Official Kickstarter to get Spring Awakening to perform on the Tonys — Page 7

" Some of the gifts for donating a certain amount are pretty interesting. Not sure if I'd personally want any of them because I'd be too afraid of it being terribly awkward but for some super fans I'm sure it's worth it. "

I hadn't taken a look at the rewards for different pledge amounts until I saw this. Wow. And people complain about the demands fans put on actors at the stage door. Sure, some of things can be conducted over skype but this sounds like a bit of a weird situation.

NJ_BroadwayGirl said: "The Kickstarter page is claiming that contributions are tax deductible and representing itself as a charity right? That's not allowed on Kickstarter, see rule 3 https://www.kickstarter.com/rules



"

DEAD!

NJ_BroadwayGirl said: "The Kickstarter page is claiming that contributions are tax deductible and representing itself as a charity right? That's not allowed on Kickstarter, see rule 3 https://www.kickstarter.com/rules"

Wow just wow. I saw that and assumed Kickstarter had changed their rule on this. (There are plenty of other sites that DO handle charitable giving.) I'm surprised Kickstarter doesn't have a filter for this. But it does throw an elephant-size wrench into this whole ridiculous saga.

HogansHero said: "NJ_BroadwayGirl said: "The Kickstarter page is claiming that contributions are tax deductible and representing itself as a charity right? That's not allowed on Kickstarter, see rule 3 https://www.kickstarter.com/rules"

Wow just wow. I saw that and assumed Kickstarter had changed their rule on this. (There are plenty of other sites that DO handle charitable giving.) I'm surprised Kickstarter doesn't have a filter for this. But it does throw an elephant-size wrench into this whole ridiculous saga"

Yup. I saw someone on Twitter who tweeted that they reported the campaign to Kickstarter for violating that rule. Who knows if anything would come of that.

they're probably offended because the whole thing is shady as hell

Ah thanks for the extra info regarding Kickstarter and non-profit info. So I guess if you donate you'll receive a receipt from Deaf West.

A tumblr post referenced this thread lol...

HogansHero said: "@greensharpie-thanks for that info. It does seem that their pages are inconsistent. the reason this is a thorn in the side is that the performance is already funded, and this is a sleazy way of repaying a loan as well as creating a ridiculous narrative. Davenport really seems to have his claws in this organization, and that's sad on so many levels."

I agree that Ken Davenport can be a ridiculous mess with his marketing tactics and ends up just unintentionally alienating fans. Another producer would have been able to do so much more for this show, but then again I heard on the Theater People podcast that no other producer was crazy enough to bring it to Broadway so fast, and the original cast (and with them the magic of the show) might have completely changed if they waited a year to transfer with another producer. But I just hate to see Deaf West's reputation go down with his. And I do think his heart is in the right place- he brought this beautiful show to Broadway in tact after all (and I also loved Daddy Long Legs, and thought the live stream was inspired). He just simply needs to learn how to market his shows without turning literally everyone off with tone-deaf tactics.

Updated On: 5/25/16 at 09:28 PM

Now, it would be something if when the list of performances comes out and Spring Awakening is on it but the Kickstarter still shows that they haven't reached $200,000 yet.

From a Think Progress article.

CULTURE

Why Does A Tony-Nominated Musical Need To Raise $200K To Perform At The Tony Awards?

BY JESSICA GOLDSTEIN MAY 25, 2016 3:50 PM



CREDIT: JOAN MARCUS



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Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening has been nominated for three Tony Awards. The cast has also been invited to perform at the ceremony, which will air live on CBS on Sunday, June 12.

There’s just one problem: They can’t afford to go.

“Our show closed in January, so we do not have a marketing budget to spend on this performance,” David J. Kurs, Deaf West’s artistic director, wrote to ThinkProgress. (Kurs is deaf, so we conducted our interview through email.) “The cost involves all of the little things that go into a performance: our cast is all over the nation, and we have to fly them in, for example. There are performance fees to pay out, we have to get our costumes and props out of storage, and so forth. The little things add up.”

The little things add up to $200,000, which Deaf West is trying to raise on Kickstarter. At press time, Deaf West was about 25 percent of the way toward that goal, with 17 days left to go in fundraising.

According to Kurs, the American Theatre Wing, which produces the Tony Awards, does not offer funds to the shows that perform. Kurs recalled that when Deaf West’s production of Big River was nominated in 2003, “We wanted to do a live production” but didn’t have the money. “The show played a highlight reel of the production instead.”

A representative from the Tony Awards had no comment.

Deaf West is using Kickstarter in part because “it had the best brand recognition” and in part because of the “nice synchronicity about it: We began this production by raising funds on Kickstarter for our small 99-seat production of this show two years ago.” Deaf West’s Spring Awakening played a sold-out engagement at Rosenthal Theatre in Los Angeles in fall 2014, then opened in New York last September at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where it concluded its critically-acclaimed run on January 9. (Read our review of the Broadway production here.)

Related Post

How Deaf West's 'Spring Awakening' Gets At The Heart Of The Show: Everyone Wants To Be Heard

When the show opened in New York, Kurs said, "We met so many people who had never seen sign language or a deaf person for that matter. I wish that more people understood the richness and depth of our language and culture, and that deaf people have so much to offer the world. Only language separates the two worlds."

Kurs claims that he was "caught off guard when the nominations were announced" and, as a result, unprepared for this financial conundrum. "I was under the impression that our chances of recognition were diminished because we had closed our limited engagement in January. I was even more thrilled, however, at the offer of a performance slot. I prefer to show the magic that we do than, say, to explain it in words."

OMG. A Director, you can paste in the contents but not the URL?



http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2016/05/25/3781956/tony-nominated-play-need-raise-200k-perform-tony-awards/

It's clear:

1. The consensus is we want to see this performance on the Tonys.

2. Contributing to the Kickstarter thing will have no effect of the performance happening because the money has of necessity already been spent.

3. The campaign will be manipulated into success so that rich people will be able to take money from gullible people of less means.

4. In my experience, being a snake oil salesperson is not something such a person can ever step away from.

I can understand the criticism RE: this campaign because there does seem to be a bit of disingenuity about it - it is not really consistent with 'crowdfunding' if a commercial producer has already funded it.

However, besides potential exposure for a National Tour or publicity for Deaf West - I don't see any commercial advantages for investing in this television spot. So (assuming these reasons aren't a good enough reason why it should only be funded by a commercial producer) if anything I see it as an admirable trait for a commercial producer to take a risk funding and/or getting loans for this spot to ensure it happens, while also seeking the support from the community.