Ellipses 🪐 The Universal Musical ★

Full-Length Musical, Comedy, Family / 10 any gender plus ensemble

Book, Music, and Lyrics by David Quang Pham

^Plot

Ellipses is a universal musical that stars the Galaxy family and their dog Gravity as they figure their way out of the Big Bang.

Before the world we have come to know, there once lived Singularity, their children, and their unruly dog named Gravity. Their universe turns upside down when their firstborn HD strikes their parent. HD escapes with Gravity to explore The Edge of the Universe. The Big Bang incapacitates Singularity, unleashes Gravity, and dooms everyone else. To restore order, the living family members organize a search party to locate their oldest sibling, HD. They encounter beasts, fight famine, and settle sibling rivalries on this cosmic journey. In the chaos, their baby sibling Milky Way gets separated. Alone, Milky Way must confront the Universe’s most powerful foe: puberty.

Adapting the origin of the cosmos into an epic family drama, astronomer-songwriter David Quang Pham celebrates family and science with this universal musical, Ellipses. Our Universe is a coming-of-age story that answers the 13.8-billion-year-old question: What is everything?

^Characters

Gravity, 16 eons/32 dog-eons, is the family pet who narrates cause – like every dog – they stare out into space, knowing that someone is listening. Their parents were leaders of the tidal wolf pack in the outside world, so Gravity has wolflike instincts that results in their unruliness. Singularity named them ‘Gravity’ as “this dog lets everyone down.” Gravity has a vendetta against them for dognapping Gravity as a puppy, but they truly care about Singularity’s firstborn, HD. HD sees Gravity as equals and is the only person to speak their language. Together, they bring the house down to usher in a new cosmos without Singularity’s rule. But freedom has a cost: their friendship. On their journey, HD misses their family more and more which conflicts with this dog’s goal to return as the pack’s rightful leader. Gravity is meant to live up to their name as the fallen hero.

Singularity, 36 eons, is a godly figure and beloved single parent who must protect their six children from the outside world. They come from a line of explorers, more so conquerors. Their parents set an expedition in search of the Center of the Universe but were killed in a retaliatory raid, not before giving Singularity a magical flintlock pistol called the “Big Bang.” With their cat Vat Ly, they were marooned and taken in by tidal wolves. The pack raised them to survive in the wilderness. Singularity soon vanished to give birth to HD, resulting in the pack leaders killing Vat Ly. In revenge, Singularity killed many in the pack and dognapped Gravity. They made countless enemies in their pursuit of the light in the Center of the Universe. Once they discovered it, they built a fortress to harness all its light, which plunged the cosmos into darkness. Their parents died while exploring worlds, so they fear their kids would develop that same passion for exploration and leave the safety of their fortress in the Center of the Universe.

HD1, 16 eons, is Singularity’s firstborn and the only one who was born in the outside world before Singularity walled it off. HD is named after Singularity’s mom, Heidi, an explorer killed on an expedition to find the Center of the Universe. Upon discovering the Center, Singularity prevented HD and all future kids from escaping. Singularity can leave their fortress to scavenge but tasks HD with staying inside and looking after their younger siblings. Like the oldest sibling in every family, HD is overworked and feels unheard. It seems the only person who truly listens is their dog, Gravity. Gravity gives HD a new purpose in life and makes HD curious about the Edge of the Universe. When HD gets ahold of Singularity’s magical flintlock pistol called the “Big Bang” and explorer uniform, HD and Gravity run away. But when the journey is just them two, HD starts feeling guilty for abandoning their little siblings, which breaks their loyalty to Gravity.

Cartwheel, teen, is Singularity’s fierce kid and Whirlpool’s troublemaking twin who resolves everything with violence. Out of the Galaxy kids, they are the least out of shape with their gymnastic physique and ballerina’s cutthroat attitude. They are tense, insensitive, and cantankerous in their pursuit of beating their previous record time in anything they do. They fight using the “martial” in martial arts. Whirlpool is always by their side and balances their unkind personality out.

Whirlpool, teen, is Singularity’s spiritual kid and Cartwheel’s troublemaking twin who finds solutions through meditation. They are the book-smart kid whose thought process can get very lucid. They are spiritual, sensitive, and mischievous in their goals of understanding the meaning of time. They fight using the “arts” in martial arts. Cartwheel is always by their side and balances their laid-back personality out.

