Yeah, I know, the skepticism is strong with this one, but I have to admit I’m intrigued: "Contact: The Musical" is playing in Seattle from September 25 – October 18. Here’s the synopsis according to the site:
Ellie Arroway, the director of “Project Argus” is in search of extraterrestrial intelligence. After encountering the first confirmed communication from extraterrestrial beings, what she discovers is more dramatic and unexpected than anyone could ever have predicted. A thrilling new musical with a score by European Composer of the Year, Peter Sipos, Lyrics by Amy Engelhardt. Adapted by Centerstage Artistic Director, Alan Bryce.
At the end she sings all the digits of pi in eleven dimensions. Actually, I hope they do the Foucault pendulum scene that the movie left out. One of my favorites in the book.
Anyway, if you’re in Seattle at that time you might want to investigate. It’s supported by the SETI Institute and they say Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan, was consulted with it.
September 21st, 2009 at 2:40 pm
While this could be an awesome musical, nothing will ever hold a candle to Spamelot.
I probably won’t be able to catch it, but should they take it on the road, I’m sure a theatre in Boston would host them, and then I’d go!
September 21st, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Hmmmm. Philip Glass could probably make it into a pretty decent opera (“Representative for Planet 8″ was, um, quirky but enjoyable).
September 21st, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Could be good. I hope that they are a hit. Personally though, I think James Gunn’s “This Listeners” would make a far better peice of theatre. (In fact I adapted it as part of a playwriting class I took several years ago. I was amazed how the three major novellas of the book fit into a rather breathtaking three act structure.) Anyway, it should be interesting to see if the musical at least keeps the “Wow” ending concerning Pi. I was so disappointed that they left that on the cutting room floor.
September 21st, 2009 at 2:55 pm
For some reason, this entry got the theme from 3-2-1 Contact stuck in my head.
To all those of a certain age demographic who now also have that theme stuck in their heads, I apologize.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:06 pm
I’m assuming this is a serious musical but I can’t help thinking of it as a musical comedy. “Canis Major! I just got a signal from Canis Major!” (cue the Very Large Array dancers)
September 21st, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Can it outdo Little Shop of Horrors?
That’s the benchmark in alien first contact musicals.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:23 pm
I’ve always loved Foucault Pendulums, having that scene removed from the movie version was terrible.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I can’t seem to find it on YouTube, but I’m almost certain the pendulum scene was in the movie.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:37 pm
OMG I WANNA SEE!!!!!!!!! But even though Seattle’s only 3 hours away, the crap everyone gets while trying to cross the border just isn’t worth it. I’ll just stay home and read the book.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I have a bad feeling about this. But I hope it ends up working.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:48 pm
@toasterhead: Oh, thanks a LOT.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Pendulum?
September 21st, 2009 at 4:08 pm
It seems… unlikely… that she’ll sing *all* the digits of pi.
September 21st, 2009 at 4:10 pm
The movie made the book’s lame ending lamer… I have little hope for a musical to redeem either.
September 21st, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I thought the decision to turn the entire cast into cats was bold.
September 21st, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Does it have Pink Floyd’s “Is There anybody Out There?”
September 21st, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Amy Engelhardt is part of the acapella group, The Bobs. I don’t know many of her other compositions, but she wrote “Fluffy’s Master Plan for World Domination.”
My wife, a Contact fan, is less than thrilled that it’s being made into a musical, regardless of who’s doing it. Dunno if we’ll get into Seattle to see it (@Wendy, it’s almost as bad to get across Puget Sound as it is to get down from Canada!). But I’ll be looking for its reviews when it opens.
Wikipedia notes that there was another “musical” called “Contact: The Musical”. Quotes around “musical” because it apparently pushed the boundaries of the genre far enough to get a new category in the Tony awards.
http://www.bobs.com (The Bobs’ web site)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M780jEAsNb8 (Fluffy’s Master Plan)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_%28musical%29 (Wikipedia article)
September 21st, 2009 at 5:00 pm
…This sounds like an article from the Onion.
Loved the movie, missed the book (I know, I suck), look forward to seeing how they’ll pull this off… but I sense a swing and a miss.
September 21st, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Oh man, I remember being so annoyed by the way Ellie flinched in the Foucault Pendulum scene that I took the first opportunity I found to try the experiment myself and prove that I wouldn’t. I was ridiculously proud to be right about that.
