Sing Tank Live - THEatre ACCELERATOR New Reality Edition - Winter 2021

Apples and Oranges Arts Theater Accelerator culminates in a live virtual pitch session. Our 6 writing teams from our new reality edition present their shows to theater executives, investors, and tech industry veterans. Watch our teams pitch to our judges now on Sing Tank.

Hello, I'm Pamela Winslow Kashani, and I'm here with my husband Tim, and together we welcome you to Sing Tank Mixed Reality Edition, where 6 of our Theater Accelerator teams were going— are going to pitch their wonderful original musicals to friendly sharks from the theater industry and beyond. It's all done for fun, and we're so glad that you could join us today. Today ends our 10th Theater Accelerator. It's hard to believe we've gone through 10 classes together. It's a 2-week virtual program where we coach creative teams using Silicon Valley principles to help them become not just thriving creatives, but creative entrepreneurs so that they can take the starving out of artist.

And in doing that, we thought, well, with everything that's gone on in the world right now, let's do a little retro back and go into some new realities. Now we'll have a quiz later on exactly what this is, but it would be an understatement to say that I love tech. I'm always looking at ways that we can use tech in a way that actually helps people rather than just tech for tech's sake. This New Reality Edition does that. Each team was given one of these, an Oculus Quest 2 headset. In the normal program before the New Reality Edition, they took the values of a Silicon Valley startup entrepreneurial approach to moving their stories forward. Well, now we're doing that in all kinds of virtual realities. We've been doing this program on Zoom since the foundation of it in 2016. Thus, we're very used to being virtual. When it comes to telling stories in these new realities, there are nuances, subtleties, and tech hurdles to get over, and we wanted to throw our teams into those tech hurdles and see what they would come up with. And without any spoiler alerts, what I can tell you is we could not be happier with how these two weeks have gone. We have jumped into alt space and many new realities and actually gone through a show that we've built from beginning to end and looked at dissecting that as how we can use these technologies, not simply to show shows, but right now especially to develop shows. And that's what we've highlighted is the entire stream of the world that we love and the ecosystem from first idea and table read all the way through how do you connect to an audience.

Absolutely. And it was an exhilarating experience to explore these modalities together and keep our artists alive and thriving. We want to do a shout out and a big thank you to Michael and Iris Smith for underwriting this session of Theater Accelerator.

All right, well, let's jump into and take a look at our judges who are going to be helping us with this.

Well, first, Tim, let's talk about the voting and how this is all going to work today.

All right, let's do that. It is very simple. We are going to go 5 minutes with each show, and each show can do literally whatever they want to in 5 minutes. And they are presenting to you. We're following that up by a 5-minute Q&A from our judges who we will introduce shortly. And did you see how well Pamela covered for me right there?

That was smooth.

Making it seem like I didn't make the mistake. But that's the thing about live theater. It's all one big joyous mistake. And these judges then get a chance to ask them questions all in fun. Now, because it's all in fun and to help these shows move forward with love, they only get one virtual dollar to invest. They can invest that virtual dollar however they want to. They can divide it up. They're gonna make us do math because we have 6 teams and $1. It's a lot easier when we have 5 teams, $1. But for those of you out there with your PhD in mathematics, you can figure it out and you can chat us online.

All right.

Well, without further ado, let us dive into learning a little bit about our incredible judges. First up, we have Deborah Barrera. She is a multiple Tony Award-winning producer a script reader for the Edgerton Foundation, founder of the Women's Independent Producers Group, and member of the Broadway League. She recently joined the ex-producing team with The Seven Fingers, which is excitingly going to reopen the Club Pugazzi in San Francisco later this year. I cannot wait, Deborah, for that. She's been a much appreciated member of our Theater Accelerator team, helping us read and, and work with our artists over many, many years now, and she's honored to be a part of the judging process today with these incredibly talented, innovative, up-and-coming artists. Deborah, please say hi.

I'm now unmuted. Hello everyone, nice to see you. Thank you for having me.

Next up, we have our friend Deeksha Gaur, and Deeksha is the co-founder and current general manager over at ShowScore, where she is also part of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and the Two River Theatre Company, Long Wharf Theatre Company, and serving on the board of Ars Nova. She is also just a good friend and worked with us with the Broadway Tech Accelerator. Deeksha, please say hello to everybody.

Hi everyone, very excited to be here.

Great to have you.

And next up, we have a long-term friend and colleague, Frank Cavanaugh, an investor and a producer. He builds relationships with individuals and organizations that facilitate growth, transformation, and innovation. At Fort Ashford, Frank's role provides executive and operational management for major corporations including Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard. He grew his own company, Force Protection Ink from less than $1 million to be worth over $1 billion in 6 years. He is a 10-time Singtank judge and Tim's college bestie. Please welcome Frank Kavanaugh.

And Frank says hello, and he also wanted me to remind you that he is an EGOT winner, which you guys can all do the math on that. Not yet, but he is going to be, is what he wanted to say.

He's striving for that.

Yes, no. All right, then we have Jason Ma, and Jason is a longtime longtime friend and one of our earliest classes of Theater Accelerator as a writer, composer, author, all of the above. And Jason has gone on and taken this show as well as other shows forward in many different ways. And I, I have Jason's official bio here, which is that not only is he a great person who celebrates the striving immigrant, immigrant spirit and the redemptive power of love and the ultimate nobility of self-sacrifice amongst all of those that are his colleagues. But I just personally want to say Jason has always inspired us and makes us love what we do. And without spoiler alert, too many announcements, I can say that Gold Mountain, the show he brought through, is going on to amazing things. Especially one of the first shows to be coming out of COVID live, and we couldn't be happier, Jason.

Thank you. I'm so glad to be here and so glad to be on this side of the equation. Good luck to everybody.

You're not in the hot seat this time, Jason.

Exactly.

You get to relax a little bit. Thanks for being here.

My pleasure.

And next up, we have Brian Morland. An esteemed colleague of ours and a creative lead producer for Broadway and beyond. He was just named as one of Variety's top 10 people to watch. Very impressive. His previous works include Lifespan of a Fact, Sea Wall: A Life, The Sound Inside, Cuttin' Up, and While We Breathe. His upcoming Broadway projects include American Buffalo with Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell, and Darren Criss, Blue with Leslie Uggams and Lynn Whitfield and directed by Phylicia Rashad, and Keenan Scott II's Thoughts of a Colored Man, coming very, very soon, we hope. Please welcome Brian Morland.

Hi everybody, I'm really thrilled to be here. I cannot wait.

Should we do Kyle? I think we should, because Kyle has made it.

Kyle Wright.

