The cast and crew spent two days shooting at the McKittrick Hotel, a five-story location commercial space located at 530 West 27th Street, which has been transformed to house the Macbeth-inspired Sleep No More. Actors from Sleep No More were also involved in the shoot.
"It was incredible to use their space, their actors… the whole thing. We like to do a masked ball every year, and this just dials it up so many notches. We were very much attuned to keep Sleep No More's secrets. At the same time, they were also really helpful in letting us utilize stuff that they maybe normally wouldn’t. We shot there for two days — several of the rooms, different floors," executive producer Josh Safran told EW.com.
Safran added that the masquerade themed episode, which will air Nov. 14, will be darker in tone than previous "Gossip Girl" masked balls. "Unlike our previous masquerade balls, there’s blood; it’s darker. There’s Lady Macbeth, there’s Macbeth. It's a little more twisted than usual, and that episode also holds in it so many surprising, romantic twists… It's sort of a big, sexy, blood, everything-comes-to-a-head kind of an episode."
"Gossip Girl" airs Monday nights at 8 PM ET. Check local listings.
Sleep No More is also presenting a series of sold-out masquerade events as part of Halloween from Oct. 26-31. Sleep No More opened to raves in April. It is currently booking through Dec. 17.
Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett directed and designed the work that takes a non-linear approach to its storytelling, allowing theatregoers to freely explore the dark environment, where scenes, tableaux and scenarios play out, conjuring the world and themes of Shakespeare's bloody tale. Audience members don masks and must be silent during the experience. Participants are encouraged to open drawers, pull back curtains, read private notes and journals as they navigate the shadowy, music-filled world.
The production has co-direction and choreography by Maxin Doyle and sound design by Stephen Dobbie. Design associates are Beatrice Minns and Livi Vaughan.
The New York debut of Sleep No More is presented by Emursive's Randy Weiner (The Donkey Show), Arthur Karpati and Jonathan Hochwald, in association with Rebecca Gold Productions.
The pricing scale follows: $75 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday), $85 (Thursday, and late performances Friday-Saturday), and $95 (regular performances Friday-Saturday).
Premium access tickets, available for sold-out performances, are available by e-mailing [email protected].
Entry times for Sleep No More follow: Monday-Saturday at 7 PM, 7:15 PM, 7:30 PM, 7:45 PM and 8 PM. Late performances on Fridays and Saturdays have entry times at 11 PM, 11:15 PM, 11:30 PM, 11:45 PM and midnight.
For tickets visit SleepNoMoreNYC.
