MY FAVORITE SHOW!!!

 

Here's a good show suggestion for you.  I highly recommend this one.

 

In fact, I wish we could do this one again real soon!  I've done 136 shows over the past 30 years, and THIS one was THE MOST FUN!  I was in a state of depression during strike, because I didn't want to see it go! 

 

Here are some random photos:

 

"Return to the Forbidden Planet" is a science-fiction musical comedy, but don't get intimidated by the big spaceship set.  (It can be done on a completely bare stage too...like a Shakespeare troupe did at Black Friars in Virginia this year).  The script is a hilarious blend of The Tempest and the 1950's movie Forbidden Planet.  The songs are 1960's beach and pop music!  It has a good mix of male and female leads.

 

Instead of "Robby the Robot", this show has singing, dancing robot named Ariel.  He is a VERY popular character with the audience.

 

The bad guy is Prospero, a mad scientist whose space monster attacks the ship.  Your technical crew will absolutely LOVE this show!  Lots of crazy props and lots of cool special effects.  They can go wild with the all rock-n-roll lighting!

 

Much like the movie Rocky Horror Picture Show, this musical has several places in the show for audience participation.  It's a hoot!  Folks came back more than once.  Pictured below is a moment where the audience, (ie. the "passengers" on the spaceship), help to save the ship in a moment of crisis.

 

And the best part of the show is THE MUSIC.  Sometimes your young actors can't really relate to classic Broadway showtunes.  But in THIS show, it's all pop music that is very familiar to them and very easy to sing.  Instead of a pit orchestra, we used a 4-piece teenage rock band.  Plus, members of the cast would jump up on the bandstand and play instruments as well. 

 

We put our rock band in the center of the stage....in the middle of what looks like the bridge of the starship Enterprise, with some retro Jules Vern touches added.  The guy in the white cook's outfit is "Cookie", (aka Trinculo), and in this picture he is banging on the keyboard while my live cameras put him up on the main "view screen"!

 

In this photo he's singing "Great Balls of Fire".  And after banging on the keys, he leaps off the bandstand and slides on his knees across the apron of the stage.  THE CROWD GOES WILD!  Cookie got screams of delight from all the girls in the audience during his solos!  Girls came to multiple shows and yelled as though they were his personal fan club!

 

And there are two terrific female leads.  Miranda is the innocent daughter of Prospero, and Gloria is the "head-strong"science officer who has the hots for the captain.

 

As a set & lighting designer, I had a blast.  I made use of my two trapdoors.  I put a grate over the SR one so that steam could shoot out for the "Marilyn Monroe effect", (a crew kid under the stage with a leaf blower).   And under my SL trapdoor I put a Genie Lift so actors could make entrances from "outside the spaceship". 

 

I took the above photo from the catwalk so you could see the SR trap with the grating, (under the Captain's feet), and the SL trap for the Genie Lift, (labelled "Airlock").  Also notice my two "solo pods" for singers downstage; the sliding "Star Trek door" upstage right; the "Kirk chairs" up center, (with blue rocker seats from Target); the bandstand platform made of plastic shipping pallets with 750 watt Parnels underneath; and up-left is my "pod staircase", (recycled from my abstract production of Midsummer Night's Dream).

 

Here is the "Marilyn effect" on Miranda during a song:

Here are the Captain and Miranda on my "solo pods" with wireless handhelds, (and split-screen video):

Here is Ariel entering the ship on the Genie Lift.  I had green spotlights and a smoke machine under the stage here:

And here is Gloria on the Genie about 12 feet above the stage as she belts our the "Ay, ay, ay, ay!" part of the song "Gloria":

 

 

Listen folks...YOU MUST DO THIS SHOW! 

 

It was a gigantic hit in London for many years.  Rock and roll songs, like Wipeout, Good Vibrations, Gloria, Teenager in Love, and even Monster Mash, will get ovations all night long. 

 

The props, costumes, and effects are an absolute blast for your crew.   The pace is non-stop...the Shakespearean puns are a trip...and the corny laughs just never end.  