I kid around because Kyle is a very close friend. We launched the Broadway Tech Accelerator together, and Kyle is also the director of digital projects over at the Shubert Organization, as well as working on many another crazy initiatives, such as things like the Fifth Wall Forum, and pretty much you name it, he also involves himself with technology and the arts and has introduced me, and I've introduced him to other people on this call. And he's a supporter of Sing Tank, as well as all kinds of new works and the people that are behind him. So let's welcome Kyle to the stage.

Hi there! Yeah, you're not wrong, Tim. It's— you're kicking off a very auspicious weekend. There are 4 events happening this weekend. I'm involved in 3 of them, so I just got off a dress rehearsal for one, and now we're here. This is so exciting. This is one of my favorite events of the year, so thank you for inviting me, and I'm happy to be here.

Kyle, it's great to see you. We always enjoy your company and your insights. And that ends the intros for the round of these incredible judges. Which leads us to the fun part. Now we get to see and hear what these incredible teams have been up to with us for the last 2 weeks. So without further ado, let's dive right in into our first musical. We have Melissa Jones and Lourdes Lane with Super U: The Musical.

<LYRICS>Something's gonna happen today.</LYRICS> Hi, my name is Lourdes Lane. Book, music, lyrics, and violin playing co-star of Super U.

And I am Melissa Jones, creative producer of Super U.

Exactly one year ago today, March 12th, the entire theater industry was shuttered. Super U was one week away from finalizing capitalization and making a press announcement for our opening at the Dallara Theater, then shut down. But Super U embraces the themes of resilience, Overcoming grief and connecting to your inner superhero.

So we put on our capes and did this.

11 and a half hours to be here tonight.

Stronger now!

Our women-led team of Broadway veterans and Emmy Award-winning filmmakers came out of isolation and donated their time because they believe.

Without a press agent, SuperU organically received a deluge of national and local press.

A documentary of these sold-out pickup truck performances is now streaming on Broadway On Demand for the month of March, and we continue to receive more organic press highlighting our innovation during the pandemic.

Super U is the journey of an artist who learns to step into her power and reconnect to her dreams when her own superheroine creations come to life.

We knew our primary fan base was multi-generational women and especially women who buy tickets to Broadway. But as we had to rely entirely on digital media this past year, we learned our potential fan base is much bigger.

In the past year, we released music videos, a concept album, merch, got viral videos on TikTok, which resulted in thousands of requests for our sheet music and karaoke tracks.

<LYRICS>Just give me a sign, show me something that's mine.</LYRICS> Reminding people that they are already superheroes is not only the theme of our show, but also the mission of the nonprofit Lourdes founded in 2013.

Hi, I'm Lourdes and I am honored.

The mission of connecting to your inner superhero of both the show and the nonprofit lends itself perfectly to XR integration. We envision fans creating their own customized VR superheroes and singing with our cast as their superhero avatars on social media and even games. We're excited to explore incorporating the audience into the comic book landscape of our show so the audience can actually see themselves on stage and part of the action.

Our journey this year has opened our eyes to the vastness of what is possible without having a theater. If you're willing to get creative, the opportunities are endless.

We're looking to continue brand building, creating market demand and revenue right now.

Our ask is $10,000 to $50,000 for XR development for a 2-week lab starting on April 12th, 2021, to explore creating customized superhero avatars and integrating XR into our Super U world.

We don't believe we're building just a theatrical show. We believe we're building a movement for people to connect to their voices, their power, their superhero selves, a mission of resilience and hope that is needed in our world now more than ever.

Who's with us?

Loving now, living now, stronger now.

Thank you very much. We would love to open up for questions.

I don't have much of a question, more of a comment. I am so familiar— it's wonderful to see you again, Melissa. Yes. I'm so familiar with Super U, huge fan of Joanne Hunters. Obviously, I'm a huge fan of Ryan Algaras, and I love Lavon Fisher-Wilson. Everyone should see SuperU across America. That's all I have to say. Looks great.

Thank you, Brian.

Nice to see you too.

Hi guys. I just wanted to add in, that was an incredible presentation. I got to see some of the first versions of everything, so you've come such a long way. And I love that we're in the middle of International Women's Month right now. So that just made me even more excited. I just have a quick question around partnerships with VR companies or gaming companies. You mentioned that you've done an incredible job, by the way, during this shutdown and pandemic to just rally all of the interests that you could possibly do. And it's already got a life of its own. And congratulations on that. But I'm just curious to know, in over the next few months before we get back to live theater, what partnerships are you exploring? Do you have any thoughts around that? Just elaborate a little bit on that, if you will, or can.

You know, we just learned about VR in this class, and since we've been thinking creatively the whole time, it excites us to explore fans creating their superhero avatars, and it's also the mission of, of our nonprofit. So, uh, we can include the educational component in it, we can include engagement with our script, and all of that is just so thrilling. So we don't know enough, we're looking for advisors and help because this is literally the— in this last 2 weeks our mind has been blown, you know. So we're excited to explore it, and we're constantly thinking outside of the box when there is no box. So We're, we're, uh, we're in it to win it and excited to know more and learn more.

Excellent.

Well, thank you.

Great presentation. Very impressive.

Thank you, Deborah.

I do have a question. Um, first of all, I agree with Deborah. That was an amazing pitch. It was terrific. My question is, I don't know if I got from the pitch exactly what is your story about, um, which is something that's important to include, I think.

You know, there was so much to talk about in a 5-minute pitch. We just— I mean, literally, the first time I pitched this, I was like, I was trying to get everyone— I was a mess. And same, like, let's, let's get laser. And with everything else that we had to share, it was like we only could share a little nugget of the pitch, which is just the exceed the heart of the show and the takeaway, you know. And there is so much to share, and if anyone wants to talk about it more, we'll happily share more.

Because, Lourdes, um, this is a story coming in saying they asked you about the story. Sorry, go ahead and tell them about the story in your one-sentence logline that we worked on.

Yes, it celebrates the journey of a, of a woman who, uh, steps into her power and learns to love herself when her own superheroine creations come to life. And I mean, I had mentioned that in the pitch, but each of the superheroes have bits of her that she doesn't fully realize. And it's an interesting concept to know that your artwork comes to save you when you're not realizing your own power. And through tragedy and pain, she's able to rediscover her sense of self and reconnect to her dreams. That's a little bit more.

That was super compelling, actually. Wonderful, really.

Thank you. Thank you.

We had to work on our energy level to bring it up a little bit. All right, Frank.

Am I—

Yep, you are good.

Okay, great. Question: What is XR?

XR is the planet of VR and AR. That's what we learned this this during this world.

It's like, it's all of it.

All of it.

So alternative reality.

Yeah, extended reality. Is that right, Pamela and Tim?

Yes. Or mixed reality.

Yes.

I will say it's reality. Yes.

I'm old. I'm years behind. I didn't know that. So that was great.

And then that's it.

That's it for me on this. Thanks.

