SPACE DOGS:
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Van Hughes |
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Space Dogs is an epic new musical that tells the mind-blowing true story of Laika and Chief Designer - a stray dog and the top-secret Russian scientist who sent her to space during the Cold War. Space Dogs is a sweeping, kaleidoscopic tale of invention, betrayal, international political intrigue, and the immortal friendship that exists between man and dog, as they journey together to the stars.
Meet the Company
Van Hughes
Van Hughes is an actor, musician, and composer. Broadway: Deaf West’s Spring Awakening, American Idiot, 9 to 5, and Hairspray. Off-Broadway: Whisper House (The Civilians), Son of a Gun (Beckett), Saved (Playwrights Horizons). Regional: Almost Famous (Old Globe), When We’re Gone (Lyric Theatre), A Little More Alive (KC Rep, Barrington), Rocky Horror Picture Show (Bucks County). Film: Sex And The City: The Movie I & II, Rachel Getting Married. TV: “Royal Pains,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “One Life To Live.” As a composer, Van scored the films Sequence Break and Space Clown and co-authored the musical Burn All Night (ART). B.A. in Theatre from Fordham University.
Nick Blaemire
Nick Blaemire is a writer and performer based in Brooklyn. At 23, Nick wrote the score to the Broadway one-night sensation Glory Days (book by James Gardiner), which was recorded by Ghostlight Records and has had over 50 productions around the world. He has since written the book, music and lyrics for five other original musicals: A Little More Alive (commissioned by Broadway Across America, produced at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Kansas City Rep and Barrington Stage); Soon (premiered at Signature Theatre, won the Stephen Sondheim Young Artist Citation); Fallout (with Kyle Jarrow), Edge of the World (with Ethan Slater) and Space Dogs (with Van Hughes). Nick has released three EPs of pop songs, all available on iTunes and Spotify. As an actor, he most recently completed the National Tour of Falsettos as Mendel, and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Jonathan Larson in the Off-Broadway Revival of Tick, Tick…Boom!. He is repped by CAA, Artists & Representatives and Writ Large Management.
Ellie Heyman
Ellie Heyman is a director of theater and film. Recent credits include:The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America featuring Glenn Close and Brian Tyree Henry (Drama League Award; NYT Best of 2020); (Still) Asking For It (The Public Theater); A$AP Rocky’s Lab Rat, Jason Craig & Dave Malloy’s Beardo (Drama Desk Nomination; Pipeline Theater), Erin Markey’s Boner Killer (Under the Radar), Becca Blackwell’s They, Themself and Schmerm (Under the Radar); THIS (Bessie Nomination for Outstanding Production; NYLA), The Traveling Imaginary with Julian Koster (Neutral Milk Hotel) rated “Top 5 shows of the year” by NPR; music-fiction podcast The Orbiting Human Circus (Of the Air) featuring Tim Robbins and John Cameron Mitchell, rated #1 on Apple Podcasts and downloaded over 5 million times, and the “cult classic” Dreamboy(Night Vale Presents). She is a graduate of Northwestern University and Boston University, and a Drama League and WP Theater Time Warner Directing Fellow Alumni. ellieheyman.com
Darrell Grand Moultrie
A recipient of the Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Award and a graduate of The Juilliard School, Darrell Grand Moultrie’s work includes The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production of Merry Wives, the world premiere of Jeremy O. Harris’s Daddy, Witness Uganda at American Repertory Theater, Sugar in Our Wounds at Manhattan Theatre Club, Invisible Thread at Second Stage, Redwood at Portland Center Stage Theater, and Evita and Pride & Prejudice at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Moultrie has created and staged works for American Ballet Theatre, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, BalletMet Columbus, Tulsa Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Smuin Ballet, Sacramento Ballet,The Juilliard School, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, and NBA Ballet in Japan. Moultrie provided choreography for Beyoncé’s Mrs. Carter World Tour.
Wilson Chin
Haydee Zelideth Antuñano
Mary Ellen Stebbins
Nathan Leigh
Stefania Bulbarella & Alex Basco Koch
Amanda Villalobos
Michael Aarons
Randy Cohen, Randy Cohen Keyboards
Nathan Leigh
Justin Scribner
The Telsey Office/Geoff Josselson, CSA
Multimedia
Review: After 60 Years, These SPACE DOGS Finally Landed Off-Broadway, and Now They're Being Transmitted on BroadwayHD
Bobby's rainbow reviews are back, in a whole new sandbox, about to give you our thoughts on some streaming theatre coming to you from the fab children at BroadwayHD! So jump in the stream with Bobby and let's go where our rainbows have never gone before.
