Vampira: A Hollywood Horror Story

Before Elvira, before Morticia, there was television’s first horror host: Vampira. 18-time award-winning theatre-maker Ingrid Garner (“TELEGRAPH'S #1 Theatre Pick” - Edinburgh Fringe 2017, “Best Theatre” - Adelaide Fringe 2015) harnesses her signature gift for transformation to resurrect the legend behind Hollywood’s most fascinating forgotten icon. Delivered as an episode of “The Vampira Show”, the mercurial life of her creator, Maila Nurmi, unearths in a dazzling multimedia performance.

“Fans of horror, camp, the counter culture and the golden age of Hollywood will all find shivers of delight! ” —Orlando Sentinel

“Garner’s inspirational interpretation of the iconoclast against mid-century domesticity will make you wanna go out and ”terrorize normalcy” yourself.” —Orlando Weekly

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SYNOPSIS

Since her humble beginnings as a child of Finnish temperance evangelist and an alcoholic, Maila Nurmi felt like an alien in mid-century America, where women were expected to land a supporting role in the nuclear family. Determined to become a star in her own right, she flees to Hollywood. But after years of languishing as a failed actress, a fateful invitation to the Bal Caribe masquerade would change her life forever.

In a true Frankenstein-meets-Cinderella tale, Maila wins the costume contest dressed as the yet-unnamed Morticia from The New Yorker’s “Addams Family” cartoons, but little does she know that a young TV producer in attendance has been desperately searching for a host for his late-night horror films.

Recognizing a spectacular opportunity to satirize the rigid ideals of 1950s womanhood she so despises, Maila concocts a persona stitched together from the threads of her idols: the Evil Queen in “Snow White”, Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard”, and pin-up models in BDSM magazines.

During Hollywood’s most transformative year, Vampira titillates and terrifies 1950s America as the studio system collapses and a new era of celebrity emerges. She rubs elbows (and other bits) with the likes of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Liberace, Orson Welles, Anthony Perkins and Elvis Presley.

While Maila’s fame was short lived, Vampira is endlessly exhumed by each new generation of misfits she inspires. She is regarded as an immortal matriarch to queer, punk, goth, and alternative communities who see in her a mirror of their own refusal to assimilate.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Burlesque, Explicit Content, Swearing, Death, Disordered Eating, Mental Disorders, Brief and extremely vague reference to sexual assault.

ARTIST BIO
Ingrid Garner is a Los Angel-ish based theatre-maker who has spent over a decade touring the international Fringe circuit, earning eighteen awards, including “Best Theatre” accolades at the world’s five largest theatre festivals, and a wealth of five-star reviews for "Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler's Germany", an adaptation of her grandmother’s acclaimed WWII memoir. She has since produced a sequel, which has enjoyed similar success around the globe. Her latest show, "Vampira: A Hollywood Horror Story", premiered in 2026, selling out and earning the festival staff’s “Fringe Pick” award. When off the road, she teaches creative writing to incarcerated youth and military veterans.

IG: @ingridgarner @vampiratheshow

FB: facebook.com/vampiratheshow

Special thanks to Jonny Coffin, Katy French and Chris Estrada for all your help!

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Event Venue

Lyric Hyperion Theater & Cafe, 2106 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles, United States

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