Okay, well, we are, we are at time on that one. All right, Team Super U, you can now breathe. Now you get to watch and support all of your other colleagues move on.

Yes, and thank you for starting us off with such incredible energy and spirit. It's, it's infectious for sure. Thank you. Let's move on to our next show, which has a very different vibe but very valid nonetheless. We have the show Guy, and here to tell us about it from across the pond are Leo Mercer and Stephen Hyde.

Thank you very much, Pamela. And hello, I'm writer Leo Mercer.

And I'm composer Stephen Hyde. And together we are Leo and Hyde. We'd like to start by sharing with you a music video from our synthpop musical Guy.

You're caught up in the corner all alone on your phone living a double life.

Online, you're waving a sword, you're playing games at work again, you read that board living a double life.

Living faster, laughing harder, hiding deeper, trying longer, take another picture for your double life, addicted to your double life, are you sick of your double life? Stranger, lover, dreamer, brother, sister, other. Listen to this brand new story about friends and bodies and heartbreak and parties and mistakes and love. Listen to this story. Stranger, lover, dreamer, brother, sister, other. <LYRICS>To this brand new story about friends and bodies and heartbreak and parties and mistakes and love.</LYRICS> That was from our musical Guy, which we really want to tell you about in just a minute.

But first, we want to say a bit about us as a writing duo.

As a writing partnership, we have 3 urgent questions. Question 1: Where are the musicals that dramatize the digital lives we are all actually living right now? We are still waiting for that story that captures all the highs and lows of internet life. Question 2: Why can't musicals sound like the music we listen to on Spotify? I'm part of a generation that is addicted to Spotify. We listen to music 24/7. We want the music we write for theatre to sound like the music we write— we listen to every day on the radio, on playlists, which is truly electronic, truly poppy, and really contemporary? Question 3: Why can't musical theatre be known as the most advanced, the most cutting-edge art form? There are so many technologies ready and waiting to be used on stage. Now, with that in mind, let me introduce you to the world of our protagonist, Guy.

Thanks for the music, Leah.

Hey, I just want to say your profile really clicks with me.

I can't deal with judgmental people. So you're saying judged, judgmental people.

No, I can't get out of this one, can I?

Just got out of the shower.

So are you a man or a dancer?

Lol.

Do you have any more pics?

Sorry, not my type.

We want to introduce you to Guy, our protagonist, a humble graphic designer from Manchester. Guy is a gay millennial looking for love. He is fat, nerdy, and shy. He feels like he doesn't fit into the gay community. In a world of prejudice and beauty standards, Guy can design anything except the perfect body. And when a rejection on the gay dating app Grindr pushes Guy to the pits of low self-esteem, he is so desperate to know whether his life would be better if he looked different that he makes a terrible choice. He creates a fake dating profile using a picture of his best friend. Something known as catfishing. And for a moment, he has a wonderful conversation with a guy that he could never really meet in real life. But too late, he realizes he's going down a dangerous path of deception that will force him to confront his inner demons and push away everybody close to him. With 12 heart-pounding electronic pop anthems, this millennial odyssey through bingeing, gymming, prejudice, hookups, beauty standards, and stolen identities Identity is a much-needed reminder that before you can love anybody else, you first have to learn to love yourself. We've toured the show to more than 20 cities in the UK. We've captured the hearts, minds, and ears of a generation, and now we're ready for the next step.

We're pitching for £15,000, which is roughly $20,000, to make the 12-minute episode 1 of Guy: A VR Musical. The musical will show Guy making his Slate profile. In the VR piece, we will see him creating an avatar in VR. It will prophesize a new age we are entering in which we are all confronted with the question: what should our avatar be?

Guy is perfectly suited for VR for 3 reasons. Number 1, this is a story about our online personas, and VR, with its new wave of avatars, is about to push that to a whole new level.

Second, there is a market within the current VR audience. The most popular VR game is Beat Saber. With its banging electronic pop music, Guy's soundtrack will appeal precisely to the millions of Beat Saber lovers currently using VR.

And three, we want VR musical theatre to get off to the right start. Something modern, something queer, something unafraid to say that new types of technology means new types of music Thank you very much for listening to us.

Thank you very much.

Nicely done. All right, judges.

More than ever, who's with us?

All right, we have some audio bleeding through. Let's, let's go on. Questions?

Hi everyone. I have a question. Leo, Steven, that was really, really very inspiring. I love the music. I love the story. I love the visuals. It was, it was very compelling. I missed a little bit of what you were saying at the end around, around the use of VR and how that would sort of be incorporated into the West End run. Can you speak a little bit more about that?

Yeah, at the moment, Guy is a stage show, but the story we want to make into a 4-episode series. Each episode is about 12 minutes, which is really common at the moment for short-form VR pieces, and it fits very nicely with the story that we've created. What we would do is you would have a mixed reality thing where on the one hand we had the real world of Guy, who's living in 21st century England, or could be anywhere, and We have a filmed 360 video setup, but we mix it with VR, virtual reality, when he creates his avatar. Because at the moment, when you're on Grindr or a dating app, you create a little picture, but we predict that in 50 years' time, we will naturally create some sort of virtual representation of ourselves. We want to probe that, and the way we'll do the piece combines the real footage of now with the use of avatars.

That's incredible. Thank you very much. Very exciting.

And I would add in there, just because you are working on this right now, so it's always good to throw in and buy us.

In fact, we've just come straight from workshops in England where we're currently workshopping these very questions and beginning to try and get these things off the ground and make it happen already.

Leo was just about to say that, but I cut him off. All right, next question, please. Deborah.

Thanks to both of you. I thought that was a really wonderful presentation, and I wanted to— the first note that I wrote was how interesting the music is, so much in the pop genre, and I could absolutely see myself listening to this on Spotify. And then you repeated what my thought was. I think this piece is so relevant and resonates with so many different genres and different generations right now. And again, with, um, Diksha's comment, I just was curious to see how you would want to move forward along within the VR world. You talked about the gaming world, and that's, that's really interesting to me. Like, how are you looking for partnerships? I asked this to the team before as well. How do you see that evolving on this journey?

That's a great question, and the answer is yes. I currently work at a VR company in England that are looking at museums in VR, and they're developing avatars that we would use when we go into the virtual museum, then we have avatars. So I'm already asking the questions: can we build partnerships with organizations who are building avatars for other reasons and saying, can we theatricalize them? It's already the case that your hands can move. What if we can make them dance to the music that we're creating? But I think it's really interesting that you mentioned games, because Guy and Aziz, who are the protagonists of the musical, they're both avid gamers, and the music feels gamey. And we're already looking into how we can take games like Synth Rider, which is another of the very popular games on VR, which is an open-source game, so we can take it and we can create our own versions of the game specifically suited for Guy. There's a lot that we're currently doing that are the sort of lo-fi things that creatives can do at home during lockdown very easily. And we're using those to create prototypes that we're hoping to use to pitch to VR companies to say, this could be a thing, musicals in VR really could be a thing. Here are some actual examples of that.

