The new Broadway-bound musical "One for My Baby" has broken all records for theatre funding on Kickstarter.com, a website designed for independent arts financing.
"One Of My Baby" surpassed its fundraising goal of $50,000 in under 60 days, and has now broken the site's previous theatre-project record of $50,663 with a current total of $54,200.
"Our record-breaking campaign challenges assumptions about how commercial Theatre Projects can be launched, " said co-writer and director Scott Thompson. "Producers have taken note of our successful fund-drive, which has greatly enhanced our ability to attract the investors we need to mount a full pre-Broadway workshop of ‘One For My Baby." The workshop will be produced in New York this year before an audience of major Broadway producers.
The score of "One For My Baby" is compiled from the work of the legendary Harold Arlen, composer of such classic songs as "Stormy Weather," "Get Happy," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "That Old Black Magic," and the most famous song of the twentieth century, "Over the Rainbow." Scott Thompson and arranger Fred Barton co-wrote the book.
Thompson & Barton: "Despite Arlen's vast catalogue of timeless songs, it's been over forty years since a Harold Arlen score has been produced on Broadway. We intend to change that."
Thompson and Barton produced a full-orchestra demo recording of songs from the show, with an all-star Broadway cast including Anika Noni Rose, Carolee Carmello, Gavin Creel, and Mary Bond Davis.
The workshop will be co-produced by The One For My Baby Company and The Broadway Musicals Company, a new non-profit organization supporting new Musical Theatre Works.
The show's website can be viewed at http://www.oneformybaby.com, and the show's record-breaking Kickstarter site is at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/21512231/new-broadway-musical-one-for-my-baby?ref=live, until the 60-day fund-drive ends on June 19.
"The lesson of Scott's and Fred's story is to persevere and think outside of the box in order to reach your goals," said Jonathan Herzog, production counsel for "One For My Baby."
