The Future of The Séance
The Séance is an interactive theatre experience written and directed by Madison Rhoades, and ran from Oct. 3rd– Nov. 23rd. We had a total of 182 shows and 1,148 audience members attend! It was a lot of fun while it lasted, and it was hard to say goodbye after an additional 3 week extension but all good things must come to an end… or do they?
The Séance was designed to be an experience that could be easily altered and remounted again in a historical location. We are reaching out to historical societies across the nation in hopes that The Séance comes back again this year with a new home! If you know a location that could be a good fit for this show, please let us know!
The production is easily changeable to suit a historical location without causing damage to the existing structure. It would be great to work with historical societies, museums, theaters, and non-profit organizationsto help bring in revenue. Participants will learn the history of the location, learn how ghost hunting tools work, perform a séance, and get to explore the space in organized small groups. During their experience they will stumble upon a mystery to solve that will reveal deeper secrets.
The Séance allowed audience members to feel like they were part of a real-life ghost adventure where they got to experience theatrical paranormal events. They were given clear goals and challenges to overcome as a team, and are were able to interact with the performers and their surroundings to progress the story forward.
We received amazing reviews from press, including: HorrorBuzz.com, Sinful Celluloid, The Haunt Girl, Nightmarish Conjurings, Haunting.net, Gaming Shogun, Media Geeks, No Proscenium, The Scare Zone, Just Horror Stuff, Westcoaster, Halloween Every Night, Hollywood Gothique, Nerd Reactor, Creepy Kingdom, and Enjoy Orange County. Here are a few quotes:
“This is definitely a must-see show, do not miss it!” -HorrorBuzz.com
“The other thing I really loved about this experience was that it wasn’t an escape room but instead an immersive experience that implemented escape room elements.”
-Nightmarish Conjurings
“The Séance is an outstanding immersive horror experience with just enough spooks for veteran haunters while at the same time not being too extreme for newbies.” -Gaming Shogun
“The cast, the special effects, the story, and the general experience had by the guests was superb and I can’t recommend this experience enough.“
-Just Horror Stuff
The Séance has been designed to work seamlessly with historical buildings, allowing for adjustment to the story, number of participants, and show flow to easily adapt to where this event finds a home. We can offer a variety of services from creating a custom interactive paranormal show that best fits your location, to remounting our 2019 show The Séance, or selling The Séance script for your company to produce, run, and create yourself.
With experience in designing, writing, directing, operating, and building, we are able to take on as many or as few positions as required for the run of your production.
Geovanna Flores (RUBY): Geovanna Flores is a Los Angeles native and recent USC Thornton School of Music graduate. A classically trained opera singer, Flores enjoys performing opera as well as musical theatre, theatrical and commercial acting, and performance poetry. During her time at USC, Geovanna was seen with the USC Opera as a Nina in Ainadamar, played Lucy T. Slut in Avenue Q with the Musical Theatre Repatory of USC, and Consuelo in West Side Story in the historic first Kaufman School of Dance, Thornton School of Music and USC School of Dramatic Arts collaborative production. Flores is a proud Latina, speaks fluent Spanish and incorporates her passion for social justice and Latinx culture into her poetry. When not performing, auditioning, or in rehearsal, Flores teaches voice and piano in West Los Angeles. www.GeovannaFlores.com
Amy Melendrez (RUBY): Born and raised in L.A., Amy is a recent graduate of the University of Southern California and is excited to be jumping into the world of The Séance! Amy was most recently seen in Accidental Joy, a new musical workshop. While pursuing her B.A. in Theatre, she also attended the British American Drama Academy. She has appeared in various collegiate productions including Heathers, Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play, Time and the Conways, The Penelopiad, and the staged reading of Hipster Sweatshop.
Tara Virgil (RUBY/ PUPPETEER): Tara Virgil is extremely excited to be a part of Cross Roads Escape Games newest addition: The Séance. She has had 7 years of theater acting experience and is thrilled to be trying something new. She has been in numerous productions over the years, including The Little Shop of Horrors as Mrs. Mushnik and Aladdin as Genie. Tara hopes to pursue acting as a future endeavor and will hopefully be attending CSULB in the spring for a degree in theater.
