Catching Venus | Amy Matthew

The story

Love Beyond the Stars

A space outlaw sees the face of a beautiful alien on a billboard and launches across a dazzling, dangerous galaxy to find her. Aerial dancers, living constellations and kinetic worlds turn the pursuit into a spectacular story about projection, freedom and real connection.

“He crossed the galaxy for an image—and found a person.”

Listen inside the story

Featured musical demos

Development recordings selected to introduce the characters, emotional arc and theatrical scale of the show.

Featured development demo

Wanted in Seven Systems

Jax and the Galactic Company
A kinetic aerial escape opens the show

Featured development demo

The Light Was Always Me

Venus and the Holographic Voices
Venus rejects the perfect image created around her

Featured development demo

I Am Not a Prize

Venus and Jax
Venus demands to be seen as a person, not a destination

Featured development demo

Neon Constellations

Venus and Jax
A romantic aerial duet among living stars

Character bible

People in motion

Each principal is designed with a dramatic need, an emotional obstacle and a visible path of change.

The Space Outlaw

JAX ARDEN

Charming, reckless and wanted across seven systems. He survives by avoiding attachment. His selfish pursuit grows into a fight for freedom.

WantsReach the woman whose image stopped himFearsSlowing down will expose the man beneath the outlawBecomesReleases possession and chooses partnership

The Woman In The Sky

VENUS AURELIA

A luminous alien singer and ambassador whose image represents peace. Intelligent and powerful, she is determined to reclaim her identity and choices.

WantsOwn her image, voice and pathFearsEvery admirer wants the product, not the personBecomesSteps outside the frame and chooses for herself

The Bounty Hunter

RHEA VOSS

Jax's former partner and former love. Hired to capture him, she begins questioning her mission when she discovers the truth about Venus.

WantsFinish the pursuit that defines herFearsMercy will make her weakBecomesTurns pursuit into resistance

The Ship'S Personality

KIP

Jax's dramatic artificial-intelligence companion. KIP controls the ship, supplies comedy and correctly believes Jax understands nothing about romance.

WantsKeep Jax alive with logic and humorFearsEmotion will destroy every calculationBecomesChooses loyalty beyond programming

The Architect

CHANCELLOR SOL VEYRON

The elegant leader who turned Venus into the face of manufactured peace. He believes controlling one life is justified if it prevents galactic war.

WantsCreate perfect peace through controlFearsFreedom will make him irrelevantBecomesHis beautiful order fractures under choice

Supporting world

ORION AURELIA - THE SCIENTIST

Venus's brother and a secret resistance organizer. He distrusts Jax but needs the outlaw routes only Jax can navigate.

Supporting world

THE CELESTIAL COMPANY

Citizens, soldiers, androids, smugglers, floating creatures and inhabitants of many planets. Each world has its own movement and visual language.

Supporting world

THE AERIAL COMPANY

Aerial dancers embody planetary rings, zero gravity, meteor storms, living constellations and the invisible forces drawing Jax and Venus together.

Supporting world

THE ENFORCERS

Veyron's precision-trained guards. Their synchronized, geometric choreography contrasts with the resistance's fluid individuality.

Supporting world

THE RESISTANCE

Performers from many worlds who reclaim the communication network and transform Venus's billboard from propaganda into truth.

Preliminary score map

Musical numbers

Song titles and placements are developmental and will evolve with the book and score.

Act One

1. WANTED IN SEVEN SYSTEMSJax and Company - A kinetic aerial escape opens the show.

2. THE UNIVERSE NEVER STOPSCelestial Company - Transforming worlds awaken.

3. FACE IN THE SKYJax - He first sees Venus on the holographic billboard.

4. OUTLAW'S GUIDE TO LOVEKIP and Jax - Proof Jax is unqualified for romance.

5. CATCHING VENUSJax and Company - The impossible pursuit begins.

6. EVERY PLANET LIESRhea - The bounty hunter tracks him across worlds.

7. MADE OF LIGHTVenus - A public performance hides a private question.

8. ACROSS THE RINGSCompany - The act's largest travel and aerial spectacle.

9. DON'T FOLLOW MERhea and Jax - A warning neither can ignore.

10. BEHIND THE BILLBOARDJax and Venus - He discovers she is a prisoner.

Act Two

1. GRAVITY HAS TEETHJax, Venus and Company - Escape through a collapsing palace.

2. NOT A PRIZEVenus - She confronts Jax about chasing an image.

3. THE MAN THEY WARNED ME ABOUTVenus - She sees the compassion behind his reputation.

4. A MILLION MILES BETWEEN USJax and Venus - A duet across two spacecraft.

5. PERFECT PEACEVeyron - His seductive argument for control.

6. NEON CONSTELLATIONSJax and Venus - A romantic aerial duet among living stars.

7. STEAL BACK THE SKYOrion, Rhea and Resistance - The uprising begins.

8. IF WE SURVIVE SUNRISECompany - Hope before the final confrontation.

9. LET ME CHOOSE YOUVenus and Jax - She reclaims choice; he releases possession.

10. CATCHING VENUS - FINALEFull Company - The galaxy hears Venus's true voice.

Creative foundation

The world onstage

AERIAL STORYTELLING

Aerial dancers create planetary rings, zero-gravity battles, meteor storms and living constellations. Flight must reveal emotion and advance the narrative, never function as decoration alone.

MUSIC

Cinematic pop and R&B meet electronic dance and orchestral scale. Each planet receives a distinct rhythmic and instrumental identity while recurring themes bind the galaxy together.

SCENERY

Moving platforms become spacecraft, floating cities, palaces and bridges through space. Projection, star curtains, light sculpture and practical scenery should coexist so the world feels tangible.

COSTUMES

Translucent materials, internal light and non-Earth silhouettes distinguish the worlds. Venus begins in controlled symmetry; her costumes become freer as she takes back her identity.

THE BILLBOARD

Venus's enormous holographic face recurs throughout the show. It begins as an object of fantasy and propaganda, then transforms into the means by which she tells the galaxy the truth.

DEVELOPMENT NOTE

This Playbill preserves the first foundation. Character histories, planets, scene order and song titles remain flexible until the book and score are drafted.

Foundation edition

Development Playbill

Open the detailed story foundation with character profiles, the full preliminary song map and production language.

Read the Playbill