Mission
Forbidden Planet Productions strives to provide a professional yet fun and unique theatre experience for the well-rounded performer. We aim to offer actors the opportunity to participate in popular musicals as well as intriguing straight shows.
History
FPP has been recognized by the SA and SAC as a GW student organization since 1994, and is primarily funded by the SA and by revenue from ticket sales. The name Forbidden Planet comes from the opening song of The Rocky Horror Picture Show: “Science Fiction Double Feature.” In addition to Rocky Horror, over the past several years FPP has produced shows such as Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret; Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam; Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite and Fools; an adapted version of Willy Wonka; Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls; Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World; the Reduced Shakespeare Theater Company’s Complete History of America and The Complete Word of God (Abridged); Stephen Schwartz’s Pippin and Godspell; Alfred Uhry’s Tony Award winning play The Last Night of Ballyhoo; Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods and Company; Tom Jones’ and Harvey Schmidt’s The Fantasticks; Galt McDermot’s HAIR; Tony Kushner’s Angels in America; Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth, and David Yazbek’s The Full Monty. FPP also produces an annual Musical Cabaret, featuring about eight scenes, each with a different director, and over 50 performers.
Philosophy
We believe that theater should be fun. We work hard on our productions and have high expectations of our cast and crew members, but we also play hard. Our penchant for musicals and comedies reflects our desire for a relaxed atmosphere and lightheartedexperience in productions. Professionalism and a commitment to producing good shows are essential goals, but we also place a premium on ensuring that everyone involved with an FPP production has fun. Otherwise, why would anyone do it? We believe these values are reflected in the high number of people who get involved and stay involved with FPP.
Membership
FPP is also extremely proud to have an incredibly diverse following within the GW community. Our group is composed of everyone from music and theater majors to international affairs, business and exercise science students. We have cast every possible age group in the GW community from Freshman to Seniors and even a graduate student once upon a time, and the people involved with our shows have experiences ranging from doing theater all their lives to just trying something new for the first time in college. What unites us all is a love of performing and a dedication to our campus and community.
Organizational Structure
FPP functions differently from other companies. Because of our large musical productions with casts typically numbering around 25 people and our extensive technical and costuming work, FPP’s board is deeply involved in all aspects of our shows. Board members are frequently cast members themselves, and uninvolved executives, particularly the Artistic Director and Executive Producer, regularly attend rehearsals. Executive board members also make a point of socializing with the people who are involved with our shows. We believe that this reinforces our philosophy of making sure that everyone enjoys their experience with FPP. In short, our board members are not anonymous faces who turn up for opening night. Instead, we all devote ourselves to the company as a whole, each show in particular, and each member of our organization individually
Forbidden Planet Productions 