When the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake…
Hmm. That’s not quite right.
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night?
No. Not that one either.
It’s just a jump to the left… ooh, no. Not quite. No steps to the right either.
Oh! I know. Let me borrow some favorable verbiage from Mr. Crosby. “Gather ‘round while I elucidate on what happens outside when it gets late…” but only if you’re in that well-known town of Sleepy Hollow. Step on into the mist, embrace the autumnal chill, and prepare yourselves for Colonial Players’ production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, as adapted by John Heimbuch and Jon Ferguson. With original excerpts from Washington Irving’s source material, this 80-minute, no-intermission production comes gliding into ghost season just in time for a few stage chills. Directed by Alex Brady, this is a charming little ghost-story reminiscent of ‘campfire autumnal evenings’ that serves its theatrical purpose for the season of spooks.
Scenically, both in the visual aesthetic and the aural, the show is delightful. Set Painters Leo Lin Kubit and Lexington Graham craft this delicate floor space for Scott Nichols’ set design. It pairs beautifully with Dudley Whitney’s lighting design, especially when those golden dabbled dabs of fading sunlight matriculate their way through the shadow tree-leaf gobos and land onto said painted floor. That creates the very essence of autumn that lends itself to this type of not-so-scary ghost story. Nichols also converts one of the theatre-in-the-rectangle’s corners into its own spooky crevice, complete with gnarly Tim Burton-esque trees, which make for the perfect appearance of certain specters throughout the performance. It’s really Whitney’s Lighting Design and Richard Atha-Nicholls’ sound design that ties the production components together, particularly when it comes to the galloping of hooves, the dark-out/flash-ups for the appearance of ghastly apparitions, and the combination of nighttime soundscapes mingling with the glowing campfire. And shoutout to Nichols, Atha-Nicholls, Whitney and Properties Designers Carrie Shade and Autumn Embry for that little set-prop piece. It smokes, it glows, for one hot second it’s childhood revisited, fondly reminiscent of a PlaySkool ‘My First Campfire’ playset.
The show’s timestamp says ‘Autumn 1801’, very specifically “…on the continent of North America, in the country of the United States, in the state of New York, in the region of Tarrytown, in the village of Sleepy Hollow.’ Costume Designer Alysia D.P. Malmström, with assistants Christina R. McAlpine and Autumn Embry, are giving late 17th century vibes, give or take, and it fits the bill for the sleepy little village which is likely a few decades behind on its fashion trending anyhow.
Pièce de résistance of the show from a creative-production standpoint is The Horses, no question, as fabricated into existence by master Puppet-producer Amy Atha-Nicholls. Majestic in their creation, even more so in their movement, both ‘Gunpowder’ and the Horseman’s Horse are exquisitely spooky specimens that add some of the true thrills to this production. The same can be said for the Horseman’s unique costume and the mask featured on ‘Skeleton’, which is very similar to that of ‘Masque of Red Death’ from any number of incarnations of The Phantom of The Opera.
Performances across the board are solid and Director Alex Brady runs a tight ship; 80 minutes with good pacing and good overall use of the space. It’s this particular script wherein the disappointment lies. Playwrights and adaptors John Heimbuch and Jon Ferguson are imbalanced on their throughline of whether this is meant to be more campy and a send-up to the source material or if it’s meant to be a more straight-forward approach to Irving’s classic. There’s no clear distinction. Heimbuch and Ferguson do include chunks or the original source text— this is often when the story feels truest— but they fall somewhat flat of trying to determine if this is meant to be a proper stage thriller, along the lines of The Woman in Black or the more recent Paranormal Activity or if its striving to be more inline with something like Evil Dead: The Musical where it self-actualizes and makes fun of both its source and itself. Heimbuch and Ferguson don’t really lean one way or the other into either and it shows in the writing.
