Imagine being transported into another world where a mysterious stranger approaches you as you walk down a flight of stairs. “Come with me,” she says, leading you into another room, before holding a mirror. “The Queen has asked to see you,” she continues, as she points to cloaked woman wearing a lavish headpiece. Then the person points a mirror at you and tells you to look. In it, you see a performer twisting and turning from a trapeze in the air.
No, you didn’t wander into something out of an elaborate Stanley Kubrick film or a wild bacchanalian soirée; it’s Queen of the Night, an out-of-this-world dinner theater experience currently taking place at the famed Diamond Horseshoe nightclub inside the Paramount Hotel from the same people who gave you Sleep No More. According to the release, it’s “a dark debutante ball thrown by The Marchesa for her daughter Pamina. Queen of the Night is a fusion of performance, music, circus, cuisine, design, and nightlife that welcomes the audience into a wholly interactive entertainment experience.”
Douglas Little created a glamorous set filled with silk damask and specially concocted scents for each environment. Guests are greeted by a Mad Distillery Bar, where liquid winds through glass tubes and into beakers so that you can enjoy the complex cocktails while being served foie gras gougeres glazed with brandied-cherry jam and deviled eggs with crispy chicken skin. After, you are guided to a table where, once seated, dance numbers and circus performers dressed in costumes designed by fashion designer Thom Browne entertain you.
Then you’ll be presented with a feast, executed by chef Jason Kallert and director of food performance Jennifer Rubell, which is marched in enclosed in cages. Depending on your table, you’ll be presented with whole short ribs with marrow bones, homemade pickles, and pommes gratin; a roasted suckling pig; or steamed lobster with red bliss potatoes and fresh corn — or if you’re lucky, all three. If you want to try something other than what you were served, you must barter with the other tables. And for dessert? You’ll be spoon-fed a hazelnut dacquoise with layers of coffee-flavored diplomat cream and praline feuilletine.
Trust us, your mind will be blown. This wild show stimulates all your senses like nothing else. Grab your tickets now. They’re going fast.
For more information, visit queenofthenightnyc.com.
