the dreamer and the devil: a new musical

Chicago! There's a place I really enjoyed! Of, course, it was summer then, summer of 1977. I was stationed at Great Lakes, Illinois, attending a "C" school in electronics. That place was a great, hairy armpit, surrounded by fast food joints, pawn shops, and jewelry stores - you know, as usual for military stations.
Even at the tender age of 19 I knew I needed culture and variety in my life, not the static status on the edge of Lake Michigan. Fortunately, the train went south to Chicago frequently and nearly every Saturday, I was on it. The Playboy Club, the sidewalk arts festivals, Buckingham Fountain, the statues and parks and trees - ah, almost like being home in Savannah!
Jenny Seidelman and Jonathan Wagner ask us to step back in time to the Chicago of 1893 in this musical kickstarter project, "The Dreamer and The Devil". That's right, I said it: musical. This makes the seventh musical I've backed! That should bode well for it! And it's the third musical I've chosen today!
So, let's just take a little look at these three of today, shall we?
None of them are local. Not a single one. So I am certainly not backing these musicals because I think I'll get to see them during their performances. I have no current travel plans to Michigan, Oregon, or Illinois.
None of them are promising videos of the productions, either. You know how much I enjoy film - but nary a one of these is going to deliver those. For the first two I backed, I suspect a lack of film rights is the reason the troupes aren't offering those as rewards. Those rights can be very expensive, so I completely understand. For this project, an original musical, the completion of the play and staging of a reading, rather than a live performance, is the goal. (One step at a time!)
The project featuring the aging stage actors is set to end today and needs quite a few more dollars. The "Spider Baby" bunch is already set for funding, so my little bit, as I said, is just to brag on to a friend. Both are definitely for fun purposes!
This project, though, has a very different feel to it. It's a piece of history, featuring an architect (Daniel Burnham) with high hopes, a serial killer (H.H. Holmes) with aspirations of his own, and a 400-year anniversary of Columbus' discovery of North America, as marked by the 1893 World's Fair: Columbian Exposition. "The Dreamer and The Devil" appears to have the makings of an incredible theatrical masterpiece, doesn't it? And it'll be educational, too, and probably useful for history, art, and criminal justice classes. Yes, even though it's a musical.
I'm not much on history, science nerd that I am. But I'm very much willing to add money to the pot if it means I'll have a cd of a brand-new musical to listen to on long drives. Especially as I know that to be a sure bet, as the funding goal was reached a week ago. My little bit, as well as those that follow, will just provide a little more cushion for these dreamers...