The Orion Experience is not your average Off-Broadway show or concert, it’s more of an experience and it starts as soon as you walk into the door.
Stepping into the XL Cabaret, you are greeted by a drag queen and people covered in lights and glitter which is an inkling of just how the night is going to go. As you wait in the lobby for the show to begin, you too can get in on the fun and have your face painted or enjoy a drink at the 360 degree bar.
When the announcement that the show is about to begin is made, there is confusion about exactly where the “starship” is so most of the audience just continues to hang out at the bar/lobby area until a staff member comes by and points to the direction.
Once in the other room, a voiceover and digital clock counts down to “lift off.” A burst of fog starts the show and soon a booming soundtrack kicks in. The sub-woofer is so intense, that the floor shakes, giving the feeling that you really are on a starship about to launch.
Described as “an interactive rock concert in the style of Rocky Horror, Barbarella and Captain EO,” the experience is more pop with a bit of a storyline mixed with a crazy party of people who just want to dance around and have fun. It’s a standing only kind of show in which the stages move, resulting in the audience walking around throughout the performance. The actors and dancers also move about the area, into the air and onto the floor, interacting with the audience and even bringing some people on stage. The band is made up of a talented group of singers and musicians, despite the fact that they’re singing some songs with ridiculous lyrics like “Like Sexy Dynamite.”
Following the high energy performance, the beats keep pumping as the venue transforms into a dance club where the audience can continue to dance the night away.
Catch The Orion Experience Thursday through Sunday at the XL Cabaret in NYC throughout the month of August. For ticket information, check out the official website: http://www.theorionexperience.com.