Great.

I agree. Thank you. Great presentation, guys.

And Kyle. Hi. First, great, awesome, love it. Really love the music video. That was really cool.

It's—

there's a lot happening at the same time, but you still can follow a thread. Anyway, I like that, but that was not my question or comment. Building on Deborah's question, so as you think about building audiences and selling tickets and monetizing this thing, it sounds at the moment like it's completely virtual, though maybe I missed that. How do you think about building that distribution, given that in VR, there's a ubiquity question in the near term, long term I think will solve itself. How do you think about building that audience and growing it over time, given where the technology is and the accessibility of headsets and that kind of thing?

That's a great question as well. My current thought is we're building this as a stage show as well. So we're hoping that in the coming years it will grow as a stage show. And there's a perfect opportunity there to create attached pop-up VR arcades that go along with the show. So you can go there, you can already experience Episode 1, there as a VR experience, and that can make you think. I think there's a big collaboration, there's a huge partnership to be made between musical theatre, which is a huge commercial industry, and VR. At the moment, VR has a very specific target audience, it's gamers, and narrative experiences have a long, long way to go.

And I noticed, as you're— sorry to interrupt you— as you're talking about episodic, you're mentioning them in episodes. Do you envision stage show versus virtual experience being secondary story extensions, tertiary story extensions, all part of one narrative? Like, what are your thoughts in that space?

At the moment, we've pitched— we're exploring it as an adaptation of. There's so many things. As one example, Guy is a graphic designer, and it's very easy to create some amazing visuals. I don't know if you're familiar with Tilt Brush, which is a painting app in VR, and we can do some incredible things with the notion of Guy as a graphic designer painting 3D all around him in swirly shapes. So the story is already very much right for VR, which is why we're thinking about adapting it, because it's there. It's interesting because it's a love story between Guy and also Aziz. And so one thing we are thinking is, is there a spin-off that we— Aziz is the love interest. What if we tell his story and focus on that and create an experience which is a companion piece?

The other thing to think about, perhaps just to put in your brain, is rather than thinking of them as extensions of the same story, thinking more anthological. And so you can tell other stories also in the queer genre. So it's not always about two men, but can be moving on to different types of people and life experiences, but keep the same theme. Because I wrote casting down as a potentially problematic thing as you're looking at an all-male cast, it seems like, of some sort, which is fine, but just something to think about. And if you can expand to other types of story within the same story that you're telling at its base, that might be a really awesome way of thinking about extending.

Yeah, a signature song from our show is called Double Life, and it's about this kind of double life between basically our real lives and our online social media lives. So I think that definitely extends to other stories, and that's a great suggestion.

All right, fantastic. We are at time. Thank you, judges. Thank you, the Guy team.

Thank you very much.

Great commentary. Love your comment, Kyle. Very good point there, and great work, both of you. Thank you so much. Let us move on to our next team. We have Molly Reisman and Emily Chu with their show Keaton and the Whale.

Yes, hello everyone, thank you so much for being here.

Hello, thank you so much.

Here we go.

Hi, I'm Emily Chu.

I'm Molly Reisman, and together we wrote Keaton and the Whale. Somewhere in the ocean, there lives a whale that's the only one of his kind. He sings at 52 hertz, which is a pitch that's way too high for other whales to hear. Scientists have never seen him, and they have no idea why he sings at this frequency. They call him the loneliest whale in the world.

Once upon a time, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, That is our whale.

Enter Riley. She's a 12-year-old hooligan genius Taiwanese-Canadian with zero tolerance for dumb-dumbs. Think Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. She's got a theory that she's the only one who can understand the whale, and he's the only one who can understand her.

And this is Keaton, who is a 20-something self-absorbed artiste who has worked working on the fifth extension of his PhD dissertation. He's trying to build a machine that will translate his pretentious poetry into very philosophical truths.

Riley and Keaton form a tentative alliance when Riley helps him fix his machine. But for some reason, when Keaton reads his poem, "Screaming into the Abyss," the machine translates it at exactly 52 hertz into—

Interlocking raindrop, Pac-Man, frozen office door, necky simple, hairy fork, invitation, access, bingo.

Of course this gibberish is the most beautiful, profound thing the whale has ever heard, and he falls deeply in love. Someone is finally, finally speaking to him.

Yes, I'll fly.

<LYRICS>I'll fly all the way out to you.</LYRICS> Fueled by the power of love, he breaks his migration route to find the source of this mysterious voice and find his soulmate.

When the whale realizes this voice was actually a machine that was never singing to him, he's heartbroken and for the first time realizes the full weight of his loneliness. Together, Keaton and Riley dive into the ocean so Riley can use the machine to broadcast the message she's been dying to tell the whale. I see you. I hear you.

We hear you. We see you. We hear you. We see you. Can anyone hear?

In grad school, I was really struggling with imposter syndrome and just feeling extremely alone. And on one particularly rough night, my marine biologist friend told me about the 52-hertz whale and talked about how even though this whale is completely alone, he doesn't seem sad. He's still eating, he sings into the void, and he goes about his life. And it made me realize that maybe feeling alone and feeling happy weren't necessarily two incompatible states.

And when Molly approached me with this idea, I jumped at the chance to write about this lonely whale and the ocean it lives in. My family likes to joke I was raised by sea creatures because every weekend I'd spend hours and hours at the aquarium staring at the fish, all of whom I'd given very elaborate backstories. Watching them stare back at me until it seemed like we shared some sort of unspoken language. I learned that sometimes the clearest form of communication doesn't require words. Sometimes it just requires two creatures to be in the same space together.

We wrote the show as a love letter to empower anyone who ever felt like they'd never find meaningful connection. Our characters ask, what if some of us were born to be happy and some of us were born to be alone? And in response, our show asks, What if everyone is asking that question as well?

Keaton and the Whale is whimsical, funny, and colorful with a buttload of heart. We've heard it described as Muppet-like or WALL-E meets the Royal Tenenbaums and likened to shows such as The Old Man and the Old Moon.

It's perfect for eccentric 13-year-olds who love science but also Saturday morning cartoons and their parents who want to share an experience that both they and their kids kids can enjoy.

We've been lucky enough to share our vision of the show with a number of organizations and were able to test it out with audiences of all ages. We found that younger kids see themselves in the whale, high schoolers and 20-somethings relate to Keaton, and audiences ages 30 to 85 hook into Riley and her complete lack of patience for Keaton's shenanigans.

