Science Fiction Romantic Comedy
Novels, Stories and Musicals
by Dana Cain
Book 1 in the Grey Area Novels series. Coming Soon!
Awards and Reviews
BEST FLASH FICTION: 2025
Speculative Fiction Writers Association "Speck of Fancy" Flash Fiction contest
Chronic Bilocation Syndrome. Dana Cain's first short story won a flash fiction contest in 2025, where it was ranked #1 by all five judges. The slipstream sci-fi story is about a patient at the Center for Wayward Entanglements struggling to understand a mysterious love connection. Read it here.
"THEATRICAL PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR"
Theatrical production of the year
The Android's New Soul by Dana Cain
The world premiere of the original sci-fi musical The Android's New Soul has been in the works for 50 years … yes, really! Dana Cain wrote the score for this campy, absurdist post-apocalyptic rock opera when she was a teenage girl and has been fighting to get the show staged for decades. She finally fulfilled her dream in September at the Bug Theatre in Denver, and what an experience!
Opening night was a spectacle from the moment the audience arrived, with a line out the door and quirky "Android Boyfriend Survival Kits" containing kitschy stickers and Atomic Fireball candies. The 100-year-old theater had been transformed into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with elevated production values rarely seen in smaller venues.
The plot revolves around Dr. Stacy Starr, a scientist who works in an android factory. After a devastating bomb falls, she reprograms an android to be her romantic companion and help her navigate the radium-poisoned world and battle clones. My favorite scene was the "Funky Disco Andriod Sex Song," which, while not high art, is a lot of fun. It is a testament to the team's dedication that the dramatic beats in the second act work so well. If there is any justice in the world, we will see a lot more of this musical.
- Toni Tresca
The Android's New Soul by Dana Cain
The world premiere of the original sci-fi musical The Android's New Soul has been in the works for 50 years … yes, really! Dana Cain wrote the score for this campy, absurdist post-apocalyptic rock opera when she was a teenage girl and has been fighting to get the show staged for decades. She finally fulfilled her dream in September at the Bug Theatre in Denver, and what an experience!
Opening night was a spectacle from the moment the audience arrived, with a line out the door and quirky "Android Boyfriend Survival Kits" containing kitschy stickers and Atomic Fireball candies. The 100-year-old theater had been transformed into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with elevated production values rarely seen in smaller venues.
The plot revolves around Dr. Stacy Starr, a scientist who works in an android factory. After a devastating bomb falls, she reprograms an android to be her romantic companion and help her navigate the radium-poisoned world and battle clones. My favorite scene was the "Funky Disco Andriod Sex Song," which, while not high art, is a lot of fun. It is a testament to the team's dedication that the dramatic beats in the second act work so well. If there is any justice in the world, we will see a lot more of this musical.
- Toni Tresca
WINNER: ORIGINAL PLAY OR MUSICAL
WINNER: ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
WINNER: LIGHTING DESIGN
2024 Awards for Theatrical Excellence (OSCAs)
Dana Cain, Jeff LaGreca and Mark Putt were recognized for creating one of the best original plays or musicals of the year, with The Android's New Soul! Matthew Combs (KRS-24/Christopher) won for Actor in a Musical! And Brian Miller won for his incredible lighting design! The Onstage Colorado team reviewed 200 shows during the year, and we are SO thrilled to have won three awards!
From the Awards Presentation Podcast:
Toni Tresca: This is one of my favorites of the year. I love this musical. It’s an absurd, in-your-face dystopian musical about a bug war. There’s cyborgs there. There is a bomb that drops and causes everybody to go through funky radiation, and there’s a whole lot of Android sex. And Matthew Combs is at the helm as the titular Android who becomes the boyfriend to the Doctor character. And Matthew is a great actor. He’s been seen in a bunch of productions, including Legend of Georgia McBride last year over at Vintage. But his performance here as the Android, for something that could have been very stiff and robotic, it was surprisingly human and very engaging.
