Faster Than The Speed Of Light!: Austin's first "bi-sci-fi" musical
In space, no one can help you sort out your gender issues
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Geeks have always been fascinated with using science know-how to find a solution to their horrible, crippling loneliness. Thus far, the results have been mixed: Frankenstein's posthumous pal was a tad socially awkward; Anthony Michael Hall brought centerfold Kelly Brock to life, only to end up with an MX missile in his living room; and Project Aiko is an uncomfortable cross between a RealDoll and Teddy Ruxpin. Atom, the mad scientist/protagonist of the new sci-fi musical Faster Than The Speed Of Light!, encounters similarly disastrous results when his plan to create the ideal partner spawns not one but two suitable mates—seductive female Serena and the enigmatic male Chaos—and leads him on a musical journey of sexual exploration and introspection. Before the première of Austin’s first "bi-sci-fi" musical tomorrow night at Salvage Vanguard Theater, Decider spoke with its principal love triangle—Jeremy Roye (Fiction), Stanley Roy (Little Stolen Moments), and Kathleen Fletcher (Arthuriosis)—about their literary influences, love of “bullshit science,” and not-so-secret bisexual agenda.
Decider: What inspired you to write a science-fiction musical?
Stanley Roy: Two years ago, I had this idea of a scientist named "Atom" who wants to create the perfect partner, but he ends up creating a male and a female and is pulled between the two. It was inspired by this PBS special about Einstein, finding the atom, and string theory. Then I did this show called Faster Than the Speed Of Light I Hump. It was this rock, performance arty seed of the story. And [Roye] came up to me and was like, "He-e-y!"
Jeremy Roye: I was really blown away. Enraptured, even. So I approached Stanley and proffered my services to do anything that he wanted—singing, dancing. He was like, "Actually, I have this idea for a musical,” and we went to work the next week.
D: Is there very much actual science behind it?
JR: There's a lot of hackneyed science.
SR: A lot of bullshit science. It's science fiction in that there’s a supernatural, science-experiment thing that happens.
Kathleen Fletcher: And robots.
SR: There's lots of plays on science, like the splitting of Atom, but I didn't go to school for science. I used it as a way to express emotion, archetypes, and the human condition. [Laughs.]
KF: A lot of it is inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, as far as creating a monster and how the monster takes on a life of his own, and the encounter between the creator and the monster, which would be Atom and Chaos in this circumstance.
JR: Atom was inspired by the Pygmalion story. He was trying to build a life of domesticity.
KF: There's a lot of literature inspiration.
SR: But there's also sex.
KF: Gay sex.
D: Would you say you have a bisexual agenda?
JR: The story is very autobiographical for a sci-fi musical. It all played out just as we've told it.
KF: Is it? I'm not actually sure it did.
JR: Well, with a few twists. There is a historicity that informs the plot.
SR: [Laughs.] I'm not sure how revealing we want to get.
KF: As far as the bisexuality goes, there's a bit of Kinsey in all of us. Everyone's a little bit gay, a little bit straight. You love a person for who they are.
D: Is there sex and nudity?
SR: No nudity, but there is artfully displayed sex going on.
KF: Of the male-on-male variety.
SR: There's male-female too. Atom is definitely playing the field. He's dipping his hand in both sides of the pool—or whatever the expression is.
KF: He's got the field hockey stick.
SR: Atom is like, "There's two sides to me. They're both so enticing!"
D: When you're putting together a sci-fi musical about human sexuality, is it hard to escape the shadow of, say, Hedwig And The Angry Inch?
SR: The only part of Hedwig that I relate to this musical is that song "Origin Of Love." Otherwise, it's much more classical. It's more of a ballet.
JR: Almost verging on lyrical opera.
KF: It’s more of an opera than a musical, in my mind, because it has that high drama that you encounter with opera.
SR: It is seriously dramatic.
JR: It's mostly inspired by R. Kelly.
