60 second teaser
Small town 1980s video arcade wizard Tommie Jones dreams of becoming a real hero until her B‑movie plot turns upside down. It’s The Last Starfighter meets Pippin!
- • Rock
- • Soul
- • Swing
- • Country
- • Rap
SAMPLE SONGS
(Three more coming soon)- Female protagonist
- 6 men 6 women 1 flex
- Color-conscious casting
SYNOPSIS/CHARACTERS
Theme
Beneath the nonstop comedy and dancing in the aisles, this show is about the very current struggle to overcome traditional good guy/bad guy fantasies and recognize others as people.
Synopsis
Small town 1980s video arcade wizard Tommie Jones daydreams her strict teacher, boring parents, big sister Stella, and Stella’s boyfriend Rick into a B-movie fantasy with herself as the teen who saves the day. When Martians land on her family’s farm and infiltrate her school’s Halloween dance looking for women, Tommie’s video game skills are the only thing standing between Earth and destruction or worse. But Martian Z genuinely falls for Stella, creating a crisis at the moment of Tommie’s triumph when Rick shoots him. The fight between a happy ending where the good guys foil the bad guys’ evil plot, and a happy ending where they all reject division to find interplanetary love, gets increasingly absurd building to a final confrontation on Mars where Rick loses the fight. But Rick is just the little man in Tommie’s video game who can live again for a quarter, and as her parents explain, she has the power to imagine an ending that leaves everybody happy.
Cast of Characters
Supports double-casting Miss Fillyfaddle / Mrs. Jones and Dr. Fizzenzap / Mr. Jones. Supporting characters can be gender-flexible. Color-conscious casting is intended. Dr. Fizzenzap should have an accent consistent with the actor’s heritage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
About The Author
Daniel E. Biemer has been a satirical songwriting superhero for over fifteen years, with three albums, multiple Fringe Festival shows, even an uncredited cameo on America’s Got Talent. He grew up in Louisville Kentucky, spent many years in Chicago and its multiracial Hyde Park neighborhood, and is currently based in Valparaiso Indiana.
DEMO RECORDING BIOS
Demo Recording Bios
Sarah Peretz
TOMMIE JONES – Tommie’s Song
Sarah Peretz is a Los Angeles based producer and singer/songwriter. She grew up in South Florida, discovering her passion for music through her exposure to musicals like Wicked, Hello Dolly, and Oliver Twist at a young age. Sarah aims to breathe life and passion into what she writes and sings, which has won her the privilege of working with Grammy-winning musicians.
Alexandria Wilkerson
STELLA STARBEAM JONES – The Good Guys, You’re Lyin’BACKUP SINGERS – The Narrator RapsCHORUS – The Good Guys, Life Is Just A Chemical Reaction
Alexandria Wilkerson is a native of the Gainesville area and has always enjoyed performing for family and friends since the age of 2. She is a Gator grad with a Bachelor’s degree from the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida and currently works for the college as an Academic Program Specialist. When she isn’t on stage, she enjoys engaging in home renovation projects and teaching those in her community about God’s Word the Bible.
James Gedda
RICK COSMOS – The Good Guys, Life Is Just A Chemical Reaction
James Gedda is an up-and-coming Country and Americana singer-songwriter with a booming voice and a plainspoken honesty in his lyrics. The Crown Point, IN native has drawn comparisons to the likes of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard with his earthy baritone, and he regularly covers such classics, but what drives him is writing songs and telling stories with modern sensibilities. He’s performed in such historic venues as The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, and regularly sings all over Northwest Indiana and the Chicago area. In March 2019, he released his debut EP Thick as Thieves to great success. In February 2020, he released his sophomore Ep, Bad Things Happen: Dynaline Sessions Vol. 1, a collection of original songs ranging from indignant folk tunes to heart-on-the-sleeve love songs.
Krishton King
NARRATOR – The Narrator Raps, The Good Guys, The Good Guys Reprise
Krishton King is The first Ever Futuristic Jazz Tap Rapper, having performed under the stage name Krizm at various venues across South Florida from The Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade to live on WEDR 99 JAMZ & WHQT Hot 105. He has worked Live on The Air at BIG 105.9 as Kris The Intern on the Long-time running Paul & Young Ron Morning Show. Krishton is a Nickelodeon child actor having filmed several episodes on Gullah Gullah Island; the episodes receiving a daytime Emmy nomination. His résumé includes Television Commercials, Voice Overs and Musical Compositions for the likes of Sprite & Viacom.
Krishton Studied as an Off Broadway child actor, having performed as a lead in Debbie Allen’s Pepito’s Story, & Kicking Against The Pricks (By Nandan Sage, Manhattan).
He began dancing at the age of 7 and by age 14 received a Master Hoofer Tap Dance Certification from the Critically Acclaimed “Bring on The Noise Bring on The Funk” star Marshall Davis Jr. Krishton attended the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Acting.
As a seasoned performer and voice over talent, Krishton loves to bring excitement and energy to everyone & everything that he is a part of.
Brett Segal
Music Director, Arranger, Recording and Mixing, Drums, Keyboards
DR JULIUS FIZZENZAP – Life Is Just A Chemical ReactionCHORUS – The Good Guys, The Good Guys Reprise
Brett is a creative music and audio professional based in Florida. He’s loved music from the time he was a child. This love has developed into an overall love of sound. As David Mamet’s soliloquy from A Life In The Theater states: “Sound is the crown prince of all phenomena!” Brett couldn’t agree more. He has endeavored over the years to master this phenomenon in all its forms – from noise, to rhythm, to melody, to harmony, to complex music, to complex sound effects and soundscapes.
