INTERVIEW: It’s time to truly ‘Experience’ Sleepy Hollow
Photo: The Sleepy Hollow Experience reimagines Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and it’s set at Irving’s actual Sunnyside estate. Photo courtesy of Historic Hudson Valley / Provided by official website.
Historic Hudson Valley, the largest nonprofit cultural organization in Westchester County, New York, knows how to have a good time throughout the Halloween and autumn season. The annual offerings at their historic venues run from the scary (Horseman’s Hollow at Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow, New York) to the classic (Irving’s Legend at the Old Dutch Church), and this year they have added to their Washington-Irving-inspired fun with The Sleepy Hollow Experience at Irving’s very own Sunnyside estate in Tarrytown, New York.
This experience, from the mind of Brian Clowdus, is a one-hour immersive performance piece that gets the audience moving around the Sunnyside estate, watching The Legend of Sleepy Hollow unfold before their eyes. There’s time to meet Ichabod Crane, Katrina Van Tassel and even the Headless Horseman.
The Sleepy Hollow Experience comes to Tarrytown after seven years and multiple productions around the United States. For Clowdus, this is something of a homecoming for his outdoor performance piece.
“It began seven years ago in Atlanta,” Clowdus said in a recent phone interview. “My whole thing is outdoor, site-specific work, and I started a nonprofit theater company, gosh, 11 years ago in Atlanta. And we started out as a summer stock company just doing summer shows, and then on a whim we thought, oh, let’s see if we can expand our season into the fall season. And we thought about something really iconic that tied into Halloween and all things fall-festival-related. We landed on this concept of a Sleepy Hollow on-your-feet experience, and so that was seven years ago. It was very popular out of the gate, and since then the show has really developed and morphed over the past seven years. And I have five locations running this year in particular, and clearly the star production is in Tarrytown at Washington Irving’s estate. So it landed at home finally this year.”
Clowdus became connected to Historic Hudson Valley thanks to Rob Schweitzer, vice president of communications and commerce for the nonprofit. Last year, he headed up to see the Experience at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. He was hooked, and light bulbs started to go off.
“So a little over a year ago, Rob … emailed me and basically said, ‘Hey, we saw your production at Old Sturbridge Village. Would you be interested in talking to us about bringing it here,'” Clowdus remembers. “And I said, ‘Well, I’m booking my ticket right now,’ and I just got there as soon as I could. So luckily Rob and Historic Hudson Valley reached out to me, and I was over the moon to, of course, bring it there.”
Schweitzer added: “When I first saw the show at Sturbridge, I knew it had to become a part of Historic Hudson Valley. There would be great potential there. Didn’t know Brian, hadn’t met him at the show or anything like that, but did some research and tracked him down. I think it was kismet for both organizations.”
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is fairly well known to fans of Halloween stories. Irving’s 19th-century work is an early form of American fiction that uses many Gothic tropes. At its center is Crane, an iconic character who works at a local school in Tarrytown. He eventually crosses paths with the so-called Headless Horseman, and what starts out as a slice-of-life tale in the countryside turns into a crazed adventure of survival, horror and atmospheric haunts.
The Sleepy Hollow Experience captures the spirit of the original story and adapts it for a 21st-century audience.
“It really immerses you into the Legend and also into the estate of Washington Irving, which makes it really unique in New York,” Clowdus said. “You follow the actors throughout the experience, and we use a good portion of his estate, with the first scene happening on his actual porch. And it’s a cast of actor-musician-singers, so we use a ton of the text pulled directly from the Legend. And then we interweave awesome classic music, but we kind of put this modern steampunk vibe with it. So it feels fresh and modern, but it really stays true to the classic text. And so it really feels like 2019 breath has been blown into this classic text that is 200 years old. I always say, it’s not a play; it’s an experience. You’re on your feet. You’re immersed, so if you don’t like plays or theater, it really is this crossover genre that everyone kind of likes and appeals to everyone.”
Of course, having the action take place outdoors means that The Sleepy Hollow Experience, much like Historic Hudson Valley’s The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze and Horseman’s Hollow, is reliant on Mother Nature. This season, spirits were on their side because few performances were canceled (Halloween night proving the exception). For Clowdus, the outdoor elements are a major plus for his Experience.
“It’s kind of my normal because I typically do outdoor, site-specific environments, and, yes, Mother Nature is always our biggest challenge because you can’t control her,” he said. “I don’t get stressed about it anymore because I’ve been doing it for 11 years, and I say, hey, out of a full run, if we cancel one or two shows, statistically that’s not that bad, knowing that you get to have the pros of Mother Nature, which is natural soundscape. You get to look up and see the actual stars in the sky. Sometimes it’s kind of misty and foggy, so for me the pros always outweigh the cons in outdoor, site-specific work.”
Clowdus reminds ticket buyers that they will be on their feet and moving about the terrain of Irving’s estate. However, there are readymade breaks for the audience throughout the one-hour performance. One scene plays out while everyone is seated on benches, and there’s even a built-in intermission when a bar opens up for some libations.
“We really try to make it adventurous, but also accommodating for everyone based on your age or based on any physical limitations you might have,” Clowdus said. “We really try to make it great for everyone.”
When mounting a new production, Clowdus likes to come to town and work with the cast and crew — mostly to ensure everything goes off without any problems. This year has been a particular challenge because he mounted productions in both Tarrytown and North Carolina, so he became quite the jet setter.
“I came up and mounted the show in New York, and then after opening weekend I had to scoot down North Carolina and get that production opened up,” he said. “But funny enough, I’m heading back to New York next week for the extension week. The whole run sold out, so we extended a week [to Nov. 10]. So I’m going to get to come back to New York for the extension week to relax, enjoy the production. I fell in love with the whole Hudson Valley area. I think Tarrytown is one of the cutest places ever, so I’m excited to come back and relax and see the show.”
While Clowdus is back in Westchester County, he’ll also take part in some creative meetings with Historic Hudson Valley, perhaps to see how far this partnership can grow. Everyone agrees that the inaugural year of The Sleepy Hollow Experience in Tarrytown has been a smashing success.
“We’re excited to be in a visioning process with Brian, nothing settled obviously as of yet,” Schweitzer said. “We’re just bouncing thoughts and ideas around and going to spend some creative time together, so we’re looking forward to that. This has been such a great kickoff to the partnership — very successful creatively, very successful in terms of ticket sales — so we’re delighted to be spending more time with Brian.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Sleepy Hollow Experience continues through Nov. 10 at Washington Irving’s Sunnyside estate in Tarrytown, New York. The performance is produced by Historic Hudson Valley. Click here for more information and tickets.