Alex Miller: So that was a really short run. Are we going to see that come back around, you know?
Toni Tresca: God, I hope so, Alex. I really wish it would. Dana Cain and the entire team over there that did a really fantastic job. And Dana has been fighting to make this production seen for decades. So I know that she filmed it so that it could be a filmed version of it could be released. So you will be able to see that.
...
Alex Miller: ...And then Brian Miller for The Android’s New Soul again, this is one we’ve mentioned a number of times. What was the lighting like in that show Toni?
Toni Tresca: Super duper colorful and crazy. There were so many lighting cues throughout that show and the Bug Theater is a really complicated space to actually light in and he was lighting on multiple levels as well because there was these platforms that he was having to light, so he really did a custom lighting rig in there that was super sci-fi colorful and really really sharp and effective.
From the Awards Presentation Podcast:
Toni Tresca: This is one of my favorites of the year. I love this musical. It’s an absurd, in-your-face dystopian musical about a bug war. There’s cyborgs there. There is a bomb that drops and causes everybody to go through funky radiation, and there’s a whole lot of Android sex. And Matthew Combs is at the helm as the titular Android who becomes the boyfriend to the Doctor character. And Matthew is a great actor. He’s been seen in a bunch of productions, including Legend of Georgia McBride last year over at Vintage. But his performance here as the Android, for something that could have been very stiff and robotic, it was surprisingly human and very engaging.
Alex Miller: So that was a really short run. Are we going to see that come back around, you know?
Toni Tresca: God, I hope so, Alex. I really wish it would. Dana Cain and the entire team over there that did a really fantastic job. And Dana has been fighting to make this production seen for decades. So I know that she filmed it so that it could be a filmed version of it could be released. So you will be able to see that.
...
Alex Miller: ...And then Brian Miller for The Android’s New Soul again, this is one we’ve mentioned a number of times. What was the lighting like in that show Toni?
Toni Tresca: Super duper colorful and crazy. There were so many lighting cues throughout that show and the Bug Theater is a really complicated space to actually light in and he was lighting on multiple levels as well because there was these platforms that he was having to light, so he really did a custom lighting rig in there that was super sci-fi colorful and really really sharp and effective.
Toni Tresca and Alex Miller announce the OSC winners in a live stream Jan 19, 2025.
WINNER: BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
19 NOMINATIONS IN 10 CATEGORIES!
We received 19 nominations in 10 categories and finished in the top 5 in almost ALL of them, including BEST MUSICAL! We were the ONLY Musical nominated that was a new, original production! Huge congratulations to Lighting Director Brian Miller and everyone on our amazing team!
PRODUCER AWARD
Dana Cain
... Then there is the colorful Dana Cain, who is a comic-book character come to life. Cain was a “Let's put on a show!" kind of kid in the 1960s, grew up a “Star Trek” Trekkie and, in her words, teleported into major event planning in 1977. She’s now the owner of Dana Cain Events, which sports a huge roster of fun times that spans the Denver County Fair (which she cofounded in 2011), a variety of chocolate festivals, the Denver Dog Fair and even a Unicorn Festival.
But 2024 brought Cain fully into the land of musical theater with a passion project that goes back 50 years: a sci-fi rock musical, which she began writing when she was in high school. “The Android's New Soul” was the most expensive undertaking in the history of the century-old Bug Theatre.
Cain’s clever, tongue-in-cheek homage to sci-fi TV of the 1970s takes place in radiation-plagued, mutant-filled, post-apocalyptic California, where a scientist reprograms an android to be her boyfriend. It became a bright, brief sensation in the local theater landscape, and audiences went nuts for it.
- John Moore
... Then there is the colorful Dana Cain, who is a comic-book character come to life. Cain was a “Let's put on a show!" kind of kid in the 1960s, grew up a “Star Trek” Trekkie and, in her words, teleported into major event planning in 1977. She’s now the owner of Dana Cain Events, which sports a huge roster of fun times that spans the Denver County Fair (which she cofounded in 2011), a variety of chocolate festivals, the Denver Dog Fair and even a Unicorn Festival.
