Monstersongs - The VR Rock Musical

Something wicked this way rocks. When the fears of the day turn into monsters at night, only you can save the kid from the monster inside. Take center stage in this VR Rock Musical and explore an abandoned theater to solve the mystery that brought you to this strange place.

Written by Broadway's Lightning Thief composer Rob Rokicki and with original art design by David O'Neill.

Experience the story about a missing teenager, lost in his own mind. The fears of the day, turn into monsters by night. Each monster represents someone from his real life. The homeless person becomes the Troll in the orchestra pit, the noisy neighbour with the crazy hair becomes Medusa in the dressing room, Teenage Zombie and Vampire Girl are two teenagers from school, longing to be recognised by the popular boy. Each monster tells you in heartfelt songs about their true longing. Interacting with them will lead you to uncover why the boy is trapped in his mind and how you can save him. But be careful or else you become the monster you fear most.

Interact with your environment. Find out what happens when you press the wrong key on the old piano or when you open the stage curtain. A lantern will show you hidden clues only its light can reveal. Watch the performances happen all around you and interact with the monsters.
Monstersongs has a modern musical rock score and speaks to people who like Nightmare Before Christmas and Stray Gods.

We want to offer the player the unique opportunity to step into a musical world.
Monstersongs VR flips the switch on the monster narrative, inviting players to explore the humanity that binds us all.

Scary, silly and heartfelt, combining the best of both worlds theatre and gaming with the help of Unreal Engine.


Inspiration
Bridging the gap between theatre and gaming.

Monstersongs VR is inspired by site-specific theatre (Secret Cinema, Punchdrunk).
With Monstersongs I combine by background in gaming and theatre to bring musicals to the virtual stage. I worked on site-specific shows in which the audience get to explore a space and interact with performers, thus allowing them to create a personal experience.

This inspired me to adapt the musical Monstersongs into an immersive VR experience.
VR offers the unique opportunity to bring theatrical performances to people’s homes and immerse themselves in the play. Often theatre productions struggle to break even. Only 2 out of 10 shows make a profit. This is since theatres are location based and limited by venue capacities. Bringing theatre performances to VR means that people around the world can access them. This invites people with different backgrounds to step into a theatre and experience shows.

Unlike film VR offers the player the ability to interact with the performers. Using the latest Unreal Engine’s tools to create realistic performances that allow the player to fully immerse themselves. Put on the headset and you can be inside a theatre.

Monstersongs serves as a milestone in a long-term goal to establish a VR musical theatre studio that offers a virtual stage for musicals. The team behind Monstersongs consists of industry professionals from both the theatre and gaming world. We want to bridge the gap between both industries and foster long-term collaborations.

Monstersongs has been selected for the Press Start: Games Founding Grant. The Games Founding Grant is organised by game – The German Games Industry Association in cooperation with the Foundation for Digital Games Culture. It is funded by the Minister of State for Culture and the Media.