Cast size
Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens is a genuine ensemble piece with 9 balanced characters and strong female roles. Playing ages are very flexible. It is an excellent choice for small companies wanting to showcase a wide spectrum of talent, and in the true spirit of show business, everybody really does get a song!
Additional roles can be easily created in the shape of cabaret artists, bar staff and a straightforward chorus. We have successfully seen the show done with 9 people and we’ve seen it with 65. It works whichever way you like!
leading roles
female: 4-6 male: 5
Additional roles/chorus
female/male: 0-50
Staging
Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens can be performed in any conceivable space. It has worked very successfully end-on, in a thrust, behind a proscenium, in traverse and fully in the round.
It is set in a cabaret club with 3 performance areas:
Cabaret stage
Jack's table
Bar
These 3 areas can be placed next to each other on a stage with the audience looking in, or on opposite sides of a space with the audience in the middle - or in just about any other scenario. It depends on what kind of experience you want to create, and of course what kind of resources you have available. As long as the audience has clear line of sight to those 3 areas, it works.
If you don't happen to have a fully-functioning studio theatre, one of the places it works best, funnily enough, is in a bar.
Style and subject
Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens can certainly be approached as a normal musical. In other words the audience sits down, the lights go out and the show begins. However it also offers the opportunity to be something a little more unique - a full evening's entertainment with a futuristic cabaret show preceding and a DJ completing the experience, seamlessly taking over when the show finishes and the audience are up on their feet dancing and in the mood to continue.
It is important to note that the show contains no swearing, nor is there any nudity. While we have successfully entertained many children in our day, the show is not intended for young audiences.
It is brash without being offensive... It is sexy but not lewd... It is cool and crazy but never chaotic... and it pretends to be a little more racy than it really is.
Music
While Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens is unquestionably a musical, the song-book can hardly be described as a list of show-tunes. The music is inspired by the electronic revolution in music that took place in the mid-nineties and the big numbers are club anthems more than power ballads. As such, it was never intended that live musicians would provide the basis of the sound, but rather that they would play on top of the tracks - adding live musical sparkle to the driving electro-beats.
The required backing tracks are provided with the licence for the show and they can be augmented with live players or not as desired. They include all backing vocals which enrich the sound and energy of the show. A piano and vocal score is also supplied for all lead vocals.
