ONSTAGE IN AMERICA Launches Kickstarter Campaign For New PBS Series

A new Kickstarter campaign has been established for a new PBS co-funded pilot for a series set to chronicle the hundreds of theaters around the country that have been home to the world's greatest performers and plays, as well as the plays themselves, titled ONSTAGE IN AMERICA.

In addition to documenting productions and interviewing actors, the series intends to preserve four productions in full each season according to the stated goals for the ambitious project.

The official description of ONSTAGE IN AMERICA is as follows: "PBS and OnStage In America, a new nonprofit venture, are joining forces to put the best Theater Productions from across America on prime-time national television, in a fresh and exciting format. This will be the first series to focus on the more than one thousand stages nationwide that have originated 36 of the last 38 Pulitzer-Prize-winning plays. PBS has ordered a pilot for the series and is providing a portion of the budget. OnStage is seeking $250,000.00 to complete the budget, hoping to raise more from Kickstarter than our $125,000.00 target."

Furthermore, details of the series itself are as follows: "After funding our budget we will shoot a pilot program in spring of 2014 that will air on PBS primetime. We have reviewed more than 300 productions scheduled for next spring in theaters around the country. We've narrowed that list to fifty of the most interesting, including Pulitzer Prize winners, comedies, and powerful new dramas. Once they're in performance, we will select one that is truly exceptional. We will go onstage with lightweight high-def cameras, moving with the actors to Capture drama with freedom and intimacy. Unlike the usual theater on tv, performances will shift toward the cameras (and television audiences). Skilled directors and cinematographers will Capture close-ups, traveling shots, inserts, high angles, low angles etc. to transform live theater into innovative and exciting television. It's unlike anything PBS has attempted before."

According to the official Kickstater page, "If the pilot succeeds, PBS will order a full series, bringing four of the best stage productions from across America to Primetime television each year. Almost a thousand stage productions will be reviewed annually to find the most exciting, the most entertaining, the most unusual and surprising, and the most relevant to issues of contemporary life in this country. Following their broadcast, the plays will become part of a digital library, accessible for on-demand, streaming, and other digital distribution."

View the promotional video for ONSTAGE IN AMERICA at the official page here and visit the page itself here.