 

Our Captain Tempest got big yuks by throwing in a few William Shatner-esque lines. 

And his navigation officer had Spock ears.

 

We did this show three years ago, and it's STILL all that everyone talks about.  If I get to do it again someday...and if it's only HALF this fun...then it STILL will be a big success.

 

Go for it!  You will thank me later.  -Dana

 

 

 

Yes, you'll love this show.  It's a hoot.  You can stage it big and high-tech, or small and simple. 

 

Our director chose the campy approach, and decided that no joke was too corny for her production.  At times it seemed like a Monty Python send-up of Shakespeare's plays, and at other times it seemed like a movie parody like "Airplane", only set in outer space.  Other moments reminded me of a Carol Burnett Show skit.  Every actor had good bits.

 

The crowd bought into the premise completely.  They soon got over the fact that the entire script was in Shakespearean language.  Actually, the laughs got BIGGER with each passing night, as return patrons understood the language better and picked up on all the references.

 

The well-known pop songs and live band on stage made the show have more of a rock concert feel than a Broadway feel.   After doing a show like, say "Hello, Dolly", I might hum the show tunes for two weeks afterwards.  But with "Forbidden Planet" I'm STILL humming the tunes three years later! Plus add to that the fact that "classic rock & roll" radio stations always play those original songs!   I'll be driving my car and hear a tune from "Forbidden Planet" and get a lump in my throat thinking about how much I miss that production. 

 

I thought her casting was impeccable...I can't think of anyone else playing those roles!  When I run into one of those former cast members at the grocery store or at the movies, I always give them a big smile, like members of some long-lost fraternity.   These kids seem like celebrities now - because I enjoyed watching the show so much.  Hmmm...I guess it's the ENERGY of the show that I remember most.   The fun and frenetic positive energy of the production...wow.

 

The songs in "Planet" are in a more palatable range for our actors to sing than many other shows.  Some of our solos were staged in a presentational style with wireless handheld microphones.  This way the actors could get funky with their vocalization without worring about projection.  When you combine the pop tunes with the use of hand mics and my live TV close-ups on the big screen...at moments it felt like the finale' episode of "American Idol".  (I even had tilt & pan DMX robot lights flashing all over the place!)

 

Now, if you worry that many of your potential patrons have never heard of this show...don't.   The word of mouth really sells it.  I wish we had done two weekends instead of one, so that we could have had another week for the word to spread.  I sometimes run into other theatre people who couldn't make it to the show...and there's nothing I can say but, "Ya' had'a be there!"

 

It's a fun show to promote.  There is the Sci-fi, Buck Rogers, and comicbook hero angle.  And the "Naked Gun"-style campy parody angle.  And the classic rock angle.  (I think we promoted the show on local radio).   The original show is somewhat of a legend in the theatre world, so some of our patrons were local theatre directors who were curious to see the show.

 

We had all the ushers dress like "space stewardesses" and act as though they were loading the "passengers" for a shuttle flight.   And I bought hundreds of little "blinkies" for them to give out to all the kids in the audience.  When the cast yells for the crowd to help defend the ship from asteroids or a giant monster, all the kids turned on their blinkies and held them up in the dark!  (A sci-fi twist on Bic lighters at a rock concert!)  They got to keep the blinkies as a promo gimic.

 

Ahhh...I could gush on and on about this show.  But I should stop now for fear of raising unrealistic expectations...

-Dana

 

 

 

Yes, my show was a high school production.  And no, you do not have to cast kids as the musicians.  We did - because we could.  Our leading male who played "Cookie" was a "quadruple threat"...he could sing, dance, act, AND play instruments.  The rest of the combo was made of his fellow bandmates from an outside-of-school rock band.  We were just lucky that year to have the musical talent that was taylor-made for this show.  So you can hire professional adults for your production, by all means. 

 

And the fact that the band was situated on "the bridge" of the spaceship, center stage, was my whim, not necessarily something called for in the script.  (Although many of the hit London productions have the band on stage and also have some actors play instruments). 

