This past April, inside the historic Los Angeles El Rey Theater, Summerfall Studios took centre stage to present Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical. Laura Bailey came out of the wings as Grace, the game’s protagonist bestowed with the powers of a Muse, riffing off Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory’s accompanying piano. Fellow cast members including Mary Kate Elizabeth McGlynn as Persephone and Ashley Johnson as Calliope also joined her, alongside choices presented to the audience that players will be able to make in the game when it releases later this week.
It was a unique, perhaps risky presentation for an indie studio’s debut game - one in which former Dragon Age lead writer and Summerfall founder David Gaider admitted to doubting in a blog post following the event. But it also helped celebrate Stray Gods’ musical theatre DNA, signaling that the game itself is made by theatre geeks for theatre geeks.
Speaking to TheGamer, Gaider and Wintory come across as nothing short of musical theatre fanboys. When asked about the inspirations for Stray Gods beyond the shows discussed previously, West Side Story, Into The Woods, Hamilton, Rent and Book of Mormon all spring to mind.
Gaider excitedly hints at a Disney-esque number in the game, whilst Wintory calls Leonard Bernstein’s and Stephen Sondheim’s works a representation of “the bar [Stray Gods] feebly aspired to.” It’s a tall order to even attempt to match the storytelling and lyrical prowess of such legends; let alone doing so whilst creating the very first musical RPG.
Something Summerfall understood from the first note was to blend the developmental approach of writing a musical with that of creating a game. This meant a level of significant, organic collaboration between Summerfall, Wintory, Australian band Tripod and singer Montaigne, and finally, the voice actors. This level of collaboration is incredibly rare, especially for a game including several different songs each with over 40 minutes of potential replayability depending on what decisions the player decides to make.
“I can remember numerous times where we changed entire lines or sections because of something the actor brought up, and I always appreciated their willingness and enthusiasm,” Gaider tells me. He cites the performance of Rahul Kohli as Asterion (Minotaur) as an example, who’s characterised as more of an “awkward doofus” unlike the original Greek mythology. “Rahul brought this wonderfully disarming charm to Asterion, and there were several points in his song where Rahul suggested that he was not singing as well as he actually can. Why? Because Asterion being not a great natural singer made sense for his character and would make the result more endearing. And he was right.”
To give every character a unique sound, the actors’ influence extended to the production of their songs. During recording sessions, Wintory rarely provided more than a piano or a guitar track for the actors to sing to. Additional instrumentation was only added later; it’s a method that brings to mind how Broadway composers will rewrite elements during a show’s run to better display their cast’s capabilities and personalities.
“If, on a given take, Laura decided to do something especially big and full, it gave me latitude to make the final arrangement more robust,” Wintory explains. “In contrast, other moments were made more intimate than I’d imagined and I responded accordingly. A different cast would’ve absolutely yielded different results.”
Another change Summerfall adapted to in blending two different developmental methodologies was Stray Gods’ branching choice system. When it came to writing choices players could make within the songs and maintaining sonic, narrative, and lyrical coherency for every choice, the limitations of traditional dialogue decisions were quickly discovered.
“If we look at one of the songs included in the demo, the ‘I Can Teach You Song’ where Grace engages in a tug-of-war between her friend, Freddie, and the god Pan, you’ll see a point early on where your choice establishes a lyrical hook,” Gaider explains. “In the red (Kickass) path, it’s ‘my time to shine.’ In the blue (Clever) path, it’s ‘morning fades.’ In the green (Charming) path, it’s ‘lost girl, lost girl.’ After that lyrical hook is established, you’ll hear it repeated in the chorus no matter which path of the song you then take - which thus requires an additional layer of branching beyond that which the narrative alone demands.
“Could we have simply used the same hook throughout and saved ourselves the trouble? Sure, but that wouldn’t have worked with the tones of those paths – in one, Grace is leaning towards Freddie. In another, she’s leaning towards Pan. And in the third, she’s determined to go it alone. It’s ultimately three different songs spun together into one, a song that needs to unfold in a way where it not only reacts to the player’s choices but also feels like that’s what it was always meant to be.” The end result was a game with far more branching content and choices than planned.
While Gaider’s and Wintory’s intention was for each song to feel as though woven together deliberately, players familiar with theatre may be reminded of classic improv techniques as they guide Grace through her journey. There’s also a sense of layered meta-ness and fourth-wall-breaking, like you’re truly stepping into a different scene while still remaining firmly in your seat.
Few know how to effectively transfer this aspect of the stage to TV or film, unless there’s an absurd element at play, as with the demon in Buffy’s musical episode (another source of inspiration for Stray Gods). But it marries well with the concept of interactivity in video games. Like Grace, you are the “initiator and the conductor,” but you cannot fully control what the characters sing as their truths unravel. The characters are aware they’re participating in dramatic musical numbers, leaning into that absurdity for the sake of humour and drama.
“I hope it resonates,” Gaider admits. “We’re at a tough time, culturally speaking, and I think a lot of our audience might find common ground with Grace as someone who’s feeling a bit adrift and unsure where they’re supposed to go next. The entire point of this musical is about providing an experience that we’re hoping will touch the audience’s soul, something that goes a bit beyond your typical adventure. If Grace’s story manages that, even in a small way, I know I’ll be happy.”
My own life also mirrors that of Grace's: I’m a woman in her twenties with no college degree also in search of direction and purpose in the world, who can be self-possessed at times and unsure at others. When I first played the demo, it shocked me how accurately Stray Gods depicts the struggle of figuring out your life as a young woman. For Gaider, this was a perspective he felt deserved to be given the spotlight.
“Why an original story? Why not a retelling or a male protagonist? Why Grace? There’s something to be said about the typical idea of a ‘male-oriented’ adventure, AKA the Hero’s Journey, versus what a ‘female-oriented’ adventure might look like. That maybe it’s less about overcoming an obstacle, and more about self-discovery and figuring out that the view you have of yourself isn’t necessarily the true one.”
I know so many people who’ve said musical theatre gave them a home, whether on Broadway or within their local communities. It’s a space to simply be and explore who they are, and that reflects their best self back at them. When I hear the “lost girl” hook in “I Can Teach You” - a song that impressively subverts Into The Woods’ Hello, Little Girl and Hadestown’s Hey, Little Songbird despite Wintory claiming no inspiration was taken from those numbers - I think maybe I’ll have a little more clarity when Stray Gods’ credits roll. Who knows? You might too.