Brittani Prenger (PUPPETEER): Brittani has been performing all of her life. She is currently at Knott’s Berry Farm as a train robber and she just wrapped up her first year at Ghost Town Alive as the town’s medium, Marley Dixon. Her Séance’s were a whole lot different than this one. Soon she will be performing with the Mixed Company Carolers all Christmas season. For the last 6 Halloween’s she has been scaring at Knott’s Scary Farm and Dark Harbor on the Queen Mary. Brittani is a big musical theatre girl, some of her more recent roles were Inga (Young Frankenstein), Brenda Strong (Catch Me if You Can), Hodel (Fiddler on the Roof), Kate Monster (Avenue Q), Baker’s Wife (Into the Woods) and Gingy/Sugarplum Fairy (Shrek). She is excited to be joining The Séance cast this season. 
Desiree Nguyen (PUPPETEER): Desiree Nguyen is feeling spooktacular about making her debut at Cross Roads Escape Games! She graduated from UCI in 2017 and literally majored in Drama. While she considers herself primarily a director these days, it’s always a thrill to return to acting. Desiree has directed with OC New Voices Playwrights and UCI. She’s also stage managed and crewed at several Orange County community theatres including Chance Theater, Stagedoor Repertory, Newport Theatre Arts Center, and New Swan Shakespeare Festival. Desiree builds puppets, enjoys clowning, and loves supporting diverse talent and new works onstage. As an actor, she often plays dead people. It’s probably because she’s also a little dead inside. Desiree would like to thank her family and friends for supporting her and putting up with her morbid sense of humor. She tones it down on social media though. Follow her work on Instagram: @theatricaldez
Stepy Kamei (PUPPETEER): Stepy Kamei has been working in immersive theater and haunts since 2015. Her recent immersive theater credits include award-nominated Internal and the Captivated series, while haunt credits include Horror Made Here and Dark Harbor. She can currently be seen performing in The Séance as well as Dark Harbor for the 2019 haunt season, and is collaborating as a writer on an upcoming immersive theater production.
Madison Rhoades (Writer, Director, Producer, Scenic Designer, Puppet Designer): Madison Rhoades is the Co-Owner and Creative Director of Cross Roads Escape Games. She graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts and Theatre from USC in 2013. She was the scenic designer for many small theatres around Los Angeles. She performed in the interactive theatre show, Delusion, for it’s first 3 years and was the Lead Scenic Painter for The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor from 2013-2015. Madison always dreamed of owning her own theatre one day. After falling in love with escape rooms, she opened Cross Roads in 2016 with her husband and has been designing games and interactive experiences ever since. 
Luke Rhoades (Asst. Director, Producer, Technical Director): Luke Rhoades is the Co-Owner and Technical Director of Cross Roads Escape Games. He graduated Vanguard University in 2014 with a B.A. in Theatre. Upon graduating Luke was the Master Carpenter at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood. He opened his own Escape Room business with his wife in 2016.
Ian Momii (Lighting Designer): Ian’s background ranges all over the live event spectrum, having his hands in anything from theatre and concerts to corporate events and award shows. Locally in Los Angeles he is likely best known for his work as Lighting Designer and Technical Director for Delusion from 2014- spring 2019. Ian has also been part of Ceaseless Fun with their production of They Who Saw The Deep, and most recently Scout Expedition Co’s The Nest. Ian is excited to be returning to Cross Roads having helped Madison and Luke with The Hex Room and The Fun House.
Lauren Orgill (Costume Designer/ Prop Master): Lauren is proud to be working at Cross Roads Escape Games again after assisting with costumes and props for The Hex Room, The Fun House, and The Psych Ward. You may also recognize her as Nurse Ratched promoting The Asylum mini-game. Lauren has a degree in Interior Design, and she has been sewing both interior projects and custom costumes for over 30 years. 
Christian Mutter (Special Effects): Christian Mutter is currently a Mechanical Engineering student at CSU Fullerton and enjoys tinkering with robotics and programming. He is excited to have the opportunity to apply those interests in The Séance. 
The Séance has been something I have always wanted to do since we very first opened. It was actually planned to be one of our very first experiences. Back in 2015/2016 immersive theater was still very new, and even escape rooms were only know by a small handful of people, so we decided to wait.