Sweet story demonstrates strong bonds of friendship

An extraterrestrial crash-lands on Earth and strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young boy. Sound familiar?

No, it's not “E.T.,” but the same Spielbergian motifs touching on a sense of wonder and the power of friendship pervades “Your Alien,” a musical coming to Dublin this weekend.

“It’s a story about mainly friendship, about family and how these two very different kids connect and become friends,” said Gary Blackman, the managing director and co-founder of the Artspower National Touring Theatre.

The New Jersey-based production company is touring the musical, which is based on a 2015 children’s book of the same name by author Tammi Sauer and illustrator Goro Fujita. The Abbey Theater in the Dublin

Community Recreation Center will host a performance at 11 a.m. Saturday.

“They do fantastic musical productions,” Abbey Theater manager Michael Schirtzinger said of Artspower, a frequent partner. “The talent is exceptional, and the writing and meaning and stories are always cute.”

The story of “Your Alien” follows George, a young boy with wanderlust who wakes up one morning to find that a spaceship has landed in his backyard. He meets Meep, the young alien aboard the vessel, and the two become fast friends.

At first, Meep communicates only by uttering — what else? — “meep.” But the intelligent lifeform quickly learns some English after reading through a spelling book on George's bedroom shelf.

“He’s very intelligent, but he doesn’t know it,” said Jeorgi Smith, the actress who portrays Meep. “This is new to him; everything’s exciting.”

Their adventures together, as well as Richard Derosa’s Broadway-style musical numbers, make the one-hour production resonate with its young audience, Blackman said.

“It ranges from some musical comedy to a beautiful ballad,” he said. “I hope they get out of it the heart and emotion from this friendship, the joy of exploration and the joy of learning.”

Smith — who portrays Meep by wearing a green outfit with a hood affixed with antennae — sees kids clapping, dancing and laughing at every show. It’s also not uncommon for youngsters to echo her character’s signature phrase.

“A lot of kids in the audience you’ll hear once in awhile go ‘meep meep meep,’” she said. “It’s so much fun, and I think kids truly do relate to it.”

Like “E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial,” Steven Spielberg's 1982 film, the story ends with Meep becoming homesick and searching for a way back to his planet.

But the audience will leave knowing that George and Meep formed a bond that transcends time and space.

“It’s just such a beautiful story,” Smith said. “It sends such a wonderful message to these kids that anybody — no matter what you look like or who you are — can be friends with whoever you want.”