Triangulum, teen, is Singularity’s goody-two-shoes kid who wants to lead the family to a normal and healthy life. Because they are a toady to Singularity from how they sing to how they behave like them, the other kids see Triangulum as a square. They have a poppy singing voice and often flaunt it when making the others perform sing-alongs. They are organized, snappy, and virtuous, so the other kids can rely on them as a leader when the cosmos spirals out of control. They just need to accept that there is no such thing as normality in this family.

Andromeda, teen, is Singularity’s kid who is often the comic relief. When they have nothing better to do, they go treasure hunting around the garden and pretend to be a pirate with their telescope. They are seafaring, wacky, and glamourous, especially if they can go out and sail the open space. After discovering that Singularity kept the cosmos in check by securing the five Spacetime Pearls, they set out to recollect these pearls to return the Universe back to stasis.

Milky Way, 6 eons, is Singularity’s youngest kid who is cute and silly, making them the family favorite. They learn a lot about the world through board games, coloring clay tablets in Singularity’s study, and letting their wild imagination roam free with their cloudy dolls named Magellan and Nic. If something happens to this little kid, you will not hear the end of it. That is the case when they go missing after the Big Bang, landing in a wilderness that’s perilous even for adults. Now, Milky Way must traverse these unexplored terrains that unravel new wonders and monsters from its darkness with nothing but their curiosity and compassion to shield them from harm’s way. This lovable and zealous yet naïve kid will become the unexpected hero this family needs.

Special Relativity - Heidi, 40s, is Singularity’s mother and an explorer who was a special agent in the ultramodern world of Ellipsis. Like her husband Quan Su, she set an expedition to locate the Center of the Universe. Following a retaliatory raid that killed Quan Su and their crew, Heidi, her child, and their cat Vat Ly were the only survivors. They landed by the Edge of the Universe where Heidi soon fell ill. Singularity sheltered her in a cave which turned out to be a bear cave. While Singularity was away, Heidi was severely mauled by a legendary Tardigarde bear named Monos Keras. Singularity unwillingly performed a mercy killing with Heidi’s magical flintlock pistol known as the “Big Bang.” Singularity named their firstborn, HD, after Heidi.

General Relativity - Quan Su, 40s, is Singularity’s father and an explorer who was a former general of the military in the ultramodern world of Ellipsis. Like his wife Heidi, he set an expedition to locate the Center of the Universe. Due to his warlord tactics, he was viewed often as a conqueror. During a retaliatory raid, he and almost all his crew were killed.

Tidal Wolves (Ensemble), are sorcerous wolves that personify tidal forces. Bark: ”Force." Howl: ”Fall."

Milky Way's Mind (Ensemble), Solar System are Milky Way’s imaginary friends that channel more mature thoughts: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea, Makemake

^{🏆 Accolades 🏆}

Semifinalist: 2024 Syracuse University New Works, New Voices

Semifinalist: 2023 CreateTheater-SUNY Cortland Music Theatre Partnership

Feature: 2023 Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance New Works Catalog

Semifinalist: 2023 Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Music Theater Conference

Quarterfinalist: 2022 Serbest Film Festival for Music Videos

^Keywords

Adolescence / Adulthood / Childhood / Coming-of-Age / Dog / Fable / Family / Friendship / Parenting / Pets / Teens

^Music

Musical Style: Pop, Punk, Rock, Vietnamese Folk

Vocal Demands: Moderate

Orchestra: Drum Set, Piano, Guitar, Violin, Mandolin

Dance Requirements: Moderate

1) Bounce

2) Crunch

3) Cutting Edge

4) Big Bang

5) Anomaly is Everything

6) Far-Fetched

7) Time is Relative

8) Big Rip

9) Point (of No Return)

10) Warps, Waves, and Wrinkles

11) Globular

12) The Fabric of Spacetime

13) Parallax

14) Tangent

15) Heat Death

16) ...

17) Bounce Back

18) Family is Everything

19) Up Against Gravity (Down With Gravity)

20) Apparent (Shed Light)

21) (The Big Rip of) Zenith

22) Big Crunch

23) Big Bounce