It will include all the music from "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" as well as other Flaming Lips albums. The Playhouse production is "Yoshimi’s" world premiere. Wayne Coyne is the lead singer of The Flaming Lips. I know what’s important and what’s important is the humanity." "If I were 22 and straight out of drama school, I might make that mistake," McAnuff said. They float giant weather balloons above their audiences while confetti streams down.īut McAnuff says he won’t weigh the stage musical down with technical wizardry. They often have people in mascot costumes dancing on stage with them. The Oklahoma band is known for their theatrical concerts. That kind of stagecraft should be familiar to Flaming Lips fans. "It’s got extraordinary robotics and puppetry, motorized scenery and lights and sound and LED screens." "It’s technically the most ambitious show that we’ve done since I’ve been here," Ashley noted. He even included a robot named unit 3000-21, also featured on the album.Ĭhristopher Ashley is the current artistic director at the Playhouse. McAnuff said he’s been almost religiously faithful to the Yoshimi album. The musical is almost entirely sung through, with very little dialogue. "Throughout the play, we see her battling the cancer.or the pink robots, if you will." The pink robots represent the cells attacking Yoshimi's body. "She actually finds out that she has cancer," Glenn explained.
A typical Flaming Lips concert features costumed performers, balloons, and a lot of confetti.Īctress Kimiko Glenn, who had a memorable turn this summer in the Playhouse production of "The Nightingale", plays the character of Yoshimi.