The mother of a fallen U.S. soldier refuses to leave the red oak tree her son planted. A father forbids his sons from joining the Revolution against the British. A young woman enlists on the afternoon of 9/11 without discussing it with her family. Inspired by Steve Alpert’s Legacy painting, The Steadfast is an unflinching look at eight U.S. soldiers across the sweep of American history from the Revolutionary War to present day – and what happens when the forces of their stories collide.
In January 2013, The Steadfast will receive its first production presented by Steve Alpert and Ken Greiner in association with Slant Theatre Project. The Steadfast will be at New York's TBG Theatre for a limited run January 19th-February 3rd.
Risks and challenges
The Steadfast will be our most ambitious project to date. The funds we raise will cover rental of TBG Theater in midtown Manhattan, provide compensation for all of the artists and technicians on the project, and ensure that this extraordinary play gets the level of production it truly deserves.
Producing a play in New York has many risks and challenges and we are planning to sufficiently to meet challenges as they arise.
One big challenge is production management and coordination. We are a "homeless" theatre company. We don't own our own space to build scenery, store costumes or even rehearse with actors. Everything is rented from the shop that builds the set to the computer that operates the sound system. Working in this way is typical for a theatre company of our size in New York, but it requires very precise time management and skilled production support. To ensure an efficient pre-production and tech process, we have staffed our project with an experienced production manager as well as a technical director and a support team for all of the designers. Having this incredible team in place will enable the director and design team to fully realize their vision of The Steadfast.
Another challenge for a production like ours is visibility in a very crowded indie-theatre scene. It's easy for shows to get lost if you don't have a solid marketing plan. We believe in this play and want people to see it and have enlisted the help of a top-notch marketing firm and publicist to help spread the word about The Steadfast. This is a huge step forward for Slant. Until now, we have done all of our own marketing and publicity. Having a team dedicated specifically to the marketing and publicity of our show will definitely help us get as many people in to experience The Steadfast as possible.
And finally, probably the largest challenge a production like ours faces is working with untested material that has not yet been tried in front of an audience. We've spent over two years getting The Steadfast ready for this production. Over the last two years, The Steadfast has had numerous readings and two extensive workshops. We've had dozens of actors in these parts giving Mat feedback on the roles and have shared the piece with hundreds of people allowing us to gauge what is working in the play and what needs work. We're all very confident in the play that has developed and we can't wait to share it with everyone in January.
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Funding period
- (29 days)