For the past year and a half, long-time musical collaborators Lucas Papaelias (a.k.a. LPfunK) and Deborah C. Smith have been
creating a new rock musical called Pyramidica: Songs of Freedom. This Summer, we have been invited to take Pyramidica to the New Writers. New Plays. Festival on Martha's Vineyard. As writers, this month-long artist-residency, culminating in 3 public readings, is a dream coming true. In order to continue on this journey we've started, we need your financial support.
THE MUSICAL
Pyramidica: Songs of Freedom is an
ironic, humorous, and fast-paced rock musical featuring
an original score of hard-hitting, melodic tunes, with a throbbing pulse
and infectious hooks, that takes its audience on a
exploration of the power of the pyramid schemes role in the pursuit of the
new American Dream: to achieve
success, and ultimately, freedom, by working Smarter, Not Harder.
Pyramidica
takes place at the "free" orientation for
a pyramid-scheme company, called "Pyramidica", which has created an
algorithm that
can quantify freedom. Company members and clients use the algorithm to make choices in their
lives based on the calculated amount of "Freedom" their actions will
produce. We follow several characters at various levels of the pyramid scheme on their individual journeys to discover their Freedom.
The
moral of our story is that Freedom, in any form, cannot be obtained without
some sort of a compromise. Once we can figure out what it is that makes us feel free, and can learn to compromise along the way, we will be better prepared to make our own choices and find balance and meaning in our daily
existence.
THE FESTIVAL
New Writers. New Plays. is an annual festival of new works by emerging playwrights. Hosted by Vineyard Arts Project and Art Farm, and situated in the gorgeous setting of Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard, the
playwrights, directors, and actors team up for the first time to focus on the creation of the new play or musical. The
month-long residency culminates with a three-day festival of public
readings.
THE CAST
We are thrilled to be collaborating on the script and songs with
a cast of incredibly talented professional theater artists, all with
extensive Broadway and Off-Broadway credits, including Jenni Barber, Damon Daunno, Erica Nadera, Flaco Navaja, Kevin Mambo, Anne Nathan, Matthew White, our Music Director John Pratt and Director Lou Moreno.
Through this workshop, we will prepare Pyramidica for the next phase of development: a presentation in New York
for prospective producers and agents, with hopes of gathering support
for another workshop and/or a production at an Off-Broadway or regional
theater.
THE MONEY
To best support ourselves in this opportunity, we are starting a campaign to raise funds for the following crucial elements of production:
-
Music Director, to help transcribe all of our writing to sheet music ($1000)
-
Sibelius music notation software ($500)
-
ZOOM H3 audio recorder, to archive the rehearsal process and keep track of musical changes in real time, and be able to enter these developments quickly into the scoring software. ($300)
- external hard drive, to save and preserve all of our new work ($250)
-
recording microphones ($250)
-
MIDI keyboard ($250)
We are prepared to contribute what additional funds we can to reach our
goal, and are extremely grateful for any contributions towards our
efforts. If we reach only part of this funding goal, it will be applied
directly to purchasing the software to create the score, and the
professional music director who we are hiring to help us do it. With
our music scored, it will be easier for us to move forward with any future development process.
THE PERKS!
Find your place in the Pyramid!
Help us lay a strong foundation for our Pyramid... and revel in some of these exciting perks to supporting our project!
$10- Be a Builder!
Get your name in our N.W.N.P. Festival program as a sponsor of Pyramidica
$25- Be a Brewer!
Get a copy of the festival program signed by the Pyramidica cast! PLUS...
Get your name in our N.W.N.P. Festival program as a sponsor of Pyramidica
$50- Dance with the Concubines!
Get a one-of-a-kind Pyramidica Company tee shirt! PLUS...
Get a copy of the festival program signed by the Pyramidica cast!
Get your name in our N.W.N.P. Festival program as a sponsor of Pyramidica
$100- Craft with the Artisans!
Get copies of the ITHACA E.P. (LPfunK's original rock musical) and Stay Awake (Deborah's original solo CD)! PLUS...
Get a one-of-a-kind Pyramidica Company tee shirt, a copy of the festival program signed by the Pyramidica cast, and your name in our N.W.N.P. Festival program as a sponsor of Pyramidica!
$250- Join the Advisors!
Get a new audio recording of the songs from Pyramidica! PLUS...
Get copies of the ITHACA EP (LPfunK's original rock musical), Stay Awake (Deborah's original solo CD), a one-of-a-kind Pyramidica Company tee shirt, a copy of the festival program signed by the Pyramidica cast, and your name in our NWNP Festival program as a sponsor of Pyramidica!
$500- You Will Be Appointed as our Pharaoh!
Get a private living room concert of the entire piece, performed by Deborah & Lucas!!! PLUS everything above! And you will be a Pharaoh!
Invite your friends over and blow their minds with a live performance of a new original rock musical happening in your own home!
Other Ways You Can Help
NO contribution is too small...If you can't contribute financially at this time, please consider helping us by forwarding the link to this page to anyone that you think may be interested in our project and willing to support, post it on Facebook or Twitter and spread the word! Even just setting an intention for us to succeed is helpful and we thank you in abundance for your positive thoughts!
The CLOSER
In this day and age, taking an original creative idea from concept to production takes more than just will power and stamina. It takes work, experience, time, money, support, love, practice, dedication, a profound belief in what you are doing and the energy to press on despite all obstacles.
We are so grateful to all who have helped us to get this far already, and we thank you in advance for your generosity, your belief in our ability to achieve our goals and your willingness to support us further.
ROCK ON and we'll see you at the Orientation!
xo
Deborah & Lucas
