original Revival Cast) and Amy Baer and Keith Robinson’s Standby (Jonathan). Other touring credits include Wicked and Spring Awakening. London: Homemade Fusion. Immersive: Dani Girl, Michael Arden’s Adaptation of La Ronde, The Golden Lotus, and For Madmen Only. TV/Film: Blue Bloods, Regis & Kelly (Regis’s Farewell Episode), Seaside, Future 38, Sweet Parents, Grind, Eugenia & John, and Barflies. Other Credits include numerous developmental projects in NYC and LA as well as a number of regional productions. BFA Elon University. Twitter/Instagram: @m_shingledecker
Bill English’s Broadway credits include Anything Goes, Twentieth Century. His Off Broadway/Regional credits include Into the Woods (Flint Rep), The Music Man (Arizona Theatre Co.), Streamers (Roundabout), The Full Monty, A Christmas Carol (NSMT), The Shaggs (NYMF), The Times (Sonnet Rep), Dracula (Triad Stage), The Man Who Came to Dinner (ACC). He was made several television appearances in series including Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, Elementary, Person of Interest, Family Guy, Outnumbered, Cavemen, Melrose Place. Bill received his BFA from University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and is a proud member of Actors Equity and SAG/Aftra.
