Starship is the realization of Paul Kantner’s long-standing dream to bring to life his 1970 masterwork composition, Blows Against the Empire. The original music will be used in its entirety and performed in the orchestra pit by a rock band. In addition, a number of other Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship songs will be incorporated into the stage play, including “Crown of Creation”, “Volunteers”, “Caroline” and the 1999 release “Shadowlands”. (Click on the previous links to hear samples of these songs.)

The production will feature fully realized settings for a downtown street, an urban park, a magical tattoo parlor, the New Mexico desert where the hijacking occurs, and, the interior of the starship. Projections and computer animations will simulate the lift off and hyperdrive effects of  Jerry Garcia’s guitar riffs, and the audience will thrill to extraordinary theatrical effects.

The show is currently in development, with a series of readings and an out-of-town workshop production conducted prior to the show’s premiere on Broadway.