Well, dear readers, depending on when these here notes are posted, our Indiegogo campaign has come to an end. At the time I began these here notes we were at 252% – that may or may not go up, depending on any last-minute fun that occurs. I want to take a moment to say how much I appreciate you dear readers having patience during the past month. I am really good at these Indiegogo things, and one of the things that makes me bring them to a successful conclusion is that one knows it’s a full-time job going in and that there is a certain amount of relentlessness required, just as knowing when to allow some breathing room. It’s not only that that makes a successful campaign, it’s a combo platter of different strategies that I’ve learned over the course of the nine campaigns I’ve done. But never in my wildest imaginings did I envision not only doubling our goal but getting past 250% of it. Never in my wildest imaginings would I have envisioned reaching our initial goal in less than forty-eight hours. But within a few days of reaching that goal, it became very obvious that the initial cost estimates were just that and that in every aspect of what we were hoping to do, those estimates went up, and not inconsiderably so. As we reached each new plateau, I added extras and more extras, was able to bring Cindy Williams in for her commentary, and to do two initial commentaries, too. The ability to have both cuts of the film, a 24-bit version of the soundtrack, and all kinds of other fun stuff, was heaven-sent.
The speed with which we went up was actually exhilarating. As we began each week, we’d go up five or ten percent, sometimes more, and that even happened on week three, which is always the slowest and worst week – in our case, we never had a slow or worst week. And amazingly, we went up close to twenty-seven percent in the past two days. Mind-boggling really. We did have good perks, which are a huge part of what makes a campaign succeed. Few people want to just give you money without getting something in return. We had great bargains at all levels, sold out many perks, sold close to 100 DVDs, and I got rid of some stuff that was just gathering dust in the garage. The fact that we went up almost twenty percent in this final week was astonishing. I’m so grateful and thankful to all who took part, and I’m equally grateful and thankful for those who couldn’t take part for cheering us on – that’s as nice as anything. So, now we start on the packaging and booklet, and the huge amount of organizing getting the perks out – with over 200 backers that will be daunting, but we’ll get them all out (the ones that need getting out) as quickly as possible. In the end, I am breathing a large sigh of relief and saying a hearty, “Whew!”
Yesterday was a bit of a day. I only got six hours of sleep, and I was really groggy for about forty-five minutes, as I was awakened by the helper’s mom who had to pick up something – that happened twice this week. We had some fun action for the campaign, which is how I spent what was left of the morning hours. I did print out orders, but mostly was on Facebook doing cheerleading. At about one-thirty, I went over to K’s Donuts and got a dozen. Kerry O’Malley’s birthday was yesterday, so I thought she’d appreciate a treat, and the other performers all partook, save for the ones who couldn’t – Robert Yacko doesn’t do sugar and Peyton can’t do gluten.
Then we had our second Kritzerland rehearsal. It went pretty well, but people still have to get their lyrics down, which I know they will. But boy is this material fun to hear and this is an absolutely fantastic cast. After that, I was starving, but just wanted to grab something to eat here, so I ended up at Taco Bell. Thanks to some Grub Hub order, there were about ten people waiting for food and it took me fifteen minutes to get out of there, which has never happened before and which, I can assure you, will never happen again. Also, it was about twenty degrees in there – truly irritating.
I came home, ate the food, and then printed out more orders, and kept my eye on the campaign. There was a little action, but nothing that took the percentage up. At this point, there’s about an hour left, and we just went up to 253%. Anything can happen. I didn’t really watch anything but did doze off for about twenty minutes. I also listened to a rather delightful two-hour opera of Jean Anouilh’s Colombe, composed by Jean-Michel Damase, a composer I’m absolutely nutty about. So tuneful and delightful – in fact, I’m thinking about putting it out. The play was done on Broadway in 1954 with Julie Harris and Edna Best, and then in 1987 it was an off-Broadway musical with Tammy Grimes, composed by the talented Michael Valenti – that went nowhere fast. I’ve talked about Damase before – if you’re looking for wonderfully tuneful classical music, you can’t really do better.
I’ll probably post the notes on time, and then adjust the final percentage, if necessary, which I hope it will be.
Today, I have to be up early because she of the Evil Eye is coming today rather than tomorrow. I really would like to have slept in, but perhaps I’ll be able to snooze later in the day, and I do have to stay up until the campaign crosses the finish line. I’ll go eat a light breakfast, then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, then I’ll come home and do nothing but relax.
Tomorrow, we have our stumble-through at one, then some of us will grab a bite to eat after, and then I just relax and rest my voice and give one last once-over to the commentary. Sunday, I can sleep in, then we have our sound check, and then we do our show. I’m sure some of us will go downstairs after for food. Then I have a busy week ahead, catching up on stuff, doing stuff for the DVD, getting another CD release ready for the week after, and beginning to plan a two-night benefit of our revue, What If, for the Group Rep. And we’re also starting to cast The Man Who Came to Dinner.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have an early breakfast, hopefully pick up packages, bank, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, the Henry King at Fox set and Colombe. Blu-ray, no idea. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, thrilled and grateful to have had such an incredibly successful Indiegogo campaign. As I kept saying throughout the campaign: YOU PEOPLE ARE AMAZING!!!