Why hello there. 

Show dates and times

We've received quite a few requests for The Lockout's dates and times, especially those of you who plan to travel from out of town. We've been finalizing the details of our contract with American Theater Company, and we didn't want to share specifics until it was official.

All performances are at American Theater Company (1909 W Byron St, Chicago).  Thurs/Fri/Sat performances are at 7:30pm, and Sunday performances are at 5:30pm.

Previews
Sat, Aug 17
Sun, Aug 18
Thurs, Aug 22

Performances
Aug 23-25 (Fri-Sun) Opening weekend
Aug 29-Sept 1 (Thurs-Sun) Labor Day weekend
Sept 5-8 (Thurs-Sun) Ben probably won't be there weekend
Sept 12-15 (Thurs-Sun) Closing weekend

Tickets will officially go on sale July 1, as it is the 2 year anniversary of the NBA lockout upon which this work is based. All previews will be $10, Fri/Sat $25, and Thurs/Sun $20. 

However, if you backed at All-Star or above, you've earned yourself a pair of tickets (or season tickets if ALL-NBA or above)! To redeem, just message us through Kickstarter and let us know what date you plan on attending. You can change your date even after July 1, but let us know as soon as possible so you don't get sold out of a show. 

Other updates

Things are moving along with the production! Our cast of 16 wonderfully talented Chicago thespians have been busy learning the songs, which they will record in Chicago June 27-29. 

The band, Mopak, is almost done recording the instruments (bass and drums? check.) We've already heard what they've done for I Believe and I am Basketball, and they sound incredible. We can't thank them enough for putting in the work to make sure that we'll have a CD on opening night! 

Social Media

We've been pretty quiet on the #socialmediafront, but we'll be starting our marketing campaign soon. If you're a Twitter-er, follow us at @lockoutmusical, and please Like us on Facebook . We'll be using these more than our Six Hours Short stuff.

That's about it, I think. Let us know if you have any questions- we're quite happy to answer.

Thanks

Love,
Ben and Jason

You may not have started your day thinking, "How can I help that Lockout album I bought be as excellent as possible?" But now you're thinking about it. And we have a way that you can directly help the quality of this production.

We're holding auditions for the album/show May 3-5 in Chicago. Please pass along this information to all of your talented Chicago actor/singer/comedy friends. Or perhaps you yourself would like to make the NBA Lockout rock out!

Here's the link:

http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/calls-for-artists/seeking-actors-improvisers-singers-and-dancers-record-concept-album-and-perform

Thanks for your help, and let us know if you have any questions!

Ben and Jason

The World Premiere

The Lockout: a Musical will have its world premiere at American Theater Company in Chicago, with shows running August 23-September 15. We couldn't be more excited about this venue, which has a reputation for housing quality storefront musicals in Chicago, including recent productions of Aida, Rent, and Grease. We also love the location at Lincoln/Damen/Irving (and if you're not a Chicagoan, just know that it's a great part of town). 

But what would a musical be without a director? We're pleased to announce that Joe Giovannetti will be the coach for our team. As well as being a person we like, Joe Giovannetti is a lighting designer, writer, actor, and director who has worked with theaters like Steppenwolf, The Hypocrites, Akvavit, InGen Productions, and Barrel of Monkeys. He is also the artistic director of Bartleby Productions.

Google Hangout #1 - Sat, April 20 @ 2:30pm central

We're also pleased to announce the time of our first Google Hangout. It's that big bold time above. What will this look like? This first one will be a conversation between Jason, Ben, and Joe about the writing of The Lockout. We'll answer questions we receive from Rotation Player ($50) and above, and those at Bench ($25) and above can watch live, or catch a replay through our Youtube channel. 

We'll send out more details/instructions later this week!

@lockoutmusical 

Follow us on Twitter! That's all. 

Studio updates 

And finally, our friends in Mopak (@mopakmusic) have been busy rehearsing and recording for the album. They're recording in Oklahoma City with Dustin Ragland (@walrusmuse) serving as Recording Wizard. Mopak's been tweeting pictures from the studio, and you can keep up with their progress by following them (and us) on Twitter.

Ben & Jason

Happy one month anniversary of the successful completion of The Lockout’s Kickstarter campaign! It feels like yesterday and a year ago at the same time.

We are so grateful for every one of our 191 backers, from $1 to $1,000, from Lucy to Kamron, from Shawnee, OK, to Naples, Italy. Each pledge came at the right time- if it weren’t for each of our pledges in the first 3 weeks, we wouldn’t have been close enough to have our crazy last week. So thank you once again for your generous pledge.

Here’s the final tally:

• 191 backers
• $10,495 pledged 
• 176 backers will receive a digital download of the entire album
• 97 backers will have access to 4 exclusive Google Hangouts, where the production team will give you a look into the show.
• 60 backers will receive a CD in the mail.
• 29 backers will be thanked in the liner notes.
• 17 backers will need to find a date, because they have reserved seats for two to see The Lockout in Chicago.
• 5 of them can see it as many times as they want.
• 2 backers will have their names put on a Wichita Water jersey to be hung from the ceiling for the duration of the show.

Speaking of the Chicago production, we have exciting news about the show...but we’re not quite ready to tell you yet. Just know that we’ll have big news for you in the next couple of weeks.

What we can tell you is that Jason and I have sent over all 12 song demos to Mopak, the Oklahoma City band who is recording the songs. Mopak then sends back a recording of them rehearsing a song, and we give them feedback. So far, we’ve heard I am Basketball, I Believe, and Owners (Only Gonna Break Your Heart), and we couldn’t be happier with the work they’ve done. We’ll catch up with Mopak during one of our Google Hangouts.

Thanks again for being part of the team, and we’ll be keeping you in the loop. We’ll leave you with two things, a picture of Mopak (courtesy of coltwestbrook on Instagram) and our final round of personal thank yous, for backers 151-191.

Ben and Jason

We did it! 

We raised the $10,000 we need to professionally record 12 original songs from the Lockout: a Musical...yesterday at 8:29am to be precise, and we apologize for not letting you know earlier. We incorrectly assumed that some sort of email would go out to backers when we reached our goal and/or ended our 30 days with enough pledges.

We'll have a full report in the next couple of days, but just wanted to give you the official word since your pledges are being collected.

We are so excited, and will follow up soon with a full thank you, plus a video personally thanking backers 150-191. But in the meantime, enjoy this graph that shows just how crazy this ride has been.

Ben and Jason