But 2024 brought Cain fully into the land of musical theater with a passion project that goes back 50 years: a sci-fi rock musical, which she began writing when she was in high school. “The Android's New Soul” was the most expensive undertaking in the history of the century-old Bug Theatre.
Cain’s clever, tongue-in-cheek homage to sci-fi TV of the 1970s takes place in radiation-plagued, mutant-filled, post-apocalyptic California, where a scientist reprograms an android to be her boyfriend. It became a bright, brief sensation in the local theater landscape, and audiences went nuts for it.
- John Moore
READ THE REVIEWS!
"Wonderfully Weird! ...Led Zeppelin meets Rocky Horror meets George Jetson!"
- Chris Parente, KWGN News
"Campy sci-fi musical is a blast ... both imaginative and touching"
- Toni Tresca, Onstage Colorado
"...No expense was spared; everything was done first class. A complete multi-layered set designed by Matt Graff and Tim LaGreca gave dimension and drama to the action. They also designed the ominous-looking weapons and whimsical puppets used throughout. The unique costumes designed by Nicole Watts are a wonder to behold."
- Beki Pineda, Front Row Center Denver
"Sci-fi isn't really my genre, and I'm not entirely sure I can trust my opinion on this, but it's entirely possible that Dana Cain's "The Android's New Soul" just might be brilliant."
- John Moore Arts Coverage
"...Fantastic! So fun, great costuming, great music by a live band, great acting, and puppets! Do not miss this show!"
- Andrew Novick
"Nothing short of fabulous... My attention never wandered - not for a second."
- Colleen Bement, Nerd Alert News
- Chris Parente, KWGN News
"Campy sci-fi musical is a blast ... both imaginative and touching"
- Toni Tresca, Onstage Colorado
"...No expense was spared; everything was done first class. A complete multi-layered set designed by Matt Graff and Tim LaGreca gave dimension and drama to the action. They also designed the ominous-looking weapons and whimsical puppets used throughout. The unique costumes designed by Nicole Watts are a wonder to behold."
- Beki Pineda, Front Row Center Denver
"Sci-fi isn't really my genre, and I'm not entirely sure I can trust my opinion on this, but it's entirely possible that Dana Cain's "The Android's New Soul" just might be brilliant."
- John Moore Arts Coverage
"...Fantastic! So fun, great costuming, great music by a live band, great acting, and puppets! Do not miss this show!"
- Andrew Novick
"Nothing short of fabulous... My attention never wandered - not for a second."
- Colleen Bement, Nerd Alert News
OUR FIRST REVIEW!
by Beki Pineda, FrontRowCenterDenver.net
by Beki Pineda, FrontRowCenterDenver.net
THE ANDROID’S NEW SOUL – Book by Dana Cain and Jeff LaGreca; Music by Dana Cain and Mark Putt; Directed by Jeff LaGreca; Music Direction by Mitch Samu; Choreography by Rachel Lessard. Produced by Dana Cain Entertainment (Presented at The Bug Theatre, 3654 Navajo Street, Denver) through September 15. Tickets available at DanaCainEntertainment.com.
I had the extreme pleasure of watching a dream come true tonight. Dana Cain as a teenager in 1974 had an idea for a musical that incorporated all the late-night movies she watched that were the aftermath of atomic bomb tests creating giant mutant bugs. She mixed in a hard rock beat like the groups she heard on the radio and MTV – ELO, Genesis, Kiss, Led Zeppelin. Robotics were in their infant stages but endlessly fascinating in their possibilities. Mix all this together with a beautiful medical technician as the lone survivor of a Big Bomb and you’ve got the outline for a rock musical that took fifty years to finish. But that is still as fresh, creative, and relevant as when it burst from her imagination. Her dream of seeing it come alive on a stage happened tonight at the appropriately named Bug Theatre.