We have a marine biology consultant with the Government of Canada's Science Advisory Board, and now we're looking for producers and technologists to help us share the story as an intimate site-specific trunk musical that we could tour at aquariums across North America. We're also looking for connections to science and education circuit programmers so that we can start to have these conversations. We're in the process of developing immersive VR educational modules that we could present alongside the show to illustrate the urgency of the climate change crisis in our oceans. For example, using VR to allow audiences to experience life from the whale's point of view.

As we come out of this pandemic, it's important to have community-driven stories like Keaton and the Whale that are hopeful but also recognize the trauma of isolation. We hope it'll remind us to open up to the wonder of the world around us, and that if we're brave enough to be vulnerable, there's always a way to make a genuine connection.

Can anyone hear me? Can anyone hear me? Can anyone hear me?

Can anyone hear me?

Can anyone hear me? This is the story of Keaton and the whale.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Nicely done.

So I absolutely love this.

Okay, so here we go.

Questions?

Damn it, you beat me, Brian. You go, go ahead.

I absolutely love this presentation. Um, it is so heartwarming. It is so thrilling. It is so, um, it reminds me one of my favorite websites to, uh, watch, um, are, uh, The Dodo, where I sit there and I fall in love with, with, um, with the most unusual pairings of creatures with humans. I just absolutely love it. It is beautiful. I love the scientific aspect of it. Do you also see it in a full-length animated feature musical as well, possibly? Possibly as an actual full animated series? Is there room for that? Have you guys considered that?

There is absolutely room for it. It's a dream of ours. We always imagine something like really like hand-drawn 2D, like really beautiful, something like Song of the Sea or like a Ghibli film.

Awesome, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kyle.

Uh, I will echo Brian. I was texting him offline, I was like, I'm laughing and crying at the same time. He's like, me too. So great work, that's very hard to do. A couple of things, Molly. I love how much you love the music because you're bebopping around over there, which is great. I was doing the same thing off camera, so good work there. Um, and what I would say is I, I think everything Brian said is totally on point. Um, I personally, being in theater, would love a live version of this, but then I start to have a stroke thinking about how you involve a whale in a production. But that's why I'm not a producer and Brian is. So love the idea, hope that can happen. But I like all the other aspects of it. The site-specific is awesome. I could see it at American Museum of Natural History and like the place with the giant Well, you get all that, fine. Um, here's my big point for you, um, among many others, is congratulations on being able to create a character in Keaton that does what Disney does so well, which is it's identifiable to certain age groups and comedic to people who are older to them. So like, even the way you talked about an angsty poet who's bleeding out, like, I could see a 13-year-old like, oh my god, I get it, I feel the same way, and their parents are laughing at it at the same time. So everyone can enjoy it for different reasons. So I think that's really— I don't know if you did that intentionally, you probably did, or maybe just organically happened, but love that. That's really hard to do, and I love when you can actually connect with two very different age groups at the same time, and everyone takes something different out of it, but still has a wonderful moment. So music's beautiful. I think you guys did a great job. Really good presentation. Um, love all the renderings. I'll stop talking.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Jason, then I think Frank.

Um, first of all, great presentation. The pitches have certainly gotten better over the years. Okay, so enough of that. Uh, I have a question for the two of you because, you know, I've been listening to your demos, I've been listening to everyone's demos. There is this amazing moment in your demos, in one of your demos, where you go from the clicks and the sort of the calls of the whale into the song that we heard. And I think you should always include that in any presentation you do about the show, because it's so wonderful and it really creates a world. And it also takes you from whale as whale to whale as one of us. And that is a wonderful thing that you've achieved in this show. So congratulations. I just want to say I want to hear the whale as a whale before he turns into a singer. And you know what, live presentation, a big old puppet is going to be amazing to look at. So don't, you know, don't discount that.

Thank you so much.

I apologize, I was not sure when to give feedback, so I didn't on the first two folks who I thought did Awesome.

But it's actually supposed to be questions, but it's turned into a little bit of a love fest. So we can, we can actually go back to questions.

Um, no, let's keep it a love sesh.

I'm probably the wrong guy for the love sesh.

Sorry.

Um, but, but we love you.

Yeah, you made amazing progress there. Um, really liked your audience review. And just on the ask, was trying to really clarify, can you be maybe a little more directed in your ask so I understand exactly what you're looking for?

So, ask.

Yeah, so we're looking for someone to help us take the show around to like aquariums or museums and schools to put up this show. It's like a very scaled-down version of the show. And hopefully after the show, we'll be able to have VR headsets—

That's the dramatic pause.

Emily froze. Molly, take it from here.

Sure, I'll take it from there. So we were hoping to be able to have supplementary content where we'd be able to use VR to experience the perspectives of our 3 main characters. So for the whale, we were hoping to be able to explore—

And kids will be able to go and— experience the ocean from the— Hi, I'm back. I think I had a, a thing happen.

Yeah.

Okay, Emily, please continue, uh, the VR of the, the perspective of the whale, and then, uh, maybe talk about the other VR character experiences.

Yeah, uh, I just think it's like the, the point of theater is to build empathy, and like, this is also a great opportunity for us to build a sense of empathy with our audiences about the state of our oceans. If they can experience firsthand what polluted oceans feel and look like, they can go forth and— Save the oceans. And save the oceans.

And we were also hoping, in addition to the ocean VR experience, being able to sort of hook into Riley, who throughout the show, she's building things, she's making hydrophones herself, and she's fixing Keaton's janky machine. Or looking from Keaton's point of view and trying to do a public speaking presentation for his thesis. So it'd be sort of 3 different perspectives, and we'd be able to sort of, you know, get STEM in there with Riley's building, and we'd be able to tour the oceans and feel Keaton's crippling anxiety.

Go ahead quickly, Kyle, we're sort of at time. Is this a comment?

Or it is, it can be a comment, but it was going to be a question.

I want to question. Yeah, go ahead.

If you had to pick one of the three themes you just talked through, which is the first? Polluted oceans, loneliness, being okay with it, and then like the kind of third expectation component of you think you know who someone is and not. So you can't do all three at the same time. You can, but it's difficult. What would you pick first?

First and foremost, the show is about loneliness. Like, that's where the heart of the whole show stems from.

Awesome. Did you have another thing, Frank, or was that Nope.

All right.

Okay, well done, Emily and Molly. Congratulations so much.

Thank you so much.

This is really amazing. I feel like a proud parent right now. It's, it's awesome. Next up, we have 3 wonderful collaborators to show us their show called The Lesson. We have Avi Amon, Ty Defoe, and Nolan Duran.

Hi everyone, I'm Nolan Duran. I'm one of the writers of The Lesson, co-writing music and lyrics.

Hey everyone, Ty Defoe here, book writer of The Lesson.

