Witches and Aliens: Double Feature

Get Tickets

Encounter: A Space Cabaret

Written and Performed by Zena Wood

Christmas Eve in Dikanka:
A Musical In-Concert

Book, Music and Lyrics by Kit Goldstein Grant

Presented by Judith Manocherian LLC and Space Weather Girl, in association
with Theatre Now New York and Paper Kite Arts

Witches and Aliens: Double-Bill

One Night Out, Two Hilarious Shows!

About the Show

Witches and Aliens is a comedic, entertaining and otherworldly evening of two hysterical theatrical works. The evening will feature Zena Wood's ENCOUNTER: A Space Cabaret, and Kit Goldstein Grant's CHRISTMAS EVE IN DIKANKA: A Musical In-Concert.

Join us for a fun evening with two wacky shows!

Directed by Jen Wineman

Music Direction by Henco Espag

Associate Producer: Alexa Powell

The Duplex Cabaret Theater

61 Christopher St, New York, NY 10014, United States

June 12-14, nightly at 7pm.

Runtime: Two Hours, including one 15-minute intermission

Recommended for ages 15+

Ticketing

General Admission Tickets: $30.00 + 2 drink Minimum
($4 service fee per ticket added for advance sale and online tickets)
Tickets purchased at the door on the day of: $35 + 2 drink Minimum (including alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages).

About Encounter: A Space Cabaret

They come in peace...and for the eggs. A comedy-driven space cabaret that lands somewhere between a late-night weather show and a cosmic fever dream where nothing is linear. Live from New York, it’s Space Weather Girl! What if an alien encounter was more human condition and less lasers? Add some old-time Hollywood charm, a historical “mating program,” and you’ve got yourself a show! As a studio audience, you will witness the mysterious broadcast sparking an interplanetary moment. You’ll wonder at a spectacular alien dance performance and you’ll do all of this in a fraction of a second (60 minutes). It’s a science thing. Come for the facts, the songs and the comedy, and find yourself unexpectedly heart-warmed.

Learn More about the Space Weather Girl Production Company

About Christmas Eve in Dikanka:

A Musical In-Concert

It’s Christmas Eve in Dikanka, and a blacksmith must find fancy shoes like those worn by the Czarina in the next few hours or lose the heart of his lady love. But when the Devil comes to town, will he give up his soul for a sole?And what will he do about his mother, who is a promiscuous witch? No really, an actual witch. This loosely adapted take on Nikolai Gogol’s story sets the show in a meta-theatrical universe which combines a Ukrainian 19th-century absurdist tone and a modern sensibility, plus a lotta slapstick.

Learn More about Christmas Eve in Dikanka

For more information, contact:

Zena Wood: [email protected]

Kit Goldstein Grant: [email protected]

What IS this show? Check out the video below to learn more and get a sneak peek inside rehearsal!

Press for Witches and Aliens

DOUBLE BILL: WITCHES AND ALIENS is Coming to The Duplex Cabaret Theatre, Broadway World

Cast Set for CHRISTMAS EVE IN DIKANKA: A Musical In-Concert at The Duplex, Broadway World

Interview with Kit and Zena on The Roundtable with Robert Bannon

Apple Podcasts YouTube Broadway Podcast Network

Interview with Kit and Zena on Stage Whisper with Andrew Cortes

Apple Podcasts Pandora

Sneak Peak Rehearsal Photos!

Cast & Crew

Kit Goldstein Grant

Book, Music, & Lyrics, Christmas Eve in Dikanka

Podcast: Micro-Face (NPR’s Planet Money podcast); International: The Nose (Anex Theater Productions, South Africa). NYC: The Giant Hoax (Theater Row, Indieworks Theatre Co.); The Nose (Master Theater, MITF); The Commuters (Indieworks Theatre Co., Strawberry One-Act Festival, voted Audience Favorite), Where Angels Fear to Tread (The Players Theater, Moxie Arts); The Wrong Box (Theatre for the New City). School Tours: The Mermaid of Edam, It’s Raining Tamales!, King Midas, The Emperor and the Nightingale, Androcles and the Lion (Schenectady Theater for Children). Publications: It’s Raining Tamales! (YouthPLAYS). Kit has studied at Juilliard, the BMI Musical Theatre Writing Workshop, Union College, and she holds a M.M. in Composition from Brooklyn College. She is also a teaching artist, and the founder of Paper Kite Arts. Kit is a member of ASCAP, the Dramatist’s Guild, Composer’s Collective, and Theatre Now New York's Musical Writers Lab - www.tnny.org. www.kitgoldstein.com

Zena Wood

Playwright, Melodies, Lyrics, Performer, & Producer Encounter

Zena is a Producer, Director, Writer, and Cabaret Performer based in New York and Amsterdam. She has produced feature films including “The Blacklight” (AMC Theaters) and has produced creative projects for major global brands for the past 12 years. Her documentary “Will There Be Dancing” interviews NASA and SETI scientists about creativity in space, and won Best Documentary Short at the Cannes Short Film Festival. Last year she wrote and produced a dark sci-fi immersive show “A Technology Demonstration” hidden in the Generator Hotel, Amsterdam. The show combined live jazz, theatre, magic and dance. Zena studied musical theatre and dance at the Waterfront Theatre College in South Africa and film acting at the New York Film Academy. She holds an MBA in Leadership and Sustainability, reflecting her passion for sound leadership in the creative industries. IG: @spaceweathergirltv