BroadwayHD just premiered MCC Theater's SPACE DOGS, starring the show's undeniably creative creators Van Hughes and Nick Blaemire - and when we say creators we mean top to bottom. This show is their baby, for which they wrote the script, as well as all music and lyrics - under the incredibly capable direction of Ellie Heyman, with terrific choreography by Darrell Grand Moultrie. These artisans all came together to create one of the top 10 most creative pieces of musical theatre that it has ever been this rainbow writer's pleasure to see - and we were seeing it on a flat-screen!?
So, the first thing you need to know about this streaming presentation, my lambs, is this a true(ish) story of Laika, a stray mutt, and the scientist who was so TOP SECRET that he was only ever referred to by the ominous appellation "Chief Designer" and how said Cheif Designer sent little Laika into space during the very Cold War, out of a very cold secret base somewhere in a very cold Russia-Land. "What? Dogs in space, top secret Russians, the cold war... what are we talking about here, Bobby? This is musical theatre?" we can almost hear you shouting... and the answer is YES INDEED! Just like our frolicsome founding fathers declaring their independence and inventing fireworks returning to the Broadway this year in 1776, this remote tidbit of history has made for truly enjoyable and completely unexpected song and dance-ness.
Through the magical camera lens of Joe Lukawski (who directed this filming of the live performance staged by Heyman & Moultrie), the fact that you will see it in the One-dimension of your TV or monitor screen doesn't matter a bit because it all feels so inescapably alive and happening. This multi-media juggernaut of a show jumped off the screen, performed in our little living room, and then disappeared back to TV land, leaving us wanting more.
BroadwayHD is aptly named since the high-def of this video (plus the work of film craftsman Lukawski) took the show to a level beyond common garden variety "TV watching." This experience is one of the closest we have ever seen to capturing the feeling of sitting in a theatre on-the-night.
Curtain up and immediately we see Hughes and Blaemire, as they launch into the show's first, and imminently memorable, opening number (no kidding, Bobby is still walking around, singing the chorus of SPACE DOGS OF THE COSMODROME) and we are, as the saying goes, off to the races. This production is so fast, so high energy that it is baffling how these two individuals sustain the electricity for 90 minutes but sustain it they do, and more.
This pair of actor-writer-composers fills the stage with multiple characters (everyone from the Chief Designer to Nikita Khrushchev), musical instruments that just seem to appear in their hands or are rolled out in front of them to play, their powerful voices acting up a storm while singing Rock & Roll and... dogs... lots and lots of dogs. The puppet & prop design by Amanda Villalobos keeps these talent phenoms so incredibly busy presenting close to a dozen dog characters on various full-sized and miniature environments, all simul-projected on a back wall of video screens. The multi-media aspect of the performance is part of the show's charm, as well as a key piece of this constantly moving puzzle that makes it all come alive.
The scenic design by Wilson Chin coupled with Mary Ellen Stebbins' lights, sound design by Nathan Leigh, and the FAB-U-LOUS projection design by Stefania Bulbarella and Alex Basco Koch are a feast that just keeps coming, with the costume sauce by Haydee Zelideth Atuñano on top.
In all, what you have with SPACE DOGS on BroadwayHD is an unparalleled video presentation of cute boys singing, playing their own instruments, dancing to fab music with great choreo, all with a constantly moving set & lighting design... It feels like the most enjoyable 80s music video meets 2000s circuit party at the crossroads of theatre, performance art, and a history lesson. Every piece of music is a brilliant novelty number, while still being a great song with great lyrics that propel the story forward, and all so well performed. Hughes and Blaemire are both gifted vocal performers, whether speaking or singing, creating a group of characters that are all over the place.
Stuffy puppetry of Laika and the other dogs may seem like the most basic of children's theatre stuff, but mixed with loads of modern theatre tech and the show's creators, and they spring to life as completely relatable (and cute) characters throughout.
The dancing boys, the dancing puppets, and the dancing images combine in a presentation that had Bobby not only singing along but singing up for BroadwayHD on our little Apple TV as soon as the show was over, and we think that this show makes that service MORE than worth a look for all our Broadway musical fans out there... and so we can't help but give SPACE DOGS from MCC Theatre on BROADWAYHD our full...
5 Out Of 5 Rainbows - Check it out.
Go To Your App Purveyor On Your Phone, Streaming TV Service, Or Your Computer And See What The Fab Folks At BroadwayHD Have To Offer: HERE
Listen To SPACE DOGS The Cast Album On Your Spotify: HERE
Check out BroadwayWorld's Space Dogs Satge Mag!
About BroadwayHD
BroadwayHD introduces award-winning theatre from all across the globe with both classic and modern productions. Fans can expect to see the full works of Shakespeare from the Royal Shakespeare Company, and a selection of the world's greatest musicals including Kinky Boots, Cats, 42nd Street, She Loves Me, Les Misérables, Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, and An American in Paris. All performances are adapted specifically for streaming audiences to maximize the entertainment experience.
To learn more about BroadwayHD, visit www.broadwayhd.com.