How go to
What: The Second Coming of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Where: Gilly’s, 132 S. Jefferson St., Dayton
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Cost: $10
More info: (937) 228-8414 or www.gillysjazz.com
When actor JJ Parkey returned to Dayton earlier this year after two years in New York, Shelly Hulce immediately began making plans to mount another show inspired by the music of David Bowie. The result is the Second Coming of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, a theatrical rock extravaganza at Gilly’s in Dayton on Saturday, Nov. 23.
“I didn’t know if JJ would ever come back because he’s so talented,” Hulce said. “I figured he’d get snatched up by the Broadway world. While he was out there he won several awards. He left here and went straight to New York into a production of ‘Hair.’ Then he was hired to go to Boston and do ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ and he won an award there.
“Then he won an award for the lead role of the emcee in ‘Cabaret,’ ” Hulce continued. “He was living a charmed life in New York but his heart is in Dayton. He realized he could get these parts, go out on the road and do stuff from Dayton and not starve. He’s got the talent to back it up.”
Parkey, who recently appeared as Frank N. Furter in Zoot Theatre Company’s “Rocky Horror (Puppet) Show,” will be joined by local musicians Tod Weidner, Tyler Trent, C. Wright, Chris Corn, Trey Stone and Erich Reith.
“Tyler, Chris Wright and Trey didn’t do the first Ziggy show two years ago so there was a learning curve,” Hulce said. “Once you get into this stuff and start tearing it apart, you realize what a freaking genius David Bowie was. It’s always a shocker for the musicians when they learn how complex the songs are. That’s where I really lean on my pillar of strength, Tod Weidner. He’s pretty much music director. He helps people with their parts. He’ll transcribe and literally draw a picture in some cases.”
Hulce raised the production value for this show with a bigger light show and a professional hair and makeup artist. She has also added an informational component to provide thematic context for Bowie’s 1972 concept album “The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.”
“We’re going to try to educate people more on the culture of Ziggy,” Hulce said. “It’s a passion play and the show two years ago definitely felt like a huge Pentecostal revival. People got it. People were crying. They left out of there sort of stunned, not knowing what happened to them. This should help put things into perspective for people and help them understand why they had a religious experience last time.”
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