Hello family, friends, fans & search engine mistakes,
If you’re reading this, you’re probably at least partially aware of my little musical I GOT FIRED. I’m writing this to fill everybody in on the show’s journey after NYMF & DIMF and to let everybody know what I’m planning for the future.
I GOT FIRED was originally billed as a Semi-Autobiographical Sort-Of-True Revenge Musical, well, because that’s what it is. In May of 2008, I was fired from my job at T̶h̶e̶ ̶N̶Y̶U̶ ̶S̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶M̶e̶d̶i̶c̶i̶n̶e̶ a prominent Manhattan-based medical school. I promptly set out to get revenge against the person who fired me in the only way I knew how: with musical theater. What started as a collection of mean songs about what I was feeling turned into a full-fledged musical about the wacky people I ran across and the wacky experiences I had at my “normal” office job. The strange family of misfits I was a part of in the office turned out to be more strange and fun than anything I could make up on my own. So I wrote them into the show (some names have been changed to protect the guilty).
With a great deal of support from many of my old co-workers (whom people may recognize from their portrayals in the show… Kathy, Maria, Mike) and the threat of a lawsuit from the person who eventually fired me (…let’s call her “Jenny”), I submitted the first draft of the show to the 2010 New York Musical Theatre Festival.
Well, I GOT FIRED was accepted as a Next Link Production at NYMF, and the rest is pretty well documented (because I screamed it in the face of anybody I ran across). We sold out, extended, got some great reviews and won the “2010 Theater For The American Musical Award,” as well as the 2011 DIMF Production award. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
We were one of the hot shows coming out of the festival. The New York Post wrote that we were one of 3 shows that might be poised to be the next Altar Boyz. With the amazing (and unsolicited) support of the folks at SH-K-Boom records, I met with a couple of swanky B’way producers who expressed a great deal of interest in the show. I had the experience of nervously sitting in the office of one of the top 5 most powerful people on B’way, and having him come into the room singing “I Got Fired”. That was cool.
And then…
After being selected from NYMF, we took the show to Daegu, South Korea to do a production with the Daegu International Musical Festival (DIMF). We went from a 100-seat black box on the third floor of an office building in Manhattan, to the Daegu Opera House, a state-of-the-art 1600-seat beautiful monstrosity. When I first arrived at the theater with the cast, I was greeted by a billboard-sized picture of my own face hanging off the side of the theater, not to mention the flags of our logo (and again, my face) flapping in the breeze on every street corner. So I don’t need to tell you what a bizarre and amazing experience that was. We had an indescribably amazing time in Korea. We won “Best International Musical” and “Best Leading Actor” at the…um…nationally televised(!) awards show. I learned a lot about how good marketing can manufacture a fake “celebrity” status that is based on nothing more than good lighting and (I’m assuming) a really good discount at their printing shop. We arrived back in the states with some kick ass trophies, and memories to last a lifetime.
And then…
We were hot. We had generated some decent buzz out of NYMF and solidified it in Korea. I waited around on pins and needles for that mysterious “212” number to show up on my phone. The call from a producer making an offer to produce the show.
And then…
A week went by. A month went by.
And then…
A year went by. Two years went by. At this point I can hear everybody saying… “um… the writing is on the wall. Nobody is going to call.”
Yep.
I had moved onto other things, working on other shows and I fell into the trap of “waiting for the phone to ring.” Perhaps a regional theater would like to do the show?
Crickets.
Or a college?
Crickets.
Or a reading in my mother’s basement?
Crickets… but at least there were cookies.
I reached out to the fancy agent I had gotten when I was taking meetings with fancy producers.
Crickets.
And then…
Seemingly out of nowhere, a regional theater e-mailed me asking if I GOT FIRED was available. It sure as heck was. They had seen the show at NYMF and had enjoyed and remembered it. It took a few months but I GOT FIRED was going to have its World Premiere in the summer of 2014. Yes!
They announced their season and sent out 30,000 flyers advertising the show and beginning to sell tickets. I blasted Facebook with our exciting news.
And then…
I get an e-mail from them saying they had looked at their expenses and that they couldn’t afford to put the show up.
And then…
Well, since I’m writing this letter instead of performing the show tonight, it’s fairly obvious what happened. I GOT FIRED had been…fired. Was I pissed? Hell yeah I was. But I understand this is a business. But I was pretty embarrassed. But what can you do?
And then…
I was in the car with my wife thinking about what to do next and the craziest thought occurred to me. An insane, impractical, foolish and impossible idea…
I believe in the show. I believe it would be commercially and artistically successful if given a chance. It just needed that chance. All I need is a producer to raise the insane amount of money it would take to put up a commercial Off B’way production of I GOT FIRED. I just hadn’t found anybody crazy enough to take that risk.
So. The idea arrived. What if I do it myself? What if I’m the crazy one? If I were able to raise the money, why couldn’t I produce it? After 12 years trying to scrape together a career in this business, I’ve gotten to know a fair amount about how the theater world operates. I also know that I have A LOT to learn. Happily, I have a long list of brilliant people who can guide and teach me in exchange for money.
Now the only real obstacle is raising enough money to produce the show. Let’s see, it’s an 8-person musical aiming for a commercial house, factor in advertising, rent, insurance, general manager, etc… I’ll need something in the ballpark of 1.5 million dollars. So, I’m just short…hmm… carry the two…oh….1.5 million dollars. Not counting my credit card debt. No sweat.