Alex Brady, however, does highlight some of the campier moments, almost leaving the audience for begging for slightly more of a framework. You even start with this notion of ‘The Storyteller’ (the narratively admirable Amanda L. Matousek) and it’s crying out for just a little bit more structural framework. Even a splash of modernity— teens or collegiates sitting around an ill-begotten campfire with some questionably legal beverages, attempting to ‘tell the tale of Sleepy Hollow’ could have grounded this particular adaptation in a way that made it feel more present with itself. That’s not to say that Brady and his cast haven’t done good work with the script they had— they absolutely did, it just leaves you wondering what else could have been achieved with it.
With a cast of 11, you do get this eminent sense that these performers are enjoying themselves on stage. And regardless of which reality the characters are living in— is there really a headless horseman, is it just a spooky story, a little bit of both, etc.— one thing is certain: Ichabod Crane (Nicholas Martinez) delivers a thoroughly convincing portrayal of being terrified out of his wits. For all the little cocksure, comedic asides Martinez delivers within the confines of the character, you walk away wholly believing that his Ichabod Crane was scared to death throughout all of the ghostly retellings. Martinez does a fine job of being completely oblivious when interacting with Brom Bones (Jack DuPree), who definitely has that Cringeworthy ‘I’m a Tool’ vibe going for his character, and he’s adorably smitten, falling all over himself in front of Katrina Van Tassel (Nerrie Navarro.) Watch Martinez’ facial expressions carefully; particularly when he cowers or shrinks inside his own physicality as if in desperation to flee the telling of these ghost tales; it’s enough for his fear to be contagious.
While they play other narrative figures on stage, both Amanda Connelley and Steve Campbell, (as Skeleton and Headless Horsman, respectively) carry their spookiness with them superbly. While the Horseman only has two true scenes in which he appears as such, they are both quite memorable. And while Connelley’s Skeleton is much more imposing as a silent, stalking figure, when she does have lines whilst wearing the mask, its equal parts chilling and intriguing.
The aforementioned Storyteller, Amanda L. Matousek, teams up with Abby Wilson, during the Van Tassel party scene to tell a most humorous ghost story of what happened to ‘Brower’ and watching the pair of them with their interrupting-charade exploration is really a cute and silly way to get this seemingly unnecessary piece of backstory-that-wishes-it-was-relevant-and-or-exposition out of the way. You’ll also find great physicality in Hans Van Ripper (Jaiah Reubel) as he’s grumping around. His comic timing is spot on and really earns some good laughs from the audience. Paron Van Houten (Alex Mlietich IV) balances out all the humors with his very serious, fire and brimstone approach to preaching, even taking a few moments of his sermon delivery to address the audience directly as if we were the congregation of Sleepy Hollow in desperate need of saving. And let’s not forget Carrie Gross as the poor whimpering dunce Rupert Van Brunt. Rather an adorable series of interactions, particularly with ‘big brother’ Brom Bones, but all the same, an engaging part of the tale.
Nerrie Navarro and Matt Leyendecker, as Katrina and Baltus Van Tassel, respectively, play their characters a bit truer to a more somber-styled creation, though neither are without their comedic moments. Navarro hits her stride when trying to make Brom jealous, bleeding her affections needlessly all over Ichabod Crane. Leyendecker has a superb command of the stage as the pompous, self-important man about town with lots of wealth and influence to prove. They both have moments when they speak about ghostly encounters where you feel the little tendrils of spookiness creeping their way up your spine.
All in all it’s a mixed bag simply from the narrative structure but the performers are quite solid, having a good time, and there are little chills that make you wonder. Perfect for families and theatergoers of all ages who want a little something different but still in the recognizable vein of ‘Halloween classics’ this spooky season. And it’s a must-see if for nothing else but those striking horses, however briefly they are featured. To speak of such things is to court such things in your life; careful you court yourself to tickets and quite quickly, all of the Sunday matinee performances are already completely sold out.
Running Time: Approximately 80 minutes with no intermission
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow plays through November 8th 2026 at The Colonial Players of Annapolis— 108 East Street in historic Annapolis, MD. For tickets call the box office at (410) 268-7373 or purchase them online.
