Category Archives: Theatre/Performance

“Dracula: The Rock Opera” gives rock ‘n’ roll life to the undead

When the Little 5 Points Rockstar Orchestra first gathered for its low budget interpretation of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s Jesus Christ Superstar a few years ago, it seemed like a self-indulgent undertaking by a bunch of Atlanta rockers who had little, if any, knowledge of how to properly stage a theatrical production. Sure, they had seen their share of stage theatrics, but the spontaneous energy of a live rock performance is very different from a well-rehearsed stage production, even when music is involved.

Over the years, the Orchestra became more ambitious, staging theatrical interpretations of Iron Maiden‘s The Number of the Beast and Rush‘s 2112, as well as absurdly sacreligious holiday productions such as Christmas with the Devil and the Krampus Xmas Spectacular. The group graduated from the tiny stage of the Five Spot to the legitimate theater space at 7 Stages. And in February of last year, the Orchestra staged its most impressive production yet: Haus Von Dracul, a rock opera interpretation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Rob Thompson as Dracula (photo by Yvonne Boyd)

Haus Von Dracul, the first act of a work-in-progress, revealed a more sophisticated side to the Orchestra. With Orchestra leader Rob Thompson now working with theatre veteran Del Hamilton and the rest of the 7 Stages staff, the marriage of rock and theatre he originally envisioned was finally complete. And last weekend, the Orchestra staged the world premiere of Dracula: The Rock Opera, which builds upon Haus Von Dracul‘s foundation to bare theatrical fangs worthy of it’s namesake vampire.

Directed by Hamilton and accomplished actor Justin Welborn (The Final Destination, The Signal), Dracula is perhaps the most accurate depiction of Stoker’s novel to ever have been conceived theatrically. Rather than the dark lover Hollywood would tell us is Dracula, this production retains the demonic fashion sense established by Bela Lugosi and Gary Oldman with the monstrous demeanor of Max Shreck’s Nosferatu.

“You get Max Shreck as Nosferatu, then he starts to morph into Lugosi a little bit, then he turns into Christopher Lee,” says Shane Morton, who plays Texan Quincy Morris (and also runs attractions such as the Silver Scream SpookShow and Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse). “You see him do the whole gamut and you can tell he’s been working hard on it and studying a lot. Rob’s jump in acting has been insane. I snuck out and watched the first act and I couldn’t believe it. I know Dracula, and this is the best Dracula I’ve ever seen. I know I’m too close to the project to say anything unbiased, but I really feel that way watching his performance. And that’s all because of Justin and Del really getting on everybody and making actors out of a bunch of musicians and stuff.”

“We’re working towards a more professional atmosphere,” adds Welborn, who has been largely responsible for the Orchestra’s evolution over the past few years. “We told them we could make it bigger if we rehearsed a little bit longer, if everyone showed up on time, and this time it was very much about being as professional as we could be and not getting drunk during rehearsals. There are just certain things you do if you’re going to take something as serious and invest as much money, time and effort as we have in this. For everybody to actually come to that mutual agreement makes Del and my job so much easier because that’s what you have to do. Everybody’s performances came up – our ensemble had a chance to really gel together and work on what they were going to do, and the innkeeper woman (played by Naomi Lavender, who also plays Mina Harker and one of Dracula’s brides) didn’t look like something out of Disney, she looked like something out of a horror movie. I agree that Rob’s Dracula is one of the spookiest, weirdest, craziest that I’ve gotten to see. He’s taken his natural moves and put those natural moves into something very streamlined and knows what he’s doing the whole time. That’s the thing that takes it from out-of-control rock ‘n’ roll to a focused and true artistic performance.”

Dracula (Rob Thompson) and his brides Naomi Lavender (left), Madeline Brumby (center) and Jessika Cutts (right) (photo by Yvonne Boyd)

Though last year’s production was essentially the first act of Dracula, a lot of changes have been made between that show and the current one (running through Oct. 14). The stylized stage itself has been completely reconfigured to help the show (and blood) flow a little better, the costumes are a little more flamboyant, and some fresh blood has been added to the cast. One of the standouts of this new cast is Jeff Langston, whose Van Helsing is just as eccentric as Thompson’s Dracula. In fact, between the costumes and makeup, the two characters almost look as if they could be related. And like Thompson, Langston, whose only prior stage time was as singer for Ledfoot Messiah, is the latest example of a musician previously unfamiliar with the acting discipline.

