Check out the Perks!
Social media shout out!
Want to help us out, but funds are tight? We understand. We appreciate every dollar you can spare, so when you can spring for ten of 'em, we'll shout your name from the rooftops with a big 'thank you' across all our social media channels!
Thank you package
Brace yourself for heaps of praise! For your generous donation of $25, we'll send you a video thank you card from the entire cast expressing their gratitude to you in a personal, fun and dramatic fashion. (After all, they're actors!) We'll also flood the social media channels with our thanks, emblazon your name on our Hall of Dreamers web page, and give you a credit in our program. We can't thank you enough for your help, but we're sure gonna try!
Dream Decoder!
Ever have a dream where you're naked in front of all your coworkers? Or you're walking through a field of snakes? Or your teeth are falling out? Ever wondered what those crazy dreams might mean? Well wonder no more! The Dream Decoder is here! Specially designed for Chekhov Dreams donors, this handy little app can tell you everything you need to know about that dream you had last night that's still haunting you this morning! Just type in the subject or symbol of your dream, and the Dream Decoder will look it up for you. It can even tell you the most popular dream searches by other Dream Decoder owners! Available for iPhone or Android phones.
Conceptualization. Actual interface may look different.
ANAGRAMS! An exciting new computer word game!
In The Chekhov Dreams, two lovers enjoy word games as part of their competitive, playful banter. So what better way to promote the play than to offer a spectacular new computer word game -- ANAGRAMS! Currently in beta test, this super-addictive, play-by-email game is not available in stores, online or anywhere -- but it IS available to Chekhov Dreams donors as a special thank you for your support!
ANAGRAMS! is based on the classic tile game similar to Scrabble, but even more fun! Test your vocabulary by trying to form new words from the pool, or build onto existing ones. Or better yet, steal words from your opponent! The player with the most words wins! The game even features a dictionary lookup to prevent disputes!
Someday this game will be rolled out as a major release through the App Store and who knows, could take the gaming world by storm. But you, you avant-hip, early adopter cyborg-hacker you, will already be playing it! So start sharpening your vocab, and your image. Game on!
Two free tickets to the show!*
You've been hearing about our show on our website and during our crowdfunding campaign -- now come see it what it's all about! We're offering two free tickets allowing entry to almost any show on the calendar -- and we'll give you those two seats before tickets even go on sale to the public!
This NYIT Award nominated play is likely to sell well, and with our limited seating there will most certainly be a lot of sold out evenings. So book your seats in advance and avoid the hassles -- and help this production become a reality at the same time!
* Show runs from Jan 25-Feb 17. Limited tickets available for opening night, Valentines Day, and closing night.
Tickets and champagne opening!
Adopt-a-Prop!
Here's your chance to own a piece of the show -- literally! With your $300 or more donation, you'll have dibs on selected set pieces and props in the play. Contested items will be awarded to donors in the order their pledge was received, so donating early is important! First runners up are given priority for their second choice item, and so on. Click on the Rules button below for full details. Click on the Props List button to see our currently projected props list. Some items may not be available due to changes in the final props list prior to production. But if we buy it, and you're first to claim it, it's yours!
Not the actual set. See props list for details.
Associate Producer
As an important investor in the show, you'll enjoy carte blanche treatment at key rehearsals, tech rehearsals, recording and mixing sessions as well as informal breaks where you'll be able to chill with the cast and crew.
With frequent and direct access to our working environment and such close proximity to the artistic team, you'll be able to gain invaluable insights into the creative process of creating a special moment of theater for the New York stage. A great experience for up and coming actors and producers as well as everyday theater-goers who would like to observe and be part of an exciting new theatrical event.
$2000
Published monologue author John McKinney (Best Mens Stage Monologues, 2013, from The Chekhov Dreams, by Smith & Kraus) will write you or someone you love a personalized monologue! Never again will you go into auditions worried that your monologue might have been performed by hundreds actors before you. Yours will be unique, expertly written and all yours.
John will sit down with you, get to know you, learn about your skills as an actor and pick up the rhythms in the way you speak, think and behave, so that the character he creates won't just be the same type as you, it will be based on you! And as many professionals in the industry will tell you, fresh, original material is a dream gift for any actor competing in the world of stage and film.
$5000
Having scored five publishing contracts for his one-act plays (three ten-minute plays for the Best 10-Minute Play anthologies by Smith & Kraus and two five-minute plays for Applause Books) not to mention consistent critical acclaim for his contributions to one-act festivals, John is an experienced hand at the short play form. Now you can put that experience to work for you, by having John write his next original short play with you as the central character!
To ensure you are a good fit for the role, John will spend time getting to know you as well as learn about your goals and desires for the genre of play you'd feel best suited for (comedy, drama, seriocomic, etc.). The result will be a new original play that is written with John's unique voice as a dramatist and that is ready and worthy of a performance on the New York stage.
Your own personal play festival, mounted and performed!
The ultimate dream perk -- John will write you, or your loved one, an original one-act play of at least 10 minutes featuring you or someone you designate as the central character of the story. Then, he will help cast it (if you need him to), rehearse and mount a public reading of the play at a midtown theater space along with a collection of other plays of his. You will also be cast in at least one of those other plays.
For a list of plays written by John, click the button below.
Here you will find complete information on most of the perks being offered for our Indiegogo campaign. (Perk info at Indiegogo site is complete but kept brief due to their text limitations.) Please note that while these descriptions are more detailed, the Indiegogo descriptions represent the official catalog of perks.
