A New Westminster theatre group is turning to crowd-source funding to create a cultural legacy for New Westminster.
City Stage New West, a non-profit professional theatre organization, is aiming to raise $3,000 towards the $15,000 cost of producing a professional cast recording CD of Stump City Stories. It's turned to Kickstarter - the online crowd-source fundraising platform for creative projects - for help.
Stump City Stories is an original Ovation Award-nominated musical written by George Ryan, based on the history of New Westminster.
It was commissioned by City Stage in 2009 and brought to the stage for 1,500 New Westminster Secondary School students free of charge in 2010.
The Kickstarter campaign is the third leg of City Stage New West's ongoing cultural legacy project: to produce a lasting record of the musical. Once completed, the CD will be donated to the City of New Westminster, the Fraser River Discovery Centre, the New Westminster Museum and Archives, the Anvil Centre, the New Westminster Public Library and the school district for future civic events and educational purposes.
The musical's 18 songs tell the history of New Westminster and B.C., from the Qayqayt First Nations and the arrival of the British through to more recent times.
To date, the theatre company has received a grant from the city, funding from the province and some private donations.
"But we are still shy about half of our proposed budget, hence the Kickstarter campaign," explained City Stage artistic director Renee Bucciarelli.
Bucciarelli noted that the theatre company takes on all the risk associated with the campaign: If it doesn't reach its $3,000 goal in the allotted 30 days, then donors' credit cards are not charged and no money changes hands.
"It's time-sensitive, all or nothing," she said. "We're asking for a portion of funding that will specifically be going toward the artists' fees and think people will really be inspired by what they see and hear on the Kickstarter site."
A $25 donation ensures a future copy of the CD, and most donations are tax-deductible.
Check out the campaign on Kickstarter. The fundraising campaign ends on Dec. 24.
