ciao, bella!!!

Toward the end of last year, I deleted my Kickstarter account.

It had been years since I'd spent any time on that site, so I ditched it.

Today, I opened a new account on Kickstarter... to help JinHi.

She has written an autobiographical play about her life with cancer, and the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, has accepted it at that prestigious event.

Wow.

She has an entourage who will travel with her: stage manager, producers, light tech, sound tech, prop master, director, wardrobe mistress, and all the others who help bring this creation to life on stage.

This won't be the first time I've helped to send a production across the Atlantic Ocean, but that time was well over a decade ago.

Here's the difference: I know JinHi Soucy Rand.

I've supported fundraisers for her benefit before.

The first time was for the very first 24-Hour Play Festival here in Savannah, a fundraiser promoted by her one-and-only brother, Chris Soucy.

I treated that as a birthday gift to myself, as it was in May (of 2011).

The next time was also promoted by her brother and was that same summer, as a way to bring new folks to the fledgling Muse Arts Warehouse performance space that JinHi created for this seaport and its artist community.

The third time was in 2015 and was also to raise funds for that space, with artists contributing their creations as repayment for the lives JinHi had enriched.

The fourth time was two years later, with her brother putting on a one-man show titled "Fears My Sister Taught Me". 

Now, it's all about JinHi.

The kickstarter campaign, started by Erin Muller, has a big ask of $15,000.

Erin created a special funding opportunity just for me: Pen Pals Plus.

That's because I wanted to get a postcard from Scotland, but also wanted a ticket to the premiere of the show here in Savannah next month.

Like magic, Erin made that opportunity happen!

So far, I am the first to make that choice.

Sure, a postcard for $77 sounds a bit steep... but it's for my bday68... and it's doing the traveling for me, to benefit my friend.

That's worth every penny. 

tithing back to the festival

Why am I donating back and how did I come up with the amount I gave?

Maybe first things first, n'est-ce pas?

This is the 15th day of the Savannah Music Festival, which is in its 35th year.

There's a fundraiser that's been going since the first day this time around.

It's called "$17,000 in 17 Days", giving it a kinda sorta Jules Verne flair.

(smile!)

So, how does that fundraiser operate?

One of the donors is matching all donated funds during the course of the festival - i.e. during the 17 days of scheduled concerts - and that money will go toward various programs for students and music education.

I decided a few days ago to donate, but only had a QR code to use.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, nope!

My phone doesn't speak squiggly lines in a square.

I had even gone to the website, to no avail... until today!

Hooray!

(smile!)

Somehow, though the $35 I'd intended to donate to the cause didn't feel right.

Then I realized something: today I volunteered at my tenth concert of this SMF.

Tenth, did I say?

That's a nice, familiar fraction for me.

So, I added up the money it would have cost for me to have attended the eleven shows for which I am volunteering.

In other words, that's what I was essentially "paid" as a volunteer.

Then I tithed back ten percent: $41.20.

(smile!)

That felt wonderful!

Here's the link, for those inspired to give music to others!

sean won't be coming after all

My heart breaks for Pat Alley. Her dream of bringing the Sean Curran Company here for the Savannah Dance Festival will not be coming true.
At least, not for this year's event.
The funds sought via kickstarter to bring the troupe did not accumulate sufficiently.
Maybe another time?
Meanwhile, remember: You were born to DANCE!

the first time

The first time is always special, n'est-ce pas?
Last month, one of my new friends had posted a link on his blog, a link to a proposed festival of short plays. I clicked the link - and was hooked! Titled "A Midsummer Night's Play Festival", it promised a unique experience. Actors, writers, directors would be granted only twenty-hour hours to create, script, direct, and learn the lines of brand-new ten-minute plays. WOW! Even better, the Festival would take place at my favorite new venue in town. Sweet! And it would include the artistic renderings of several folks I know. Hey, how could I possibly resist being part of that myself???
The link also served to introduce me to Kickstarter. Billing itself as "the world's largest funding platform for creative projects", Kickstarter allows the populace at large to "put their money where their mouth is". See a project there that you think is a good idea? Well, buddy, YOU can become a backer with just a few clicks of your mouse and taps of your fingers on the keyboard. If that project is deemed worthy by sufficient folks' pledges, then it gets funded and becomes reality; if the project does not reach its funding goal, then you have lost nothing from your wallet.
Kickstarter allows each of us multiple opportunities to be part of something greater than ourselves, a unique new endeavor, a creative good. And, as if being part of such would-be works wasn't reward enough, each project allows its donors gifts at each participation level. Just have a couple of bucks to throw into the pile? You might be granted a shout-out at the event, a handwritten thank-you, a grateful email. Want to donate the cost of movie popcorn and soda toward new art? You just might get a dvd of the short film, a painted magnet, a special weblink to the new music. At the highest gift levels, you might find yourself an honorary director, a character in a new video game, the owner of a truly one-of-a-kind painting.
Go on, check it out - www.kickstarter.com. You never know what you might find or how a project you help fund might impact the world.
Now, I have wonderful memories of a fun evening with so many thespians and writers and directors, some I know and some new to me.
I also own a physical memento: a signed artwork by the designer of the poster and program.
What a great birthday gift to myself!