Reputed to be the most haunted city in America, New Orleans has more than its share of ghost stories in the 255 years of its existence.
The best-known have been the subjects of films, plays and other visual media but not — until recently — of dance.
The locally based Mélange Dance Company’s 2022 performance of its original creation, “Fantômes,” was nominated for three Big Easy Awards as it broke new ground in presenting ghost stories with songs and movement.
This weekend, Mélange will be doing a repeat performance with revisions made to the earlier presentation.
Phantoms Two
“Fantômes Deux” (Phantoms Two) opens Friday night, Dec. 8, and continues through the next two nights at Le Petit Theatre. With a cast of roughly 20 dancers, the lead roles will portray some of the most noteworthy deceased French Quarter and Storyville women believed to be still out there in spectral form.
Some of the dancers will also be singing, backed up by a six-piece band. The scenery, props and dancers’ attire will reflect the periods in which the stories take place.
Monica Ordoñez, who, along with Alexa Erck Lambert, founded the Mélange troupe in 2013, said the updated version of the performance was inspired by the enthusiastic reception given to the earlier production, as well as the desire to incorporate new stories and new twists into the earlier ones.
Appropriately, one of the ghosts whose story is being told is believed to be haunting the venue where the performance is being staged. A woman named Caroline fell to her death from the balcony of the building that now houses the theater.
“We are telling the story of Caroline, who is the ghost of Le Petit,” Ordoñez said. “Our goal is to honor her while we’re on her turf telling ghost stories.”
Voodoo queens and madams
Several of the well-known enterprising women being portrayed in phantom form include Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau and Storyville brothel owners Josie Arlington, Lulu White and sisters Millie and May Baily. Some of the more notorious women are prostitutes Eliza Riddle and Mary Jane “Bricktop” Jackson, who violently preyed on unsuspecting men, and Marguerite O’Donnell, who some believe started the fire that destroyed the old French Opera House.
There is even a ghost named Julie, who has reportedly been seen dancing naked on the rooftop of 720 Royal St. Some of the Casquette Girls who were brought to New Orleans by Ursuline nuns in the early 1700s are also portrayed.
Both company founders, Ordoñez and Lambert, have small dance roles in the production. Music director, singer and narrator, Gabrielle Cavassa tells the individual stories as the dancers perform.
“There are some new stories and characters that I reworked and revised from the earlier production,” Ordoñez said. “I brought out more details and more depth to the stories. So there’s so many more creatively spooky moments that I wasn’t able to do last time because of the limitations of the original venue.” She noted that, at Le Petit, they are able to do projections onto the stage backdrop and create special effects like smoke with dry ice.
Tragic ends
Giving credit to her music director, Ordoñez said, “Gabrielle and I have collaborated so much in this process. She had a lot of great song ideas. She’s been there with me from the beginning and we have a great working relationship.”
Cavassa, a professional singer who is touring with renowned jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman said, “So many of the characters in the story are victims of really unbelievable circumstances and so it’s very chilling. They’re nearly all women whose lives ended tragically.”
Most of the songs Cavassa selected for the production are from previous eras, especially the early 20th-century jazz that was performed in the Storyville parlors, but there are some contemporary compositions as well.
“I love working with dancers,” Cavassa said. “It’s not something I get to do very often. It’s been fun to work alongside Monica and see how she makes that art happen.”
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Fantômes Deux
WHEN: 8 p.m., Friday-Sunday (Dec. 8-10)
WHERE: Le Petit Theatre, 616 St. Peter Street, New Orleans
INFO: (504) 522-2081 ext. 1. boxoffice@lepetittheatre.com
TICKETS: $22-$77