{"id":662832,"date":"2026-03-17T20:52:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T20:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/662832\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T20:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T20:52:17","slug":"monster-party-is-a-wild-queer-new-immersive-play-opening-in-l-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/662832\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Monster Party’ is a Wild, Queer New Immersive Play Opening in L.A."},"content":{"rendered":"

For a few weeks this April, the more adventurous theatergoers amongst us have the opportunity to travel back in time to a lavish 1950s cocktail party where the drinks are flowing, the\u00a0wit is vicious and everyone might be a literal monster. (The period setting is what separates it from the usual\u00a0WeHo night out.) That\u2019s the premise of\u00a0Monster Party, a new immersive theater experience from Los Angeles creator Matt Dorado, who\u2019s built a cult following with his theatrical nightlife spectacles.<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED:<\/strong> All of L.A.\u2019s outdoor movies in one calendar<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Monster
\nPhotograph: Jeremey Connors <\/p>\n

Running April 16\u201325 at Rita House, the 2.5-hour production drops audiences into the home of a mysterious socialite known as the Baroness. Guests are free to roam the space, interact with a cast of eccentric characters and piece together a sprawling, gruesome narrative that blends supernatural horror with pointed political allegory.<\/p>\n

\"Monster
\nPhotograph: Jeremey Connors <\/p>\n

Unlike traditional theater,\u00a0Monster Party thrives on participation. You can chat up party guests, eavesdrop on whispered conspiracies or simply sip a cocktail while chaos unfolds around you. The show is designed to meet audiences wherever they fall on the introvert\u2013extrovert spectrum\u2014dive headfirst into the drama or hang back and observe as the story reveals itself.<\/p>\n

Dorado is no stranger to this kind of experiential storytelling. His long-running Drunken Devil\u00a0series helped define L.A.\u2019s immersive nightlife scene, while his To Live and Di(n)e in L.A.\u00a0was a sold-out, true-crime-inspired dining experience.<\/p>\n

With Monster Party, Dorado leans even further into narrative ambition. Set in Washington, D.C., during the\u00a0Lavender Scare of the early 1950s, when queer government workers were outed and fired for their sexuality, the show uses\u00a0a campy, grotesque lens to explore how systems of power turn people into monsters. Beneath the absurdist humor and theatrical excess lies a pointed fable about fear, conformity and the cost of moral panic.<\/p>\n

\"Monster
\nPhotograph: Jeremey Connors <\/p>\n

\u201cMonster Party is very near and dear to my heart. I\u2019ve been working on this fully realized version since the day after we wrapped the proof-of-concept back in October 2024. It\u2019s been incredibly rewarding to develop, fundraise for, and ultimately get to produce a show that is so authentic to my deranged inner-creative,” Dorado said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the show\u2019s themes have become strikingly more relevant since then, as we\u2019re mired in a new era of violent political upheaval, unfounded moral panic, and deep division. So although it\u2019s rooted in schlocky melodrama, I\u2019m hopeful that\u00a0Monster Party\u00a0will challenge audiences\u2014perhaps in new and unexpected ways\u2014while also allowing them an evening of gonzo entertainment. I\u2019m genuinely thrilled to unleash this lurid, campy immersive piece into the world!\u201d<\/p>\n

Dasha Kittredge stars as the Baroness, joined by Sidney Franklin as Charlie, Benjamin Berg as Bernard, Bukola Ogunmola as Patricia, Emily Yetter as Loretta, Misha Reeves as Helena, the Butler, and Darren Herczeg as Stanley, the Maid.<\/p>\n

Performances are capped at just 50 guests per night. Tickets run $150 and include drinks throughout the evening; the show is strictly 21+.<\/p>\n

For more information and to buy tickets, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a few weeks this April, the more adventurous theatergoers amongst us have the opportunity to travel back…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":662833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,31028,2961,224,5337,58669,1148],"class_list":{"0":"post-662832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-categories-theater","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-losangeles","14":"tag-news-theater-performance","15":"tag-theater"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116246501867752179","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}