The threads on WARP! (1971) and HOW TO MAKE A MAN (1961) made me remember another, more obscure failed SF-themed Broadway musical-- MAN ON THE MOON (1975), produced by Andy Warhol, of all people:
Technically, this was really the baby of John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas, as a project he wrote originally titled SPACE, which was his reaction to watching coverage of the 1969 moon landing.
Two years later, Phillips tried unsuccessfully to pitch the project-- which after failed attempts to get it going on stage in L.A. had now morphed into a proposed musical film-- to various movers and shakers, including Ray Stark and Barbra Streisand. Philips had envisioned various male leads at different stages, including Elvis, Ricky Nelson and Jack Nicholson.
Phillips claimed he even approached George Lucas through his daughter Mackenzie Phillips, who was working on AMERICAN GRAFFITI, and was rebuffed-- and Phillips later claimed Lucas stole ideas for STAR WARS from him.
Eventually, this thing finally saw the light of day in a retooled stage musical version retitled MAN ON THE MOON, with Andy Warhol producing and Paul Morrissey directing, and with a cast headed by Phillips' then-wife (and co-creator on the project) Genevieve Waite, Monique Van Vooren (who'd been in Morrissey's ANDY WARHOL'S FRANKENSTEIN), Denny Doherty (of The Mamas and The Papas)-- and in the cowboy-hatted, all-American male lead originally envisioned for Elvis or Jack Nicholson, a tall newcomer named Eric Lang:
After 43 preview performances, the show opened January 29, 1975-- and closed February 1. It was one of those debacles so bad that the venture was barely spoken of again, though eventually, a CD of the music was released:
And items from the show, such as this autographed PLAYBILL, turn up from time to time:
In recent years, the play is beginning to get acknowledgement as one of the few ventures by Andy Warhol that almost no one ever mentioned-- or even remembered.
There's a Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_on_the_Moon_(musical)#
and this article on the surprising obscurity of the project:
https://newyorktheater.me/2019/03/29/an ... y-musical/
But one thing that doesn't get much mention-- if any-- is who the male lead in this mess was.
Eric Lang had a minor claim to fame before getting the role of "Ernie Hardy," all-American romantic male lead in a SF musical spoof-- and it wasn't for being a singer or even an actor.
Not long before he was a Broadway "discovery," he was a PLAYGIRL "Discovery" appearing under the name "Ernie Langenberg":
as well as in gay porn for at least two studios under the names "Eric" and "Ernie" (which his character name "Ernie Hardy" and stage credit "Eric Lang" reflected, as well as his PLAYBILL bio mentioning basketball).
Given their history wth Joe Dallesandro, it's easy to assume Warhol or Morrissey decided to take a shot at creating "Eric Lang" from another nude model, but who knows? At any rate, "Lang" / Langenberg doesn't seem to have done anything further after this point.
Technically, this was really the baby of John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas, as a project he wrote originally titled SPACE, which was his reaction to watching coverage of the 1969 moon landing.
Two years later, Phillips tried unsuccessfully to pitch the project-- which after failed attempts to get it going on stage in L.A. had now morphed into a proposed musical film-- to various movers and shakers, including Ray Stark and Barbra Streisand. Philips had envisioned various male leads at different stages, including Elvis, Ricky Nelson and Jack Nicholson.
Phillips claimed he even approached George Lucas through his daughter Mackenzie Phillips, who was working on AMERICAN GRAFFITI, and was rebuffed-- and Phillips later claimed Lucas stole ideas for STAR WARS from him.
Eventually, this thing finally saw the light of day in a retooled stage musical version retitled MAN ON THE MOON, with Andy Warhol producing and Paul Morrissey directing, and with a cast headed by Phillips' then-wife (and co-creator on the project) Genevieve Waite, Monique Van Vooren (who'd been in Morrissey's ANDY WARHOL'S FRANKENSTEIN), Denny Doherty (of The Mamas and The Papas)-- and in the cowboy-hatted, all-American male lead originally envisioned for Elvis or Jack Nicholson, a tall newcomer named Eric Lang:
After 43 preview performances, the show opened January 29, 1975-- and closed February 1. It was one of those debacles so bad that the venture was barely spoken of again, though eventually, a CD of the music was released:
And items from the show, such as this autographed PLAYBILL, turn up from time to time:
In recent years, the play is beginning to get acknowledgement as one of the few ventures by Andy Warhol that almost no one ever mentioned-- or even remembered.
There's a Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_on_the_Moon_(musical)#
and this article on the surprising obscurity of the project:
https://newyorktheater.me/2019/03/29/an ... y-musical/
But one thing that doesn't get much mention-- if any-- is who the male lead in this mess was.
Eric Lang had a minor claim to fame before getting the role of "Ernie Hardy," all-American romantic male lead in a SF musical spoof-- and it wasn't for being a singer or even an actor.
Not long before he was a Broadway "discovery," he was a PLAYGIRL "Discovery" appearing under the name "Ernie Langenberg":
as well as in gay porn for at least two studios under the names "Eric" and "Ernie" (which his character name "Ernie Hardy" and stage credit "Eric Lang" reflected, as well as his PLAYBILL bio mentioning basketball).
Given their history wth Joe Dallesandro, it's easy to assume Warhol or Morrissey decided to take a shot at creating "Eric Lang" from another nude model, but who knows? At any rate, "Lang" / Langenberg doesn't seem to have done anything further after this point.
statistics: Posted by evilchinchilla — 11:35 PM - 1 day ago — Replies 3 — Views 265
