Interview: Zena Wood & Kit Goldstein Grant on WITCHES AND ALIENS at The Duplex

This week on June 12, 13 and 14, 2025, at 7 pm, you can get your fill of the supernatural at Double Bill: Witches and Aliens, a comedic, entertaining and otherworldly evening of two hysterical theatrical works. The evening will be presented at The Duplex Cabaret Theatre in the West Village and consists of a double-header of Zena Wood’s ENCOUNTER: A Space Cabaret, and Kit Goldstein Grant’s CHRISTMAS EVE IN DIKANKA: A Musical In-Concert. It is produced in association with Theatre Now New York, with Jen Wineman directing and choreographing. Theatre Now New York is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development, production, publication, and circulation of short and full-length musicals by providing ongoing support for writers and their work in order to nurture voices and forms that push the boundaries of musical theatre.

The cast for CHRISTMAS EVE IN DIKANKA: A Musical In-Concert includes Juan Calix (Intl. Tour: Sister Act), RJ Christian (Dungeons and Dragons: The Twenty-Sided Tavern), Rebecca Larkin (Bway: South Pacific), Madeline Kunkowski (Nat. Tour: Dog Man: The Musical) and Brian Charles Rooney (Bway: The Threepenny Opera). The previously announced cast for ENCOUNTER: A Space Cabaret includes Zena Wood (a.k.a. Space Weather Girl) and Brandon M. Weber.

Encounter is an original comedy-driven space cabaret / musical featuring all-new songs - including the soon-to-be intergalactic hit “Five Ways to Die on Mars,” written by collaborator and New York native Kit Goldstein Grant. Encounter is previewing in New York ahead of its full run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe at Just the Tonic from July 31 to August 24, 2025.

Christmas Eve in Dikanka: A Musical In-Concert is new musical based on the story by Ukrainian novelist Nikolai Gogol. It’s Christmas Eve in Dikanka, and a blacksmith must find fancy shoes like those worn by the Czarina in the next few hours or lose the heart of his lady love. But when the Devil comes to town, will he give up his soul for a sole? And what will he do about his mother, who is a promiscuous witch? No really, an actual witch. This loosely adapted take on Nikolai Gogol’s story sets the show in a meta-theatrical universe which combines a Ukrainian 19th-century absurdist tone and a modern sensibility, plus a lotta slapstick.

We spoke with Kit and Zena about this production and the process of developing these exciting new works. Read our conversation below.

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What are you looking forward to about performing your show at The Duplex as part of this double bill?

Zena Wood: I'm excited to be with an audience. Kit and I have been working on creating this double bill since last year, all the pieces have come together, and I can't wait to have fun with an audience and with both our shows. The audience is really the other half of the equation - and it's exciting to feel that anticipation before they arrive.

Kit Goldstein Grant: I’m looking forward to getting to share a really fun evening with audiences!  We have an incredibly talented and funny team of actors, and I can’t wait for all of their funny ideas to burst out of the rehearsal room and be let loose upon the stage. There’s also a heart to CHRISTMAS EVE IN DIKANKA, and I love watching how they let that shine through, along with all the hilarity. And how cool is it to be at The Duplex??? It’s one of my favorite venues in NYC, and aside from its history and atmosphere, it’s fun with an outrageous show like this to have a couple of drinks, which The Duplex allows for (nay, mandates!) And then, to share an evening with the talented and funny Zena Wood? It’s going to be a really fun, sometimes thought-provoking (?!), and possibly slightly tipsy evening!

Where did the inspiration for your show come from?

ZW: I loved the idea of an alien encounter being more of a human connection story. In the end, as humans, our relationships are important to us, and I thought I'd like to see how that would play out with a human-alien relationship. I also have this visual of a pool on stage - something that gave the character a breakaway. And we are indeed doing the pool! The show was actually a pilot episode script first which I then adapted for stage.

