“New Line Theatre presents a lot of intriguing work, but now and then it gets everything so right that you're ready to see the show again before you're out of the theater. Hair was like that; Bat Boy, too. And so is its new production, Return to the Forbidden Planet – a smart, giddy, musically ingenious spoof written by Bob Carlton and directed by Scott Miller.”

– Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Bob Carlton's whimsical take on The Tempest as refracted through a 1950s sci-fi prism features a galaxy's worth of fantastic rock & roll songs, punning wordplays on snippets of Shakespearean monologues and intentionally ‘Pigs in Space’ costuming. But this is no parlor trick of a musical; there's a rich vein of Shakespeare's favorite ingredient — the wondrous depths of the human heart — that elevates the show from cunning stunt to artful meditation on the destructive nature of power and the redemptive power of love.”

– Paul Friswold, The Riverfront Times

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Ever feel like our world is getting more dangerous every day? Like technology is advancing faster than our ability to control it? If so, you're not alone...

Come back to the future with us! The future of the 1950s, that is... when the atomic bomb had everyone scared of Mad Scientists and the ever lurking dangers of Science Run Amok. Fear was one of the main staples of 1950s sci-fi -- fear of science, fear of sex, fear of the Russians, fear of The Bomb, fear of ourselves! (The more things change, the more they stay the same...) It was a time when the most innocent lab experiments could result in giant monster bugs and mutated humans... or so the movies told us...

And the only thing Americans feared more than Russia and the atom was rock and roll...!

This quirky, rowdy musical throws together 1950s science fiction, fake Shakespeare (we call it "Fakespeare"), and the muscle and untamed sexuality of early rock and roll. The show's score includes “Wipe Out” (1963), “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” (1966), “Great Balls of Fire” (1957), “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” (1964), “Good Vibrations” (1966), “The Shoop Shoop Song” (1963), “I’m Gonna Change the World” (1965), “A Teenager in Love” (1960), “Young Girl” (1968), “She’s Not There” (1964), “Shakin’ All Over” (1960), “Gloria” (1964), “Who’s Sorry Now” (1958), “Tell Him” (1962), “Robot Man” (1959), “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” (1954), “Go Now” (1964), “Only the Lonely” (1960), “Mister Spaceman” (1967), and “The Monster Mash” (1962).

Believe it or not, this bizarre show actually won the 1990 Olivier Award (the British Tony Award) for Best Musical, beating out Miss Saigon. Don't ask us how it works. It just does.

The show takes the audience on a routine survey flight under the command of Captain Tempest and his crew, as their spaceship is drawn mysteriously to the planet D'Illyria where rogue  scientist Doctor Prospero and his lovely daughter Miranda are marooned, along with Prospero's trusty robot, Ariel. And the Id Monster. Rock and roll ensues.