Treble Entendre: Dogboy & Justine

[rm]

Hey folks, mithrigil and I have just launched a Kickstarter.com fund raising project in order to bring a workshop production of Dogboy & Justine, a new musical about life, love and head injuries, to the stage.

For those who have been here a long time, you'll know that this project started life as a short play that has had two productions in New York City. With Mith's awesome music and lyrics talent and experience structuring musical theater, we're developing it into a full-length production that includes a diverse, female-focused cast and explores issues of friendship, beauty, sexuality, desire, ability and expectation.

The way Kickstarter works is that we don't get any funding if we don't reach the minimum we need for the project -- you can't execute on half a budget after all. So, not only are we grateful for any contributions you want to make to this project, but also for any signal boosting you can do. Minimum donation amount is a $1, and you're not charged until fund-raising closes on December 21st, and then only if we reach our goal.

Finally, I know many of the donation premiums are very NYC-focused (although you can donate no matter where you are!). I want to let you know that we're working on a way to make an online version available for donors of a certain level, so that we can do a digital talk-back with those who are outside the immediate area as well.

We're looking to get this on the stage in the first half of 2011, and from there tune-up, refine, and bring something bigger and better to NYC via, we hope, a vehicle like NYMF, or a self-managed Off-off Broadway or Off-Broadway production.

We can't do this without you. And we wouldn't want to.

Comments

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Love the logo!

Please let us know when those of us not in NYC can donate, I would love to be able to contribute to this show!

[rm.livejournal.com]

You can totally donate via the site! It's just an issue of premium delivery (if you premium includes a ticket to the show!)

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Ha! Awesome!

Now that this is public, I'm going to tell my musical theatre loving BFF about this, she'll be psyched as well :)

[rm.livejournal.com]

That's awesome. Spread the link far and wide. It's how this happens.

[lookingaround17.livejournal.com]

I am wandering through people's friends' list and saw this and wanted to comment. First, although I think kickstarter is a good idea, the fact that they only let people donate through that amazon thing made someone almost lose my decent (three-figure) contribution until he got back to me and said I could send it via paypal, which I did. I just wanted to mention that I was not the only one choosing this option, according to the page for the project. Also, huh: head injuries and love life. I got electrocuted a few years back, and resultant brain damage, and MAN, does it change everything in some ways: people with no desire, nothing but desire, no memory of the desire or what happened, not perceiving that it's happening, whatever. That might be an interesting project. Good luck with it.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much.

In the first iteration of the play, which was only ten minutes along, I didn't have room to really work with the character who has had the accident experience (or, you know, anyone). This time, thankfully, we're able to give him a whole story, both pre- and post- accident in which he is very much the same person but also changed. I hope we can do it well. So far, I'm nearly sure he gets my favorite song in the whole show (song favorite may change, since they're still being written), and when I do casting, I certainly at least want to look at actors living with disabilities or experiences like this for the role.

And yeah, Amazon. I had to set it all up with them, and I was like "ack, what?!?" as I'm all about the Paypal myself. But I'm glad they have it as a donation option.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! Our designer is AWESOME.

[lookingaround17.livejournal.com]

It seems less like "they' have it as a donation option, and more like "the individual folks looking for money let it be somehow discreetly known that they will take money anyway possible, even behind the back of kickstarter", was my feeling about it. If you ever want to chitchat with me about brain injuries or whatever, feel free: I'm hoping to add people to my journal, but am not supersuccessful as of yet, since I hardly ever ask them! ahahaha!

[rm.livejournal.com]

We'll you're welcome around here.

And thank you, I may take you up on it!

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

I feel really old for asking this, but, is this donation tax deductable? (JFC I feel so old and goofy for asking but it really is the question that popped into my mind.)

It's getting to be the time of year I figure out what things I'm going to fund for the up`coming year and funding this production counts as a good thing in my book and doubly so if it's tax deductable. ;-p

[rm.livejournal.com]

It is, alas, not. We're not a non-profit, nor is that something we're looking into at this stage.

Thank you for being excited about it either way though!

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

hee hee...

I've got more than enough left in my mad money kitty (earned from nude modeling for a life drawing session) to be one of your angels! ;-p I love being an art patron! :-D

[rm.livejournal.com]

And we love having you! Patronage is weird and awesome, and I definitely wander around on both sides of that experience.

yay!

[axeslade.livejournal.com]

Done a bit of signal boosting and will be contributing a bit once I get paid (and as an aside, seeing awesome stuff like this getting started is really helping kick me out of a depressive swing which hopefully means I can start creating again myself).

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! And yay, more stuff. Unlike some things, where scarcity increases value, if more people make art, more people value art!

[adelheid-p.livejournal.com]

Do you know about The WorkShop Theater Company? I have a friend who has had his plays read and performed there. (In fact, I try to pop in whenever something of his is performed but my schedule doesn't always allow it. And he's in the benefit performance of Verbatim Verboten which I will have to miss.) I don't know where you are with the work or if this would be helpful at all but I thought I'd mention it. I'll boost the signal, too.

[lovefromgirl.livejournal.com]

The play sounds like something that'd do well upstate, too -- Syracuse and Rochester both have thriving theatre communities. Let me see what I can spare for y'all, okay?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[spreadsothin.livejournal.com]

So much of your writing resonates with me, that it was great to see you speaking in the video, and great to see you collaborating with Erica K who I went to a performing arts summer camp with! So exciting.
I supported in my small budget artist way, but I do have a nugget of advice (that may or may not be helpful, but that I hope is!)

which is that if you can raise sizable money (3k) by offering tax-deductible status, tax-deductible status is then available if you work through an umbrella organization like The Field

link is here: http://www.thefield.org/t-Sponsored_Artist_Program.aspx

All the best with this production!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the information, the donation, and the enthusiasm!

[mithrigil.livejournal.com]

--You're from French Woods? I really should know who you are, shouldn't I. Hi~

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Our pledge is in. As I noted to Mith, I'm planning to pimp this more once we have the final version of Inception, so I can include this in my emails about that as "something else cool by the same group".

As this goes on, I'd love to pick your brain about the experience using kickstarter and how this goes. The part of my who's a tool and uses "monetize" in regular conversation is deathly curious.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And absolutely.

Right now, I can say that my gut is that Kickstarter is great for two types of scenarios. One is small, less expensive projects than ours that produce a physical object: i.e., "help me make my comic" -- donations are really advance sales.

The other, that works is for projects like ours (and larger, and I'll eventually be using Kickstarter to help finance a short film project of mine in all probability), really requires that the people running the show know an ass-load of people and be convincing, funny motherfuckers. I think we're okay on that front, but time will tell.

Basically: stuff you can touch and charisma, seem to be the two key factors.

[spreadsothin.livejournal.com]

hi! I just sent you a message on facebook. Not that we were super close, but I was there in 03 and 04...