Composing The
Heavens

T H E H E R S C H E L S I B L I N G S T O R Y

CAST SIZE

2+ Flex Casting

LENGTH

45 Min One Act

GENRE

Historical Lecture

TIME PERIOD

1750–1820

Synopsis

Composing the Heavens is an original two-actor stage work exploring the lives and scientific discoveries of William and Caroline Herschel (including the planet Uranus and Infrared Light), combining live performance, classical music and dome projection. The production is designed to be staged in a planetarium or museum space, accompanied by immersive projections of the character’s actual astronomical discoveries and contributions. Throughout the performance, the cast performs selections from original compositions by William Herschel, written between 1760 and 1782.

LETTER OF SUPPORT

Inspiration | Examples of Previous Work

​The project draws on several decades of experience from theatrical work for non-traditional venues and formats. The combination of historical and musical elements for theatrical presentation is similar to productions by Hershey Felder (George Gershwin Alone, Monsieur Chopin, Beethoven), John Doyle (Company, Sweeney Todd) and John de Lancie (Schumann). Separately, the Sherwood Observatory has previously programmed a successful piano concert where star projections were accompanied by Chris Miggells (WATCH CLIP).  Brendan Andolsek Bradley is one of the few theatre-makers in the world with experience staging live, music-led theatrical work inside immersive dome environments, including an original production at the Museum of Science, Boston. On a site tour at Sherwood Observatory to discuss blending performance, music, and projection within dome spaces, he conceived the script for Composing The Heavens and literally began researching the Herschels on the train back to London.

Felder in “Maestro Bernstein” at the Geffen Playhouse (photo by Michael Lamont)

Chris Miggells accompanies star-light projections at the Sherwood Observatory (2025).

Bradley performs live musical with synchronized virtual reality projections in Boston’s Mugar Omni (2021).

Digital Twin

Bradley’s virtual reality musical premiered at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival inside a hotel conference space. The collaboration resulted in a “digital twin” of the venue inside Spatial for the team to test projections, sightlights, and equipment load-in prior to arriving in Scotland. For Composing The Heavens, we wish to expand this partnership as an exploration of a scalable model to workshop and rehearse touring productions inside virtual venues prior to arrival on-site. The team shall adapt the Observatory into a playable 3D environment where they may fully stage and prepare the production’s physical and projected components. This production pipeline may be iterated for future venues and productions.