 

One technical challenge that comes with putting a band on stage while actors wear body mics, is of course, the feedback and audio mixing headaches.   Once again, serendipity saved my butt here.  Because it just so happened that a local audio supply company was doing a "demo" of a state-of-the-art $60,000.00 Dynacord Line Array Speaker System that particluar week!  So the mixing was immaculate.  And FEEDBACK, which could ruin a show, was an absolute impossibility!   But no, if I just had the use of my crappy old house speaker system, then I never would have attempted to put a live band on stage.

 

As far as your talent pool question goes, well, just think karaoke "standards".   If they can sing those old standards, you're all set!  You could secretly test the waters by holding a karaoke contest to see if any of your best prospects can handle 1960's pop tunes.  If you can have an American Idol style quest to "discover" a half dozen good kids to be your leads, then book the show and hold auditions.

 

You'll need a few good men.  You will need a handsome male lead to play the captain.  He has to sing romantic pop ballads like "Young Girl" in the show.  You need his female equal to play Gloria the scientist/diva.  She sings "Gloria" and "Go Now".  Miranda is the young love interest, and has songs like "Teenager in Love".  Cookie is the hidden rock star of the bunch, and has to belt out "Great Balls of Fire".  Ariel the Robot does not necessarily have to have great range, with tunes like "Who's Sorry Now".  (Our Ariel was a large athletic type in his first true leading role...and he rocked the house and stole the show!)   Prospero is the Vincent Price style mad scientist, and has semi-spoken songs like "Monster Mash".

 

Aside from those leads, you need a peppy gaggle of chorus girls to be the "Omnes", which are the 1960's back-up singers, and a gang of random male crewmen in the background.  And like I said previously, your ushers can be in stewardess uniforms and stand at the foot of the stage to add punch to large numbers.

 

The production is refreshingly open to interpretation... 

*Yes, you can hire professional musicians instead of using actors in the band. 

*We found Star Trek uniforms on eBay, but the script does not call for them.  I also built two "Capt. Kirk chairs" for the heck of it.

*We also blended in a retro Jules Vern style by using ship portholes and my big ship's helm from HMS Pinafore!

*You don't need six girls to play the Omnes when it calls for three...we did because we happened to have a glut of fine talent that year!

*This show could be done in an understated cabaret review style in your studio theatre, like Rocky Horror; or it could be done with a pit orchestra in a proscenium theatre like JC Superstar. 

*The show does not call for all the live camera close-ups that I used in several numbers...I did it because I'm a tech geek and it was easy.

*You don't need to hand out hundreds of blinkies, but I thought it called for some wacky audience participation ala Rocky Horror Picture Show.

*The robot does not need to wear roller skates, as many of the British productions did.   Ours did not.

*You don't need a counter-weight fly system, however I used mine to suspend a huge circular rock concert truss and to fly in the "monster tenticles" when the ship is attacked.

*And most definately, the actors don't need to "enter the ship's airlock" by riding up through a trapdoor in a Genie Lift.  That was just for me...I did it because I could!

 

Alice, as far as losing some of your best singers goes, we face the same issue every year as well.  I hate to see them go!  (Luckily many of them major in theatre in college though).   But I feel like educational theatre is like a conveyor belt.   As the good seniors drop off the end, there's always a few fresh ones coming up the line.  (Our Miranda was just a freshman...but she was an even match for the seniors playing Gloria and the Captain). 

 

Besides, as you know, some male students will just not audition for the stereotypical high school musical.  But if you sell this as a dynamic "rock opera" like Tommy, Rocky Horror or Superstar, then you might pull the jocks and the shy music buffs out of your campus-wide talent pool.  Just as in the storyline of "Disney's High School Musical"...your next lead actors might be the new kid in town or the popular athlete who never set foot on stage.   And frankly, this show doesn't call for "great actors", it calls for decent pop singers and witty comedians.  And even if they have no experience with vocal projection, then hey, the format of the show also allows for handheld microphones!  How cool is that?!

 

Go for it and good luck!  -Dana