“The directors had never met him at all until the first day or rehearsal,” says Welborn. “And he began by saying, ‘I just want you to know I’ll accept any help because I’ve never acted in any play ever in my life.’ Then he began to sing and it was like, ‘OK, we can work something out here.’ He probably worked harder and came farther than anyone else because he’s never worn a costume or gone onstage without a guitar. He told me the other day that he used to think he was born to play music, but now he thinks maybe he was born to perform.”

There’s no shortage of great performances in Dracula, and most everyone involved has to perform in both musical and theatrical capacities. But it’s the music that helps convey the drama and emotions, whether it be through seriously psychedelic scenes or funk-laden numbers with a sense of humor.

“My inspiration grew out of my love for Jesus Christ Superstar and putting this group together to do that,” says Thompson. “I pretty much hate most modern music that comes out and the ’70s are definitely my favorite, so I was thinking of Alice Cooper, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy. I just wanted a classic rock opera and this has turned out to be better than I imagined.”

And while the first act is dominated by the ominous sense of Jonathan Harker’s impending doom after arriving at Dracula’s castle, the second act, with it’s Gwar-like gore and lighthearted songs, really delves into the comedic value of it all.

“If you don’t give them a release valve and give them something to laugh at, they’re going to start laughing at stuff they’re not supposed to laugh at,” says Morton. “So these songs that, when I originally heard them I was like, ‘What the fuck is this?’, they have to happen because it helps the flow of everything. Between all the horror, you’ve got to give them some comic relief.”

Ledfoot Messiah’s Jeff Langston as Van Helsing (photo by Yvonne Boyd)

“I’ve never seen Dracula done without all this serious stuff,” says Welborn. “It’s almost never funny, and that’s why I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that I loved. I love the [Francis Ford] Coppola movie in it’s own way and I love Lugosi’s movie and some of the old ones, but you begin to laugh at things because it’s just kind of absurd. Every Dracula I’ve ever seen on stage, I’ve absolutely hated. The first time I heard we were going to do this, I was like, ‘Wow! OK. That’s a challenge in and of itself because it’s always so [romanticized].’ Then these guys start telling me he’s a monster and that’s it, and I began to think that gives humanity to everybody else around him.”

“The really great thing about this show is it’s not just another musical or another play or another rock show,” says Jessika Cutts, who plays Lucy Westerna and one of Dracula’s brides. “It’s got the intelligence and finesse of an opera, then it has this careless fun you have when you go to see a rock concert, mixed with all these spectacular effects.”

The Orchestra has big plans for Dracula once the coffin closes on this initial run. Welborn has already been talking to his agents and managers about possibly staging it in New York, Thompson hopes to properly record the score in a studio for a future soundtrack release and there are premonitions of taking the show on the road, or even overseas, if the opportunity arises.

“My whole life I feel like I’ve been gearing up to this,” says Morton. “I’ve been obsessed with [Dracula] since I was three years old. Jesus Christ Superstar is a great rock opera, but I think Rob has written a better rock opera and if the right people get ahold of this and it gets out, people will see that it’s really something special.”

For more information, go to www.7stages.org/dracula.

Cirque du Soleil immortalizes Michael Jackson with music, theatrics

Leave a reply

As is the case with any significant artist or musician, the spirit often lives on long after the person is no longer with us through the music and images he leaves behind. And when you’re talking about someone as eclectic as Michael Jackson, you should expect nothing less for his remembrance than the elaborate costumes and unique circus performers of Cirque du Soleil. Having started in Cirque’s home town of Montreal last October, Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour features MJ favorites like “Beat It,” “Ben” and “Man in the Mirror” while Cirque dancers, aerialists and acrobats add to the costumed spectacle seen in his iconic videos. Having performed in more than 60 North American cities since October, the tour continues through August before heading to Europe for the rest of the year. With a three-night stand in Atlanta starting tonight, tour spokesperson Laura Silverman talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about The Immortal Tour‘s spectacle.

This isn’t Cirque du Soleil’s first show based on a particular pop musician. For those of us who have yet to see MJ, how does it compare to other Cirque du Soleil performances?

