Press Release – The 17th Annual San Francisco Edwardian Ball

 

PARADOX Media and Vau de Vire Society Announce

The 17^th Annual San Francisco Edwardian Ball

and a Dramatically Expanded 2017 Edwardian Ball Season of Festival Events

Honoring the Late-Great Macabre Comic Artist, Cartoonist, and Graphic Novelist Edward Gorey

PARADOX Media and Vau de Vire Society announce the 17^th Annual Edwardian Ball for Friday and Saturday, January 20 & 21, 2017, at the Regency Center and a newly expanded 2017 Edwardian Ball season in honor the late-great macabre cult author, comic artist, illustrator and cartoonist Edward Gorey. To meet ticket demand, the 8^th Annual Edwardian Ball Los Angeles moves into its new home of the historic Globe Theatre in the heart of the Broadway Downtown Theatre District on Saturday, February 11, 2017; and the first-ever Edwardian Ball New Orleans takes place Saturday, March 25, 2017 at Generations Hall, a magnificently renovated sugar refinery built in the early 1820’s.

Edward Gorey is the ground-breaking, genre–defying and critically-acclaimed graphic novelist who is credited with influencing Charles “Addams Family” Addams, Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman (Coraline and Day of the Dead), Rob Reger (Emily the Strange), Alison Bechdel, (Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama and Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic), and Tim Burton (Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, and Beetlejuice).

For the uninitiated, The Edwardian Ball presents a unique blend of live music, theatre, fashion, circus, fine art, riveting stage shows, literature, ballroom dancing, DJs, and character play in an enticing and whirlwind alternative universe extravaganza. This multi-city, multi-media exposition of the eccentric and esoteric, long considered San Francisco’s time-traveling boutique amalgamation of Cirque du Soleil-meets-Mardi Gras, has grown over the past sixteen years from an underground club party into an internationally recognized festival of the arts, drawing attendees from all over the world, operating with the blessing of The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust.

Each year, as part of its extensive entertainment offering, the Edwardian Ball stages a raucously capricious, whimsical, dramatic and climatic theatrical production of an Edward Gorey tale as the centerpiece performance homage to the literary great. This year the living interpretation and celebration of the selected Gorey story revels in the darkest of black comedy and ominous gothic intrigue, suspense, and mystery with the theme of Murder in the presentation of, “The Deadly Blotter;” an unconventional, unusual, intriguing, eccentric and esoteric whodunit, the guidelines of which will be defined and redefined by the attendees, all of whom are either sleuths or suspects in hilarious homicidal hijinks.

Justin Katz, executive producer and co-founder of the Edwardian Ball, states, “This year we present a hat tip to the cinematic murder mystery noir in our presentation of ‘The Deadly Blotter.’ The three Edwardian Ball affairs, staged in three unique and distinctive cities, each sharing the same commonality in cultural magnetism, mysticism, and magical allure, as well as troubled, tragic and tortured pasts, are, in a way, the three parts of a trilogy. Aficionados of the arts, music, literature, and cinema, who relish community participation and a desire to create and perform as Edward Gorey characters in the chapters of their own individualistic plays, will find their home in these darkly gothic, romanticized, gilded and gentile Neo-Victorian and Edwardian-era parties that imagine an alternative distant past which intertwines with an elegantly re-imagined future.”

Other darkly decadent and delightful attractions include the award-winning Edwardian Vendor Bazaar, Portrait Booth, Museum of Wonders, locally distilled absinthe cocktails, Saturday Afternoon Tea Service, steam-powered art and installations, parlour games, alluring sideshows, and much more. All ages are welcome in this kindly interactive environment.*

Friday, January 20, 2017: The Edwardian World’s Faire

Our two-night San Francisco celebration unfolds with the renowned Edwardian World’s Faire. Historic and novel characters intermingle; true-life adventures blend with fantastical lands; live the excitement of the age of exploration, reimagined through the lens of today and beyond. Get lost in our delightful Gaming Garden, where characters, tricks, and games of chance weave a backdrop to steam-powered creations and chance encounters. Revel in a modern day Belle Époque where cultures meet, blend, dance, and collide. A worldly adventure ahead of Saturday night’s Ball, our World’s Faire presents a once-in-this-lifetime adventure!

Saturday, January 21, 2017: The 17th Annual Edwardian Ball

Following our global adventure, we return to our Ballroom for the most decadent night of our season! This is the night that started it all, The Edwardian Ball, presented by co-hosts Rosin Coven and The Vau de Vire Society. Ballroom dancing leads way to stunning performances both on and offstage in a collage of fashion, theatre, music, circus performance, and dance. Each year, The Edwardian Ball presents a featured Edward Gorey tale in an original stage performance, this year taking an ominous twist with “The Deadly Blotter,” an alphabetical journey into classic murder-mystery whodunit, blending music, stage, and film in a unique presentation of a tale that only Gorey can tell…

The 17^th Annual Edwardian Ball

What: The 17^th Annual Edwardian Ball – www.edwardianball.com

When: Friday, January 20, 2017 and Saturday, January 21, 2017.

Hours: 8 pm to 2 am.

Where: Regency Ballroom, 1300 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94109. www.theregencyballroom.com Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/4JcdZhAY58m

Ages: All Ages Welcome – 21 and over to consume alcohol

Attire: Creative Period Costumes Strongly Encouraged.

Ticket Prices: (Prices Increase as Event Draws Near).

• Friday January 20, 2017, The Edwardian World’s Faire 2017

General Admission – Advance: $85.00

Young Edwardian (15 and under): $30.00

VIP Mezzanine – Non-Reserved: $150.00

VIP Reserved Seating: $250.00

• Saturday January 21, 2017, The 17th Annual Edwardian Ball

General Admission – Advance: $85.00 

VIP Mezzanine – Non-Reserved: $150.00 

VIP Reserved Seating: $250.00

Edwardian Ball Ancillary Affairs:

• Vendor Bazaar, Daytime Shopping: Noon to 5 pm, Saturday, January 21, 2017 with a special admission price of only $5.00 or Free admission with VIP ticket purchase. All Ages Welcome.
• Afternoon Tea in the Museum of Wonders, Doors 1:30pm, Tea Service 2-4pm, Saturday, January 21st, 2017. $45 General Admission. All Ages Welcome.

Los Angeles:

What: The 8^th Annual Edwardian Ball Los Angeles

• When: Saturday, February 11, 2017
• Hours: 8 pm to 2 am.
• Where: Globe Theatre LA, 740 S. Broadway, Los Angeles CA 90014.
• http://www.globetheatre-la.com Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/7ea3AHF4qi72

New Orleans:

• What: The First-Ever Edwardian Ball New Orleans
• When: Saturday, March 25, 2017
• Hours: 8 pm to 2 am.
• Where: Generations Hall, 310 Andrew Higgins Drive, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130.
• http://www.generationshall.com Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/hdvXZRDu2uC2

• Ages: All Ages Welcome – 21 and over to consume alcohol
• Attire: Creative Period Costumes Strongly Encouraged.
• Ticket Prices: $45 to $250. Prices Increase as Event Draws Near.

*Please refer to http://www.edwardianball.com to purchase tickets and for additional info, as specific attraction, performance and entertainment line-ups and itineraries vary slightly from city-to-city.

All accompanying Edwardian Ball press images are graciously provided by and credited to Marco Sanchez: http://www.marcosanchez.net