Detroit Halloween bash Theatre Bizarre canceled for 2023 season
Theatre Bizarre, one of metro Detroit’s most popular Halloween events, will not be returning this fall, according to a a post on the organizers' website.
The wild, hedonistic, two-weekend event annually drew thousands of revelers from all around Michigan, neighboring states and even around the world each year, filling eight floors of the Masonic Temple with spooky madness since 2011. The event was previously canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, returning last fall.
“It is with deepest regret that we announce the 2023 Theatre Bizarre season has been canceled,” organizers wrote.
“A double-booking at the Masonic Temple has made an impossible situation that disrupts much of our main floor space, including our main entrance. We have a contract for the space and have been pressing for a resolution for some time. Unfortunately, it remains out of reach.”
In 2019, the Free Press described the event as “part haunted house, part masquerade party, and entirely an immersive art project.” But it began as a backyard party for friends and neighbors in 2000, thrown by creator John Dunivant before growing into the singular spectacle called “the greatest masquerade on Earth.”
2019: Theatre Bizarre: 20 reasons to love Detroit's artsy masquerade party
2022: Detroit’s Theatre Bizarre fills 8 floors, 350K square feet of Masonic Temple
This is not the first time in the last year Theatre Bizarre has encountered problems. A Metro Times exposé published on Halloween last year detailed a spate of firings and resignations amid allegations of grooming and abuse within the organization and staff.
“The Masonic Temple has been a tremendous partner for 11 years,” the organizers wrote. “We are hopeful this situation will be addressed and a glorious return produced in 2024.”
Read the full statement—which also addresses the cancellation’s economic impact on metro Detroit—below.
It is with deepest regret that we announce the 2023 Theatre Bizarre season has been canceled.
A double-booking at the Masonic Temple has created an impossible situation that disrupts much of our main floor space, including our main entrance. We do have a contract for the space and have been pressing for a solution for some time. Unfortunately, resolution remains out of reach.
The Masonic Temple has been a tremendous partner for 11 years, and we are hopeful this situation will be addressed and a spectacular return produced in 2024. The Temple is an extraordinary venue, with a layout and mystique that intertwine perfectly with the Theatre Bizarre experience and storyline.
To our dedicated leads, cast and crew who have been hard at work on performances, designs, logistics and scheduling, our hearts break with yours.
To our featured performers, both stage and lane, who commit their time, vision and effort to their roles year-round, your immense talents will be sorely missed.
To our patrons from all across the country and beyond, whose experience has been denied, we share your disappointment and frustration.
To our many Detroit-area vendors and partners who will suffer a great loss in revenue this year without this production, the impact this will have on you weighs heavily on us.
This includes the Detroit Hostel, which we rent in its entirety for almost two weeks, caterers who will lose nearly $130,000 feeding both our crew and patrons, the approximately $60,000 we spend on security, the Eastern Market farmer who will lose $15,000 in pumpkin sales, and the legendary Rocky Peanut Co., whose confections are enjoyed by our guests throughout the night. As well as the material suppliers, production houses, sound and lighting companies and countless other businesses that we rent from and work with. Not to mention the many Detroit-area hotels, restaurants and Uber and Lyft drivers that house, feed and transport nearly 10,000 patrons over the course of two weekends.
Theatre Bizarre has become an iconic Detroit event, even garnering a permanent spot on the timeline at The Detroit Historical Museum. Few other immersive theater events exist in the world, and none approach seven to nine hours in length, involve nearly 1,500 performers and musicians, or cover eight floors of the world’s largest Masonic Temple.
We appreciate all of you so much and could not have made it these 22 years without your passion, dedication, creativity, and blood, sweat and tears. With utmost commitment to each of you and the City of Detroit, we remain determined that The Greatest Masquerade on Earth will return in 2024.
With gratitude and love,
John Dunivant, Founder
Dawn Orebaugh, Controller
Maria Christian, General Manager
Zombo, Patron Saint
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Theatre Bizarre, legendary Detroit Halloween bash, canceled for 2023
