New York theater critics have given mixed reviews to the new Off-Broadwy musical Space Dogs, based on the true story of Soviet dog Laika and the scientist who sent her into space during the Cold War. The creative team includes Van Hughes and Nick Blaemire (book, music, lyrics), Ellie Heyman (direction), Darrell Grand Moultrie (choreo), Wilson Chin (sets), Haydee Zelideth Atuñano (costumes), Mary Ellen Stebbins (lights), Nathan Leigh (sound), Stefania Bulbarella and Alex Basco Koch (projections), and Amanda Villalobos (puppets, props). The cast includes writers Van Hughes and Nick Blaemire. The show plays at MCC Theater through March 13.
New York Theatre Guide (Joe Dziemianowicz): If a pair of eager-beaver performances and cute overload were enough to make Space Dogs achieve orbit, then this new Off-Broadway musical … could be categorized as out-of-this-world. But no. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know it takes more, including songs you want to hear again. … Although it’s hard to knock a show for ambition, this one tries to do too much and goes slack as it moves forward and periodically punctures the fourth wall. … In the end, the 90-minute Space Dogs feels like an overextended idea in this full-length form. It might shine brighter as a show of a more compact breed.
New York Times (Maya Phillips): Laika has been resurrected as the subject of a vapid new musical. … It’s informative, in a slipshod way, but also hopelessly cheesy, packed with dad jokes, puns, silly accents and even a doggie beauty contest. Space Dogs gives off the vibe of a B-grade educational children’s show. … Hughes and Blaemire attack their material with such enthusiasm; their earnestness is palpable, even taking into account the corniness of the book and their imperfect vocals. … What would my own dog think of such a show, I wondered as I left the theater. I’m betting he’d prefer to keep his paws on the ground.
Theater Mania (Kenji Fujishima): Space Dogs is as the theatrical equivalent of the popular NPR science podcast Radiolab. It’s the kind of show that feels a need to jazz up a potentially dry subject with an excess of flashy technique and cutesy antics. Some might find Nick Blaemire and Van Hughes’s new historical show charming for that reason. I found it overbearing. … Moments that evince an actual political and moral perspective on history, however, are overwhelmed by Blaemire and Hughes’s insistent desire to entertain at all costs. This well-intentioned musical ends up feeling like something they most likely didn’t intend: an insult to audience intelligence.
Time Out (Raven Snook): Like the canine cosmonaut at the heart of the two-man musical Space Dogs, Van Hughes and Nick Blaemire want to be loved. … The writer-performers give us everything in their arsenal: projections, live feeds, puppy puppets, goofy props and broad characterizations, a pastiche pop-rock score with plentiful harmonies. But it’s hard to share their obsession. … Looking into the eyes of the real-life Soviet space dogs in a small exhibit of photographs in front of the theater only underscores the musical’s glibness. Hughes and Blaemire seem to genuinely adore that history was changed by dogs, but the show is all lark and no bite.