Mission
Forbidden Planet Productions is founded on the idea that there can never be too much theater, and that there are always enough roles, both on and offstage, for anyone who wants to be involved. FPP has three primary theatrical goals: 1 - to produce The Rocky Horror Picture Show every fall on Halloween; 2 - to produce two to four additional, full length, high quality theatrical productions per semester; 3 - to focus especially on bringing comedy and musical theater to the GW community.
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 three 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, and the Reduced Shakespeare Theater Company's Complete History of America and The Complete Word of God (Abridged), Stephen Schwartz's Pippin, Alfred Uhry's Tony Award winning play The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor, Tom Jones' and Harvey Schmidt's The Fantasticks, and Galt McDermot's HAIR.
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 lighthearted experience 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 produtions with casts typically numbering around 25 people and our extensive technincal 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.
For a list of our current board members, see the Meet the Board page, and go to our Regular Board page for a description of each board position.
For more info about FPP productions, check out the Our Shows page and FPP in the News.
For our extra-theatrical activities, visit FPP on Campus and FPP in the Community
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