$10
$25
$40
$50
Own the sound design!
As both a playwright and a sound designer, John McKinney puts a lot of thought into the aural art of theater. So you know he's going to be bringing his A game when it comes to his own play! In fact, the sonic moods and atmospheres you'll hear when you see The Chekhov Dreams will created and mixed at Pomann Sound, home of Nickelodeon's Doug, the video games for Game of Thrones, Star Wars and other massive hits. Which means our sound design will receive the very same level of artistry and professionalism.
Downloadable online or available as a CD, you'll be getting all the sound elements used in the play as well as some extras, including some captivating music that inspired much of the writing!
Invitation to our pre-production party!
As a true supporter of our "Dream," we would like to invite you as our honored guest at our upcoming pre-production party happening later this fall. (Date to be announced sometime in August). Come meet the production team and the many artists, designers and friends of the production and share your positive energy with other like-minded souls. Early bird donors will also get a promo code for discount tickets to the show.
Check the Party Update button below periodically to find out when and where this party will happen!
$100
$150
Digital copy of the script
Now you can read this much talked about, much-rewritten, much nominated play -- before the play even opens! You will receive the latest draft prior to the official start of rehearsals. Impress your date with how cleverly you "predicted" the many twists and turns of the story. We won't blow your cover -- promise!
$200
Early bird bonus! For donors of $300 or more.
Playwright John McKinney is offering a very limited number of signed copies of published anthologies in which his work appears. These collections include selected works from some of the most respected dramatists in America, including Terrence McNally, Jeffrey Sweet, Hamish Linklater and Theresa Rebeck, and will provide both actors and directors with a wealth of possible material for their shows or monologues.
Four book titles are available: Best Monologues for Men, 2013 (which includes a monologue from The Chekhov Dreams), Best 10-Minute Plays, 2013 (which features John's futuristic comic satire, "Unintelligent Life"), Best 10-Minute Plays, 2014 (which includes John's seriocomic repartee-fest, "Unprimed") and his two most recent publishing accomplishments, Five Minute Plays by Applause Books which includes two of his shorter plays. (The mother-daughter ballad, The Falling of the Cranes, and the comedic mystery, The Psychics' Convention.)
NOTE: Some editions in limited supply, so act fast while they are still in stock!
(For more info, click on any of the book icons to the left. In some cases you may be taken to an Amazon page which allows you to click again on their icon for more info.)
$300
Free voiceover instruction
As a casting director for a major New York recording studio and a former ad agency creative, John is able to teach the art of commercial voiceover performance with unique insight and skill. Even this single 90-minute session could be hugely beneficial for actors learning the commercial genre.
$500
For an extra special donation, you deserve extra special treatment. Like free tickets to any performance -- including opening night. And an invitation to our opening night cast party, where the champagne corks will be popping as we celebrate all of our hard work and your valued support!
Click on the Party Update button for details on where the opening night party will be.
Choice of any book, signed by the author!
$750
Have a role in our next movie trailer promoting the play this fall and winter! That's right, no audition necessary! The part is yours! (Or whoever you designate, if it's a gift.)
Cameo role in upcoming promotional campaign!
Your own theme song or ringtone!
Get an original, hot new song recorded and mixed just for you by one of the expert music composers at Pomann Sound. Choose your genre from rock to rave to hip-hop to dubstep, and let them create for you a cool new track that reflects your personality. This is a very limited offer, so better jump on this soon!
Early bird bonus! For donors of $500 or more.
$1000
OK, we're talking serious sucking up, here! Not only do you get all the above perks, we'll also give you an extra pair of tickets (to be used on any date) and invite you to our wrap party where you'll be given a personal champagne toast by the cast. We'll also give you a loud shout out during our curtain announcement at whichever performance(s) you attend!
Invitation to wrap party, a champagne toast in your honor, and more!
A custom produced movie trailer for your show or project!
If you've seen the promos for this campaign, you know how creative and fun John and his team at Pomann Sound can be. Donors for this perk level will receive a 1 minute promotional video or trailer around whatever it is you want to promote -- an upcoming show, a charity event or even just your kid's high school play. Nothing like a polished, Hollywood style trailer to get a crowd enthused and excited!
Your own personalized stage monologue!
Author will write you your own 10-minute play!
$3000
VO coaching and a kick-ass voiceover demo
Expert voice coaching and a spectacular voiceover reel for you or someone you love -- recorded at Pomann Sound, a state-of-the-art recording studio known for its award winning sound design for ABC-TV's Doug, and the Game of Thrones and Star Wars video game series. Also includes a 90-minute copy review and rehearsal session at the studio.
OR...
A free sound design project, created at a state-of-the-art recording studio.
Pomann Sound is the home of many great recordings and soundtracks, including the soundtracks for the Game of Thrones and the Star Wars video game series, the hit TV series, Doug and other iconic film and TV projects. Well now, it can also be the home of your next theatrical sound design project, solo singing track, podcast or whatever you want to record from one of our three cutting edge audio suites. Good for 20 hours of studio time.
Plus you'll get all the perks listed at the $1000 donation level, above.
$8000
Early bird bonus! For donors of $750 or more.
Early bird bonus! For donors of $150 or more.
Early bird bonus! For donors of $200 or more.
Early bird bonus! For donors of $1000 or more.
Plus, get all the perks listed at the $1000 donation level, above.