TAKING HEALTHCARE “HOME” (CON TI N U ED) lights and sound system and help get the theatre back in peak condition in the hope that it would reinvigorate the theatre.” They worked out a mutually beneficial agreement and word of the musical sparked a lot of interest within the theatre community. Several people stepped forward to participate in bringing the production to the stage. As a result of this influx of talent, the workshop concept turned into a full-blown production. Cal says, “We rehearsed the show for about six weeks. The opening weekend was at 70 percent capacity, and we were sold out a few days later. In fact, the first run of Philly was nominated for and won the BroadwayWorld Minneapolis Best Original/New Work award in 2014.” BROADWAY, HERE WE COME! “Soon, people from Disney heard about it and reached out to us. We had a major rewrite and did a second show about a year later at the same place and had 11 shows. The average time to get a show up on the stage on Broadway can take from eight to nine years because it is continually in the process of getting ‘matured.’ Today there is also a three year wait to get into a theatre on Broadway, because there are only 41 theatres.” He adds, “I believe the show will one day get to Broadway.” After the second show, they felt they were ready to take the show to New York and start shopping it. They received critiques of the musical from professionals which helped them evolve the show. Soon they began networking within the theatre community in New York and connected with key players to facilitate a “29Hour Reading” which is a special contract that allowed them to hire professional Broadway actors at a reasonable rate, for 29 hours. During that timeframe, they worked on both the songs and the book (theatre lingo for the script). Attendance to their 29-Hour Reading was by invitation only and it was previewed on October 13, 2017. Cal says the theater professionals and investors who saw the preview loved the music and the story—and the feedback they received was overwhelmingly positive. Since then Cal and his team have been incorporating the suggestions for change from the experts on Broadway.
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Eden Prairie Lifestyle | January 2018
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“We rehearsed the show for about six weeks. The opening weekend was at 70 percent capacity, and we were sold out a few days later. In fact, the first run of Philly was nominated for and won the BroadwayWorld Minneapolis Best Original/New Work award in 2014.”