Cryptids and Comedy

By Dakota Parks for Inweekly

Monsters, cryptids and creatures that go bump in the night often get a bad rap. But for 17-year-old high school senior Desmond Anzaldo-Satterwhite, they might just deserve a second look, and maybe even a love song.

That’s exactly what audiences can expect from “Mothman the Musical,” an original production from the Pensacola Little Theatre Education Department.

“The initial inspiration came from the movie ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall,’ where a music composer who usually makes music for thrillers randomly gets this idea for a puppet musical of ‘Dracula,’” Anzaldo-Satterwhite said. “I just really loved the idea of adapting a character that’s so well-known.”

Taking something familiar and reimagining it with depth and narrative became the foundation for the musical, created by Anzaldo-Satterwhite alongside his co-writers Gavin Bramblett and Rowan McCollum. Set in 1983 Point Pleasant, W.Va., the show pulls from real-life folklore surrounding the elusive Mothman: a towering, red-eyed, winged cryptid reportedly spotted in the late 1960s and often associated with looming disaster.

Rather than leaning into fear, though, the musical embraces curiosity and humor.

“Mothman is essentially like Bigfoot, a cryptid that people think they saw, but they’re really not sure. Maybe there’s a blurry photo, but that’s about it,” Anzaldo-Satterwhite explained. “I thought it was interesting that he’s supposed to be so scary, but in reality, he’s just a big, fuzzy moth. Unfortunately, it’s kind of scary to people that he’s so big.”

The story begins with a childhood sighting that sends the small town into a frenzy, turning Mothman into local legend. 17 years later, a journalist sets out to uncover the truth, despite pushback from her editor—who happens to be the same boy who first claimed to see Mothman.

“The musical is definitely a comedy that humanizes Mothman throughout. It’s almost a ‘Beauty and the Beast’ kind of story,” he said. “It’s relatively cliché, but it’s a very playful version. Act one is entirely silliness, and it’s only in act two that the tension and stakes kind of raise, but the story never loses its humor.”

Alongside Mothman, the show introduces a cast of fellow cryptids—some recognizable, others delightfully obscure. From the Jersey Devil and the Loveland Frog to the chupacabra and the Abominable Snowman, each cryptid expands the musical’s offbeat universe.

“Each character sort of starts out depicted how the media would portray them; like, ‘If you’re going to be angry at us for how we look, then we’ll be angry right back at you.’ But near the end, you get to see this redemption arc,” he said.

Beneath the humor, the musical questions just how monstrous and misunderstood Mothman and his fellow cryptids are.

“I wanted to point out that it’s really just his visual appearance that makes Mothman anything unhuman. Even though he is a moth, he is also a man, and that’s a big part of the show,” he continued.

Anzaldo-Satterwhite not only wrote the script but is taking on the role of Mayor Perkins. His co-writer Gavin Bramblett plays the newspaper owner, a character tied directly to the original Mothman sighting that kicks off the show’s mythology. While the production keeps its staging simple, period-inspired costumes help ground the story in its 1980s setting.

The musical is being produced through the education department at Pensacola Little Theatre, where Anzaldo-Satterwhite developed the project as part of a high school class. Under the guidance of Education Director Topher Warren, the opportunity came with a challenge—finish the script in time, and it could potentially be staged by the class. Anzaldo-Satterwhite and his co-writers delivered.

The path to his first staged production has been shaped by years of involvement in theater, starting in early childhood and continuing through high school productions and community shows across Pensacola.

“The first show I ever did was when I was five, and I started to really love it and kept doing as many shows as possible,” he said. “But I really could not have done this without Pensacola Little Theatre.”

“I think the best thing about theater is that the community is so kind and understanding,” he added. “People I would never talk to in any other situation, I can immediately become friends with. It helps get me out of my own shell. Pretty much all of my close friends now I’ve met through theater.”

That sense of collaboration naturally led to writing. Inspired by films, books and countless hours of discussion, he found himself wanting to create stories of his own.

“I love watching movies and discussing them with my friends,” he said. “I’ve kind of developed a critique of like, ‘Oh, I think this could have been written better.’ Then I was kind of like, ‘Why don’t I just write it?’”

With “Mothman the Musical,” he’s done exactly that, taking a piece of folklore and reshaping it into something funny, strange and unexpectedly heartfelt. And he’s not stopping there. After graduation, he plans to study theater at Florida State University and is already working on his next musical.

He said, “It’s kind of absurd, you know, Mothman falling in love, but that’s the point. It’s supposed to be lighthearted and funny, and I truly hope the audience enjoys it.”

Mothman the Musical

WHAT: An original musical following one journalist’s quest to uncover the mystery of the cryptid Mothman

WHEN: 12 p.m. Saturday, April 25

WHERE: Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St.

COST: Free

DETAILS: pensacolalittletheatre.com