Bat Boy himself, Deven May, and Urinetown's Hunter Foster will play aliens in upcoming concert-style reading of Earth Girls Are Easy Sept. 30 at the Village Theatre.
The theatrical rendering of the 1989 MTV musical comedy film will also feature Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) as Valerie, the earth girl of the title, with 2002 Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch (Thoroughly Modern Millie) as Dr. Ted and "Earth Girl" co-writer and star Julie Brown reprising her movie role as the beautician Candy. 2002 Tony Award winner John Rando (Urinetown) will host the evening, directed by Giovanna Sardelli.
In the comedy, down-on-her-luck Valerie (played on screen by Geena Davis) is losing her boyfriend, Dr. Ted, to another woman. After dyeing her hair blonde, per the advice of her boss (Brown), she finds three aliens have crash-landed in her swimming pool. They're covered in fur and totally confused by human life, but in sunny Southern California, none of that seems to make any difference. As Valerie slowly teaches Mac, Wiploc and Zeebo (played in the film by Jeff Goldblum and two then-unknown comics, Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans) about life on earth, Mac begins to fall in love with her.
Also in the reading cast are Lisa Capps, Roxane Barlow and Steve Wilson.
The score, penned by Brown, includes the songs "Cuz I'm a Blonde" and "Brand New Girl" ("If you want to be a femme fatale /You can't rest on your L'Oreals!"), plus hit tunes from the 1980's, including "Physical," "99 Luftballons" and "Whip It." Screenwriter Charlie Coffey and Michael Herrmann did the stage adaptation. The one night only event will benefit the Lark Theatre Company and their new series of musical theatre concerts, Overtures. After Aug. 19, regular-priced tickets will be available by calling Ticketmaster at (212) 307-4100. Benefit tickets at $250 and $500, which include a party with the cast afterwards, are available by calling the Lark at (212) 246-2676. The Village Theatre, currently home to Love, Janis, is located at 158 Bleecker Street.
Upcoming Lark Overtures include Stuart Hample, David Evans and Douglas J. Cohen's Children's Letters to God (Dec. 19), an opera set amongst the family of a Staten Island mafiaso entitled Don Imbroglio (Feb. 24, 2003) and the untitled "Arthur Kopit Project" (May 19, 2003).
— By Christine Ehren
