In late January, two friends each sent me a text message about an event in Omaha they thought I would love within minutes of each other—The Edgar Allen Poe Speakeasy. Produced by Fever, a national entertainment outfit that has been creating candlelight concerts, movie events, and theater performances, this show continued to pop up in my social media for a couple of weeks before I finally decided to see what this was about.
The event was booked as “A chilling cocktail experience in Omaha that brings four of his stories off the page and onto the stage…while pairing them with four classic cocktails.” It runs at 6 p.m., 8 p.m., and 10 p.m. on March 7, 8, and 9, and tickets are $55 per person. I thought I arrived in plenty of time, but it took a few minutes to park. Founders ONE | NINE, the venue for this event, can hold about 200 people, and about that many people were in line to be let in on the first event. The first cocktail, called The Pale Blue Eye, was handed to attendees as they arrived. It tasted like weak lemonade with a maraschino cherry, unskewered, floating around in the ice.
The event consisted of one spoken-word performer, wearing Victorian-inspired clothing, onstage. (Although the hand-held microphone detracted from the ambience.) First up, the emcee introduced the author, talking a bit about his personal history. I admit I was late and heard little of this portion, but arrived in time to hear Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Red lighting illuminated the performer, hopefully warming one person in an otherwise-freezing room. With the end of the first performance, the illumination changed from red to blue.
Several in the audience were fans of Edgar Allen Poe and enjoyed the performance, which felt intimate despite the packed venue.
Attendee Tony Bailey received tickets to the event from his wife, Holly Bailey, as a birthday present. Tony has been a fan of the 19th century gothic writer since fifth grade, noting his personal story has often mirrored the tragedy of Poe’s, losing several family members at a young age.
“My expectation was to be thrilled, and I am overwhelmed,” Tony said. “It’s one thing to read it, but it’s different when you see someone else interpret it. Now I have to go back and reread him.” Bailey said.
Others in the audience came more for the drinks. Ron Efferding found the event online and came with his girlfriend, Amanda Schroeder.
“It was the speakeasy aspect for me,” Schroeder said. “I remember some of Poe’s poetry from high school, but I love going to speakeasies.”
Personally, I didn’t see anything “speakeasy” about this event. The modern idea of a “Speakeasy” being a place in plain sight that is not secretive or exclusive has never jived with me. I thought of this as a modern dinner-theater, minus the dinner, put on for the 200 attendees, times three performances per night.
The second drink was The Cat’s Meow, a sweet brandy-bourbon-milk concoction, liberally spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, with a star anise floating on top. It was reportedly created after Poe’s favorite drink, and it was certainly my favorite drink of the night.
At 5’0, not overweight, and not much of a drinker, I did little more than taste each cocktail, although I overheard a server stating that he had mocktails as well.
Following information about Poe’s early life, including his mother’s death from tuberculosis, the next performance started—Poe’s short story “The Black Cat.” This time the performance was set against blue lighting.
The third cocktail in the series (handed out right at 6:55 p.m.) was the Nevermore, made of peach vodka, lime juice, and apple liquor. It also contained enough blue food coloring to make one wonder if it would color their insides.
The third performance followed a introduction about Poe’s adulthood. In 1836, Poe got married to a young (age 13) woman named Virginia, who also happened to be his first cousin. Virginia died a few years later from tuberculosis. The performance, set against a purple background, was a shortened version of “The Raven.” Undoubtably Poe’s most famous work, the audience appeared visibly excited for this.
At 7:15, the servers brought around the final drink—Red Death, a strawberry-and-cranberry juice cocktail featuring dried rose petals floating on top. The emcee spoke a bit about Poe’s mysterious death in October 1849. The performance? “The Mask of Red Death."
By 7:35, the event was over, and the venue was getting ready for the second of the three nightly performances as another crowd lined the sidewalk, waiting to enter. The attendees from the first run got back in their cars (still mostly sober), and drove home.
For event tickets and more information, visit: https://feverup.com/en/omaha.
