A Wing And A Prayer

Because my vision was so strong and the urgency of the situation in the Holy Land, so apparent, I was determined to waste no time getting this play on its feet so that I could revise and refine it, in order to take it on the road. No one was willing to produce a play by a first-time playwright, let alone one with such controversial subject matter. So with $500.00 dollars raised from selling program ads, and money from my hourly wage at a gallery (a job I was laid off from the day after our second performance) I booked two nights at the TCA here in Taos and began rehearsing the actors and working around the clock to promote the project. KTAO radio advanced me ad time for spots cut by my talented son, Joshua Cunningham ( http://www.concentratedefforts.com/live/) and Southside Printing allowed me to pay half for printing programs, agreeing to be paid the balance after the show. The sets and costumes were put together by Christopher Heron, the play's Art Director Stacey Huddleston (http://www.humanlinestudio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58:stacey-huddleston-neo-southwestern-woman-artist&catid=36:about-stacey-huddleston&Itemid=74) who provided us with furniture and odds and ends from her home, and Becky at Pieces, a local consignment shop. Ivan G'Vera lent his muscle and his eye (schlepping heavy objects and video taping.) I had storyboarded the entire play, so the set and wardrobe design was basically paint by numbers. My daughter Genevieve co-owns a yoga studio (Shree Yoga) and I still owe her for the rehearsal time. All but one of the actors and crew - Lyn-Li Pugh (Props) Fossie Graham (Stage Manager and provider of combat gear) donated their time and talent - Fossie even paid for her flight to get here, ran into a snow bank on her way up from the airport and still managed to do her job like a pro! What a trooper! The two performances covered most of the costs of the theatre time, food, beverages and miscellaneous stuff (for the play) and the light tech (the fabulous Juniper Purinton) and if it were not for an anonymous patron, I would still be freaking out over the balance due to radio and printing. After all was said and done,I was out around $2500.00 of my own money. This is why I am now applying for grants and launching this project on Kickstarter, just as soon as we get some video edited and up. I need to raise $10,000.00 in the next three months, in order to keep the momentum going, to pay for rehearsal time (past and present) and pay Maryanne for the fantastic Shekinah costume, Heyam for the delicious food she made for our wrap party, Stacey for postcards she designed, Christopher and Sean Ratliff for work already done and more to come! I would also like to be able to pay the rest of our wonderful cast and start booking more dates in the region before taking this play East, to NYC! On top of all that, I want to donate three months rent to Grassroots Jerusalem for a Peace House in Jerusalem. Oh, did I mention that I'd also like to pay myself back and thus avoid eviction? I and the entire cast and crew of The Land, hope that you will help!