"Coming Of Age" - A New Musical
Official Selection of the 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival
Book, Music & Lyrics by Jon Provan
Directed by Ryan Pifher
Produced by Jon Provan & Jenn Pifher
Ford Foundation Studio Theatre
The Pershing Square Signature Center
480 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
Performances
7/7 @ 7pm, 7/10 @ 9pm, 7/11 @ 5pm and 9pm, 7/12 @ 1pm & 7/13 @ 4pm
Possible Extended Run (Dates TBA)
Buy tickets here: http://www.nymf.org/tickets/2014-events/coming-age/
* THE PROJECT *
Coming Of Age is a theatrical song cycle -- a collection of short stories about growing up. Each member of the dynamic ensemble cast - Girl, Boy, Young Woman, Young Man, Woman and Man - plays multiple roles, spanning the globe and the whole of human history. They are rebels, warriors, dreamers and innocents, confronting life and leaping into the unknown. A rock-infused contemporary score, evocative lyrics and inventive staging join forces to chronicle the joys and fears of becoming yourself.
We need your help! This campaign will raise money to produce Coming Of Age in NYC's Theatre District, in July 2014, as part of The New York Musical Theatre Festival.
* THE JOURNEY *
In 2012, Jon Provan began work on what would become Coming Of Age, inspired by great contemporary theatrical song cycles (Songs For A New World, Elegies, Saturn Returns and others) to explore the trials of leaving youth behind and discovering who you really are.
Developing his songs with an ensemble of actors and friends, he shaped the piece into a suite of stories that dig deep and attempt to answer life's most troubling questions: Who am I? Is this it? Where do I go from here? And will I make it?
A workshop performance at Porch Light Productions (Glen Rock, NJ) in December 2013 for an invited audience of critical minds sharpened the focus and clarified the show's purpose, giving it just the boost it needed.
The target was always The New York Musical Theatre Festival -- the largest annual musical theatre festival in the world and the best possible launchpad for original work. Through a combination of effort and good fortune, Coming Of Age was accepted as an Invited Full Production and will be live on stage this summer!
Thank you to everyone who helped us get this far -- this opportunity is literally a dream come true! Time to give this piece its World Premiere!
* THE PITCH AND THE PROMISE *
So, about that World Premiere... <gulp!>
The budget to make this happen is $40,000 (outlined below). Producing a show in Midtown Manhattan is expensive, but the opportunities and benefits are invaluable -- world-class performance spaces, massive exposure, audiences full of important members of the theatre industry...next steps, everywhere you look.
We hope OUR next steps are a fully-funded Off-Broadway run and/or a licensing deal to take Coming Of Age around the country. We will take full advantage of everything The New York Musical Theatre Festival offers in order to make that leap.
Please help us make this future a reality -- we cannot do this without you! In exchange for your contribution, you will receive the tiered perks outlined above, as as well as our vow to pour everything we have into this production. Our creative team is already filling up with incredible artists who are inspired by the vision and engaged in bringing it to life.
Each gift is deeply appreciated. Each gift humbles and inspires us. Each and every gift makes a difference.
Thank you for helping this musical come of age! :-)
* WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO *
Share, share, share! Sharing your enthusiasm for this project via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, phone, and word of mouth is a gift that keeps on giving. Please take this project viral by passing it along to anyone and everyone you know!
