A Q&A With Dave Ogrin of ‘Wild Women of Planet Wongo’

by Kathryn Yu
Kathryn Yu
•
June 26, 2018
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5 min read

A look inside the campy ’60s inspired sci-fi immersive musical

Wild Women of Planet Wongo, currently running in Chicago, is a unusual find in the immersive space —a piece that’s both a comedy and a musical. And where other productions might take their inspirations from Shakespeare and Lewis Carroll, Wild Women of Planet Wongo firmly plants its flag in kitschy retro science fiction movies. (The show is newly landed in Chicago after previous stints in New York City.)

We chatted with producer and co-writer Dave Ogrin over email about converting a traditional stage musical into an immersive format, being inspired by Sleep No More, coaxing the audience into participating each night, and what repeat Wongo visitors bring to the show.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

No Proscenium (NP): What’s the basic idea behind Wild Women of Planet Wongo? And in what way is the show/event immersive?

Dave Ogrin (DO): A planet of Amazonian warrior women and their alluring queen first meet ‘men’ when two bumbling astronauts, Ric and Louie, crash onto their ’60s B-movie inspired planet. There is no stage or seats. Audiences are directly thrown into the action.

NP: What inspirations did you/the team draw on for Wild Women of Planet Wongo?

DO: 1960’s sci-fi B-movies, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Sleep No More, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Little Shop of Horrors.

NP: What inspired you to make Wild Women of Planet Wongo both immersive and a musical at the same time?

Wild Women Of Planet Wongo was originally a traditional stage musical. It was first performed at the University of Michigan in a black box theatre festival. We (myself and co-writers Steve Mackes and Ben Budick) noticed even at that early performance that some audience members came dressed up in outer-space costumes. I have always been a fan of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and we immediately saw the potential of involving the audience and having them dress up and talk to the actors like they do at presentations of Rocky.

Wongo continued on for several years in this more traditional format, being performed at several colleges, at the New York Musical Theatre Festival and then at the Red Barn Theatre in Key West Florida.

Then, about 4 years ago, I saw Sleep No More in New York City. Seeing that direct audience interaction in a play inspired me to go back to my writing partners and re-conceive Wongo to be more like that. We broke the show up into a variety of segments, took away the seats and stage and found ways to bring the audience directly into the play. We also added projected animations instead of sets and found ways to make the audience feel like they are walking through a cartoon set on Planet Wongo.

We added our own version of the Time Warp dance called the Wongo Wuwow, which the audience learns and dances with the actors. And now, like Rocky, we are seeing repeat audiences and people dressing up in our signature purple and green outer-space themed costumes (there are hidden bonuses for people who do that)!

NP: How would you describe the audience’s degree of agency?

Audience members become part of the show and are directly addressed by the actors from time to time, sometimes participating in the choreography along with the actors.

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NP: Are the audiences of your show pretty familiar with immersive work, or is this new territory for them?

DO: It varies, many don’t expect how immersive we are. We try to make them feel immediately comfortable without the fourth wall, so they embrace us quickly and love being part of the show. Most are not shy about participating.

NP: What logistical challenges have you faced that are specific to the show being both immersive and a musical?

I have seen many immersive shows, from Tony and Tina’s Wedding to Then She Fell. Most of the ones I have seen were not tightly scripted and had a lot of room for the actors to improvise.

Wongo is not like that. We have a script, songs, and specific choreography. We encourage the actors to improvise with the audience but they still have to be able to say their lines, sing their melodies and perform the choreography. Audience members will be standing in different places every night, quite possibly where the actors expected to stand to complete their blocking. The actors have to constantly adapt to the audience and at times figure out how to move the audience as needed while still making it feel like part of the play, all while performing a structured musical.

When we first started the project, we were not sure if this idea was going to work. But we quickly learned that everyone was adaptable as long as they were having fun. Audiences want to participate in Wongo while still letting the actors do their job as entertainers.

NP: What was your first attempt at the “immersive” format like, and how has your approach changed over the years?

Wild Women of Planet Wongo is the first and only immersive show I have been involved with.

Wongo is now playing in Chicago in its third iteration (after playing at Brooklyn Fireproof in Bushwick Brooklyn and Parkside Lounge in Manhattan). We have figured out how to keep the audience’s attention, keep the plot moving and keep people from fatiguing. We have two rooms — a performance space and a lounge (though the actors continue to perform and the immersion continues even in the lounge). The main part of the show happens in the performance space and the audience stands. But we added breaks during which people can return to the lounge and participate in Wongo game shows, as well as refill their drinks (we serve ‘Wongotinis’) and sit on couches to rest their feet. This has helped with the energy of the show and allows the audience to feel ready to dive back into the play. The entire experience is set on Wongo and the audience never leaves that environment for the entire 100 minutes.

NP: Who’s the intended target audience of WWPW?

Anyone who is young at heart, sci-fi geeks, people who love rocky horror picture show, musical theatre nerds, anyone who wants to have fun!