Staged Radio Musical “Fleisch Gordon and the Space Amoeba of Doom!”

 “Fleisch Gordon and the Space Amoeba of Doom!” – Live Performance of Shtetl Home Companion’s Retro Radio Drama/Musical, at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s Covarrubius Adobe, Sunday November 9, 3 pm and 6 pm

Coming to the the Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s Covarrubius Adobe at 136 E De La Guerra Street, Santa Barbara, on Sunday November 9, with performances at 3 pm and 6 pm, from Shtetl Home Companion, the same radio theater company that brought you “I Married a Golem!” is their latest staged radio comedy: “Fleisch Gordon and the Space Amoeba of Doom!” Its original script reimagines the 1930s science fiction adventure serial Flash Gordon filtered through the imagination of the Yiddish immigrant mind. In it, Fleisch and comrades: Doktor Zarkov; his brilliant daughter Margot; her posthuman fiancé Herbert; Margot’s nemesis, the power-hungry Vilma Slooze; and the Rabbi of the Asteroid—battle not only the approaching Space Amoeba, but the disturbing side-effect of intergalactic brain worms that Slooze distributes to boost mental power.  Storyteller Michael Katz will anchor the production as the Narrator.

 The Santa Barbara Independent lauded “I Married a Golem!”, Shtetl Home Companion’s previous production, for its original script and score and called it “an hour of enjoyable storytelling and music.” The new show’s author, Fred Nadis, notes that “Fleisch Gordon” is told from the same point of view – as if the production of a Depression-era radio station’s ethnic music hour—making it a cross between a radio play, staged reading, and a musical.  “The Rabbi of the Woods has become the Rabbi of the Asteroid, and the same schlumpy actors and musicians are assembled in a radio studio circa 1931 to do their magic,” he explains. “Call it golem adjacent.”  Like “I Married a Golem!” it offers fresh music and fuses serious themes with high silliness.

 “Fleisch Gordon and the Space Amoeba of Doom!”  includes sound effects, original songs, and live music by the local klezmer group Kalinka, with Jim Grippo adding sounds of the future on the theremin. The cast features Sonia Fernandez as Margot, Fred Nadis as Doktor Zarkov, Brendan Carroll as Fleisch Gordon, Jim Grippo as Herbert, Lillian McKenzie as Vilma Slooze, Eric Ederer as The Rabbi of the Asteroid, and Michael Katz as the Narrator.

 Admission $20. All ages show. Tickets available at the door only.