Aerialists perform to “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” in “Michael Jackson: The Immortal Tour” (photo courtesy OSA Images)

This show is much different from any other Cirque du Soleil show, including the Beatles and Elvis shows. It’s very much Cirque du Soleil meets rock/pop concert whereas the other shows are much more theatrical. This one really feels like you’re at a Michael Jackson concert. It’s taking Cirque du Soleil elements that people know the company for – contortionists, aerials, acrobatics and all of that – and pairing it with Michael Jackson’s music, his iconic dance moves and the flashy costumes that both Michael Jackson and Cirque du Soleil are known for. So it really has a high-energy concert feel to it as opposed to it being a theatrical show.

Was Michael Jackson creatively involved with the show before he passed away?

Unfortunately this specific project didn’t come about until after his passing, but he was a fan of Cirque du Soleil. He saw one of the very first big top shows in Santa Monica in the 1980s and he visited our international headquarters in Montreal in 2004. So there had always been a mutual respect between Cirque du Soleil and Michael Jackson. Cirque du Soleil is always trying to outdo itself coming up with new ideas for its shows and costumes and technology, and Michael Jackson was the same way. He was always thinking ahead of the curve, always coming up with ideas for things you couldn’t even do yet. In that respect, I think that partnership was natural.

Since the focus of this show is on the music and you said it is more like a rock concert than a typical Cirque du Soleil show, are most of the performers dancers or does it have the different types of performers we might see at any other Cirque du Soleil show?

A somewhat macabre seen from Cirque du Soleil’s “Michael Jackson: The Immortal Tour” (photo courtesy OSA Images)

We have a great mix. There are 61 total artists in our show, so that breaks down to about 12 musicians, 26 acrobats and 23 dancers. We have our duo aerial artists, a man and woman swinging and flying together in the air; we have a contortion act; and there’s a pole dancer act and she’s a two-time world champion in pole dancing, so she’s just phenomenal. There’s a Japanese acrobatic team that does a really amazing number to “Sream.” And there’s aerial stuff interjected into the dance numbers, too. So for “Thriller,” for example, you’re going to see our dancers doing the signature “Thriller” moves that most people will recognize, but you’re also going to see our acrobats flying through the air.

Speaking of “Thriller,” is the show a collection of interpretations of his songs and videos or is it more trying to capture the overall spirit of Michael Jackson, or maybe a little bit of both?

It’s definitely a little bit of both. The idea of the show is to pay tribute and celebrate everything that Michael Jackson left to us, from his music, his voice, his dance moves, his costumes, his messages and the overall idea of his spirit. So in the numbers where there are iconic Michael Jackson moves or costumes, we’ve paired those with Cirque du Soleil. So with “Thriller,” there are not only werewolves and zombies, but our artists add mummy costumes to the “Thriller” dance and we also add acrobatics to that. And with “Smooth Criminal,” for example, you’re going to see that iconic lean move, but we have pyrotechnics involved in the number. It was easy to coordinate this because there were a ton of choreographers that worked on the show, many of whom had actually worked with Michael Jackson for many years. So they were able to take moves that Michael Jackson was known for and sort of elaborate on that.

Has this show changed or evolved very much since it started last fall?

Cirque du Soleil recreates the “Smooth Criminal” lean in “Michael Jackson: The Immortal Tour” (photo courtesy OSA Images)

With any Cirque show we’re always working to make things better and evolve it as necessary. Nothing has changed in the show, but we always consider our projects sort of a work in progress and tweak things to make it the best it can be.

Once this tour wraps up in Europe next year, are there plans to do another Michael Jackson show that might incorporate some of his other songs?

There’s nothing like that planned for this show, but there is a completely different show planned to open in Vegas next year. But I’m not sure if that one will include different songs. It will be at Mandalay Bay sometime next year.

For more information, go to www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/show/michael-jackson-tour.

Vari-Okey returns with a variety of new attractions

Leave a reply

Known as “the voice of the arts”, Atlanta’s AM 1690 has a reputation for airing a variety of programs ranging from The Stomp and Stammer Radio Hour‘s underground music every Sunday afternoon to an inside look at Atlanta’s arts and entertainment scene with Backstage Atlanta on Tuesdays. In recent months the station has taken this variety to the stage with Vari-Okey, a periodical event that combines traditional variety show antics with an interactive karaoke format.

Better known for crushing beer cans with her boobs, the Clermont Lounge's Blondie will read poetry at Vari-Okey

The previous two Vari-Okey’s have been held at the Highland Inn Ballroom, but this Saturday Vari-Okey makes its debut at the more expansive Goat Farm space with The Return of Vari-Okey and the Launch of ArtWorks. Once again emceed by the host of The Pop Culture King Show himself, Jon Waterhouse, and Cage, the front man for Neil Diamond tribute band Nine Inch Neils, this Vari-Okey not only showcases AM 1690’s different radio shows, but also introduces its new ArtWorks venture.

