Literary Libations Come to Santa Barbara’s Kingdom by the Sea

It’s not every day you get to make jokes about cooping with the creator of an immersive evening of entertainment that’s coming to Santa Barbara September 12-14. Then again, it’s also unusual to discuss the beloved 19th-century writer with someone who has studied him enough to put together a touring show called the “Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy.” Fortunately, creative director Julia Tirinnanzi can promise that even with four spookily themed cocktails served up in 90 minutes or so, “There’s no cooping allowed.” 

(For the 93 percent of the planet that has no idea what that’s referring to, one rumor about Poe’s still-mysterious death is that Baltimore ward workers marched him around from polling location to polling location, changing his outfit and keeping him drunk, causing his demise on election night 1849. This old-time political machine gambit was known as “cooping.”)

Instead of dying in a drunken surfeit of democracy, attendees of the Poe Speakeasy will enter the fully set-designed space (in Santa Barbara, the Funk Zone’s Narrative Loft) and step into a macabre world where costumed actors/mixologists will present four of Poe’s most beloved stories/poems — “The Black Cat,” “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Masque of the Red Death.”

“It’s an intimate experience,” Tirinnanzi insists. “It’s up-close and personal — the guests get to see the facial expressions of our actors in close proximity.” The show is also emceed by a Poe-storian (her term), who provides historical background and some comic relief.

Each of the stories is paired with a thematic cocktail, including the likes of the suitably sanguine Cocktail of Red Death, featuring 100-proof vodka, cherry Heering, Benedictine, lime and pineapple juice, and bitters.

Most of the cocktails were inspired by the stories, but Tirinnanzi also points out her team “had to do a brandy milk punch, as we wanted to pay homage to Poe’s own preferences.”

She goes on to say, “Poe loved his libations, perhaps too much.…” Fortunately, the drinks offered are in slightly smaller pours to keep the audience from toppling over by evening’s end — there are even non-alcoholic options.

Tirinnanzi’s company, Midnight Creative, runs a host of immersive-environment themed cocktail shows that tour the country — others are the Shipwreck Saloon (think pirates) and the Haunted Tavern (think Ichabod Crane).

“Poe lived in the back of my mind since I was young,” she explains of the show that was “her brainchild.” She admits to being overjoyed that there is “this much of a diehard fan base 150 years after the fact.” So much so that a Poe Returns Speakeasy is in the works with four more of the master’s Gothic favorites. (I’m rooting for “The Cask of Amontillado,” just hoping I don’t have to get bricked up in a cellar for it.)

Also note the Speakeasy will pull into town in time for a Friday the 13th event. “No doubt the team will do something extra-special for that,” Tirinnanzi says. “It’s a perfect time to go.” And by that, I’m pretty sure she means attend and not pass away.

The Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy takes place September 12-14 at the Narrative Loft (1 N. Calle Cesar Chavez, #240). For information and tickets, see edgarallanpoebar.com.