Music by Matt Glickstein/ Book and Lyrics by Jason Spraggins
Crawlspace: a new musical
© 2020 Glickstein and Spraggins, all rights reserved
We Are...
Matt Glickstein and Jason Spraggins- a writing team from Hawaii (Matt) and Tennessee (Jason). We have been collaborating since 2011. You can explore our work here:
www.songsforabetterworld.com
www.spragginsmusic.com
www.crawlspacemusical.com
Crawlspace , our provocative new musical thriller, is a project we've been putting together for several years. We've completed the score and book, and the show is ready to be performed in a workshop, traditional production, or presented online. At this point, we have started the process of recording a concept album based on the show. We hope that the album will help us build an audience for the project and generate interest from potential theaters and producers that will lead to live productions.
The Show...
In 1979, a famed psychologist and researcher, Dr. Judy Matthewson, is invited to Chicago by a desperate defense attorney to interview an accused killer. The Doctor has a particular interest in the case. As a survivor of child abuse, she seeks to rationalize her own father's actions by studying the origins of violence as related to the human brain.
The prisoner, John Wayne Gacy, is facing trial for 33 counts of murder after dozens of dead boys were discovered buried under his home. Hoping to save himself from the death penalty, this braggadocios murderer must convince the Doctor to sign off on his claimed multiple personality disorder and bolster his insanity plea.
During her sessions with Gacy, his narrative conjures flashbacks of his own childhood abuse, personal life, murders, and arrest. The Doctor follows him on a tour through his memories--blurring the line between reality and Gacy’s mind. His alleged multiple personalities take center stage as the killer relives key moments from his dark and tragic life.
Gacy, on the one hand, was a family man, community leader, out-going neighbor, and part-time clown known for hosting elaborate yard parties. On the other hand, he was a victim of abuse, a sadist, rapist, and serial murderer. As the show progresses and the trial date looms, the Doctor begins slipping dangerously deeper into Gacy's troubled mind. His unsettling memories challenge her beliefs about mental health while also forcing her to face ghosts from her own past.
The musical score expresses Gacy's vastly different sides- his boastful public persona through pop, jazz, and blues sensibilities- and his violent, dangerous secret- self with darker, more cinematic styles.
*Click the link for a full, song-by-song synopsis
What We Need & What You Get
- We will need around $10,000 to record the entire show for the album. There are 25 tracks to record, at an average cost of about $400 per track--this includes vocalists, actors, and music production.
- Once recorded, we will make the album available for purchase, use it for pitching to musical to theaters and producers, and release the show in a podcast format!
- If we don't reach our full funding goal, we will use the amount we raise to record an abridged version of the musical. We will record as much as funding allows.
WHY?
Why a musical about John Wayne Gacy?
First, this show isn't what you may think. It's about much more. The Gacy murders are part of American History- a buried secret from our past we should not ignore. The story is stranger than fiction- a real-life case of Jekyll and Hyde. It can even serve as an allegory- as a mirror held up to our culture's darkest parts. It exemplifies how we see only what we want to see and often hide our shame from the light of day- as many have wished to do with this story. Instead, we seek to confront and learn from it.
The scope and emotional range of the material led us to the idea of musicalizing it. Music can elevate words, convey emotion, and communicate even the most difficult of stories, and we believe it makes this tragic tale more accessible. Gacy was a showman of extremes. He had vastly different sides to his character, and the pain he inflicted on others was deep. Crawlspace uses music to help portray Gacy's many facets and bring his unusual personalities to life in surprising and effective ways. The score explores his braggadocious public persona through rock, jazz, and blues sensibilities and expresses his violent, dangerous secret-self in darker, more cinematic styles. Haunting melodies bring emotional weight to the stories of victims and those who suffered in the wake of the crimes.
The show does not glorify or sensationalize Gacy or his actions. It is less violent and gruesome than, for example, Sweeney Todd. Gacy is characterized as he was in life- a confusing man of contradictions and cruelty. We present his abusive childhood and repressed homosexuality as true parts of his life- not to justify his violence. This is a psychological thriller that deals with concepts of evil, cycles of abuse, the criminal justice system, and mental health issues. Where there are no answers- none are given.
If you have an open-mind and enjoy being challenged by theater, Crawlspace offers a layered story with much to explore. Themes of repression, fear, shame, outcasts, judgment, and cycles of violence are also prevalent throughout- making it surprisingly relevant to our current times.
We hope to leave the audience with questions:
Does evil exist? If so, was Gacy born evil? Did society create him? Did abuse? Did mental illness?
Was he a perfect chameleon, hiding his secret life from view, or were his neighbors, friends, and family merely apathetic to visible warning signs.
Would you have seen them?
After hearing the story, will you begin to see John Gacy in everyone you encounter?
Proof of Concept...
The fabulous UK- based producer and artist Stefan Kelk will be at the helm of this project. He works with a talented cast of voice actors and has already produced three demos for the show:
*Click this link to hear demo recordings
Other Ways You Can Help....
Some people just can't contribute, but that doesn't mean they can't help:
- Help us get the word out and make some noise about our campaign.
- Use the Indiegogo share tools!