Rock music does not often lend itself to coherence and lucidity. But Ms. Cain wrote melodies that are easy on the ears and singable. Her lyrics actually told the story with clarity and were cleverly rhymed without torturing the syntax. She gave the singers music they could put their hearts into. She created hard-pounding anthems (“What Happened?”), a blatantly raucous make-out song (“FDASS; Funky Disco Android Sex Song”) and heartbreaking ballads (“Please”). Her work incorporates all the “I Wants” of a Broadway musical.
Her work with Jeff LaGreca on the book for the show highlighted their tongue-in-cheek humor, love of in-jokes, and knowledge of how to make satire work. At one point, Stacy and her Android lover Christopher found themselves in an abandoned mansion and decided to stay. He prepares a monthiversary dinner for them and comes on stage in a sparkly jacket he found in a closet asking her, “Does anyone know who Elton John is?” The dialogue is fast-paced, witty to the nth degree, and heartfelt when it needs to be.
Special kudos must be given to the tech crew assembled for this production. It appears that no expense was spared; everything was done first class. A complete multi-layered set designed by Matt Graff and Tim LaGreca gave dimension and drama to the action. They also designed the ominous-looking weapons and whimsical puppets used throughout. The unique costumes designed by Nicole Watts are a wonder to behold. We have Androids in silver suits and helmets; Clones in warlike garb that look like something out of an early Game of Thrones prequel; Disco dollies in puffy miniskirts; and Mutants with three arms, squid and lobster hands, and grass growing out of their heads. OMG – you let it all out on this one, didn’t you!
The projections, designed by Brian Essig-Peppard and manipulated by Kevin Smith, lent a movie-like quality to the proceedings and moved the whole production two levels (at least) higher. During the battle scenes, laser beams were flying overhead, bombs were bursting in air, and all hell was breaking out. One addition to the sound design created by Wayne Kennedy was especially moving. The sound of a wave crashing on the shore as a band of survivors moves together toward hope and the ocean lets us all know that some things are still the same.
But all of this technical and musical bravado would have been for naught without the kickass, balls-to-the-walls, totally committed group of performers who brought the whole thing to life. It never let up for any member of the cast. They were on and off stage in various costumes and characters for the full two hours. The lead characters of Stacy and Christopher, the human doctor and her robot lover, rarely leave the stage and get to remain in their original costumes nearly all the time. There was that one scene . . . but everyone else had multiple roles that required getting into and out of complicated costumes every few minutes. They are to be applauded for their unstinting energy and commitment to their roles and their support of Stacy and Christopher’s love story. Everyone in this cast deserved their moment in the spotlight and got it! I hope when this show goes Off-Broadway, this cast gets to go with it.
Good job, everyone! This is a very short run, folks, in a pretty small theatre. You better get your tickets this weekend, because you won’t be able to get any next weekend.
A WOW factor of 8.75!!
I had the extreme pleasure of watching a dream come true tonight. Dana Cain as a teenager in 1974 had an idea for a musical that incorporated all the late-night movies she watched that were the aftermath of atomic bomb tests creating giant mutant bugs. She mixed in a hard rock beat like the groups she heard on the radio and MTV – ELO, Genesis, Kiss, Led Zeppelin. Robotics were in their infant stages but endlessly fascinating in their possibilities. Mix all this together with a beautiful medical technician as the lone survivor of a Big Bomb and you’ve got the outline for a rock musical that took fifty years to finish. But that is still as fresh, creative, and relevant as when it burst from her imagination. Her dream of seeing it come alive on a stage happened tonight at the appropriately named Bug Theatre.