“We were getting a really good turnout at the Highland Ballroom on weeknights,” says Waterhouse. “So we’re expecting quite a good crowd this Saturday night. The big reason we’re doing it is to give a push to ArtWorks, which is a new digital platform that AM 1690 is doing to help boost volunteering among the local Atlanta arts scene. We want to get people out and entertain them, but also make them more aware of what’s going on in the local arts scene and ways they can get involved themselves. It’s very interactive on a bunch of levels.”

Waterhouse, who goes by many guises as the singer for the Van Halen tribute band Van Heineken, Burt Reynolds-like front man for country cover band Burt and the Bandits and many other pop cultural projects, usually lets the audience do the singing at Vari-Okey. But he and Cage have also been known to put on costumes and take on other personas to help get the crowd going if there happens to be a lull in karaoke participants. And with a who’s who of Atlanta entertainers performing in between karaoke songs, you never can predict just what might happen at a Vari-Okey event.

Stephen Skipper channels Mick Jagger as front man for The Jagged Stones, a tribute to The Rolling Stones

“The way it’s set up is typical karaoke in the sense that anybody can sing,” says Waterhouse. “They just sign up, and Cage has an exhaustive amount of material. Just about anything you can think of, he’s got it. So we give a bunch of people the opportunity to get onstage, and we have different acts scattered in between there throughout the evening. So we’ll have Blondie from the Clermont Lounge there reading poetry. We’ll have David Stephens, who’s an accomplished bluegrass musician who has also worked with the Muppets and Sesame Street. He’s very talented and he’s going to be performing banjo. We also have indie rock band Christ, Lord playing and The Jagged Stones, an amazing Rolling Stones tribute that really nails it, doing an acoustic set. Some of the girls from Blast-Off Burlesque will be there performing and singing and we’ve got a whole bunch of other surprises. Some things may just happen off the cuff because we’ve got some guests that are kind of tentative, so we don’t know what’s going to happen. And that’s part of the excitement of the whole thing, not only for the audience but also for us.”

And with a cover of … oh, wait, it’s free? And all ages? Well, I really don’t see any excuse to pass up this kind of interactive fun.

XPT returns with ten new experimental puppetry pieces

Leave a reply

Puppetry is often a bit avant-garde, but there’s one event the Center for Puppetry Arts hosts each year that gives performers of various backgrounds a chance to really explore the possibilities of puppeteering. That event is known as Xperimental Puppetry Theater and it returns to the Center tonight through Sunday.

A scene from XPT's "Rapunzel's Flight"

Unlike most of the Center’s productions, XPT is a more free form collection of short pieces that have been known to involve puppeteers, filmmakers, actors, performance artists and even members of the Blue Man Group and the Platinum Championship Wrestling roster. This year’s show includes ten performances that span subjects such as Medusa mythology, lion taming and the story of Rapunzel. Recommended for ages 18 and older, XPT tends to be a little too out there for fans of the Center’s more kid-friendly productions such as Peter Pan (in the Mainstage Theater through May 27). But that doesn’t mean the more experimental nature of XPT is any less fun than the family productions the Center is more known for.

For more information, go to www.puppet.org.

Plaza Theatre fundraising festivities include “Valley Girl,” “Godzilla vs. Megalon” and more

Leave a reply

Atlanta’s Plaza Theatre is the city’s only remaining independent movie theater. Despite celebrating the cinema of yesteryear with events such as Professor Morte’s Silver Scream SpookShow, Blast-Off Burlesque‘s Taboo-La-La and Gorehound Productions‘ Splatter Cinema (as well as current films), the Plaza is struggling now more than ever to keep its doors open. Now a a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Plaza celebrates a big weekend of events beginning with tonight’s Save the Plaza March.

Costumed supporters of this longstanding theater will begin gathering at 5 p.m. before heading down Ponce de Leon Ave. at 5:30 p.m. This parade of kooky Plaza performers and anyone else who wants to dress up and join the cause will turn left after a few blocks before heading back up North Ave. and returning at the Plaza around 7 p.m.

