THE ANDROID’S NEW SOUL – Book by Dana Cain and Jeff LaGreca; Music by Dana Cain and Mark Putt; Directed by Jeff LaGreca; Music Direction by Mitch Samu; Choreography by Rachel Lessard. Produced by Dana Cain Entertainment (Presented at The Bug Theatre, 3654 Navajo Street, Denver) through September 15. Tickets available at DanaCainEntertainment.com.
I had the extreme pleasure of watching a dream come true tonight. Dana Cain as a teenager in 1974 had an idea for a musical that incorporated all the late-night movies she watched that were the aftermath of atomic bomb tests creating giant mutant bugs. She mixed in a hard rock beat like the groups she heard on the radio and MTV – ELO, Genesis, Kiss, Led Zeppelin. Robotics were in their infant stages but endlessly fascinating in their possibilities. Mix all this together with a beautiful medical technician as the lone survivor of a Big Bomb and you’ve got the outline for a rock musical that took fifty years to finish. But that is still as fresh, creative, and relevant as when it burst from her imagination. Her dream of seeing it come alive on a stage happened tonight at the appropriately named Bug Theatre.
Rock music does not often lend itself to coherence and lucidity. But Ms. Cain wrote melodies that are easy on the ears and singable. Her lyrics actually told the story with clarity and were cleverly rhymed without torturing the syntax. She gave the singers music they could put their hearts into. She created hard-pounding anthems (“What Happened?”), a blatantly raucous make-out song (“FDASS; Funky Disco Android Sex Song”) and heartbreaking ballads (“Please”). Her work incorporates all the “I Wants” of a Broadway musical.
Her work with Jeff LaGreca on the book for the show highlighted their tongue-in-cheek humor, love of in-jokes, and knowledge of how to make satire work. At one point, Stacy and her Android lover Christopher found themselves in an abandoned mansion and decided to stay. He prepares a monthiversary dinner for them and comes on stage in a sparkly jacket he found in a closet asking her, “Does anyone know who Elton John is?” The dialogue is fast-paced, witty to the nth degree, and heartfelt when it needs to be.
Special kudos must be given to the tech crew assembled for this production. It appears that no expense was spared; everything was done first class. A complete multi-layered set designed by Matt Graff and Tim LaGreca gave dimension and drama to the action. They also designed the ominous-looking weapons and whimsical puppets used throughout. The unique costumes designed by Nicole Watts are a wonder to behold. We have Androids in silver suits and helmets; Clones in warlike garb that look like something out of an early Game of Thrones prequel; Disco dollies in puffy miniskirts; and Mutants with three arms, squid and lobster hands, and grass growing out of their heads. OMG – you let it all out on this one, didn’t you!
The projections, designed by Brian Essig-Peppard and manipulated by Kevin Smith, lent a movie-like quality to the proceedings and moved the whole production two levels (at least) higher. During the battle scenes, laser beams were flying overhead, bombs were bursting in air, and all hell was breaking out. One addition to the sound design created by Wayne Kennedy was especially moving. The sound of a wave crashing on the shore as a band of survivors moves together toward hope and the ocean lets us all know that some things are still the same.
But all of this technical and musical bravado would have been for naught without the kickass, balls-to-the-walls, totally committed group of performers who brought the whole thing to life. It never let up for any member of the cast. They were on and off stage in various costumes and characters for the full two hours. The lead characters of Stacy and Christopher, the human doctor and her robot lover, rarely leave the stage and get to remain in their original costumes nearly all the time. There was that one scene . . . but everyone else had multiple roles that required getting into and out of complicated costumes every few minutes. They are to be applauded for their unstinting energy and commitment to their roles and their support of Stacy and Christopher’s love story. Everyone in this cast deserved their moment in the spotlight and got it! I hope when this show goes Off-Broadway, this cast gets to go with it.
Good job, everyone! This is a very short run, folks, in a pretty small theatre. You better get your tickets this weekend, because you won’t be able to get any next weekend.
A WOW factor of 8.75!!
I was there on opening night, and I agree wholeheartedly. But also, “The Android’s New Soul” is opera. Not quite Puccini, Verdi, or Bizet, but right up there with Pete Townshend’s “Tommy.” It’s also darn good science fiction. I hope it makes it Off-Broadway, or maybe even On-Broadway.