Phantom Fall Fest Actors Are Ready to Scare

By Connecticut Critics Circle member and Patch Contributor Nancy Sasso Janis

The scare actors for the Phantom Fall Fest at Lake Compounce had their final dress rehearsal on Friday, the night before the Fall Fest officially opens on Sept. 20. Current team members and members of the press were invited to tour the park freshly decorated for the fall season and be among the first to enter the five haunts and two scare zones.

Before the invited guests arrived at the park, I had the opportunity to meet several of the performers that will bring a wide variety of terrifying characters to life.

As they start their shift, the scare actors must sign out all of the pieces that make up their costumes and then carefully put them on. Those actors that have been assigned a character that requires make up then wait for their assigned time to sit in the chair of one of the make up artists.

Some have spray-on colors applied to their faces and hands. Others have shapes painted on with a brush, including the actors that are part of Malignant: Overgrown Evil, whose vines on their costumes continue upwards onto their faces. The bloodiest characters have fake blood applied to their arms, necks and faces. Those who wear full face masks are able to skip the make up chairs.

All team members involved with the Phantom Fall Fest received extensive paid training for their roles. In early August, the new team members attended a five-hour Lake Compounce Orientation, an overview of the entire theme park in Bristol. Scare actors then returned for their scheduled individual costume fitting, directed by Costume Specialist Kevin Roland. It was at the fitting that actors learned which character they would be playing.

In late August, the entire cohort of scare actors gathered for the Phantom Fall Fest Orientation, specific to working as performers in the fall. This session was led by Madison Burns-Baker, Entertainment and Events Manager, and Noah Tucker, who is Events and Entertainment Senior Supervisor, as well as Zachary Egan, who works during the summer months as Aquatics Manager. The trainees learned safety rules, what to bring to each performance, and much more.

At the end of the two-hour session, the actors were separated by the haunt or scare zone in which they would be working, meeting their immediate supervisor and each other. The daytime performers were able to ask questions of their leader Owen Simpson-Mayette.

In the weeks leading up to opening day/night, each group received training during a two-hour Scare Actor Development meeting. Project Nightmare participants were the final group to be trained when their house was fully assembled inside the waterpark area.

Daytime performers were not required to attend the final dress rehearsal, but were allowed to attend as invited guests. This group includes six costumed characters that distribute treats along the trick or treat trail from 2-5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Lolly and Pop work their magic out of a golf cart and Spookley the Square Pumpkin appears for a story time at 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Damian Boucher, 24, returns to the Phantom Fall Fest for a second year as a scare actor. The graduate of Farmington High School works in the haunt MediEvil as a torturer. Devin Nasti, 22, learned about auditions from the Lake Compounce website and is a part of the Project Nightmare cast. The graduate of Conard High School plans to audition for the production of “Radium Girls” at Hole in the Wall Theatre in New Britain.

Lucas Hubbell-Major, 16, is a scare actor in the MediEvil haunt. He is a student at Bristol Arts and Innovation Magnet School (BAIMS) in Bristol, where he performed as Mufasa in “The Lion King, Jr. and as a crab in “Moana, Jr.”

Ky Schwarz, 18, is in her third year working as a scare actor at Lake Compounce. This year in Malignant: Overgrown Evil, she will portray The Plant Queen, described on the Phantom Fall Fest website as “a forgotten spirit of rot, rebirth, and revenge.” As a student at WAMS, Schwarz appeared in the excellent production of “Parade.” She has also worked with director Jonathan Zalaski in Terryville.

Shelly Engelhard, 16, found out about scare actor auditions via the QR code that appeared on signage in the park during the summer season. Engelhard has been cast in the terrifying Project Nightmare, playing a Sleep Study Research Tech. The actress’ credits include “Once Upon a Mattress,” “Mamma Mia!” and “Shakespeare in Love” in Newington.

Nyasia Key, 17, learned of the scare actor positions through Lake Compounce advertising. She is a student at Kennedy High School in Waterbury, but has not done any theater at her high school. Key will be working in the outdoor Bloodcraft haunt. Mari Patterson, 17, plays the Cheshire Cat in the mALICE in Wonderland haunt. She attends Bristol Central High School and learned about auditions through the QR code in the park.

Madison Guerrera, 22, is the lucky scare actor that gets to portray the Alice in the mALICE in Wonderland haunt that welcomes guests to the first room. She learned about auditions through social media. Guerrera is a graduate of Faith Prep School in New Milford, where she performed in several productions, including a show written by their director entitled “A Clockwork Conspiracy.” With the teen program at TheatreWorks New Milford, she played one of the narrators in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Fior Rodriguez of Southington is a working actor that has joined the team as a scare actor. The talented performer has appeared on the stage of Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury in "The Wedding Binder," and shows at Pa'lante Theater Company in Waterbury. She recently made her Phoenix Stage Company in Oakville debut. Rodriguez will be part of the cast of Malignant: Overgrown Evil.

Southington resident Riley Bassett, 16, has been a patron of Lake Compounce since the age of 10 and has always wanted to audition for a scare actor role. When a student at Kelley School, the lovely actress appeared in “Mary Poppins” and as the eel Flotsam in “The Little Mermaid.” In her first year as a team member for Phantom Fall Fest, Bassett snagged the plum role of the Red Queen in mALICE in Wonderland. If you dare to walk through the 3D haunt, be sure to look up toward the end of the maze to see Bassett in action.

Mark Driver probably qualifies as the elder statesman of The Phantom Fall Fest. The 39-year-old Driver, a graduate of Bristol Eastern High School, is in his impressive 13th year working as a scare actor. By day, he works as a rides supervisor at Lake Compounce. This year, he will continue to play the clown Deadpan, a clown that is a member of the Sinister Circus scare zone. His clown sports green Bozo-style hair, spooky eyes and teeth, and a red and white striped suit. You can’t miss him!

Harrison Green, 22, who works at The Lake in the food and beverage department, is making his scare actor debut in the Project Nightmare haunt in the role of Baby Ick. His black costume is marked with skull encrusted sleeves and is truly terrifying. Green is a graduate of Joel Barlow High School.

Tristan Rizzuto, 21, learned about auditions from a post in a Facebook group that caters to actors. Rizzuto mainly works in television and film and will be featured in two upcoming films to be shown on Amazon Prime. He has been cast as the security officer that is second in command in Project Nightmare.

You can see all of these scare actors in action, as well as almost 100 more, as they enhance the “Fright All Night” at Phantom Fall Fest running weekend through the Sunday before Halloween.

All photos by Nancy Sasso Janis (unless otherwise noted)

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theater reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, and she posts well over 100 reviews each year. She became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle in 2016. Her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted in the Naugatuck Patch as well as the Patch sites closest to the venue. She was a feature writer and theater reviewer for the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theatre Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417 Check out the CCC Facebook page.