The fundraising festivities continue tomorrow night as the Plaza screens the totally rad ’80s romantic comedy Valley Girl at 8:30 p.m. But like most Plaza events, there will be more than just a movie screening with additional festivities beginning at 7:30 p.m. There will be silent auctions and prizes from local business such as Ria’s Bluebird, the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, Fantasyland Records, Stratosphere Skateboards, Diamond*Star*Halo, Libertine, Monster Joe Coffee (who made the Wrestling with Pop Culture and ATLRetro T-shirts, which will also be included as prizes) and many more.

The event is hosted by Blast-Off Burlesque, whose members will be on hand to hand out auction prizes and provide other costumed entertainment. Prizes will also be awarded in the ’80s costume contest and Valley Girl accent contest. And the whole event will be emceed by The Pop Culture King himself, Jon Waterhouse. Tickets are $15 with all proceeds going to the Plaza Foundation.

Saturday sees the return of the Silver Scream SpookShow, this time with a screening of Godzilla vs. Megalon. Professor Morte and his creepy crew of characters, go-go dancers and other monstrous fun will introduce the movie with the vile variety show they’ve become known for. Kids ages 12 and younger get in free to the 1 p.m. matinee, with an additional show at 10 p.m. As one of the Plaza’s marquee events in recent years, the SpookShow is the perfect followup to the previous days’ philanthropic festivities.

For more information, go to www.plazaatlanta.com.

Paul Zaloom makes fun of white people in “White Like Me”

Leave a reply

Paul Zaloom is best known for his portrayal of Beakman on the comically educational children’s show Beakman’s World. But Zaloom has also established a career on smaller stages with comical puppet shows that address political fears and social anxieties in insightfully funny ways. The most recent addition to his puppet show list is White Like Me: A Honky-Dory Puppet Show, which recently debuted in Vermont and Washington, D.C. before arriving at Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts April 20-22. As he prepares for these shows, Zaloom talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about using junk as puppets, touring the world as Beakman and finding humor in otherwise serious subjects.

A border control agent kicks illegal aliens out of Arizona in "White Like Me." Photo courtesy Paul Zaloom

This is a very new puppet production for you. What can you tell me about it now that you are touring with it?

It is, indeed, brand new. Hot spanking fresh out of the comedy puppetry oven, so to speak. It was inspired by the ludicrous idea of having a show about being Anglo-Saxon – being white, that is. It involves two kinds of puppetry. Toy theater is like a miniature theater that’s projected in high definition on the large screen. What’s funny is I use toys, tools, appliances, junk, tchotchkes and different knick-knacks and crap that animate as puppets in this little play about being Caucasian. All this crap actually looks fabulous in HiDef, it looks just amazing. It’s kind of amazing that you can take this shit and make it look fantastic and cinematic. The proscenium is 16:9, which is the HiDef aspect ratio. So the projection fits right within the bounds of the proscenium.

You often use found objects and non-traditional items in your puppetry. Do you have an assortment of objects you bring with you for this show or do you work with what each venue has?

I bring all the crap with me. It’s all rigged in such a way that it can do the necessary gags. Like I have a dude who needs his arm to jiggle and I have a line and handle attached to that. If I just found stuff on the road, it wouldn’t have the same fabulous cheap production values, which is oxymoronic. With an emphasis on the moronic. Oxymoronic probably means “really clean moron.”

The last show of yours I saw was The Mother of All Enemies, which was mostly shadow puppets. How does this show compare to that one?

It’s probably even more fast paced and in a certain sense it’s more surreal, it’s less literal. The jokes come really fast in this particular one. There’s a lot of sight gags and visuals, playing with scale, there’s some improv if something goes wrong. If there’s a slip of the tongue, I like to take advantage of it and improv. I’m also doing a ventriloquist introduction. I have a ventriloquist dummy, a real old-school dummy, and basically what happens is he’s been packed in a box for 50 years and I take him out and hint him to what has changed in the past 50 years since he’s been in the box. It falls into a conversation about race. So the whole thing is kind of a comedy

Paul Zaloom and his ventriloquist dummy Butch Manly wrangle over race and ethnic identity in "White Like Me." Photo courtesy Paul Zaloom.

about something very serious. The motivation is the fact that Caucasian’s are going to be a minority in 2042 in the United States. So that’s kind of the tent pole this whole thing is built on. What kind of anxiety do we have about that? I think it’s hysterical that white people are going to be in the minority. The tables turn and how are we going to respond? Are we going to dig in and flip out or are we going to be copacetic and accept the inevitable? What’s interesting to me is the comedy about Caucasian anxiety. The purpose of the show is to get people to laugh their asses off about something that’s actually kind of serious. But there’s no message or anything like that.