And I'm Avi Amon, also writing music and lyrics. The Lesson is a fantastical queer reimagining of two of history's most loved musical titans, a revolutionary Beethoven and an established Mozart, whose paths and hearts collide in an alt-universe futuristic Vienna. They must relearn everything they know to fight for freedom and change music forever. We're drawing inspiration from films like The Fifth Element, Elysium, Brazil, and Blade Runner, and we're creating a new sound showcasing their music while developing a score of original synth-based pop, rock, and R&B.

Thanks, Avi. So true. In the lesson, passive and interactive participants We'll discover in order to know anything, we must relearn everything. The lesson is standing up for liberation, freedom of expression for artists, love without limitations. Disruption is a form of revolution, so let's celebrate the rebellion. All of this using creative technology.

Yeah, Ty, I mean, we all met at NYU and we hit on this idea that Mozart and Beethoven hypothetically had a lesson in in 1787. And we asked ourselves, how can we tell Mozart and Beethoven's story in a new way that shattered what we knew about them and explored the infinite possibilities for a modern audience? In the lesson, Beethoven and Mozart are not the wig-wearing history book archetypes. They're characters who are flawed, they're human, they're sexy, they're queer, they're talented and passionate about changing the future as we know it. To date, we've developed the piece with Tony award-winning orchestrator Bruce Coughlin, the New York Theatre Barn, the Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship Program, and the Johnny Mercer Colony at Bitspeed Musicals.

In the lesson, we're speaking to current millennials, Gen Yers, and Xers, SoundClouders, Spotifiers, and this piece also speaks to future revolutionaries and individuals who watch things like Instagram TV or TikTok and are providing influential messages through a shared human experience about power and love. Of, so the lesson amplifies queer identities and anyone who has been a misfit in their life.

Our goal is to find a way to reach out beyond the gatekeepers of Broadway toward an intergenerational demographic who are passionate about storytelling and music and looking for change. We are connecting our show to theater lovers and beyond using new emerging technologies and platforms.

And ideally, we want to build the lesson in a modular way to be performed and experienced broadly from live theater to film to TV and to mixed AR.

Yeah, Ty, and The Lesson is such an experience, right? It's a feeling and it needs to be captured with incredible sound, visuals, and performance like the 360 video you're watching right now. And to do this, we need partners and producers who share our Misfit vision and want to help us bring it to life.

So we need opportunities Opportunities to collaborate with tech companies or large research institutions for a 5-week residency with a flexible budget around $50K in funds and donated assets using the most up-to-date mixed reality technology. So sort of think the HoloLens 2 to create transformative spaces.

We need development time for table reads and experimentation with the mixed reality platforms such as Microsoft Mesh and the Unreal Engine.

And we also need slick and sexy video content to fully realize the design and the aesthetic.

Finally, we need a Chief Dream Officer who will help us build the lesson.

So come help us celebrate the revolution together. Let's do this.

Yeah, check out our website, thelessonmusical.com. Call us, slide into our DMs, glitter signal to us, text, or just email.

We want you on our team.

Thank you all so much.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you for being here.

Love the glasses, Ty.

Okay, let's go into our Q&A, please.

Who's up? Jason.

You guys, you're so talented. Um, your opening number I love, and your skills are off the charts. I have a question for you though. Why are these characters specifically Beethoven and Mozart? Why are they just not two guys? Why must they be Beethoven and Mozart?

How you want to do this?

Sure, absolutely. Yeah, we wanted to, as the great Bruce Lee quote, you must know form to break form, and that is something that we really attached to in terms of form, content, and aesthetic. We sort of wanted to flip the script on what people know about Beethoven and Mozart and reach a wider grasp of audience of people who already know that they're revolutionaries and then reach the others that we need to get on board. So that's something, their defiance, their rebellious spirit in nature, we felt we wanted to reach a wider grasp. And we feel like Beethoven and Mozart could also be any individuals on the street. And predominantly thinking about queer identities and how underwritten and underserved those voices are. So why we picked Beethoven and Mozart.

Kyle? That partly answered my question, which could be because my internet froze a bit, but what is the story? Is it Beethoven and Mozart? I didn't realize they had a relationship. Like, is that the storyline?

Well, the story is—

Maybe I missed that when it froze, so sorry if that's the case.

The story is that Mozart and Beethoven had a theoretical lesson in 1787 in Vienna, and what we did is we created the idea, we sort of blew it up into a fantasia of what if they met in this alternate Vienna, in this sort of meta world of future, where future and technology fuse, and then they're able to have a relationship and sort of fight against the norms of that world. And that's essentially the story.

Okay, Deborah, a great presentation, guys. As I've told you before, I just want to take the three of you and go around the country or the world doing a speaker series with you guys. I'm already quoting Ty, you're to know anything, we must relearn everything. That's just brilliant. And the presentation is excellent. I'm really intrigued by this story of bringing history into the 21st century. We know that works. We've seen it work really well on Broadway recently with a little show called Hamilton. Not that I'm comparing, but I love the concept that you guys are trying to bring that forward into the 21st century. You talked about transformative spaces. Can you talk a little bit more about that in 10 seconds or less?

Yeah, absolutely. Nolan or Avi, do you want to get this?

Yeah, I'll jump in. I think transformative space means a number of things. One, it's about who we're inviting into that space, uh, both as performers, uh, creative team, and most importantly, audience, like in a theater and beyond, because I think that this show lives in multiple platforms. And then transformative space is also once you're there, how is it blowing away any expectations that you have, one, about Beethoven or Mozart, or two, what is a live experience. And over the past few weeks, we have seen some technologies that other people will attest to that I'm like, holy shit. And we've already, I've already sweared before, so now I can swear again. And so like thinking about the ways that we can think, like use this technology, whether it's like 3-dimensional masking and projections and, uh, like HoloLens glasses to like take people places they could never go. So it's transformative from the ground up. And I think that's really where this show fits.

Great. Thank you, Deep Shah.

I just want to echo to begin with what everyone said. It's just the level of performances and pitches have been incredible, and I'm very excited by all of them. I think where I would love to get a sense of where you guys are at is around sort of distribution and sort of priorities, right? Because you talk about this beautiful vision of this Chief Dream Officer, and I'm like, this is, you know, this should be a creative team member in every theatrical process. But at the same time, you know, you've asked for $50,000, right? So where are you playing first? Where do you want to go first? How do you see that fitting into the larger plan?

I'll jump in. Is that okay? I think first is continuing on our path of creating more video content, be that in 2D or in 360 video, not only to help build momentum and build up the portfolio of a show, because I think a lot of shows, and ourselves included, we think about a demo as an audio demo, but I think what we're really interested in is a video demo. We want to do the Beyoncé route, you know, like we need a video album. And I think that is like a really necessary step in order to help realize it both for theater, for film, and for mixed realities. So like building that up over a residency or with directors and things like that would be key.