Rock music does not often lend itself to coherence and lucidity. But Ms. Cain wrote melodies that are easy on the ears and singable. Her lyrics actually told the story with clarity and were cleverly rhymed without torturing the syntax. She gave the singers music they could put their hearts into. She created hard-pounding anthems (“What Happened?”), a blatantly raucous make-out song (“FDASS; Funky Disco Android Sex Song”) and heartbreaking ballads (“Please”). Her work incorporates all the “I Wants” of a Broadway musical.
Her work with Jeff LaGreca on the book for the show highlighted their tongue-in-cheek humor, love of in-jokes, and knowledge of how to make satire work. At one point, Stacy and her Android lover Christopher found themselves in an abandoned mansion and decided to stay. He prepares a monthiversary dinner for them and comes on stage in a sparkly jacket he found in a closet asking her, “Does anyone know who Elton John is?” The dialogue is fast-paced, witty to the nth degree, and heartfelt when it needs to be.
Special kudos must be given to the tech crew assembled for this production. It appears that no expense was spared; everything was done first class. A complete multi-layered set designed by Matt Graff and Tim LaGreca gave dimension and drama to the action. They also designed the ominous-looking weapons and whimsical puppets used throughout. The unique costumes designed by Nicole Watts are a wonder to behold. We have Androids in silver suits and helmets; Clones in warlike garb that look like something out of an early Game of Thrones prequel; Disco dollies in puffy miniskirts; and Mutants with three arms, squid and lobster hands, and grass growing out of their heads. OMG – you let it all out on this one, didn’t you!
The projections, designed by Brian Essig-Peppard and manipulated by Kevin Smith, lent a movie-like quality to the proceedings and moved the whole production two levels (at least) higher. During the battle scenes, laser beams were flying overhead, bombs were bursting in air, and all hell was breaking out. One addition to the sound design created by Wayne Kennedy was especially moving. The sound of a wave crashing on the shore as a band of survivors moves together toward hope and the ocean lets us all know that some things are still the same.
But all of this technical and musical bravado would have been for naught without the kickass, balls-to-the-walls, totally committed group of performers who brought the whole thing to life. It never let up for any member of the cast. They were on and off stage in various costumes and characters for the full two hours. The lead characters of Stacy and Christopher, the human doctor and her robot lover, rarely leave the stage and get to remain in their original costumes nearly all the time. There was that one scene . . . but everyone else had multiple roles that required getting into and out of complicated costumes every few minutes. They are to be applauded for their unstinting energy and commitment to their roles and their support of Stacy and Christopher’s love story. Everyone in this cast deserved their moment in the spotlight and got it! I hope when this show goes Off-Broadway, this cast gets to go with it.
Good job, everyone! This is a very short run, folks, in a pretty small theatre. You better get your tickets this weekend, because you won’t be able to get any next weekend.
A WOW factor of 8.75!!
Stage Show Review Links:
Chris Parente's review: KWGN
Reviews of The Android's New Soul 2018 double album:
"Imagine if instead of watching B-movies on MST3K, Joel Robinson wrote rock songs. Imagine if Roger Waters wrote sci-fi or if Nicholas Sparks got his hands on the Terminator script and a bottle of whiteout.
...The 22-song album spans the decade like a Time Life Presents tribute to all the great sounds of the 1970s. The combination of electro-synth-spoken word on “Nonstop City,” hard rock anthem “Android Factory,” and the self-explanatory “Funky Disco Android Sex Song” layer into a mix tape that is both nostalgic and new, equal parts kooky and cool." - Denver Westword
"Imagine if instead of watching B-movies on MST3K, Joel Robinson wrote rock songs. Imagine if Roger Waters wrote sci-fi or if Nicholas Sparks got his hands on the Terminator script and a bottle of whiteout.
...The 22-song album spans the decade like a Time Life Presents tribute to all the great sounds of the 1970s. The combination of electro-synth-spoken word on “Nonstop City,” hard rock anthem “Android Factory,” and the self-explanatory “Funky Disco Android Sex Song” layer into a mix tape that is both nostalgic and new, equal parts kooky and cool." - Denver Westword
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