Boston Beautease Burlesque at Boston Center for the Arts

"Hilarious!" "Side-splitting!" "Cursed!" Vamps, vampires, and burlesque – what could possibly go worng?

About this event:

During the rainy summer of 1816, Mary Shelley and her lover (and future husband), Percy Bysshe Shelley, visited Lord Byron at the Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The weather was cold and dreary, so the group amused themselves by reading German ghost stories translated into French from the book Fantasmagoriana.

Byron proposed that they each write a ghost story, but he couldn't finish anything. His personal physician, John Polidori, took Byron's scraps and turned it into a novel: The Vampire. Finished in 1819, the work is regarded as the first romantic depiction of the undead. It was terrible, but it was a hit in France where the name was used for a play, Les Vampyres, that didn't really have anything with the novel. Not to be outdone, the Germans wrote two different operas based on the play. The plot of the two operas bore only a passing resemblance to the play, the novel....or each other.

In 1912, with World War I looming in the near-distance, burlesque impresario W. R. Athskellar was searching desperately for a property to turn into a theatrical hit. He came across a copy of the largely forgotten opera. Inspired, he spent over ten thousand pounds ($1.42 million in 2021 ) developing it into a burlesque show, "Vamps After Midnite!". It was a spectacle of special effects, a 70-piece orchestra, a flock of trained bats, and two black panthers...who turned out to be less well-trained.

The show closed after two rehearsals and one performance, sinking into well-deserved obscurity...until now! BeauTease Burlesque recently received a what may be the only extant copy of "Vamps After Midnite" from an unknown benefactor.

We are so excited to be bringing it to life in front of a modern audience, exactly as performed over 100 years ago (with some modifications for modern sensibilities, budgetary reasons, and several federal and state laws). With a treasured work like this one, what could possibly go worng?

Please note: We are requiring proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test from all attendees, and all audience members must remain masked while in the building in keeping with City of Boston requirements.

A rare engraving from the original Vamps After Midnite, showing great actor Josiah Appleton Whyte (on left) on opening (and closing) night of the original production, just seconds before he was crushed by a large portrait.

Thanks for purchasing tickets to "Vamps After Midnite". The following rules are in place due to COVID-19:

1) Because we have reduced the seating capacity of the theatre, tickets are non-refundable. They are transferable.

2) All attendees are required to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test at the door

3) All attendees are required to wear masks while in the building, except while actively eating and drinking.

Doors to the lobby open at 7:00 p.m., seating begins at 7:30 p.m. and is on a first come, first seated basis. The show starts at 8:00 p.m. Please see https://bostonarts.org/about/visit-us/ for information on location, transportation, and parking.

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Vamps After Midnite will be performed the last two weeks of October at The Plaza Theater at The Boston Center for the Arts.  Tickets go on sale September 7.  Members of our email list get early access! 

SHOW DATES 
Wednesday, October 27 @ 8:00 p.m. | Use promo code SecretBoston
Thursday, October 28 @ 8:00 p.m. | Use promo code SecretBoston
Friday, October 29 @ 8:00 p.m. 
Saturday, October 30 @ 8:00 p.m.

2-For-1
Special Ticket Offer on select dates
Use promo code SecretBoston

Eventbrite instructions:

1) go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vamps-after-midnite-tickets-168357851867

2) select a date — the SB tickets are only available for

• Wednesday 10/27

• Thursday 10/28

3) Click Enter Promo Code above the words “General Admission”

4) Enter SecretBoston

5) That will reveal the “Secret Boston 2-for-1” tickets. People can buy exactly two tickets for $17.50 (plus fees) each.

5a) If they want to buy 4 or 6 tickets, they have to go through the system again. It’s stupid.

6) Put the ticket in their shopping cart, check out as normal.