who will you meet at Club Drosselmeyer?

FAQs

What is Club Drosselmeyer?

Club Drosselmeyer is an immersive, interactive show set in a 1940’s nightclub. You can grab a drink, watch the floor shows, listen to our live 8 piece swing band and original swing-time Nutcracker arrangements and of course, dance the night away. If you'd like to interact, you can speak with various characters throughout the club to figure out more about the story and help them solve puzzles and complete tasks. What you and fellow audience members do will change how the story plays out at the end of the evening!

Where is Club Drosselmeyer?

Club Drosselmeyer is located at 1950 Mass Ave in Cambridge at the Cambridge Masonic Temple, a beautiful historic building right near Porter Square. Not only will we be completely transforming their spacious ballroom, we will also be using other parts of the building throughout your adventure.

We are a short walk from the Porter Square T Station. There is some metered parking in the area, Cambridge resident parking, and a paid lot behind Lesley University right down the street behind 1815 Massachusetts Ave.

How long is the show?

Doors open at 7:00 and the show begins around 7:30. It will run approximately three hours and end around 10:30. There’s lots to see and do, so you’ll need to decide where to spend your time and which characters you want to help!

Do I need to interact to enjoy the show?

You're welcome to just enjoy the show: hanging out in a 1940’s nightclub is pretty fun! If you want to solve some puzzles without interacting, perhaps team up with somebody who would rather interact than solve puzzles! You definitely will not be dragged out to interact in front of the full audience, all interactions are personal, like chatting with someone at a bar.

What are the different ticket options like?

Standing Room tickets ($65) are great if you don't mind being on your feet or are planning on being up and about for the evening. Unassigned seats are available along the perimeter of the space. We have four tiers of reserved seating: Standard Tables ($79), Premium Tables ($89), VIP Tables ($109), and Sponsor Table ($249). These are tiered based on position in the room, with the higher tiers having better sight lines and being closer to the action for scenes and floor shows.

The VIP and Sponsor Tables are for our club’s special patrons. These tickets will include unique interactions, a few treats, and some surprises!

Table sizes vary between 2, 4, and 6 seats: the tables with fewer seats will be smaller (the seating chart doesn’t properly illustrate this). You don’t need to buy out a whole table, but will likely end up making some new friends if you don’t!

The black boxes on the seating chart represent the club’s twelve palm trees. You can see them in the photos above! They’re fairly narrow, so they shouldn’t obstruct your view significantly.

What's a Sponsor Table?

Did you know that ticket and drink sales are Club Drosselmeyer's only source of income? It's true! Club Drosselmeyer (so far) hasn't been eligible for grants or arts funding. We're not a 501C3 and we're not connected to a university or a larger arts organization. We're just a few plucky Cambervillains building out a great big show. Also, did you know that everybody, from the hosts to the dishwasher at Club Drosselmeyer gets paid? We don't get paid a lot, but it's not a volunteer-run production, and we're proud of that! In fact in 2023, Club Drosselmeyer only broke even once 92% of tickets were sold.

If you think that sounds a little terrifying... well you're right. But we believe in the work we're doing and trust our community to support us and buy tickets. But if you also love what we're doing and you'd like to help us live a little further away from the fiscal cliff, well we would LOVE that! Become a Drosselmeyer Sponsor at our Sponsor Table and we will thank you with... gratitude. And lots of it. OODLES of gratitude! We'll mention you in the show, our interactors will be sure to show you extra love and you'll get the tastiest of drinks. You'll also have the satisfaction of pitching in extra to support a show that you love, and help us make it all that more likely that we'll get to Drosselmeyer Year ten- and beyond!

Do I have to dress up? What should I wear?

We highly recommend dressing up: it is fun to have an excuse to dress your best and if everybody dresses up, it helps with the immersion! If you don't know how to dress like it is 1940, just dress to impress! Check out these 1940's style guides for men and women if you'd like to dress appropriately for the time period!

Who would enjoy this show? Do I need to be a dancer/puzzler/younger/older/introvert/extrovert?

We've specifically designed the show to be enjoyable for all different engagement levels. You can interact as much or as little as you'd like. Some of the pathways are more puzzle-y than others, and there will be "waiters" around the club to help you find a way to enjoy yourself, or help you out if you get stuck! Dancing is entirely optional. Folks of all different ages from 10 to 93 have come to Club Drosselmeyer and had a great time!

I’ve been before! Is the show different this year?

If you came last year, the show is completely different! All new story! All new puzzles! Of course, it still involves the same Nutcracker characters you know and love, but this year it is 1941 and the situation has changed.

If you came in 2018, our prior iteration of 1941, the overall plot will be the same (because it was such a fun year!), but we will definitely have fresh surprises for you!

We’re coming in from out of town, do you have any recommendations on where to stay?

We’ve gotten a discounted rate at both Porter Square Hotel and Hotel 1868, which are located very close to Club Drosselmeyer. It does require calling the hotel to book, however. Just give them the code CLUB12 to access the guaranteed rates they have given us.

What is your COVID policy?

Since the show involves a lot of talking, actors will be unmasked so you can hear what they’re saying. For the audience, masks will be optional and we will not be checking vaccination status.

To mitigate against the risk of many tickets being cancelled last-minute due to illness, tickets are non-refundable and we are instead offering Refund Protection (for a small fee) through our ticketing service, Ludus. This will cover your refund in the event of illness (and a number of other cases).

Is the venue accessible to patrons with limited mobility?

The Cambridge Masonic Temple is a historic building which is unfortunately not fully accessible at this time. There are several stairs to get up into the building, and a flight of stairs to get down to the ballroom area where most of the show takes place. There is a back entrance which has somewhat fewer stairs, which we would be happy to assist you with as much as possible. The show itself takes place almost entirely in this ballroom, so once you get there you should be able to participate in the majority of it.