Sleep No More #5
I had thought my fourth trip to the McKittrick might be my last, but I couldn’t resist the special event for the Manhattan Cocktail Classic. I’m very glad I decided to go for it, because it was by far my best visit yet. (And let’s be honest, this won’t have been my last one either.)
The biggest and best difference was the size of the crowd. I don’t know why the event didn’t sell out - maybe because it was only promoted through the Manhattan Cocktail Classic and not through a Sleep No More email - but I’m so glad it didn’t, because the smaller crowd changed the whole feel of the show and made the evening so much nicer. I only encountered one rude audience member (a drunk girl who was throwing pebbles and clumps of dirt at actors mid-scene) and there was a very pleasant lack of pushiness overall. There were very long stretches of time where I would be the only one following a particular actor, even well into the second and third cycles, and I can’t remember that happening before (at least for me).
As for the cocktails, they were all free (after the $125 ticket of course) and they were all fabulous. I found recipes for them here; the punch was definitely my favorite. I brought my lovely friend Linda with me (her first time), and as we were the first ones into the Manderley bar, we had just enough time to finish our drinks and nibble on appetizers before the aces were called.
I had planned to spend the first cycle on the fifth floor, but when the elevator let us out on the fourth, I decided to go with it, and followed Matty Oaks as the tailor for quite a while, until he chose me for his 1:1 (which was the third time I’ve experienced that scene but the first time with Matty). At that point, I switched to following Sai Somboon as the Speakeasy Barman for a bit, as I’d never spent much time with his character before. I stayed with him through his card game, which I finally won. I enjoyed my victory shot, then stepped out to let others play.
I wandered aimlessly for a while at that point, and ended up catching the interrogation for the first time, which blew me away. I decided I should get off the fourth floor finally, so I went down to the hotel lobby where I saw that Eric Jackson Bradley was playing the Porter. I hadn’t spent much time with the Porter previously, and I think Eric is wonderful, so I stayed with him for most of the third cycle. There were a couple of other people following him as well, so I didn’t expect to be chosen for his 1:1, but I was. This was my first experience with the Porter, and if you’ve done it then you know how intense it is. (And if you haven’t, then I won’t spoil it for you.) Definitely the highlight of my night.
At that point I realized there were only about twenty minutes left in the show, so I headed back up to the fourth floor where I ran into the taxidermist, another character I hadn’t spent much time with. I stayed with him until he took me to the ballroom, where Sai found me and escorted me out after the hanging.
As for the afterparty, I can say that Linda and I had a great time, and also got very, very drunk. Free whiskey has that effect on me. I’d actually never chatted with any cast members out of character, but the afterparty crowd was small and laid-back enough that I felt comfortable doing so, so that was lovely as well. I just hope I didn’t make too much of a drunken ass of myself (or if I did, I hope everyone else was just as drunk as me.)
When we stopped at coat check on the way out, we were given a deck of souvenir Bowmore / Sleep No More playing cards, which I thought was a nice touch. I also noticed afterward that our masks had Bowmore stickers on the inside, lest we forget exactly what kind of whiskey we were drinking all night. All in all, I have to say the small crowd, the excellent drinks and snacks, and a bit of luck on my side made for a really excellent evening. Well worth the serious hangover I’m dealing with this morning.
