Skeletones In Your Closet

[RollyCoaster]

Skeletones in your closet opened tonight, 09/05/2025, and will run in Das Festhaus through the end of Howl-O-Scream.



Was a fun and well put together show IMO. I really enjoyed the combination of songs and the way they used different parts of the stage effectively. The "story" lacked a ton of substance, but the story elements provided were engaging and easy to follow.

My favorite part would be the final song, Dream On, where the skeletons and the main character sing together at a very high quality level. Everyone is Das Festhaus was cheering before it was even over.

Skeletones In Your Closet isn't trying to be something else, it feels original and fresh, and for that I owe BGW a round of applause for its recent contribution in Entertainment. A really solid year of shows in this venue!

 

[Celticdog]

This is the stand-out show this year. Solid story line. Great song choices. Great use of the songs especially the blending of songs. Exceptional performers. Singers and dancers complement each other.

 

[Zachary]

Okay Busch Gardens Williamsburg, I see you.

I don't know where this show came from, but it's good. I think this is the first new show I've seen debut at BGW since 'Twas That Night about a decade ago where I thought "wait, okay, this is a good show."

The concept is unique. The set work and staging are the best I've seen in Das Festhaus since the rising stage was stolen away from us. The set list is good. The choreography is good. The cast is very strong. Overall, I'm very impressed—and general audiences seemed to be loving it too.

If I have one primary complaint, it's that the show is a segment too short. The female lead gets her big fanale (and absolutely kills it by the way), but it feels like the rest of the cast never reaches a similar crescendo. The show ends suddenly in a way that just doesn't feel at all fulfilling to me. Also, not giving the cast a chance to take a bow feels... wrong.

If the park wants to keep the current ending with the dreamer's mother and whatnot, I'd advocate doing that and then having the Skeletones reemerge after she leaves to give a big fanale number.

Alternatively, I can envision a much darker take on this show where the Skeletones are essentially the grim reaper (even lead by the grim reaper?). If the dreamer was going to sleep under some sort of threat—say, she's really sick or there's a super strong storm happening outside or something like that—the "dreamer" could die in her sleep (unknown to her initially) and the Skeletones could be there provide a performance drawing her soul from her body and ushering her into the end. That would open the door to a grand fanale of the dreamer singing her big fanale and the Skeletones, instead, allowing her to join them—eternally on the road, performing for people in their final moments. The dreamer could get a quick costume change into a Skeletone and then they could all perform a big group number together at the end of the show.

Also, the lack of Welcome to the Black Parade feels like an oversight in this set list. It fits the vibe super well and using it in a Halloween show at a theme park feels like a cheat code to getting people hyped. Feels like the opening segment of the song could act of a solid backstory for the leader of the Skeletones pretty easily too if a death storyline was adopted...

 

[Alf33]

Here's some pictures of the show from Friday. I agree that it is a really good show. I hope they keep it.

 

[mdb07]

My daughter and I went to HoS Saturday night and this was hands-down the highlight of the night. We both loved this show and I was quite honestly stunned at how good it was. Simple premise (20 minutes does not leave a lot of time for much story anyway, so I say keep it simple), great song choices and executed really well.

My one complaint is that I would agree that the lack of a bow for the performers didn't feel great - I was expecting them to come back out and maybe do a final quick song or at least just get a bow and was surprised when the house lights came up and that did not happen. This is something they could easily fix and I don't think would break the story in any way - and would give these great performers their due.

 

[Timchat2]

It's a great example of how a show doesn't have to over-explain itself to exist. With the right song selections and arrangements the audience will pick right up and go on the journey.

 

[CastleOSullivan]

This is a show that I love the more that I think about it. The songs flowed very well and they kept dialogue very limited. That part can be a bit challenging for audience members who don’t know the songs, but if you know the songs or can listen to the words, the show makes a lot more sense.

The only real issue I had with the show was the lack of costume changes. I was expecting more, however, the costumes and makeup look fantastic so it’s not that big of a deal, but maybe they could throw in a little bit of something extra in terms of costumes next year.

One common complaint that I see about the show is that there is no curtain call. While I would love to see the performers get the final applause they deserve, I think there’s a good reason for ending the show the way they did. If I understand correctly, Annie, the main character starts to really like the Skeletones and then suddenly, they’re gone, which is a semi-sad moment in the show because she is led to believe that it was all a dream.

At the very end, however, the audience gets to see that it wasn’t a dream and that her newly made friends still exist. Having that emotional dynamic reversed last minute would have ruined the entire show in my opinion, so I love how they did the ending for story consistency. It’s unique and it also leaves room for a sequel in the future.

All in all, it was a great show, and the cast was phenomenal. Busch Gardens knocked it out of the park with this one, and I hope it’s a sign of great things to come for entertainment in the future.