Immersive experience ‘The Willows’ is LA’s hottest ticket

Described as “La’s scariest dinner experience”, ” The willow is currently one of the most popular tickets in the city. The compelling experience of two hours, housed in the iconic Beckett Mansionoffers only a handful of versions for a limited run with even more limited capacity every week. Each show allows only 25 people.

This emotionally moving, dark and refined production follows a single important story that guests, divided into smaller groups, experience through several narrative lines. The public was gathered in the family home of Willows to celebrate life of the recently deceased Jonathan, the eldest son of Matriarch Rosemary. However, it quickly gets dark and weird, and attendees, split into smaller groups, are quickly caught in a chaotic and creepy grinding stream where they experience the unfolding events from several different perspectives.

After sold out runs in 2023 and 2024, The willow is back and again the must-do experience of the season.

“At the moment, on the LA market, there is a need for this kind of compelling, intimate, fully scripted experience,” explains Stephanie Turek, one of the producers. “This new location that we have been able to take over and refurbish has really borrowed itself from such a great background for The willow. It has created the perfect background for the story that has been around for many years. “

“We let a guest come through our doors around 22 times,” adds Justin Fix. He and his husband, JT Swierczek, founded JFI Productions, the company behind the experience. “There are literally enough scenes in production that if you want to literally turn each Easter egg, you can keep coming back and discover them. The average guest can come across seven during one meeting.”

‘The Willows’ is a unique compelling experience

Everyone has the same shared experience in the traditional theater. That is definitely not the case with The willow.

“As a team we all spoke about how we deconstrate,” says Swierczek. “As a company, we always like to find the human connection through intimate stories. You would not believe that the number of people who have come through our doors and said they have met The willowThen they all went out to dinner or drink and shared stories about the different things they saw. That brings us so much joy. The show is so great, but hearing those stories makes us even more happy. “Because of the nature of how The willow is performed, it is also perfect for anyone who wants to go solo, because you are probably split into random groups with people you don’t know, regardless of.

As you would expect, a premium experience with a premium price tag. Tickets for The willow are $ 250 per doll, but the costs are justified.

“We always want to say that we hope to create cinema for the stage. This is multi-sensorical stories, a story that was only built for you. In the last seven years we have had nearly 6,000 people through our doors,” Fix explains. “The willow Is something else. You can sit in it for two hours. We have learned that we see our guests and that they have value in our space. Public members, when they are not in a passive state, lean back and specify, are engaged when they treat each other and are present. There is an emotional memory that involves them. I think that it lingers with people and leaving a lasting impression. It is worth the dollars to get those one -off moments, to be up close and personal, or to see something that nobody else does. “

Swierczek adds that part of their success is fed by the fact that their runs are short, their target group sizes are limited and they always try to deliver.

“That is something we are really proud of. We hope that every person is seen in every show,” he explains. “As often as you look at it from a business perspective, everyone just looks at the top rule and the bottom line. How much income can we generate as quickly as possible? We will never make a compromise, and we will always strive for a great guest experience first, if a show loses money, but our guests are about the right number of guests.”

Fix continues: “We wanted to build something that we would like to go to this whole. This entire project was conceived in 2017 and when it hit our writer’s room, it was based on Clue: The Movie. It is the idea that strangers appear in a house, and then everything falls apart. Year after year we added, ending and learning. Our first run was only intended for three months, but it actually took nine. We had to close our doors because the space we occupied was the house of a real person, so they needed it again. We continue to evolve. We keep ourselves at a very high level, and I think if we keep doing that, hopefully keep selling the tickets. “

‘The Willows’ has an impressive Hollywood supporters

Attracting famous figures such as Anna Kendrick, Cara Delevingne, Nine inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, Olivia Wilde, Brie Larson, Ted Lasso‘s Jason Sudeikis, and Outdoor banks‘Madylen Cline, everyone wants to be there for the fear.

“When Anna comes to the show. She’s not Anna Kendrick, she is Anna,” enthusiastically producer JT Swierczek. “When Olivia wanted to come, she is Olivia. When Trent Reznor comes, he is just Trent. Everyone is treated in the same way as they come in through those doors, a childish miracle comes out and plays and everyone is on the same page.”

Fix Adds: “We are in the entertainment capital of the world. For actors, directors and show runners, their favorite thing is on the set. Walking to this home environment, which is literally a live set that is a 360-degree world, is a unique experience. And escapes, but when everyone really goes out, and because you all come in, and a group standing in, and a group standing in, and a group standing in, and a group standing in, and a group standing in, and so a group, and a group standing in, and so a group, and a group standing in, and so a group, and a group standing in, and a group. Over it, it’s a level ”

“We have had some of the craziest buyouts because of some of the biggest names in Hollywood with all their best friends. It is so cool to see that dynamic of how friendships come to life, and what that leaves. It is proof of industry. For people who of escape rooms, nightlife and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture, and culture The willow Has a little bit of everything. You sprinkle that about this common conversation about sorrow, and everyone can relate. “

Another reason for the premium ticket prices for the unforgettable, adjacent production is that they hire professional actors to play the roles and rightly believe that they have to be paid a fair wage.

“Many of these actors in The willow have been with us since the founding of our company in 2015, “confirms Turek.” Actors such as Misha Reeves” Mason ConradAnd Melinda Dekay Have been some of our proven actors for more than 10 years. As we have grown as a company, our repertoire has grown. Our approach, including coaching and training, hospitality and guest management, has enabled us to grow together. It was really great to see that these specific actors take these characters that they have kept close to their hearts for five or six years, and really develop them with us, which proves that they are the real deal. ”

“It is proof of us as a team, and proof of their confidence in us, that we are going to create a really great product for them to turn on their name. It is really this strange, dysfunctional family that we have created, and it has really been a special thing to see them all grow next to us.”

What awaits us for ‘The Willows’

The willow is not their only successful production, with the acclaimed ghosts Crawl the and the disco theme Night fever Also draws complete houses. JFI Productions have established themselves as the Go-To in the industry for this kind of compelling experience and are not strangers to be called in For collaborations to make activations To promote films and TV programs, such as Halloween kills” The boys” The traitors“ Glass -ui: a knife from mystery” No one” RacingAnd Survival.

So where does the company draw the border between collaboration and creatively sold out?

“That is such a good question,” muses Turek. “One thing that I like about our team is that we want to create things that we would like to go to, and that in itself will always be the driving force behind everything we create. We will never make anything lamb. It is not in our allotment to say,” Oh yes, let’s throw spaghetti to the wall. ” We want to create something great that we are proud of, which we can send our friends and that we can hire our friends.

While most tickets for the current run from The willow are already sold out, there are still Spots available in November and December So the fears are not just for Halloween. The experience will also return in the spring of 2026.

“We get dark and except for this run because LA gets pretty quiet in the winter, so we take a small family vacation for about a month,” Fix confirms. “After that production we hope to bring Stephanie’s creation to life in late spring or early summer, and that is our large disco dance show called Night fever. That thing was a big hit. It was launched during the Pandemie and already has two runs on the LA market, in 2021 and 2023, all. It is a murderous show with a different energy, but it is all we do well. “

“We have tried to get attention and to collect that respect. We are going to against productions with $ 18 million that support them. In 2017, when we launched this compelling experience, our goal was to achieve profitable within the first year, what we did, and we continue to do this year after year. Many people can’t do that.”