Teche Federal Bank to build new facility in Thibodaux
October 20, 2006Beverly Brunet Trahan
October 23, 2006
As the leaves turn from green to brown and the mercury drops,thoughts change from baseball games and summer romances to two-hand touch and homework. Fall also brings with it harvest time, which brings back memories of bonfires, hayrides, weenie roasts and, of course, getting
the snot scared out of you at the local haunted house. This year’s best place to make your heart stop is The Blue Door, a production of the SoLa Center for the Arts.
“I can’t wait to see how scared these people are going to get,” said SoLa Director Jonathan Foret.
This is will be the first time SoLa will host a haunted house, but organizers say they are already toiling over next year’s fright fest, which they promise will be better than this year.
Foret is no newcomer to the scaring scene. Locals will remember his work from the screams emitting from haunted houses he has designed for the Downtown on the Bayou festival and the Gumbo Grand Prix. But, he really cut his fanged teeth while performing in Madison Scare Garden at Madison Square in New York City.
Adding to Foret’s ghoulish talents this time around will be professional make-up artist and owner of Magical Entertainment Tammy Chaisson, who has been transforming the beautiful into the disgusting for over five years now.
“Scary and ugly is much easier to do than beauty,” Chaisson said. “Beauty is hard work.”
When it opens on Friday the 13th, The Blue Door will be offering up the usual scares: vampires, withes, morticians and the undead, but Foret and Chaisson promise a few new twists that will only be found at The Blue Door.
“There are certain things that people expect when the go to a haunted house like witches and vampires,” Foret said. “But, there is a lot of stuff in here that we have never done before, and I am interested seeing how the public will react to them.”
Behind The Blue Door awaits eight rooms and two hallways of terrifying scenes conjured up by the demented minds of SoLa. Clowns of terror greet visitors at one room, while swamp creatures crawl through another.
“We have a room inspired from (George Orwell’s) Animal Farm, where the pigs will be eating the farmer,” said Foret, who would only reveal some of the demented scenes that lay behind The
Blue Door, saving the rest for a scary surprise.
Forcing locals to scream in terror until their lungs collapse is not the only reasoning behind The Blue Door, all proceeds will go to SoLa Center for the Arts, a non-profit organization founded in June of 2001 that provides a place where artist, actors, and musicians can share their talents with the general public through classes and workshops. These classes are designed to improve appreciation an participation in art programs that allow opportunities for children and adults alike to explore their own artistic talents.
For those who want to support local artist, but only care to have their scare button pushed ever so softly, SoLa will be holding one children’s performance that will have less gruesome characters.
“It will be more of an enchanted house than a haunted house on that night,” Foret said. “There is not going to be any blood and guts. It won’t be in-your-face-scary like the other nights will be.”
SoLa is also looking for volunteers to either perform as an actor, work back stage or be the gate keeper of The Blue Door.
The Blue Door runs Oct. 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 and 28 at the Houma Recreation Center on Williams Avenue. All regular performances begin at 7 p.m. and end at 10 p.m. The children’s performance on Saturday, Oct. 21, will begin at 6 p.m. and end at 9 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children under 12 with all proceeds going to SoLa Center for the Arts.
For more information, or if you would like to volunteer, call Johnathan Foret at 985-876-2222.
