Meet John Doe is an innovative musical based on Frank Capra's Film. It is being produced by Porchlight Music Theatre in Chicago and is already cast and in rehearsals. Now all their team needs is the funds to hire an additional bass player. Led by Eddie Sugarman, the Meet John Doe team has launched a fun crowdfunding project in order to acquire the new musician. Our own Jed Cohen was in one of the early productions of Meet John Doe, so this project is near and dear to our hearts.

We chatted with Eddie about the project and the production.

What was the inspiration behind the theatre project you are currently running on RocketHub? Why is it important to you and to your whole team?

Well, the show MEET JOHN DOE was conceived around 2001 when I couldn’t sleep and I saw the Capra film on cable at 3 in the morning. Andrew Gerle and I decided to adapt in into a stage musical and since then have had quite a journey with the project. Specifically, we are thrilled that Porchlight Music Theatre is producing MEET JOHN DOE’s Chicago premiere. One of the many opportunities this production gives us is the chance to create a new set of (smaller) orchestrations which we believe will make the property easier for more theatres to produce. Using RocketHub to fund an additional instrumentalist will allow us (and thousands of Chicago theatregoers!) to hear the score with a whole new flavor.

That's great - we're big supporters of the Chicago theatre scene. How has your experience been as a crowdfunding pioneer in the world of theatre - how are your fans responding?

It’s been terrific! We actually funded an early production of Meet John Doe around 2005, I think, with a “friends and family” letter with levels of benefit and incentive rewards and did very well. But it was a one-off; the social media/sharing aspect of RocketHub takes things to another level. For example, our RocketHub project got a very nice start with our “first funders” (funded about 45% of the goal in the first 4 or 5 days), but then our producer Porchlight Music Theatre promoted our RocketHub page on their weekly eblast and opened our funding up to their fans and we got a whole other stage of Fuel (now we’re at 73% of goal). This is very cool stuff.

This is a great example of multiple networks making a project quickly fund. Any advice for Creatives looking to crowdfund a project?

Be specific. Be realistic. Be passionate. And thank people every time! Oh, and have fun with your rewards. We’re all artists, be creative!

Awesome advice. Thank you to Eddie and his team for running your this cool so successfully on RocketHub. Click here to support this project and theatre in Chicago.

-Vlad