So, I brought on my NYMF producer and good friend Liz Ulmer to help me take on this insane task. And with Liz’s resources, now we only need to raise…um… 1.5 million dollars. Not counting my credit card debt and not counting Liz’s credit card debt.
We decided to take this one step at a time. 1. Let’s make sure the show doesn’t suck. We’re in the process of doing a series of table reads and rewrites to shape up a completely new and exciting version of the show. Lots more on the actual show as we move forward.
In the meantime we’re working on setting up a 29 hour reading of the show at which we will try to blow the socks off the 3 rich people we know and assume they’ll each write a check for a half a million dollars. No sweat right?
But before we do our first reading, we need to raise some cash even to do that. It pays for the actors, the band, the stage manager, the theater & rehearsal space, etc. It’s a pretty small amount compared to 1.5 million, but it’s a very important first step.
So that’s where I’m at. I’m holding on to a show I believe in, holding on to big dreams, humbled by the challenges of getting them, staring up at the Everest that is getting a show up in NYC. Let me know if you have a rich uncle.
Thanks to anybody who actually read this far. I’m assuming it’s just you Mom. So “Hi Mom”.
Keith
And then…
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I will tag each post with a list of everybody who, in a large or small way has done something that made I GOT FIRED a reality. In no particular order.
Kelly Karbacz Toni DiBuono Devon Goffman Michael Thomas Holmes Collin Leydon EJ Zimmerman
Robyn Corujo Shana Barone Jake Loewenthal Doug Oberhamer Czerton Lim Jessica Lustig Nick Solyom Alan Busch Theresa Flanagan Margaret Morton Joe Trentacosta Liz Ulmer Steve Wargo Greg Cicchino
Stephanie M Leaf
Kendra Kay
Doug Varney
Chris Wolvington Varney
Scott Varney
Shaun Varney
Kathy Granger
Rachel Godfrey
Steve Bebout Dontee Kiehn Savannah Wise Eric Anderson Chris Haberl Ji-Youn Chang Grant Yaeger Michael Kale Denise Wilcox Jamie Rog Michael Cassara Casting Kim Shaw Julie McBride Kevin Crewell Scott Klein/Keith Sherman & Associates New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF) Daegu International Musical Festival (DIMF) Michael Indeglio
Jillian Wojciechowski-Varney
Alyse Alan Louis
Gerritt Vandermeer
Derek Roland
Howie Michael Smith
Kate Wetherhead
Noan Cornman
Elizabeth Carroll
Lauren Yarger
James Wolvington
Brian Patrick Murphy
Katie Reigel
Kristina Hedrick
Michael Minarik
Nick Dalton
Alan Pagano
Susan J Jacks
Michael Poignand
Mike Cohen
Lilly Hung
Josh Lamon
Stuart McMeans
David Ingber
Tom Hallett
Brad Nacht
Andrew Sluchan
Paige Reinis
Jeff Croiter
Ken Wolvington
Brett Smock
Susan O’Brien
Isaac Robert Hurwitz
Chris Biesterfeldt
Jay Hershkowitz
Ron Gwiazda
Jack DePalma
Michael Harrington
Geoff Cohen
Syndi Zook
Nate Venet
Jay Alan Zimmerman
Evan Harrington
Sean Harkness
Ed Sayles
Rei Soto
Gregory Chudnick
Dave Anthony
Nikki Coleman
Simon Cleveland Kenneth Nicholas
Simona Kormanikova
Chelsea Leibow
Kiernan Norman,
Emily Faye Oakley
Katherine Sommer
Mark Eldelman
Carey Anderson
Lori Haley Fox
Christine LaDuca
Bill Hood
Janice Hood
Barbara Crook
Jim Wolvington
Roger Gillum
Grace Prussing
Cynthia Sonenstelie
The Lyric Theatre Company
The Moonshine Project
Theatrical Index
Paul Castratano
David London
Beth London
David G Stern
Thomas Ulmer
Barbara Ulmer
Kimberly Vaughn
Dean Williams
Barbara Russ
Jennifer America
Eugene Carr
Tiana Checchia
Lisa Conlon
Sarah Corey
Maria Duryea
Caitlin Faye
Emma Giffen
Daniel Giffen
Amy Giordano
Jordan Grubb
Lindsay Julow
Stephanie M. Leaf
Robert McMaster
Helen Meurer
Susan O’Brien
Angela Rice
Mark Robinson
Sara Shumway
Evan Stern
Scott Varney
Claudia Jean Wolvington
Steve Millhouse
Jarred Schonig
Charlie Fink
Jennifer Ritter
Yoonji Kim
David Ippolito
Cyndi K Schneider
Christine Riley
Martin Grant
Kurt Deutsch
Lynn Spector
Stephanie M. Leaf
Robert McMaster
Helen Meurer
Susan O’Brien
Angela Rice
Mark Robinson
Sara Shumway
Evan Stern
Scott Varney
Claudia Jean Wolvington
Steve Millhouse
Jarred Schonig
Charlie Fink
Jennifer Ritter
Yoonji Kim
David Ippolito
Cyndi K Schneider
Christine Riley
Martin Grant
Kurt Deutsch
Lynn Spector
