Calling all Vampires! 

 

This 2025 Halloween season, Théâtre Des Vampires presents Festival Des Vampires, a vampire-themed burlesque and variety arts festival hosted at The Newport Theater (Chicago, IL) on Friday, October 24th and Saturday, October 25th.

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What We Are Looking For

 

“Vampires pretending to be humans pretending to be vampires. How avant-garde.”

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We are seeking acts that creatively explore the global folklore and pop culture of the vampire. 

 

Vampires only! Acts that feature other ghouls, goblins, witches, devils, and denizens of the night will not be considered. That said, acts based on vampire hunters such as, (but not limited to), Van Hellsing, Blade, Guillermo de la Cruz, and Vampire Hunter D are relevant to the theme and welcome to apply. Acts based on historical figures who are relevant  to the theme such as Elizabeth Báthory or Vlad the Impaler are also welcome to submit.

 

We are seeking acts that have been constructed with intention and attention to detail in relation to the theme. Please do not submit your normal, any-day-of-the-year routines with the stipulation that you will wear fangs during the show as the only nod to the theme; this will not suffice. 

 

Creativity, originality, and inventiveness in the presentation of the theme, along with costuming and makeup, and the overall execution of the performance piece will be taken into consideration. 

 

Act Allowances:

Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate aerial arts, fire, or angle grinding. Additionally, glitter bombs, lube, and oily skin applications are not allowed.

 

Free standing poles and other free standing apparatuses that do not require a rigging point are acceptable.

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Act Length:

Submitted acts should be a minimum of 3.5 minutes in length, but should not exceed 10 minutes.

 

Messy Acts:

Any acts that create a mess must provide their own tarping and cleaning supplies, (i.e. towels, wet wipes, gloves if necessary, etc). 

 

Any messes should be able to be wiped up quickly. The act can not damage the stage or otherwise make the stage slick, unsafe, or unclean for fellow performers. 

 

There are no showers or performer-only restrooms at the Newport Theater for clean up.

 

Some Advice: 

We caution you against submitting acts that include vampirizing another individual as part of the performance. It is not prohibited, but in the past, approximately one third of applicants included this gimmick in their proposal. For the sake of diversity in presentation, we will only book a couple acts that feature the vampirization of an assistant or audience member. 

 

Accessibility:

The Newport Theater is not wheelchair accessible at this time. 

 

Questions:

Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions!