Amid the home furnishings, eateries, chocolatiers, specialty apparel, and curated gift shops that define Richmond’s eminently walkable Carytown, Révéler Experiences and its live music venue Orbital Music Park remain a hidden curiosity. Perhaps the two striking 7-foot gold skeletons (“Flora” and “Fauna”) and the mysterious velvet curtains at the entrance are designed to be intentionally enigmatic to the unknowing?
That would be ironic, considering the welcoming and bemusing world within, where Révéler defies categorizing. Imagine an interactive lounge, nightclub, art space, speakeasy, gallery of the macabre, and a cornucopia of the most fantastical objets d’art one might imagine.
“Welcome to the island of misfit toys,” co-founder Christina Pearlman says with a laugh. “The invitation is open for all misfits and otherwise to come hither.”
A “reveler” suggests raucous merry-making, but with two all-important accent marks—Révéler—it transforms. In French, it means to reveal, to disclose, to show.
Pearlman embraces the double entendre: “The whole story is on the windows,” she says, referring to the gold lettering: Révéler, Curiously Curated Experiences …. Art, Food & Drink, Live Music. The business describes itself as a space “where grownups play like little kids.” Its mandate: “Be cool, listen, and have courage.”
Pearlman and business partner Josh Czarda opened Révéler in October 2021 after launching Escape Room RVA and the interactive party venue Gnome & Raven. Their original goal for the new concept was to redefine date night, with communal activities like portrait painting, tattooing a cadaver (yes, really), sand-etching, spontaneous musical jams, and casting dreams onto a life-size “wishing tree.” While Révéler is partially partitioned into themed rooms, its 7,000-square-foot space is more of an open-air playground.
“Our original thought was since we’ve had experience in escape rooms and these kinds of immersive, story-driven spectacles, what would it look like to distill that down to a two-person thing?” Pearlman explains. “A date can be much deeper than dinner and drinks. So while this version is not a game, it is still an opportunity to engage with your senses in an analog kin of way.”
“Analog,” in fact, is key. “We all need to play to get our hands dirty and draw something in the sand,” she says. “That’s analog. Touching the sand. Art, music, community, connection you create a chemical reaction. So yes, analog, very much analog.”
An easel in the activities area is surrounded by endless inspiration.
And this is where things just get weird. Among the lovingly curated nooks, side rooms, and themed activity chambers, imagine Steampunk on steroids: plush velvet couches, well-worn Victorian chairs, outrageously large cotton cumulus clouds hanging above, easels calling for creative input, random doors dangling, a mummy reclining on a red velvet chaise lounge, full-size tiki beach umbrellas, fairy lights, oddball lamps, overlapping area rugs strewn at all angles, and hundreds of framed, otherworldly pictures .… Yes, you are allowed a moment to take all of that in.
Révéler evolved with the addition of co-owners Tom Illmensee and Morgan Huff, who created Orbital Music Park in 2019 in a 2,000-square-foot pop-up Richmond warehouse on Tomlynn Street offering rehearsal rooms, performance spaces, workshops, and jam sessions.
When Orbital relocated to Cary Street in 2022, Révéler’s concept evolved, adding a valued live music venue to its list of functions.
“I remember when Orbital was looking for a new space and Josh said to Tom and Morgan, ‘Why don’t you guys come in and jam here?’” especially since a baby grand was already in place, Pearlman says. “The first notes played and I thought, ‘Oh, this is what she wants .… Révéler wants music.’”
Illmensee adds, “We had done well enough in Orbital’s space to think, wow, this thing needs to be bigger. We weren’t really realizing our potential as a performance space. So when we were invited to Révéler and saw the bones of what could be a really beautiful little nightclub, the four of us—Josh, Tina, Morgan, and I—started to come up with ideas.”
And just like that, a stage was added to embrace the baby grand, plus cocktail tables to indulge 85 guests, blended with Révéler’s kaleidoscopic décor. Live shows include blues, jazz, reggae, comedy, storytelling, funk, soul, world music, and pop, with a wildly inclusive median ticket price of $15. Wednesday evenings showcase the Orbital’s signature funk and soul jam, where attendees join the house band for an impromptu performance.
“They might be ushered onstage to play the spoons, or to sing backup in a band that didn’t exist an hour ago,” Illmensee notes. “The list goes on of what constitutes a reveler, for sure.”
“Tina and Josh’s initial hope for the place was to have a micro-adventure that you can’t have anywhere else,” he continues. “Now that we have music programs, those adventures have also become sonic sensations. So you can draw an animation in the sand, or you can see a 19-piece big band for a reasonable price.”
For the ideal inauguration to Révéler, a weekday happy hour runs 5–7 p.m., ushering all to explore and mingle, sipping signature cocktails like Uneasy Hearts and Gin Is Not My Thing, alongside wine and beer and small shared plates. Show times typically ramp up afterward, with bookended performances at 8 and 11 p.m. Other activities include Sunday afternoon “High Tea and Treachery,” a 90-minute escape-style group “puzzle”; live model drawing; jazz workshops; burlesque; cabaret; “Witching Hour” stories of the macabre—and whatever else Révéler’s owners may deftly contrive.
Events aside, Révéler’s staff embodies Richmond’s inclusivity. “Our people realize they belong here—and that they are going to find others that are like-minded. We’re going to show you, by example, what it looks like to be a good human.”
The connection is working. On a recent Saturday night, Révéler regular Cleve Lamison, a Richmond native and artist, recalls discovering the space. “We saw the skeletons outside. We peeked in, and this voice said, ‘Come on in, gentlemen.’” He laughs. “This place is of the gods. It is like coming home to your tribe.”
Despite three-and-a-half years in River City, word is still spreading about the magical, mystical land of make-believe on West Cary Street. Illmensee describes it like this:, “You know that feeling when you’re in a new city for the first time and you don’t really know what’s around the corner? You’re outside of your comfort zone, a little off-balance and a little intoxicated by all the things that are new, and it’s exhilarating. That’s this. Romantic, weird, and immersive.”
Adds Pearlman, “Art, music, togetherness, community, connection. The spaces, the music, the adventure are designed to make you pause and feel wonder and joy. I love whenever someone crosses the threshold to Révéler. The possibilities are endless.” RevelerExperiences.com
A lighted sand- etching table—one of the many analog activities at Révéler.
Tables arranged for gathering.
This article originally appeared in the June 2025 issue.
