On May 12, 2018, The Ladies are taking a break from momming and taking over The Clarendon Hotel for a one-night-only immersive dance-comedy-theatre experience. Like Sleep No More in sensible pumps meets Broad City in shoulder pads, Ladies Gone Mild invites audience members on a self-guided tour of the ultimate resort destination for working moms on the run.

Ladies Gone Mild is presented by dance-comedy troupe The Ladies in partnership with The Clarendon Hotel—once again proving itself the valley’s most artist-friendly boutique hotel by bravely surrendering itself to the peculiar whims of local artists.

Over the course of an hour, audience members will explore a pop-up resort and its comically bizarre amenities. A new surprise waits around every corner as audience members find their own path to the climactic rooftop promenade with The Ladies.

Ladies Gone Mild is the brainchild of local dance-theatre artists Leanne Schmidt and Marlene Strang and represents the culmination of their work as The Ladies, a pair of working moms who wander awkwardly through an absurd (but all too familiar) landscape of grocery store produce, home appliances, and office furniture. The duo’s unique fusion of dance, comedy, and theatre shook up last year’s Beta Dance Festival in Phoenix and earned rave reviews at the 2018 Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival in Kalamazoo, MI.

To staff their surreal resort, Schmidt and Strang have recruited a multidisciplinary cadre of local ‘Gents,’ including musician Austen Mack, theatre artist Steve Wilcox, and dance artists Kevin Godfrey-Chevalier, Ramón Soto, and Guillermo Flores-Sepulveda.

The experience begins at 7:30 pm on Saturday, May 12, 2018, and continues for one hour, culminating with a rooftop performance at 8:15. Admission is free, though a suggested donation of $10 is encouraged. For more information visit leanneschmidt.com/theladies/

About the Artists 

Leanne Schmidt and Marlene Strang are adjunct professors of dance teaching in the dance departments at ASU and GCU. They have been featured as teaching and performing artists with [nueBOX], Beta Dance Festival, Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival, Colorado Ballet, and Triskelion Arts in Brooklyn, New York.