KELLY THE DESTROYER VS THE SPRINGFIELD COBRAS Comes to Wright State Theatre

Wright State Theatre will present in the Herbst Studio Theatre a regional premiere musical comedy KELLY THE DESTROYER VS THE SPRINGFIELD COBRAS by the writing team of Katie Kring and Rob Hartmann.  It will run for 7 performances. 

Inspired by true events, this  sci-fi/poprock/comedy/thriller/musical is about standing out from the crowd and what it means to be human.

Director Jamie Cordes says about the musical, “Kelly the Destroyer vs the Springfield Cobras touches on the social pressures of high school.  Does one conform or be the person they are meant to be?  And the tests!  The standardized tests that can make or break a school system and the students taking them is the launching point of the story.  I was excited to explore these topics with our actors that are not far removed from their own high school experiences of these pressures.  The writing team of Katie Kring and Rob Hartmann is one that I trust and have experienced as an audience member and performer.  We are eager to share this zany, entrancing story --  one that feels like a television episode of iCarly or Victorious

Cordes is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Fine and Performing Arts as well as a professional actor and director.  He was most recently seen at the Human Race Theatre Company’s production of THIS IS Tom Jones, which was the season opener of HRTC’s 2023-2024 season.  KELLY THE DESTROYER…. is the latest in Jamie Cordes’ directed productions in the Herbst Studio Theatre (The Gondoliers and If/Then in recent years).  

When the writing team of Katie Kring and Rob Hartmann were asked about working on this project, Kring said, “The story of the Springfield Cobra scare came to me via a dear friend of my family, who appears in the show under his nom-de-radio Jerry Davis. Even 60 years later, he could barely tell the story because he was laughing so hard he cried. Rob and I thought the story was hilarious, and wanted to use it as the basis for a show, but quickly realized that just doing the story as-was was basically going to be The Music Man with snakes, and that maybe we needed to imagine what came next. I distinctly remember spitballing with each other, joking about the pharmacist and the fireman who each were [pops hands up on either side of our heads like a cobra hood] COBRAS! And here we are.”

KELLY THE DESTROYER… features scenic design by Anna Hunter (BFA Design Technology student), costume coordination by Instructor Zoe Still, Lighting Design Zachary Weust (BA Theatre Studies student), and Sound Design by James Dunlap.

KELLY THE DESTROYER VS THE SPRINGFIELD COBRAS runs from October 20 through October 29 [10/20 @8 pm, 10/21@8 pm, 10/22@2 pm, 10/27@8 pm, 10/28@2 pm and 8 pm, and 10/29@2 pm. in Wright State University’s School of Fine and Performing Arts Herbst Studio Theatre (Creative Arts Center). 

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