Jen Wineman

Director & Choreographer

Jen is a director and choreographer based in Brooklyn. Selected NYC credits include: That Parenting Musical (TheatreRow); FIVE (Theater 555); Dog Man: The Musical (New World Stages/Lucille Lortel); Retraction (TheatreRow); Less Than 50% (59E59); My Heart is in the East (La Mama); Fable (NYMF); F#%king Up Everything (Elektra Theater). Selected regional credits include: Bye Bye Birdie (The Argyle); Dangerous Days (Miami New Drama); As You Like It (American Shakespeare Center); Tiny Beautiful Things (Merrimack Rep); Game On (Pittsburgh CLO); Shakespeare in Love (Virginia Rep); Baskerville (Dorset); The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Asolo Rep & Miami New Drama); Sweeney Todd (Playmakers Rep). Tours: Dog Man (National tours in US/Canada/Australia); Twelfth Night & A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Asolo Rep). This summer, Jen will direct and choreograph The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Peterboro Players. Education: B.A. Vassar College, M.F.A. Yale School of Drama jenwineman.com IG: @winemanjen

Judith Manocherian

Producer

Broadway: Real Women Have Curves, Swept Away, The Wiz, Pictures from Home, The Great Society, The Prom (Drama Desk), The Lifespan of a Fact, and Once On This Island (Tony). Off-Broadway: N/A, Fern Hill and Smart Blonde. Film: “Coast,” “A Call to Spy,” and “No One Called Ahead” (Amazon Prime). Podcast: “Bite-Sized Broadway”/Spotify.

Henco Espag

Music Director

Henco hails from South Africa, and is an active composer, arranger, orchestrator, conductor, accompanist, music/artistic director and pedagogue. Henco has served as faculty/staff for the Musical Theatre Department at Westminster College of the Arts and is currently faculty at St. Peter’s University. He served as music director for Surflight Theatre for two years, and is currently artistic director for the Queer Big Apple Corps Symphonic Band, a 130-member symphonic band; and music/choir director for Judson Memorial Church by Washington Square Park. The band premiered a co-arrangement by Henco of “Lift Every Voice And Sing” with soloists from the Tony award-winning Broadway revival of Porgy and Bess and premiered his percussion ensemble arrangement of O Hanukkah, O Hanukkah at Symphony Space. Henco also works as music director in collaboration with Deaf Artists and was a part of two Broadway Signs productions at the Triad Theatre with Broadway’s, Russell Harvard. Henco was the composer and sound designer for the American Sign Language LGBTQIA+ musical short film Disconnected through Hearts Productions (released 2021). He is the composer for the musical Pompeii Rising with collaborators Andi Lee Carter and Briana Harris. The show had sold out concert performances in 2023 and 2024. Henco’s other compositions have been widely performed, including most recently featured on Yamaha Pianist, James Adler’s award winning albums “Homages and Remembrances” & "Reflections". B.Mus - Berklee College of Music and MFA – Tisch School of the Arts @ NYU.

Alexa Powell

Associate Producer

Alexa is a theatre artist passionate about arts accessibility, community, and stories of queer joy. Alexa’s primary focus is theatrical producing, directing, and admin with a healthy dose of graphic design. Fun fact: she is trained in audio description (for blind/low vision accessibility) and always keen to expand her inclusion-oriented skill sets. Alexa is deeply involved with SAPPHEST - a Sapphic Play Festival & Production Company nearing its one-year anniversary. Other highlights include BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN (AD/Co-Producer) at the Chain Theatre, ONE ACTS: VOLUME ONE FESTIVAL (Producer) at Brooklyn Art Haus, and premiering July 2025 CHRISTINE OR DARK PHANTOM… (Director/Producer) with the NY Theater Festival. If Alexa isn’t looking for collaborators or developing a new project, then she’s probably cuddling with her cat “Soda” and reading a queer book…or ten. @alexapcreates | alexapowell.net

Brandon M. Weber

Performer, Encounter

Brandon is a theatre and film artist who is dedicated to making works that break down the stereotypes within the ethnic diaspora. Being a New Orleans native inspired him to be multifaceted in the arts and helped him obtain a BFA in Musical Theatre at The University of the Arts. In the past, he’s worked with MTV VMA's, Telsey & Co, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Actor’s Company Theatre in New York City, and Vital Theatre Company Off-Broadway in various roles (Actor, Stage Manager, Dramaturg, Producer, Social Media Coordinator, Casting Director, Assistant Director, etc.). Currently, Brandon is the CEO of his own company called Under8ted Movement, which is focused on rebuilding the community through art.