ORLANDO — During the sweaty heat of summer across Central Florida, it might have raised an eyebrow or two: strolling into your local retail store, patrons might have noticed it on the shelves …
… Halloween decorations? In August?
But anyone in Central Florida’s tourism industry knows that’s not very surprising. Halloween is big business in this tourist-friendly region, with the big theme parks introducing their Halloween-themed entertainment (Halloween Horror Nights, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party) in September. Folks like their scares, so who waits until October anymore?
John DiDonna gets that. “We see the season starting earlier and earlier every year,” he said, “and it is definitely important to keep up.”
DiDonna is the writer, director and lead actor of Phantasmagoria, the troupe of circus-like performers who have been recreating eerie stories from horror literature for nearly 20 years. This year, as DiDonna plans to introduce the latest installment, Phantasmagoria XVI: Hauntingly Whimsical Tales, they’re celebrating two unique milestones.
First, Phantasmagoria revived its dinner theater shows at local restaurants over the summer. Second, their latest production takes on a unique twist as they take “a very special journey through the tales of iconic artist and author Edward Gorey in celebration of his 100th birthday year,” DiDonna notes.
What is Phantasmagoria XVI?
Gorey was well known, and beloved, for his ghoulish and unsettling horror literature, which DiDonna described as Gorey’s “distinctive eerie yet whimsical worlds.” While Phantasmagoria has recreated tales by horror masters such as Edgar Allan Poe in this past, this latest production will focus on Gorey’s works, with recreations of “The Gilded Bat,” “The Beastly Baby,” “The Wuggly Ump” and “The Gashlycrumb Tinies,” among others.
“Phantasmagoria and its audiences will relish in the works of this prolific visionary,” the theater group is promising, while calling the production “The perfect way to celebrate the 2025 Halloween season.”
Suitably intrigued, Freeline Media reached out to John DiDonna to learn more about what Phantasmagoria has in store for us this Halloween season.
Freeline Media: Over the summer, Phantasmagoria expanded into new territory, doing dinner theater shows. How did that work out and what lessons did you learn from this new approach?
John DiDonna: That was such a fun show, but we have actually done that very often in the past! We have done many shows at Maxine’s On Shine over the years, including Valentine’s day shows and Christmas shows. This was just a very recent higher profile one (The “Poe, Through The Tales Darkly” mini-tour). We have also done dinner theater as Phantasmagoria on Riverboats, both here in Florida and in St. Louis, MO, and even on trains! It is a lot of fun, but it is also a logistical navigation around the courses, and the food. So that is of course a learning curve. It is a great format that we hope to continue to do often in the future. Right now we are working on some new plans with a sit down restaurant in St. Charles, Missouri and hope that works out well.
FM: You’ve performed Phantasmagoria at Dr. Phillips Center, the Orlando Fringe Festival and now as part of a dinner theater show, each presenting different stages and logical challenges. In what ways does Phantasmagoria continue to evolve so it can accommodate different theatrical locations and experiences?
JD: I think we relish that. The whole idea stems from being able to perform the stories everywhere and anywhere. I often joke that we want to do it on an escalator one day, LOL. This past weekend we did a show on a set for Into the Woods that we had only seen about an hour and a half prior to the audience coming in, and afterwards during the talkback someone mentioned how incredible it was that we had just seen the set, and yet used it perfectly. That is the sort of ensemble based training we try to do with all of our performers, working instinctively within the environments.
FM: Tell us about how the 100-year birthday celebration for Edward Gorey will fit in with Phantasmagoria XVI: Hauntingly Whimsical Tales.
