About The Great Brown Bear
Hi there! My name is Kierna Conner, and I'm an actress and creative living in the Big Apple. I graduated from the University of Arizona in 2016 with my BFA in Musical Theatre, and I have experience with project management, event planning, and entrepreneurship.
I've spent the past year writing, conceptualizing and workshopping a new work I've written called The Great Brown Bear. It's an immersive, surrealist adaptation of a classic Nordic folktale I loved as a child called 'East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon'. The Great Brown Bear uses the folktale as a lens to frame the journey of two lovers as they navigate what it means to relate to each other in a truthful way. This show is deeply personal to me because it's based on some of the most important romantic relationships in my life- my own, and more importantly, the one modeled to me by my parents. The show uses many important elements of my childhood and my family's culture to support our story, such as elements of my family's Finnish and Nordic heritage, poetry, and movement in honor of my late mother who was a dancer.
In May of 2018, I submitted the show to the competitive New York International Fringe Festival, and it was accepted! We've been given a week long run from October 12th-16th, 2018, but we need your help to make it happen!
What We Need & What You Get
In order to make The Great Brown Bear's inaugural run a reality, we're asking for $3,500 of financial help from you, our community. Putting on a theatrical production is expensive, and we're looking for financial support in order to allow this show to find the foothold it needs in the competitive New York theatre world. The $3,500.00 will cover:
- the $1,000.00 venue and technical fee charged to us by FringeNYC
- $600.00 of advertising in the Fringe program guide, contained in TimeOut Magazine!
- $400.00 for costume and set materials (I'll be doing the costume and set labor myself!)
- a financial stipend to try to convey to each of our 9 cast members and our beloved choreographer, Josh Dunn, how much we appreciate their hard work and skill!
Those who help support us in our very first efforts to bring The Great Brown Bear to life get some SUPER cool perks! Contributors can receive things like signed photos and posters, cast recordings of our original music, one-of-a-kind props from the show, and more!
Any financial support we receive will help us fund The Great Brown Bear. Whether we don't quite make our financial goal, or we soar over and above it, the funds will go straight towards making it the best that it can be! Any additional funds we receive over the original goal will go directly towards additional compensation for our team (who are each doing EXCEPTIONAL work for far less than they are worth!) and supporting the larger goal of finding a more permanent home for The Great Brown Bear.
The Impact
The world of independent theatre is competitive, and it's easy to feel discouraged from creating original work when there are so many obstacles to overcome. But we believe the world needs to hear more new stories- and that the world needs to hear this story! Our story is a story of hope, of vulnerability, and of what it means to live in the present moment, in all of it's uncertainty and risk. We believe our story will connect people, and infuse them with the same hope and courage that we have!
We are a team of creatives and leaders who have combined experience running successful small businesses, planning large scale events, and originating new works in festivals all over the world. We feel confident that this production of The Great Brown Bear will open the door to larger opportunities for the show and for us as creatives and professionals.
Other Ways You Can Help
If you aren't able to contribute financially, you can also support our campaign by getting the word out! By sharing our campaign on social media and via email and word of mouth, you can help ensure that our goals will be met and our intention to bring hope and connection to NY audiences will become a reality! Share us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and via the IndieGoGo share tool!
THANK YOU for taking time out of your day to read- we're glad you're with us and we hope you'll come and see the show!
Website: www.thegreatbrownbear.com
Fringe Website Listing: http://www.fringenyc.org/basic_page.php?ltr=G
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/d/ny--new-york/the-g...
Promo Video created by Casey Martin Klein, Insta: @caseymartinnyc, www.caseymartinklein.com/