September 21st, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Richard, no unfortunately the pendulum wasn’t in the movie. It’s also my favourite scene, but it wasn’t included. I remember mentioning to the person I was with that they’d left out the best part.
For Sili and others who don’t know what Phil’s talking about:
A Foucault pendulum is just a very big pendulum. Most of them are at least a couple of stories tall and weigh a couple hundred pounds or more. Once you set a Foucault pendulum swinging, the plane of it’s movement will rotate slowly, due to the rotation of the Earth. You can use it to demonstrate that the planet rotates, and as a giant clock.
In the book Ellie and Palmer Joss are arguing about science, religion and faith in a museum. They come upon a Foucault pendulum. Joss, who has been arguing that scientists don’t even believe their own theories, suggests that Ellie can demonstrate her faith in physics by pulling the pendulum bob up to her chest, letting go, then not flinching when the bob returns. Simple Newtonian physics says that the bob will not swing beyond the point at which it was released, so Ellie should be perfectly safe.
Ellie responds that if Joss has faith in God then he can demonstrate that faith by pulling the pendulum bob up to his chest, letting go, taking a step forwards, then not flinching when the bob returns. God should protect him.
Written from memory, so there might be some minor inaccuracies.
September 21st, 2009 at 5:26 pm
First off, singing the digits of pi? Now there’s gripping Theatre! Oh, and the lyrical content, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry… you’ll sing about pi??
Second, how do you do so in 11 dimensions? What do 11 dimensions (the number of dimensions suggested by string theory as I recall) have to do with pi anyway?
My offering is to sing about pie instead. That will bring a paying audience in!
September 21st, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Contact, the novel, was merely “Carl Sagan’s Other Books: the Fiction”. There was nothing especially important about it. Contact, the movie, was just a bunch of pandering to the 1997 Roswell anniversary crowd and an opportunity for Zemeckis to not even really get the point. At this rate, Contact, the musical on stage, will be just some playwright’s chance to, for the first time ever, composite archival news footage of President Obama onto a live performance.
And by the way: the book’s pendulum scene is ok as far as it goes, but it’s also nothing original. It’s been a mainstay at physics lectures since way back.
September 21st, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Don’t miss the hit song “Billions and Billions” accompanied by a stunning review of tapdancing radio telescopes! Thrill to Ellie singing, “Wormhole in My Heart”!
September 21st, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Saw the movie, read the book….might not make it to Seattle though.
September 21st, 2009 at 8:35 pm
I agree: This looks like an Onion article. Not even an article, more like the one-off joke photos they do. Look at her expression. Am I supposed to take this seriously?
September 21st, 2009 at 9:04 pm
TEL,
A Physics lecture where they get a famous evangelist to come in and take a step closer to a swinging Foucault pendulum? Where did you go to school?
September 21st, 2009 at 9:52 pm
I liked the movie Contact and I listened to an abridged version of the novel and thought it great too. But honestly, a play? I don’t know if that is the best format for this nor whether it will survive very long.
September 21st, 2009 at 10:04 pm
The Bobs seriously rock…way to go Amy! Would love to see it.
September 22nd, 2009 at 12:04 am
21. Brian Says: “singing the digits of pi? …how do you do so in 11 dimensions? What do 11 dimensions have to do with pi anyway?
If they’re referring to the end of the book, it was base 11, not 11 dimensions. Some “billions and billions” of digits in (sorry, couldn’t resist) Ellie found a string of digits that was all 0′s and 1′s. The number of digits in that string was the product of two primes and when arranged in a matrix with the dimensions of the two primes, the 0′s formed a circle on a background of 1′s. That was, of course, a simplified version of Sagan’s own suggestion for how to encode the message sent from Arecibo so that it would be recognized as being artificial in origin. I believe this chapter was called “The Artists’ Signature” but it’s been a couple of decades since I read the book.
- Jack
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:09 am
Believe it, kids. Completely serious.
This is a VERY much a WORKSHOP production – first time on its feet ever. We worked with the brilliant Ann Druyan, Sagan’s widow, to develop it, and hope to see it move to a next phase. We’ll see how it goes.
The Smithsonian scene is in the show. And we have the rights to the BOOK, not the movie.
: )
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:26 am
Well good luck to them. Yes, I fall into the category of those who think it’ll be horrific, but as I haven’t seen it, I will only wish them well.
I can’t help wondering, though, who the target audience is? People interested in science and musical theatre but not interested in sci-fi movies. This may be quite a small set in the great Seattlean Venn diagram.