JD: This is a very personal joy for me. I remember sitting in a theatre when I was around 12 years old, and being FASCINATED by Edward Gorey’s Dracula on Broadway – with Frank Langella in the lead role. From that point forward I was hooked. My wonderful aunt who introduced me to his work would continually buy me his books as gifts, so each year I would learn more and more about the worlds he created. So the opportunity to be licensed by The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust and create this entire show based on his works, and to be associated with the national birthday celebrations is an incredible personal journey for me. Gorey gave us a very unique brand of horror — tiny, dark and whimsical “Penny Dreadfuls” as they are — that charm the reader, make one shake their head OH NO HE DID NOT and yet enjoy the absurdity of it. Just. Like. Life. He goes places no one expects, and gets us to laugh at things we never thought we would. That is a beautiful universe he has created, and one that we now get to play in. The trust itself is amazing. You can tell they not only exist to represent him, but that they LOVE him and cherish his works. That to me was so important to see. So this year the audiences will see Phantasmagoria for sure, but a very special brand of Phantasmagoria, with much humor, a lot of creativity in bringing these to life, some fabulous puppets by Nic Parks (who I had the opportunity to work with on Opera Orlando’s “The Juniper Tree”), some wonderful new music composed by Josh Solomon, Dana Mott’s incredible projections USING Edward Gorey’s artworks . . . it is truly a dream come true for that young boy who fell in love with his work all those years ago. I never had the chance to meet Edward Gorey, but it feels like we are giving each other a wonderful welcoming nod “Hello” from a distance.
FM: From Halloween decor hitting stores in August and annual Halloween celebrations starting in September at Orlando’s major theme parks, have these earlier dates for the spooky season (and the obvious fact that Halloween is big business in Central Florida) shifted how you approached crafting Hauntingly Whimsical Tales?
JD: We see the season starting earlier and earlier every year, and it is definitely important to keep up. Back in August I saw my first store displays for (drumroll please) CHRISTMAS. So we have to keep the audience engaged and connected. Luckily for us, tales of terror and horror are on people’s radars every month of the year, which is why we are able to perform year round in varying capacities.
FM: Based on feedback from audiences in the past year, do you get any sense that audiences want a slightly new approach to how horror is presented to them, or are they eager to again see what Phantasmagoria has delivered in the past.
JD: Well we are constantly shifting and changing, so I think we do that to ourselves. One year we go more serious, one year more sentimental, one year such as this more comedic . . . but always in the realm of “horror.” We shake things up so WE as a troupe stay connected and engaged with the material. We are already planning next year’s mainstage tour, and it is going BACK centuries into some very specific horror tales that we love, and have never done all together. So the writer in me is already anticipating that with relish.
Where Can I See Phantasmagoria XVI?
Phantasmagoria XVI: Hauntingly Whimsical Tales will be performed next month on the following dates and locations:
- Oct. 3-4 at The Melon Patch Theatre (Leesburg)
- Oct. 9, 10, 11 and 12 at Dr Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (Downtown Orlando)
- Oct. 24-25 at The Athens Theatre (Deland)
- Oct. 26 at the Tampa Theatre
- Nov. 1 at the Reilly Arts Center (Ocala)
- Nov. 7-8 at the Theatre West End (Sanford)
To learn more to get purchase tickets or reservations, log on to www.PhantasmagoriaOrlando.com or visit Phantasmagoria on Facebook or Instagram and TikTok at @PhantasOrlando
What is Phantasmagoria?
Two words: Victorian Horror.
For every Halloween season since 2009, the Phantasmagoria troupe has been entertaining local audiences through acrobatics, music, dance, giant puppets, and, most importantly, by recreating classic tales of terror from the vaults of legendary horror writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley and many others. Each year, there are new stories — not to mention new adventures for the circus-like performers themselves, and also sometimes new actors as well.
If you’ve lived in Central Florida over the past decade, that word Phantasmagoria needs no introduction. The troupe has been performing around Halloween, at the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, and more recently, around Christmas with their unique version of A Christmas Carol.
Michael Freeman is an Orlando journalist, playwright and author of the terrifying book “Bloody Rabbit”. Contact him at Freelineorlando@gmail.com.
Freeline Media accepts opinion columns — ones that are polite, civil, and done with insight and good taste — from all points of view, all ideologies, all political parties and concerns. Contact us today at FreelineOrlando@gmail.com if you’d like to share your views and opinions with Freeline Media and our readers.
