Broadway show’s creator visits San Jose theater production

Barry Keating's "Starmites," recently performed by Playful People Productions, has been a Bay Area youth theater staple for decades.

If you’ve been involved in youth theater in Silicon Valley at all during the past couple of decades, you’re probably familiar with “Starmites” — a sci-fi fantasy musical with a short Broadway run in the late 1980s and now a cult classic around here.

Barry Keating, who wrote the show’s music and lyrics and co-wrote its book, has been pleasantly surprised by how much it’s been embraced in the Bay Area. He saw that first-hand last weekend, when he watched two Playful People Productions performances of the show at the Historic Hoover Theatre in San Jose.

“I heard about it for a long time because San Jose’s done so many productions of my show,” said Keating, 76. He flew in from Manhattan and took part in two “talk back” sessions before shows featuring older teens and their adult family members as well as chatted with audience members, cast and crew. Indeed, its been a staple for CMT San Jose, Starting Arts, Playful People and countless high school drama departments. (Full disclosure, my daughter appeared in a previous production of the show with a youth cast.)

Playful People, which had previously done the show in 2016 and 2019, contacted Keating while they were prepping for permission to allow the characters of Starmites — a galactic team of superheroes usually cast as males — to be male, female or gender fluid. Keating wholeheartedly agreed to the alteration.

“It just seemed to me to be very natural. It did not seem to be a huge change when you watch the show,” said Keating, who also praised the direction of Lysander Abadia for finding the show’s off-Broadway roots. “In a way, it’s more authentic to do it that way than it was on Broadway where it was much more formal. It has a spontaneous, improv kind of quality to it.”

“Starmites” was nominated for six Tony Awards but ran for only 60 performances on Broadway. Superheroes and comic books — not to mention centering a show around a teenage girl — are a big part of the cultural zeitgeist now but Keating says that just wasn’t the case for Broadway in the ’80s.

“It was so far ahead of its time it was ridiculous, and I didn’t know it was because it wasn’t ahead of its time for me,” he said. “It’s what I wanted to write.”

FOR ARTISTS’ SAKE: Silicon Valley Creates celebrated its 2023 Emerging Artists honorees last week at the Content Magazine pick-up party at West Valley College. This year’s recipients are photographer Dan Fenstermacher; author Keana Aguila Labra, who is also co-director of the Santa Clara County Youth Poet Laureate program; and actor and rapper Davied Morales. Each will receive a $5,000 cash award and a profile in Content.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: The Bill Wilson Center held its 50th anniversary celebration last Friday at the Santa Clara Convention Center, recalling its history while also looking ahead toward its future as the event served to introduce new CEO Josh Selo. The former executive director of West Valley Community Services took over three months ago from Sparky Harlan, who retired after leading the organization for 40 years.

Of course, a lot has changed since Bill Wilson Jr. — a Santa Clara County councilmember whose family owned Wilson’s Jewel Bakery — worked with Santa Clara University students to create a counseling center, then called the Webster Center, in 1973. Wilson died at age 41 in 1977 and the nonprofit’s board changed its name to honor him. Today, the Bill Wilson Center serves 5,000 youth and families in Santa Clara County in an effort to combat homelessness and poverty. You can find out more at www.billwilsoncenter.org.