Thumbs Up! Sleep No More’s Elegant Masquerade Ball Dazzled on New Year’s Eve

While Applebee’s in Times Square charged partiers $375 to eat boneless buffalo wings and see the ball drop this New Year’s Eve, downtown revelers donned tuxes and gowns to attend a very different (and oddly, less expensive) kind of glittering ball: The King’s Winter Masquerade at the McKittrick Hotel, home of the interactive off-Broadway spectacle Sleep No More. After the evening’s retelling of Macbeth, bellhops and ballerinas performed in the main ballroom and audience members traded in their creepy Sleep No More masks for more elegant masquerade attire. The labyrinthine performance space offered surprises at every turn, including performances by live jazz and rock bands, ice sculptures, a secret rave room, an old-timey photo booth and no shortage of fully stocked open bars. Decked out in royal robes and shimmering white lights, the king and queen mingled with their subjects, who included Amy Poehler, David Cross, Laura Osnes, Amber Tamblyn and John Mulaney, to name a few. When the clock struck 12, confetti and snow rained down on the crowd, and the ballroom transformed into a full-out dance party. And while we hear the Applebee’s soiree ended promptly at midnight, the Sleep No More crowd was still partying hard at 4:00 AM. From now on, there’s only one ball for us on New Year’s Eve, and it’s the royal ball at the McKittrick. See you next year!