And what possessed them to do it in the first place? I picture them sitting in a bar coming up with ideas, “The Maltese Falcon, through interpretive dance?”, “The Matrix, performed with balinese shadow puppets?”, “Contact, The Musical?”
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:55 am
My favorite “scene” in the book is when they’re about to “take off” in the “device” and one of then points out that the plans did not show them wearing any clothes, so after some discussion, they all decide to go naked.
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 am
Well the musical version of War of the Worlds by Jeff Wayne worked out alright I think!
See : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Wayne%27s_Musical_Version_of_The_War_of_the_Worlds
@ 32 SionH – Maybe ‘Babylon-5′ with Shadow puppets? That could be apt.
“I can’t help wondering, though, who the target audience is? People interested in science and musical theatre but not interested in sci-fi movies. “
Why do you say that? What makes you think that someone who like SF movies won’t *also* like musicals too?
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:34 am
The novel lends itself very well to a theatre version. That’s what struck me when I whiled away a half hour in a second hand bookstore in Seattle and came across a dogeared copy of the book. Hidden in the layers of Sagan’s descriptions, reflections and musings is a coherent and symmetrical structure, which we have respected … and added some small plot refinements of our own. If you don’t think it will work as a musical, that is fine…I guess. But why be un-Saganesque? You should put it to the test before you come to a conclusion. I’ll give a 10% discount to anyone who says “Star Stuff” when they call for tickets at 253 661 1444…or types in “Star*Stuff” at our website: http://www.centerstagetheatre.com
Alan Bryce, Artistic Director, Centerstage
September 22nd, 2009 at 11:46 am
33. Taed Says: “My favorite ‘scene’ in the book is when they’re about to ‘take off’ in the ‘device’ and one of then points out that the plans did not show them wearing any clothes, so after some discussion, they all decide to go naked.”
Which, in the movie, was reduced to the “experts” adding a chair that wasn’t in the original design, and which proved to be a mistake partway through the “ride.”
- Jack
September 22nd, 2009 at 11:51 am
Taed Saids:
“My favorite “scene” in the book is when they’re about to “take off” in the “device” and one of then points out that the plans did not show them wearing any clothes, so after some discussion, they all decide to go naked.”
Sort-of, but not exactly. The passage, on page 317 of the 1985 hardback, goes like this:
“There was a body of opinion, apparently serious, that the Five should go naked; since clothing had not been specified it should not be included, because it might somehow disturb the functioning of the Machine. Ellie and Devi, among many others, were amused, and noted that there was no proscription against wearing clothing, a common human custom evident in the Olympic broadcast. The Vegans knew we wore clothes, Xi and Vaygay protested. The only restrictions were on total mass.”
September 22nd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Jack Hagerty Said:
“Which, in the movie, was reduced to the “experts” adding a chair that wasn’t in the original design, and which proved to be a mistake partway through the “ride.””
The movie handled this especially stupidly. I think it’s safe to interpret it as meaning the Aliens left out a chair because it was going to be shaken so badly. So they were technically advanced, but couldn’t design a system to isolate the chair from the vibrations? Or was it just that they knew a chair would be slammed into the ceiling? If so, then why only the chair but not the passenger? Perhaps it was a magnetic field; but if so, then why not allow chairs to be made of non-ferromagnetic materials? Was it a pseudoforce? If so, then everything in the chair’s inertial frame of reference should’ve been slammed, too, which includes Ellie.
September 22nd, 2009 at 5:27 pm
38. T.E.L. Says: “I think it’s safe to interpret it as meaning the Aliens left out a chair because it was going to be shaken so badly. So they were technically advanced, but couldn’t design a system to isolate the chair from the vibrations? Or was it just that they knew a chair would be slammed into the ceiling? If so, then why only the chair but not the passenger? Perhaps it was a magnetic field; but if so, then why not allow chairs to be made of non-ferromagnetic materials? Was it a pseudoforce? If so, then everything in the chair’s inertial frame of reference should’ve been slammed, too, which includes Ellie.”
I agree with this completely. I think the scene was Zemeckis’ dig at experts in order to mollify the audience members, most of whom distrust people they feel are smarter than them. In fact, Phil’s favorite SF movie, Armageddon, builds it’s entire plot around this idea. The equivalent scene in that film is when Bruce Willis and his roughnecks (wild catters?) start ripping NASA’s design apart and showing them how wrong it is. To twist the knife, they show all of the nerdy white coated NASA engineers frantically scribbling notes as they learn at the feet of these “real world” experts, whose experience, of course, is the only kind that counts.
