RICH PEOPLE IN SPACE: AN ANTI-CAPITALIST MUSICAL To Open At The Bughouse Theater

Opening Thursday, September 7th, 2023 at 7pm at the Bug House Theater in Irving Park, Rich People in Space: An Anti-Capitalist Musical, by Jake Dewar, explores the façade of workplace culture, resisting vs. complying, and the many ways money can corrupt us all. In the not-too-distant future, as the Earth's resources decline, billionaire Maxwell Pedestal has funded a new project to colonize Mars. Unfortunately, the only ones who can afford to go are the wealthy elite, and a new employee discovers this space station may not be what it seems.The show pays tribute to many musical theater styles, including animated Disney, Les Miserables and Danny Elfman. The result is a dark comedy that balances playful fun with thoughtful satire.

In late 2019, Jake Dewar combined three separate ideas for a musical: A parody of sci-fi shows like Star Trek, a dystopian society surviving on a Martian colony, and a story inspired by his experience working in customer service. This was the start of an exhausting but rewarding master class on how to write (and not write) his first full-length musical. In 2020 and 2021, he held virtual read-throughs of the show over Zoom, casting actors he knew and playing pre-recorded song demos. Through feedback from the performers and viewers, he began revising and cutting songs, scenes and characters, and heightening the stakes in order to tell the best story possible. Robbie Ellis, a friend and multi-talented musical comedian in his own right, transcribed the score in all its iterations, making suggestions for tweaks of chords and harmony parts as needed.

Jake Dewar (writer/director) has been producing original content as an actor, comedian, filmmaker and musician for over 15 years. Previous original works include America Is Cancelled (Second City: Judy's Beat Lounge), Kick the World (Second City: DeMaat Theater) and One Misdirection (Stage 773). Jake has a B.A. in Theater from North Central College and has trained in improvisation with the Second City, iO and Annoyance Theaters. Check out his numerous sketch and musical comedy albums at JakeDewarComedy.com.

Robbie Ellis (music director) has worked as an MD for all of Chicago's biggest comedy theaters. He is a classical composer and has co-created comedy concerts with the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago and Fourth Coast Ensemble. Catch him performing at Chicago Magic Lounge, with RIFF and ComedySportz at iO, and at other places as a musical comedian. By day he makes radio for Classical WFMT. Find his two albums of comedy songs at RobbieEllis.net.

The cast of Rich People in Space: An Anti-capitalist Musical includes (in alphabetical order) Jacque Bischoff, Katy Campbell, David Elliot, Liz Falstreau, Licinio Garcia, Matt Keeley, Donovan Mullings, Kamron Palmer, Jennifer Stuart, and Natalie Younger. This production is choreographed by Becca Schwartz, costumed by Jamie Brouillette, stage managed by Rebecca Gilman, and voice coached by Rachel Williams.

This musical will run Thursdays at 7pm September 7, 14, 21, 28 and tickets are $15. Space is limited, so get your tickets today at https://bughousetheater.fourthwalltickets.com/shows/rich-people-in-space.

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