You also still do the Beakman Live! tours. How often do you do that?

As often as I get the gigs. I know that sounds ridiculous. I’m touring with a new show called Beakman on the Brain and it’s about neuroscience for 6-to-12-year-olds. I’m going to Qatar and Brazil with that show, which I’m looking forward to. That’s a comedy about serious stuff, too. Neuroscience is serious and complicated stuff, but it’s kind of a goofy show that introduces kids to those concepts.

And in both cases you’re using comedy to make people think about things in different ways.

Exactly. The possibility of comedy is to be able to look at things in a different way. It’s like having your mind expanded in a fun way.

A lot of your shows, this one included, involve political and social ideas. Even though there are all sorts of puppet shows that deal with different subjects, a lot of people still view puppetry as a children’s art form. How do you think puppetry mixes with these more serious issues?

Puppetry has traditionally been an art form for both adults and children. It’s also traditionally been subversive because with an oppressive government, if an actor says something directly you can get into trouble. But if you mediate it through a gibbling doll, the authorities are stupid enough to think that’s OK because it’s not an actor saying it, it’s a doll. There’s a great tradition of political satire and comedy with puppets. It’s only recently that the dominant cultural application has been that it’s kids’ entertainment. But that’s changing in part because of the Center promoting puppetry as an adult thing.

We’re used to 3-D entertainment and million dollar movies, but puppetry’s kind of a return to basics. Audiences really like seeing a bunch of crap gibbled around because it’s sort of refreshing without all the hyper technology and the glossy, well-buffed [stuff] as opposed to the on-the-spot, in-the-moment, goofy, lo-tech charm of it. My shows are relentlessly lo-tech despite the video projection.

Where does White Like Me go next and what do you have going on after that?

I’m going to New York City to do three weeks at Dixon Place starting May 25. I’m taking Beakman to Brasil in June and August and Qatar in November. I’m working on some art projects. One of the things I do is take thrift shop paintings and alter them to my specifications. I don’t paint, I hire a guy named Gregg Gibbs to paint for me. But I just come up with these gags like I found a picture of a building and he painted a whole bunch of clowns in it killing each other, shooting at each other and all this clown mayhem. That one’s called “Never Rent to Show People.” You can’t rent to show people because we’re freaking crazy. There’s about 25 of those and I’d like to make some more of those. I have one where there’s a couple of mountain lions on a cliff, and it’s kind of a corny Western painting. It’s been changed where you see just the fingertips of some guy over the edge of the cliff and his backpack’s there and the cats have blood on their mouths and it’s called “Cat Chow.” That’s just a hobby, but I also want to branch out into making prints myself and doing sculpture just for the hell of it.

For more information, go to www.zaloom.com.

Take a rock ‘n’ roll puppet journey into “Space!”

Leave a reply

Space. It may be the final frontier in some universes, but in the Center for Puppetry Arts production of Space!, it’s an extraterrestrial journey through history and our own solar system. Led by the rotund green Ot (puppeteered by Tim Sweeney) and the slender blue Eema (puppeteered by Julie Scarborough, wife of Platinum Championship Wrestling‘s Stephen Platinum) and their band of intergalactic rock ‘n’ rollers, Space! is rife with pop cultural references such as the cleverly named Guitarth Vader (an alien guitarist puppeteered by PCW music composer Dolph Amick) and Ramones-like riffs. The show blasted off for its educational excursion in January and continues through March 11.

Courtesy Center for Puppetry Arts

The music (composed and performed by John Cerreta and Joey Bargsten) runs the rock gamut, with each planet getting its own punk, metal, techno or industrial-sounding tune (though I’m not sure why Neptune seems to get the shaft just for being an ocean planet). In much the same way They Might Be Giants make science fun with songs like “Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)” and the 2009 album Here Comes Science, Space! covers celestial subjects like the sun, moon and stars, as well as the gravitational theories of Sir Isaac Newton (who appears as a shadow puppet), through witty songs and dialogue.

Space! is a great way for children to learn about the universe, as well as Earth’s pop cultural landscape. But even if you don’t have kids and already know all there is to know about the heavens, Space! is a comedic puppet romp sure to please your inner child.

For more information, go to www.puppet.org.