A Review
A lovely evening in June was had at the Duplex in the heart of NYC’s West Village. Double Bill: Witches and Aliens pairs two very different, wonderfully offbeat sci-fi musicals for an unpredictable night of fun. Whether you’re into cosmic courtship or folkloric farce, this science fiction double feature offers something strange, smart, and very silly.
Encounter: A Space Cabaret
Encounter features Space Weather Girl, a recurring character in Zena Wood’s work. Space Weather Girl is a TV reporter and expert in what you would guess: space weather. As she teaches her audience about real space facts like solar maximum, her broadcast is interrupted by a very friendly Martian (played by the adorable Brandon Weber) who has a strange and important offer: to help his people survive through mating with humans. This twist takes Space Weather Girl and the audience on a deeply personal journey about love, heartbreak, reproductive rights, and decisions that are never easy to make, especially when the answers are existential. The alien encounter becomes a metaphor for connection, loneliness, and cosmic longing. What could have been a sketch premise turns into something oddly moving.
Christmas Eve in Dikanka: In Concert
Although the team for this show has not requested a full review at this time, I do want to just give some informational and celebratory notes on this presentation. If Encounter is about the cosmos, Christmas Eve in Dikanka brings us back to Earth, right into a Ukrainian village of kooky characters, slapstick hijinks, and a wickedly dysfunctional family. This abbreviated concert version of the new musical, based on Nikolai Gogol’s story, is a rollicking, irreverent delight. At the center: Vakula the blacksmith (played with gusto by Juan Calix) trying to win his beloved’s (Madeline Kunkowski) heart by snagging the Czarina’s shoes. Oh, and his mother? She’s a witch, played by a fabulously unapologetic Rebecca Larkin. The humor lands fast and often, but underneath lies a deeper tenderness, especially in the complicated mother-son dynamic.
Creative Team
Encounter: A Space Cabaret is written and performed by Zena Wood and features one song by her co-billmate, Kit Goldstein Grant who wrote book, music, and lyrics for Christmas Eve in Dikanka. It’s truly wonderful to have an evening of sci-fi musicals written by talented women in this field.
Director and choreographer Jen Wineman pulls double duty across both shows, creating two distinct theatrical worlds that feel fully lived-in. Her work shines especially in Encounter, with a hilarious and over the top tap number to celebrate love and the cosmos. Music Director Henco Espag guides both shows with energy and sensitivity. From Martian rock to Gogolian carols, Espag’s musical direction keeps things tight and tonally true.
Performances
In Encounter, Zena Wood is a magnetic force. She is charismatic, vocally rich, and totally in control of the show’s rapid tonal shifts. She effortlessly flips from science-nerd charm to surrealist cabaret queen in noir-like moments at the mic. Brandon Weber brings vulnerability and comic timing to Greg, the alien with a mission and a heart. His physicality, innocence, and slow-burn chemistry with Wood turn a wild premise into a surprisingly affecting connection.
In Christmas Eve in Dikanka, RJ Christian delivers a deliciously devilish performance, full of charisma and comic bite. Brian Charles Rooney, as the shape-shifting Narrator and a host of ensemble characters, dazzles with vocal versatility and theatrical flair, often playing multiple roles in the same breath without missing a beat. The entire cast contributes to the show’s playful energy, leaning into the absurdity while letting the heartfelt moments land with sincerity.
Music
In Encounter the songs help us understand the tone of the show. The format feels more like a variety show than a pure book musical. The educative opener, “Five Ways to Die on Mars” is like the most nihilistic BuzzFeed listicle explaining the many ways space can kill you (freezing temps, dust, radiation, etc.) with chipper abandon. But beneath the punchlines and fatalism is a deeper message: survival (emotional or otherwise) is always improbable, and yet here we are. Later, “Auroras Stretch All the Way to the South” gives us a quiet, beautiful number that abandons irony for something more earnest: a moment of awe and connection between human and alien.
In Christmas Eve in Dikanka, a standout moment is “The Only Man,” a musical farce performed by Brian Charles Rooney. Rooney embodies four suitors under a spell, each trying (and failing) to propose to Solokha, only to hide in a coal sack (with the devil) to avoid her son Vakula’s wrath. The diversity of voices, the speed of transitions, and the mounting absurdity make this number a highlight, both as a comic showcase and a technical feat.
Design
Minimalist, smart, and self-aware. The production lets the performances and writing shine. Encounter uses sound effects and lighting sparingly but effectively to conjure the feeling of a lo-fi alien broadcast. Dikanka, though concert-style, delivers full comic impact through physicality and vocal dynamism, as well as some important hat changing moments.
Summary
Together, Encounter and Christmas Eve in Dikanka offer a double bill that’s funny and fantastical. From UFO enthusiasts to witchy stans, this evening has something for the weird little nerd in all of us. The two shows balance each other beautifully: one looking to the stars, the other digging into the muddy roots of humanity (and holiday chaos). Both leave you laughing and learning.
Info
- Double Bill: Witches & Aliens
- Produced by Judith Manocherian LLC, Space Weather Girl, Theatre Now New York, and Paper Kite Arts
- Directed by Jen Wineman
- Music Direction by Henco Espag
- Associate Producer and Stage Manager: Alexa Powell
- Press Relations: Paul Siebold/ Off Off PR
- Encounter: A Space Cabaret
- Christmas Eve in Dikanka
Learn more about this sweetly absurd holiday musical at: kitgoldstein.com/christmaseveindikanka
Thank you so much for the wonderful validation. I’m grateful, and I know the rest of the team is too!!!