🎭 Behind the Velvet Curtain: The Making of Masquerade of Shadows

Mickey Fingers
Oct 24
4 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

A Dark Fairytale Cabaret in Too Many Acts

“It began with a writing prompt… and ended with a Puppet Master who wouldn’t stay behind the curtain.”

We never set out to write a concept album, let alone a full-length dark cabaret musical.

But one day, while flipping through Tea’s lyric journal, Mickey saw something. A line. A whisper of story. He paused, looked up, and said:

“This… this is a concept album.”

And that’s how the curtain rose.

💜 What Is a Dark Fairytale?

Tea: Mickey explains this best.

Mickey: It’s the place where dreams go to get undressed. Where the shadows dance, the mirrors lie, and something deeper than truth gets sung. It’s not quite horror, not quite fantasy; but it lives where your lullabies used to play.

📖 Why Is the Playbill Square?

Tea: We both had the same vision... square, like a childhood record storybook. You know, those magical LPs with narrated tales and music? It was always meant to be a tactile, immersive thing.

Mickey: It’s the opening chapter to the book, and the book was always a dream in too many acts.

🎪 Why a Concept Album?

Mickey: Because it was there.

Tea: By “there,” he means in my lyric journal. From a prompt he gave me. He saw it and said, “That’s a concept album.”

It started with 10 songs…

It became 34.

A book. A playbill. A puppet with too much power.

And an ending we had to rewrite after the Puppet Master stepped out from behind the veil.

🩰 Sunday with the Puppet Master

We were just finishing the remasters…

…when the Puppet Master came alive. Not as a metaphor. Not just a character.

But as a voice. A presence.

It began with a whispered name: Celeste.

He left letters, cue cards, music boxes…

We knew we couldn’t end the story the way we had. He had written his own ending.

So we answered with one more song ... Track 34: Twin Flame Waltz.

And the story finally broke its cycle.

-Mickey

🎧 The Soundtrack and the Story

Before it was an album, Masquerade of Shadows was a feeling.

Two Eclectic Wonderland episodes helped give it shape:

🕯️ Once Upon a Dark Fairytale

Our original mood board. A haunted waltz through songs that made us say, “What if we built a dark fairytale musical?”

Listen here:

Once Upon A Dark Fairytale Blog

🕷️ All We Ever Wanted Was Everything

A four-hour playlist, knocked down to a two-hour episode, and the Puppet Master’s mixtape.

A seduction of shadow and string, before we even knew how real he was becoming.

Listen here:

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything

You can listen to both directly on the blog via embedded Mixcloud players (thank you, Mr. Announcer Man 💋).

-Mickey

🎬 Watch the Magic Unfold

Before you dive into the book ...

Experience the show as it was meant to be heard and seen.

📽️ The Masquerade of Shadows Playbill (Video Preview)

This isn’t just a title sequence ...

It’s a conjuring.

A flicker of candlelight…

The curtain drawn back just enough to tempt you forward.

We wanted it to feel like the record storybooks of our childhood ... with shadow puppets, flickering text, and a whisper of danger.

🕯️✨ Want your own copy?

Take the Playbill with you, hold the mirror in your hands.

🎟️ [Download the Playbill PDF]

Download The PLAYBILL

📺 Full Album on YouTube

Every track. Every ghost.

All 34 songs in sequence... from the flicker of the first flame to the final broken mirror.

Whether you listen on the chaise longue, on a midnight drive, or in your ritual bath of glitter and defiance, this is the complete Masquerade.

✨ From Prompt to Portal

It all began with a writing prompt…

Then became a 10-song story…

Then became 20 songs, then 30…

And finally, one Sunday…

He stepped through.

“Sunday with the Puppet Master” changed everything.

He spoke. He wrote his own ending. He called her Celeste.

We listened... and we wrote the 34th song.

🧵 Final Threads

We’re still finishing the book (you can watch the Playbill preview now). Final layout is underway for:

The Pre-Story
The Main Story + Art for all 34 tracks
The Post-Story
Sunday with the Puppet Master
Character Stories
The Symbolism Cabinet
Bonus Extras & Mixtapes

💌 From Tea to Mickey Fingers

Thank you for being part of every thread in this tapestry..

for your production magic, your dark humor, your whispered ID segments,

and for never letting go of the strings when we needed you most.

From our very first Halloween dream…

to this Rocktoberr of records, rituals, and rewrites...

Thank you, Darling 💋

We wouldn’t be here without you.

💿 Clickable Albums

🎵 Masquerade of Shadows (Full Album)

🎵 Singles: Picnic for the Wicked, Mirror Mirror (On the Ceiling), Boom Boom Boom

(Album covers embedded, each one clickable.)

📚 What Comes Next?

We’re still editing the book — a dark fairytale in 8.5x8.5” slides:

The Pre-Story
The Main Story + Art
The Post-Story
Sunday with the Puppet Master (the final twist)
Lyrics
Symbolism Cabinet
Extras (Mixtapes, Letters, Artifacts…)
Dedication, Coda, and Back Cover

“The curtain is yours now — open it when you’re ready.”

🕯️ Final Word from Mickey

“This isn’t just an album. It’s a masquerade stitched from trauma, laughter, ghosts, and the fire of making art when everything else tried to stop us.

We’re so glad you’re here. Take your mask, step into the story, and let the shadows dance.”

-Mickey Fingers

✨ About Mickey Fingers

Mickey Fingers is the co-creator of Velvet Umbrella Records and Gala Violet.

A multi-instrumentalist and engineer-producer, he moves between drums, guitar, bass, piano, and synth with ridiculous ease, building worlds inside Ableton Live.

Equal parts mystery and mischief, he’s a steady hand in the chaos and a spark in the shadows.

You’ll find him behind the curtain, buried in reel-to-reels and synth smoke.