Molly Murphy & Neil DeGrasse Tyson on Our Last Day on Earth

Part adventure musical, part lecture-series and part unwilling launch into the abyss. The story follows an imagined version of famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and his biggest fan (a fictional Molly Murphy) through the Hayden Planetarium in the last 24 hours before the Earth is swallowed by a supermassive black hole.  They, along with a small group of workers who inexplicably showed up for work, grapple with a world unraveling and the choices we make when situations become dire.

a musical by Molly Beach Murphy music & lyrics by Loren Beri

I contributed the song “Black Hole Baby” to this galactic comedy during its development at Playwrights Horizons and The Incubator Arts Project. I greatly admire Loren Beri’s music, which zooms from baroque chamber pop to anthemic rock with dexterity and whimsy. His work makes me think of David Byrne as much as it does Brahms. We played music together in Portland, OR, and continued to keep in touch until we worked together again in New York.