And I think just keeping it flexible. Keeping it flexible so that we can build it for, for multiple streams that could happen at the same time, not only live. So when live returns, but it could also be digital assets that we can use to build the brand as we move forward.

I love that Beyoncé model.

Yes.

So true.

We know who your avatar is gonna be next then.

All right.

We are at time. Thank you. The lesson. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Tim and Pamela.

Well done, all of you. And we are now going to move on to our next show, which has a very, very different vibe than the one we last saw, but exciting nonetheless. Let's hear from Sharon Seig and Danny J. Rooney and their show, The Super.

Hello, everyone. I'm Sharon.

And I'm Danny. And we wrote The Super, a musical comedy adventure. When I was growing up, I had two obsessions: video games and musical theater. I was that kid glued to the TV, controller in hand, with the original cast album of Little Shop blaring in the background. My favorite game was this one where a little Italian plumber and his brother journey through a strange world to rescue a princess ass from a giant evil turtle. I was obsessed, and apparently so was everyone else.

So that little Italian plumber has been the subject of over 200 video games, the original game selling over 48 million copies. He's got a theme park in Japan, a flagship store in Rockefeller Center, and even a beloved cartoon series. It's also one of the only video game franchises that has gained wild popularity with the female demographic.

But here's the We still don't know the backstory of this adventurous little Italian dude. Then one day it hit me. What if this whole game was really a metaphor for the immigrant experience and what it means to be chasing the American dream?

So Danny's mother and both of my parents all immigrated to the US from the Middle East. In this current climate, we believe celebrating the story of a hardworking new American is so important and really has an audience. So we've taken that little Italian plumber and much like Wicked, we've written his untold story rooted in real-world issues and told with comedy and heart.

Our show is set in 1982 New York. The Super is the story of not a plumber, but a building superintendent, the Super, Romario. He puts his needs aside to provide a better life for his rebellious younger brother Lou. When the two brothers wind up in a strange video game world, down a mysterious pipe, their different paths tear them apart, eventually forcing Romario to realize that in order to be a champion for the ones he loves, he must first be a champion for himself.

And you're probably thinking, what about the ladies? In a hilarious turn of events, Lou's feisty girlfriend Didi also winds up down the pipe and gets locked in a tower with the video game princess. Didi teaches her to forget the maiden in distress, unleash her own self-confidence, and save herself.

Don't be a maiden in distress. No, no, no, no. Don't be a maiden in distress. No, no, no, no. Forget the maiden in distress.

Let's tell you a little about where we're at in this process. We've done 2 29-hour development readings and recorded a demo of a few numbers from the show with some fabulous Broadway talent.

Level up, up, up.

This world is yours for the taking. The way is for making. Breaking those bricks are for breaking.

And you just keep breaking it down to the level you're on. And we revel, our world was a shambles till you came and turned it around.

We even had the pleasure of recording with an incredible Tony winner as our tyrannical video game king.

When I'm big.

When I'm big.

When I'm big.

When I'm big.

Go big!

Oh, and he's big!

So we're looking for a collaborative producer to come on board during our developmental process. We'd love to do a virtual reading by the end of 2021. Eventually, we see the super in a Broadway or Off-Broadway venue like New World Stages, where we would love to implement exciting AR capabilities for some really cool live AR effects.

The Super is 90 minutes long with no intermission. It's written for a cast of 10, but can be performed with as little as 6. Our show appeals to a broad range of consumers: millennials and Gen Xers who grew up playing these games, kids who know and love these characters today, gamers hungry for innovative story content, audiences who relate to the immigrant experience, and of course, Broadway musical comedy enthusiasts.

So we're telling this origin story all while adhering to fair use guidelines. It's a show for the whole family that teaches you even when you're down to your last life, you can still pull through and win the game.

One last life to rise or fall. One last life to give it all.

One last choice for you to make.

One last chance it's yours to take. One last life to save the day.

One last life to Thank you guys so much.

Thank you.

Yay, congratulations, you made all the tech work. First time it's worked that seamlessly. Yay. All right, let's go into questions. Q&A time. Debra. Oh, just fixing the hair. Kyle.

Hi there. Great job. I love the mirrored backgrounds. That really works. I'm assuming that was difficult to make happen and match up in that same way. So good job. Love the pitch. I was laughing at many moments in time. Quick question for you. So obviously, as we own New World Stages, I like the shout out, thank you. How do you envision incorporating the AR elements, the XR elements, whatever it's gonna be, into a live performance setting? And is that part of your ask, or like, what does that look like? 'Cause that's been really kind of truly untested in this. So how do you think about moving forward? 'Cause that's a very bold plan, I love it, What does that look like? Like, what's the next— the immediate next step for you guys?

You want to take this, Shron?

Sure, yeah. So, uh, through this wonderful class, we've learned about some really cool, uh, live AR tech that was, uh, first implemented at the RSC in London where they did a production of The Tempest. And they basically did live motion capture with one of their actors live on stage, and the motion capture was kind of behind them. So because our show exists in two different worlds, the real world in New York City and then the game world We'd love to use AR technology to enhance what the game world looks like and what the characters look like in the game world, whether that be the use of live motion capture or projection. We're kind of open, you know, it's not like we're set on something, but our current ask, because we're still in the developmental phase, is to do a virtual reading where we could film it and get some content. But that's just kind of where we envision taking the show in the future.

—just to, and this is both his advice and a question— don't forget about, or have you forgotten about, how the audience consumes this great content that you've created? I love, I don't really care how you record it, that's your problem. I care about how the audience can see it and why they're paying for it. So how do you envision the audience actually living in both those worlds as they're consuming your story?

You mean the AR and the show on stage?

Yeah, is it a headset, is it tablets, is it, what are your thoughts?

What are your thoughts? I think that— I don't necessarily think it's a headset. I think that it would be using augmented reality possibly in the way that some of the— sort of using stagecraft in the way kind of The Cursed Child did, using stagecraft and augmented reality in that way together. You know, in The Tempest that they did in London, there was no headsets used, you know? So using that right now, because we're not yet at a place where—

All right, that's fair. But you don't need motion capture to do what they did for Cursed Child. Right, and it was like, that's why I asked that. You said that, so that's why I asked. So more to come. I won't take any more time, but just that's a thought process when I think about that. It's cool how do you make it, but more importantly to me is how do I get an audience to experience it? And if— are they looking through a phone the whole time?

Are there cues?

Is it— that's what I think about. So that's my question. Thank you.

Yeah, just live. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, good. Next, Jason.

Great job, guys, really. I want to hear a little bit more about how you've incorporated the immigrant experience into your story.

Do you want to take that, Danny?