Lauren Kairalla
MRS JONES – Tommie’s SongCHORUS – The Good Guys, The Good Guys Reprise, Life Is Just A Chemical Reaction
Lauren Kairalla is thrilled to be a part of Rick Cosmos and the Green Things from Mars! as both the owner of LEK Entertainment, the production company for the Demo of this musical, as well as a vocalist! She has been touring globally with One Man Star Wars for over a decade and previously served as Event Coordinator for the Times Square Arts Center and Technical Director for The Midtown Theater, the latter having had three venues.Lauren has been known as a jack-of-all-trades for the vast span of her work both on stage and off. From lighting to sound, stage-management to performance, producing and beyond, she does it all. She loves every moment of working in the theater.
Ashley Vogt
CHORUS – The Good Guys, The Good Guys Reprise, Life Is Just A Chemical Reaction
Ashley Vogt is a performer based in the Central Florida area and is ecstatic to be in the recording studio! Ashley has an extensive background in the performing arts with a BFA in Theater Performance from the University of Florida and as a 10-year member of the Girls Choir of South Florida. She is the current Youth Director at Star Center in Gainesville and has directed, managed, choreographed, vocal directed, sung, and danced her way from project to project. She can’t wait for what comes next!
Emmanuel Schvartzman
Piano
Manny Schvartzman is a music director, arranger and pianist currently touring with the Broadway hit HAMILTON. He received his B.M. and M.M. in classical piano performance and has devoted his career to musical theater, serving in just about every musical capacity from Conductor to musical supervisor, coordinator, arranger and orchestrator, copyist and more.Prior to HAMILTON, in 2014, he joined the first musical workshop of the Broadway bound musical on Gloria Estefan’s life ON YOUR FEET and helped create arrangements and was part of the original music team, working directly with Gloria and Emilio Estefan. He was the assistant musical director for the production on Broadway and the associate music director for the Broadway Tour, which both productions featured Gloria’s original band, the Miami Sound Machine, and Manny was honored to be a part of the band. He toured with ON YOUR FEET for 20 months all across the United States.
Also in 2014 he was the musical director for RENT in Havana, Cuba, forming part of the first broadway musical in the island in over 50 years. This was a Nederlander Worldwide production in conjunction with Arts Cuba in efforts to bring the art form back into Cuba. He can be seen in the HBO MAX documentary: Revolution Rent. And in 2015 he served as musical director for CARMEN LA CUBANA in Paris’ Théâtre du Châtelet, which was a new adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen with all afro-cuban arrangements done by Alex Lacamoire.
Manny, when not on tour, has been in Miami for the last 26 years and has been musical director for over 150 productions regionally all over south Florida and has even won the Carbonell award twice for best musical direction, as well as a Silver Palm award in the same category.
Manny has arranged several new works, including an off-Broadway musical called REAL MEN. He is thrilled to be touring with HAMILTON.
Alex Garcia – Skylight Productions
Guitar
Alex Garcia is a Grammy Nominated Producer/Composer/Guitar Player. He has recorded/toured with Lou Gramm (Foreigner), John Payne (Asia), Steve Augeri (Journey), Sam Moore (Sam and Dave), Julio Igelsias Sr., Ricky Martin, Chayanne, Julio Iglesias Jr. Ricardo Montaner, Paulina Rubio, and many others.
He is a composer for the El Rey Network “Matador” series, Discovery Channel, Telemundo, and commericals for McDonalds, Chevrolet, Ford, Coca Cola, among many others.
He is a producer for Ednita Nazario (Grammy Nominated), Mayre Martinez (Latin American Idol Winner), Belen Zeta, and Paaris. Alex continues working from his Studio in South Florida.
Jordan Scanella
Bass
Jordan Scannella is busy as a performer and teacher in the NJ/NYC Area. Growing up in Cincinnati Ohio, Jordan was fortunate to be exposed to music from an early age. He attended the School For Creative and Performing Arts studying bass and piano in high school. A graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music, he received the Bass Department achievement award and graduated Summa Cum Laude.
Jordan has toured extensively around the world. He performed 3 contracts as house bassist at the prestigious House of Blues and Jazz in Shanghai, China. He toured Bulgaria in 2007 opening up for the great Orchestra Orpheo Bulgarian Wedding Ensemble. In 2010, Jordan auditioned and got the gig as bassist for live house music pioneers Tortured Soul, and has been steady globe trotting ever since. He has had the opportunity to perform at many amazing festivals including Cape Town Jazz Fest in South Africa, Nancy Jazz Festival in France, Ostrava Festival in Czech Republic, The Hague Jazz Festival in The Netherlands and the Jazzystan Festival in Kazakhstan, to name a few.
Recent credits include recording for the Ken Burns film project “the Roosevelts”. Jordan also co-composed the opening track “Fringe” to the a new documentary “Oklahoma City” airing on PBS. He has also worked on Broadway as a musician in the pit of the Lion King and is a bassist for the Philip National tour of The acclaimed “Hamilton”. Recently, Jordan toured with 3 time Grammy award winning artist Gotye, playing and paying tribute to the music of the great French composer and synthesist, Jean Jacques Perrey. Jordan is also working as a music producer, collaborating with some very talented NYC musicians to write, record and produce their music.
DEVELOPMENT STATUS
Development Status
“Rick Cosmos and the Green Things from Mars!” was originally presented by the University of Chicago Blackfriars, an amateur student musical theater organization, for a two weekend run in 1988. People who saw the show then still remember it, and the theme of competing versions of reality is perhaps even more relevant today. The pandemic provided the time necessary to create modern score materials and revise the script based on audience response, tightening it, improving the gender balance, and reducing the cast size from 24 to 13.
LEK Entertainment was engaged to create several professional demo recordings.
At this point the author is looking for diverse direction and production partners to test the revised version on a modern audience and help identify further improvements.
