Hello, Klaatu! Squonk Opera's 'Astro-rama'

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STEVE O'HEARN, one of Squonk Opera's artistic directors, wants to believe. And he wants to do it in College Park.

"Well, we're sending out a message of greeting," O'Hearn said of Squonk Opera's latest production, "Astro-rama," which will feature music, projected images and a 50-foot radio tower to send the Squonkers' message to the cosmos. "Of course, there are scientists that claim this is a caveman walking into a savannah and saying, 'Here, kitty kitty,' and the only cats around are Siberian tigers, but if there are predatory species that hear our call, the only thing we can do is signal our good intentions."

And O'Hearn's "good intentions" revolve around a production that, much like Squonk Opera's previous local play, "College Park: An Opera" — which was performed at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (CSPAC) at the University of Maryland in Nov. 2006 — rely on music and humor to draw in audiences.

With "Atro-Rama," which runa at CSPAC from Sept. 24-26, the Pittsburgh-based group is doing what it does best — injecting imagination into a local culture to great effect.

With College Park, that local culture just happens to be about UFOs — "several UFO crashes at the Greenbelt festival and at [the university's annual celebration] Maryland Day, and we're coming down to respond to these unusual events," O'Hearn said.

"We're going to send the message back to the universe, a little, 'How are you?' from College Park to the cosmos," O'Hearn added. "We're going to take whatever it takes to do that."

But the "galactic premiere, and on a more small level, the world premiere" of "Astro-rama" couldn't be possible without CSPAC, O'Hearn said.

"Frankly, your brave presenters at the Clarice Smith Center have been drawn to us, and vice versa, so they actually chose us — so it's their kind of strange bravery that allows Squonk to come," O'Hearn added. "While we were making 'College Park: The Opera,' we grew a great affection for the people that lived there, both the townies and the university people."

The center co-commissioned the production, which has been in the works for the past two years and will move to upstate New York and Pittsburgh after its College Park run — "we could do it in Siberia and it would be the same show," O'Hearn claims. To see a teaser video of the production — complete with O'Hearn's best Fox Mulder impression — click here.

But "Astro-rama," which will be "essentially music and image ... and will be funny," is also "sort of mysterious" and has a somewhat serious message, O'Hearn said. The play uses "the funniest area of belief" to explore what brings people together, despite all their differences, as simple humans, he added.

"[The play] is actually much broader, because it connects all of us across national boundaries and religions and ethnicities as earthlings," O'Hearn said. "It's kind of about being in this strange time where people are very polarized — even Democrats and Republicans are more polarized than they've been in a century. It's a very strange time to be in, when there's no middle ground. ... We're players on just one piece of rock hurtling through space."

Hopefully, people will pick up on the "Astro-rama's" concept and explore it for themselves, but even if they don't, O'Hearn says they'll still enjoy the production. A free play, centered on a 50-foot radio tower, under the stars with a large group of other theater-lovers — what's not to like?

"Once you pull your face away from a computer screen or a TV, it is still powerful to walk outside and take a look at the stars," O'Hearn said. "It's still such a magnificent experience. ... We wanted to do a show outside for free, and just let people come and not have to deal with the formality of ticket buying and not coughing during the show. It's much more like a fireworks show, and that's what we wanted to achieve.

"We know as little about anything as if there are really aliens, and we have no point of view on that, but were just going to try and say 'Hello,'" O'Hearn added. "If they're outside, we may as well greet them."

» Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Theatre Courtyard, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.; Sept. 24-26, 8 p.m., free. Before the Friday show, NASA astrophysicist Marc Kuchner will give a discussion about the organization's latest efforts to find Earth-like planets in the nearby cosmos that may hold life. 301-405-2787. (College Park)