KG: I read the story CHRISTMAS EVE some years back when researching works by author Nikolai Gogol while I was writing a family musical based on his novel, THE NOSE. I loved the comedy of the story, and my husband kept suggesting I should write a Christmas show (everybody’s always looking for a Christmas show to put on!)… and he kept mentioning that Gogol’s CHRISTMAS EVE would be a good musical, hint hint. I didn’t quite see it at the time, and kept moving on to other projects, but he kept on suggesting it. It wasn’t until after we’d had a kid and I was suddenly seeing some of the mother-son relationships inherent in the story in a new light, that I finally realized I knew exactly how I wanted to focus this show and what it could be. So, it’s all my husband’s fault.

Who do you think should come see this double header?

ZW: People who love alternative comedy and enjoy finding hidden meanings (gems!) beneath the comedy, and space facts! Audiences who love a pun. Both our shows are musical comedies, so it's really a big fun night out! And let's not forget that The Duplex has three bars and one of them is inside the cabaret venue and is super tiny and cute. The Duplex really is a historic venue, and we think people will love the atmosphere during our shows as well.

KG: People who like funny feminist stories in wacky, witty packaging, fans of ridiculous theater, those who enjoy their absurdist Ukrainian literature, and anyone who wants to see some killer actors having fun on stage playing unusual characters. Do you think it sounds funny to have four guys hiding in the same coal sack in the corner of a promiscuous witch’s bedroom, trying not to be found by her surly adult son? If so, I think YOU should come see this double header!

Have you learned anything about this piece during the development and rehearsal process for this performance?

ZW: I have for sure. As a new piece written by me and then performed by me and another actor, I was aware of stepping away as the writer once we started rehearsals. But as a new piece, some rewrites came along too. And that was my two-week-long SNL experience. I learned I love saying 'new pages, everyone.' But to a point! It was great to begin settling into the character after that. Jen Wineman, our director, is incredibly skilled at working with a new piece, and her direction has been really valuable in the shaping of the characters and the direction of the show. I am very happy with the outcome.

KG: Yes! We’ve previously done a staged reading of the show and a workshop, which helped work out a couple of kinks in the show’s pacing and energy. And for all you think you know the show you’re writing, it can be a revelation when you see what the actors bring to the characters; they find depth and laughs you didn’t even know you’d written! And now I’m learning even more — the rehearsal process teaches you so much about the songs in particular, placement of dialogue over underscoring, stuff like that. And then the final test will be in front of the audience, where we find out which moments the audience responds to.

Are you working on any other upcoming projects besides this?

ZW: After previews in New York, Encounter is going on to do a full run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe at Just The Tonic - The Cask Room at the Mash House. So come see us there! We will be performing everyday, except August 12th.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

ZW: Working on original work together with Kit has been an incredibly exciting and supportive experience. There were times when Kit and I really had so much to do, and we waded through all the producing duties. I've been wading through all the slogging that comes with a new script, and then getting the lines done, and being swamped with all the To Dos. And I just want to say, it's not always easy, but write the script and do the thing and be good to yourself. New creative work, and work that means something is so important for us all today. Come see us in NYC and Edinburgh!

KG: CHRISTMAS EVE IN DIKANKA has had a lot of support in the industry, and it’s fantastic to see it picking up steam in the early days of writing. It was developed in Theatre Now New York’s Musical Writer’s Lab and The Playground Experiment, and now producer Judith Manocherian (Broadway: Swept Away, The Wiz, Pictures from Home, The Great Society, The Prom (Drama Desk), The Lifespan of a Fact, and Once On This Island (Tony)) has been supporting the show in its various stages of development, including this in-concert presentation. Huge shout out to all the people and organizations helping along the way to get new musical theater out into the world!

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WITCHES AND ALIENS runs at The Duplex on June 12, 13 and 14 at 7 pm. The evening’s runtime is two hours, plus one 15-minute intermission and suitable for theatergoers 16+.

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