''Starmites'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Barry Keating and a book by Stuart Ross and Barry Keating. It was first presented in 1980

Off-Off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the prof ...

by the Ark Theatre Company. It opened off-Broadway in 1987 and on-Broadway on April 27, 1989, where it ran for 60 performances. It received six nominations at the 43rd

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

, including Best Musical, but won none. The story revolves around a shy teenager, Eleanor, who creates a fantasy world involving

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

characters in her comic book collection. She escapes into her fantasy world where the Starmites are the guardian angels of Innerspace.

History

''Starmites'' was staged

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

by Musical Theater Works at the CSC Theater in 1987, with staging by Mark Herko. It featured

Liz Larsen Liz Larsen (born January 16, 1959 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Jessica Reed on ''Law & Order''. Larsen received a Tony Award nomination for ''The Most Happy Fella'' revival (1992) and has ...

, Gabriel Barre, and Sharon McNight. It was staged in

Milford, New Hampshire Milford is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States, on the Souhegan River. The population was 16,131 at the 2020 census, up from 15,115 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauU.S. Census website 2010 Census figures. Re ...

at the now-defunct American Stage Festival, August 10–27, 1988. That staging was directed by

Larry Carpenter Larry Carpenter (born August 12, 1948) is an American theatre and television director and producer. In the theatre, he has worked as an artistic director, associate artistic director, a managing director and general manager in both the New York an ...

, and featured Liz Larsen and Sharon McNight, all of whom would remain with the show when it opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

Criterion Center Stage Right The Olympia Theatre (1514–16 Broadway at 44th Street), also known as Hammerstein's Olympia, was a theatre complex built by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I in Longacre Square (later Times Square), New York City, opening in 1895. It consisted of ...

on April 27, 1989 and closed on June 18, 1989 after 60 performances and 35 previews. Directed and staged by

with choreography by Michele Assaf, it featured Liz Larsen as Eleanor and Bizarbara, Gabriel Barre as Trinkulus,

Brian Lane Green Brian Lane Green (born March 9, 1962) is an American stage and television actor and singer. He is known for his stage roles throughout the country such as the title character in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Green garnered a Tony ...

as Spacepunk, and Sharon McNight as Diva and Eleanor's mother. Currently, there are three versions of Starmites available through Samuel-French for amateur and professional performance: Starmites Lite, a junior version of Starmites, intended for grade school and middle school performances; Starmites High School; and Starmites Pro, intended for professional-level performance.

Recording

A recording featuring members of the original Broadway cast was released on April 27, 1999 on the Original Cast Record label (ASIN: B00000GBYT).https://www.amazon.com/Starmites-1998-Original-Cast-Members/dp/B00000GBYT amazon.com recording

Songs

; Act I * "Superhero Girl" - Eleanor * "Starmites" - Starmites and Spacepunk * "Trink's Narration" - Trinkulus and Starmites * "Afraid of the Dark" - Spacepunk, Starmites, Eleanor, and Trinkulus * "Little Hero" - Eleanor * "Attack of Banshees" - Banshees * "Hard to be a Diva" - Diva and Banshees * "Love Duet" - Spacepunk and Eleanor * "The Dance of Spousal Arousal" - Banshees and Bizarbara * "Finaletto" - Company ; Act II * "Entre'acte" - Band * "Bizarbara's Wedding" - Bizarbara and Banshees * "Milady" - Spacepunk and Starmites * "Beauty Within" - Diva and Bizarbara * "The Cruelty Stomp" - Trinkulus and Company * "Reach Right Down" - Starmites, Diva, and Banshees * "Immolation" - Eleanor, Shak Graa, and Spacepunk * "Starmites/Diva (Reprise)" - Diva, Starmites, and Banshees * "Finale - Company

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

References

''New York Times'' review, April 29, 1987
{{Reflist

External links

Internet Broadway Database listingStarmites official website
Broadway musicals 1987 musicals Original musicals