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Primer for a Failed Superpower

Teenagers, the TEAM, and Baby Boomers perform a concert of iconic protest songs on August 22 + 23

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Primer for a Failed Superpower

Primer for a Failed Superpower

Primer for a Failed Superpower

Primer for a Failed Superpower

Primer for a Failed Superpower

Teenagers, the TEAM, and Baby Boomers perform a concert of iconic protest songs on August 22 + 23

Teenagers, the TEAM, and Baby Boomers perform a concert of iconic protest songs on August 22 + 23

Teenagers, the TEAM, and Baby Boomers perform a concert of iconic protest songs on August 22 + 23

Teenagers, the TEAM, and Baby Boomers perform a concert of iconic protest songs on August 22 + 23

the TEAM
the TEAM
the TEAM
the TEAM
5 Campaigns |
Brooklyn, United States
$10,756 USD 94 backers
107% of $10,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Highlights
Mountain Filled 5 Projects Mountain Filled 5 Projects
Overview
For two nights only on August 22 and 23, award-winning Brooklyn theatre ensemble The TEAM will present an all-ages community concert featuring a huge multigenerational band performing new arrangements of iconic protest songs from the past and present.

Protest songs from across the generations.

Teens. The TEAM. Baby Boomers.

Two nights only.

Primer for a Failed Superpower is a concert featuring a three-generation ensemble of teenagers, the TEAM, and Baby Boomers playing iconic protest songs that have celebrated and questioned what it means to be an American throughout our country’s past and present, and that exercise the muscles in our hearts and lungs for the challenges ahead.

Primer began with a question we were asked at a talkback in London, way back in 2009: “How are Americans dealing with the fact that you're not going to be a superpower anymore?” The question has only become more prescient as we’ve developed the piece over the last 5 years, and never more so than now. To respond, we’ve radically expanded the voices making and performing in this project with us:  

We’ve commissioned an incredible group of composers to create the set list–Heather Christian (Mission Drift), Justin Ellington (Fetch Clay Make Man), Jack Fuller (Ruse, Blown Away), Orion Stephanie Johnstone (I’ll Never Love Again), Amy León (Something Melancholy), Martha Redbone & Aaron Whitby (Bone Hill), Stew & Heidi Rodewald (Passing Strange), and Yva Las Vegass (I Was Born In A Place Of Sunshine And The Smell Of Ripe Mangoes).

Leading our Primer creative team are Director Rachel Chavkin, Music Supervisor Orion Stephanie Johnstone, and Associate Director Zhailon Levingston. Our Music Director is Nehemiah LuckettMatt Hubbs is on sound, Jake Heinrichs is on lights, Stivo Arnoczy is on video, Nick Vaughan is designing the stage, and Brenda Abbandandolo is making sure everyone looks and feels like a rockstar. 

And our three-generation band is comprised of 15 teenagers, 9 Baby Boomers, the TEAM and fellow Xennial (we guess?) performers and musicians from across New York City and as far away as Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and TEXAS. There will be 33 humans on stage--some veteran performers, and some taking the stage for the first time.

"In singing together, as in life, I think we are all served best by each individual fully singing out and shining their individual strength and story as fully as possible, and also having this deep listening and consciousness of the whole. Not independence or dependence, but interdependence." - Primer Music Supervisor Stephanie Ryan Johnstone

Why We Need Your Help

This is the project no one thought we’d be able to pull off: it's the biggest thing we’ve ever undertaken, it’s unlike anything we’ve ever made, and it’s finally happening.

We've received extraordinary support from Creative Capital, the Jerome Foundation, the NEA, NYSCA, and other institutional supporters, and thanks to one exceedingly generous donor, EVERY DOLLAR YOU GIVE TO THIS CAMPAIGN WILL BE MATCHED. Hitting our $10k goal = $20k raised for the project = our budget gap is closed.

Your donation will go toward:

  • a living wage for our performers and collaborators
  • providing childcare during rehearsals for our artists
  • renting sound equipment and the beautiful auditorium at Roulette
  • providing food and refreshments to feed our multigenerational band
  • filming a high-quality short film about the making of the show

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT FROM YOU is the only way we can finish it right. Every dollar helps hit our goal.

Other Ways You Can Help

Spread the word! Bring a friend (or 5)! Bring your grandma, or your daughter, or your next door neighbor. 

primerforafailedsuperpower.org

 

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Choose your Perk

Love Song

$5 USD
Our love and admiration, broadcast via social media.
Included Items
  • Social Media Shout Out
2 claimed

Opening Band

$25 USD
We'll send you a snail mail thank you note and a special video mixtape from the TEAM.
Included Items
  • Social Media Shout Out
  • Postcard + Video Mixtape
16 claimed
Ships worldwide.

Crowd Surfer

$75 USD
We'll send you a special edition digital zine from the Primer rehearsal room.
Included Items
  • Special 'Thank You' Zine
  • Social Media Shout Out
  • Postcard + Video Mixtape
6 out of 100 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Power Ballad

$125 USD
Join us before the show for a pre-game party in the neighborhood with TEAM friends and family. NOT IN NYC? We'll send you a special song dedication video from a member of the TEAM.
Included Items
  • Special 'Thank You' Zine
  • Concert Ticket
  • Pre-Show Party
  • Social Media Shout Out
1 out of 20 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Perfect Harmony

$250 USD
Bring a friend to celebrate with us beforehand for our friends and family pre-show party. NOT IN NYC? We'll send you a personal song dedication, plus a signed poster from the Primer ensemble.
Included Items
  • Special 'Thank You' Zine
  • Concert Ticket (2)
  • Pre-Show Party (2)
6 out of 20 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Gold Record

$500 USD
Join us in the rehearsal room to get a sneak peek of the concert and meet the performance ensemble. NOT IN NYC? We'll livestream you into a rehearsal, plus send you some other goodies.
Included Items
  • Special 'Thank You' Zine
  • Concert Ticket (2)
  • Pre-Show Party (2)
  • Rehearsal Visit
  • Song Dedication
  • Signed Poster
1 out of 25 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Platinum Record

$1,000 USD
We'll give you an all access pass for you and a friend to visit a rehearsal, celebrate with us at the pre-show party and concert, and other goodies.
Included Items
  • Special 'Thank You' Zine
  • Concert Ticket (2)
  • Pre-Show Party (2)
  • Rehearsal Visit
  • Song Dedication
  • Signed Poster
1 out of 10 of claimed
Ships worldwide.
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