^ Easy sharing links are found at the top of this page. ^
* BUDGET BREAKDOWN *
Personnel -- 45%
6 Actors, 3-4 Musicians, Director, Producer, Choreographer, Set Designer, Lighting Designer, Costume Designer, Stage Manager, Assistant Stage Manager, Casting Director & more
Festival Fees -- 25%
Participation Fee, Per-Performance Fee, Microphone Fee, Sponsored Audition
Publicity -- 10%
Print Advertisements, Website, Social Media, Photographer, Videographer, Program Printing
Materials -- 7%
Set Construction, Prop Creation, Costume Creation, Safety Treatments, Transport
Other -- 13%
Contingency, Crowdfunding Fees, Insurance
* OUR TEAM *
Jon Provan (Book/Music/Lyrics, Producer)
Jon Provan is a theatrical writer and the Senior Musical Director at Porch Light Productions in Glen Rock, NJ, where he has worked on dozens of shows since 2009. He received the 2013 NJACT Perry Award for Outstanding Music Direction (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Porch Light Productions, June 2013). The original musical Stage Fright, featuring Jon's music and lyrics, is produced annually at Porch Light, and the short-form musical My Date With A Zombie, for which he composed the score, premiered last fall at SoLuna Studio in Hauppage, NY. Jon has written hundreds of songs for rock bands and film scores, including the entire soundtrack for the upcoming New Comic Day, a feature-length motion picture (Saturday Pictures, Jupiter, FL).
Ryan Pifher (Director)
Ryan is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Porch Light Productions in Glen Rock, NJ, a theatre and performance studio that has produced nearly 100 productions since its opening in 2005. Directing credits include: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Outstanding Direction of a Musical, NJACT), [title of show], The Wedding Singer, Little Shop of Horrors, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, Noises Off (Outstanding Direction of a Play Nomination, NJACT), I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, Picasso at the Lapine Agile, The Last Five Years, RENT, Into the Woods, Fat Pig, Dinner With Friends, Play It Again, Sam. Acting credits (Member of SAG-AFTRA) include: Beyond Therapy, Information, Please (Best Actor Nomination, Spotlight On Festival), Romeo and Juliet, Round and Round the Garden, The Shape of Things, Noises Off. Writing credits include: Stage Fright: The Musical (Nominations for Outstanding Original Musical, Outstanding Direction of a Musical and Outstanding Youth Performer, NJACT).
Jenn Pifher (Producer)
Jenn Pifher is the co-owner and Managing Director of Porch Light Productions, a black box theatre and performing arts studio in Glen Rock, NJ. She has been working as a theatre professional for over 10 years, with experience in marketing, fundraising, costume design, stage management, business management and producing. Jenn previously served as the Director of Marketing and Communications for an 800-seat performing arts center in Hanover, PA, and managed fundraising campaigns, marketing and special events for the the Allied Arts Fund in Harrisburg, PA. Jenn is also the owner and creative director of Porch Light Media, a graphics and web design company.
Eric Harriz (Set Design)
Eric has been living and working in the New York arts community since 1988. He has designed for Film, Television, Dance and Theatre in the 26 years since coming to NYC. Eric has seen his theatrical and dance designs produced in such diverse venues as the Joseph Papp Public Theater in NYC, El Teatro De Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico, and Theater Artaud in San Francisco, CA. Over the past 26 years, he has had the pleasure of collaborating with many talented Directors and Choreographers, including Liviu Ciulei from Romania, Cynthia Gregory of ABT, Ann Marie DeAngelo of the Joffery Ballet and Ballet De Monterrey, and the renowned Director of musical theater, Norb Joerder. Although Eric has been working with Director Ryan Pifher and Musical Director Jon Provan for the past two years, Coming of Age marks the first totally new musical presentation that they will be working on together. The prospect of this collaboration is nearly as exciting as his biggest project to date -- the twelfth year in the life of triplets born to him and his wife Gina in October of 2001.
Zach Pizza (Lighting Design)
Zach always enjoys working with Jon and the Porch Light Productions team and is excited to be back at NYMF after having designed The Two-Month Rule two seasons ago. Selected credits -- Off-Broadway: On The Head Of A Pin (59E59). New York: Dream Babies (St. Clements Theater), In The Heights (Lehman Stages). Regional: The Other Place, Motherhood Out Loud and RX (Dreamcatcher Rep), The Last 5 Years, RENT (Porch Light Productions), Carrie, Into The Woods (interACT Productions). Assistant LD: Philharmonic 360 (Park Avenue Armory, NY). Assistant to LD: Rock Of Ages (Helen Hayes Theater). Thanks always to all of my friends and families. Purchase College alumnus. www.zachpizzalighting.com