A final insult to those of us who actually do design and develop stuff, is how they whip up a working design by grabbing some drill rig motors, gearboxes and other miscellaneous equipment and slamming it all together and welding it up. Where the hell do they think those gearboxes, etc. came from in the first place? It wasn’t some guy in Oklahoma out in his shed cutting up old cars and refashioning them with his trusty acetylene torch.
I kept waiting for them to get out into space and have their drill rig freeze up because all the grease in the gearbox and bearings had out-gassed. But what else could you expect from a movie that has it raining on an asteroid?
- Jack
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Jack Hagerty Said:
“But what else could you expect from a movie that has it raining on an asteroid?”
They could turn that into a musical. There’d be a dance number where the cast sing, “I’m driiiiilling in the rain! Just driiiiilling in the rain!”
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:32 am
@ Asimov Fan
“Why do you say that? What makes you think that someone who like SF movies won’t *also* like musicals too?”
That’s pretty much the opposite of what I said.
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:12 am
“0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.” All the digits of pi. Oh wait, you said base 11. Okay. “&”.
The pi thing is stu-stupid anyway. (To the tune of “MacArthur Park”.)
Ever see “Carousel”?
(Is it just me, or is that show a big, big downer?)
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:18 pm
@John Kennell:
Does someone need a hug?
Jeez, dude. Anger management. Consider Prozac.
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Chris A. Said:
“Jeez, dude. Anger management. Consider Prozac.”
If you go to his website his writing is lucid and articulate. The stuff he wrote just above looks like he was stoned.
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:01 pm
My parents are going to see this. For real. I’ll report back with their review.
September 24th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
John Kennell has overstayed his welcome, and I have marked his comments as spam. If he posts again, please let me know.
September 24th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Yes, the pi thing was stupid. I could scarcely believe that a man like Sagan could make such a mistake — I guess he took only Apple Math (as we used to call it at Brown in the 1960s), because the idea that anyone, even God, can choose the digits of pi is spit-take funny to anyone with a decent background in pure math.
“All confess that God is omnipotent; but it seems difficult to explain in what His omnipotence precisely consists: for there may be doubt as to the precise meaning of the word ‘all’ when we say that God can do all things. If, however, we consider the matter aright, since power is said in reference to possible things, this phrase, ‘God can do all things,’ is rightly understood to mean that God can do all things that are possible; and for this reason He is said to be omnipotent.” — “Summa Theologica”, I. Q25. A3.
Or, as C. S. Lewis put it, “…meaningless combinations of words do not suddenly acquire meaning simply because we prefix to them the two other words ‘God can.’”
As to “Carousel”, no, it’s not a downer. I played Starkeeper/Dr. Seldon in high school, long, long ago, and I’ve seen it several times before and since. It’s about hope and redemption, and about how even a thick-headed, unemployable bully can be transformed by love. (The original Hungarian play, “Lilliom”, is a downer, but Ferenc Molnár, the playwright, said he was pleased with the happier ending of “Carousel”.)
September 28th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
I’ve heard parts of the soundtrack by way of an actors’ inner circle in Seattle. I thought it was a comedy, then was told they’re serious. I thought the movie was silly (talk about taking yourself too seriously). Good grief.
September 29th, 2009 at 5:08 am
[...] and Herman Munster … Katey Sagal lives out an old dream … Billions and billions of rehearsals … He’s back, but then he never really left … Oink, eh … Sen. Al Franken is [...]
September 29th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Thanks for blocking John Kennell.
As artists, of course we welcome PRODUCTIVE input, but Kennell has ripped on this project not only here but on other pages as if its very existence was a personal insult. He went on to attack other people who merely said they were “open to the idea.” It’s sad to see – and it only undermines his opinions, which may have some merit.
It’s a WORKSHOP production. A first attempt. There will be problems. There will also be great things about it. We expect to hear about both. And we already know about both.
Good thing we have thick skins!
September 29th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
I went. And it rocked. In fact, My three friends and I drove from Portland (that’s a two and a half hour drive). For a small production, they did a really good job! I would love to see the musical done with a larger budget, and live music… Oh, and for all of you wondering if they kept the Pi ending…. they did.
October 13th, 2009 at 10:50 am
My favorite book and movie is now a musical! Too bad Seattle is so far away.