Sure. So our story really is this Italian immigrant who came here with his much younger brother. And so he, you know, my grandfather came here and worked as a superintendent, to be honest, you know, from Beirut. And he put everything aside to basically raise his kids. And, you know, our story tells that he's raising his younger brother. He wants him to get out of the blue collar. He wants him to rise from that, you know, and yet his little brother really wants to be a plumber. And so that's one part of it. We also have a character who owns an arcade and who's being pushed out, and he's a Japanese American. And through— there's some metaphor in the story once we get into the game world. Of sort of the, the game world people who are, who are oppressed and who kind of relate that immigrant storyline.

Yeah, I think also— oh, if I, if I could just add, I think a lot of first-generation Americans like Dani and I, we have had this experience with our family where like our parents have come over here in order to make a better life for us, which is so wonderful, but then we kind of see them putting sometimes their needs and their themselves aside. And so that's the kind of story we're kind of telling with Romario, wanting him to find his own inner strength and believe in himself and go for his goals as well. Great, thank you.

All right, next. Okay, well, we're out. We're at 5 minutes anyway, so that is Perfect timing. Well, thank you, team. Thanks.

Thank you both so much. We have such a varied group of teams this time. It's no mistake Tim and I and Deborah has been part of the process of painstakingly going through and reading and listening to and interviewing many, many teams to create this class, and I am I am so incredibly proud of the range and the interest that you have brought to us today. It's really incredible. And it's not stopping there because we have one more team to share with you today. They wrote an incredible show called At the River I Stand, and here to tell us about it are Alani Ilongwe and Rowan Casey.

Hi, my name is Alani Ilongwe, the book writer.

My name is Rowan Casey, the composer and lyricist.

Be my shepherd, be my guide, let me stay by your side. <LYRICS>I'm ready. I am yours.

Take me home.</LYRICS> We've collaborated to create At the River I Stand, an immersive musical experience that transports audiences back to the city of Memphis on April 4th, 1968.

Inspired by the events that transpired during the infamous Memphis sanitation strike, our story follows a local band leader who, in the wake of a failed civil rights march ending in violence, sets out to use the power of music to unify a polarized city hours before the assassination of Dr.

Martin Luther King. This immersive experience offers the opportunity for patrons to truly steep themselves within a pivotal moment in American history. By the time audience members complete our onboarding experience, gaining firsthand knowledge of the social unrest threatening to tear this community apart, they'll find themselves transported to an aging concert venue where every aesthetic, from the wardrobe of the venue staff to the music of the performers, accurately reflects this point in time.

Where traditional musicals only offer audiences the opportunity opportunity to be passive viewers. Our show allows each guest to choose the experience they wish to have. Patrons like my grandmother, who was present at Dr. King's funeral, may choose to remain in the safety of the ballroom to watch the full peace concert curated by the evening's band leader, King Johnny.

Other audience members like my mother may choose to share a drink with Ms. Velvet Ray, an aging beauty desperate to recapture the magic of her glory days.

While hardcore immersive fans, like many of my friends and colleagues, will seek out the intimate and visceral experiences provided by our stagehands, ensemble characters who serve as a physical bridge between the past and present. These stagehands have the ability to shift through time and space, serving as guides to several one-on-one, small group, and environmental experiences which place individuals within surreal scenes that have them being rushed to safety on the Underground Railroad or dancing with an enslaved woman in a cotton field made of dandelion fuzz. As the show progresses and danger from both outside and inside the venue threatens to tear the concert apart, each patron will be faced with many of the same social issues plaguing today's society. However, this production Education offers us all an opportunity to look into the past, learn from what we've experienced, and start the conversations that may lead to meaningful action today.

We are excited for the opportunity that XR provides for us to create multiple points of entry while enhancing the overall impact and the global reach of our show.

AR could allow my grandmother— I'm just going to pick on her today— to engage with branded content via her smartphone. Phone without having to buy an expensive headset. For her, something as simple as exploring downtown Quincy through AR to discover Black historical monuments hiding in plain view would work to build interest in an immersive historical experience. But for diehard AR users, we could have a premium experience for those with access to devices like the Microsoft Mesh-supported HoloLens.

A mixed reality experience could even be used for our in-person immersive allowing ancestral characters, such as our stagehands, to truly be apparitions, shifting the space and dictating the action from the spiritual plane. While VR could provide educational tools for high schoolers to learn more about this moment in history before engaging with the full immersive experience themselves.

But in 2021, we're most interested in working with an investor or organization that can provide resources for our next round of development in VR. Last year, we enjoyed development opportunities from Mercer Colony at Goodspeed, a 29-hour reading at TheaterWorks Hartford, and a virtual reading at LA's Open City Theater.

Now, by working with a talented team of developers, we can learn more about emerging VR technologies toward producing the game engine-supported experience that is best for our show.

Our goal is to produce a 5 to 7 minute immersive demo that a test audience can experience through a VR headset by winter 2021.

Before we let you go, we'd like to share a short video giving you a sense of the music and tone of At the River I Stand.

Here I am, till the hold is left in my hands. Near I am, I'm nearly there, nearly there. At the river I stand. Take this heart, take this hand. I stand. I am.

Thank you all. Thank you.

What an amazing presentation. This is absolutely beautiful. Are you, are you guys only interested in the VR immersive experience, or is there a lot Can it be a live version and also be immersive?

Absolutely. So we're looking at it being different points of contact for our audience. We would love there to be a live immersive show, but within the live immersive show, we're also thinking that there are elements there that can provide it for an MR experience as well, where you can come in and you can experience the live show by itself. But if we had technology such as, you know, the Google Glass, where similar to like if you were to go into a movie theater and watch a 3D movie, you put on those glasses first. A premium ticket could be people who put on the glasses to come in to watch the immersive show, and then they could see these stagehands, these ancestral characters that we have who aren't present in the space, but when you put on the glasses, you could see them dictating and moving objects and shifting the space from the ancestral plane. So there'll be the live performance, there'll be the VR experience, there'll be AR experience, and there'll be an MR experience that'll allow people to experience this show in different ways.

Last quick follow-up question: how many different experiences can I take as a, as a patron? Let's say I come back to the show multiple times, how many experiences are you guys thinking about creating thus far?

The two experiences, if you're going to do it live, would be the live immersive experience, and then there would be the mixed reality experience. Right, but here's the key with the live experience. When you come to the show, each time you have the opportunity to experience a new section of the show, right? So if I decide to follow this character, I'll get a totally different show versus if I follow these two characters, right? Um, but in addition to that too, add-on things like our AR, right? If we wanted to like, you know, take it downtown, you can see these historical monuments. That would be an add-on feature that actually builds, you know, builds our brand and builds excitement in the live presentation.

Last follow-up question, everyone, I'm so sorry. How many different characters are actually in the experience so that I know how many different experiences I could take?

Listen, Brian, we all got questions.

This is what we were waiting for.

Now it's getting lively.

12 characters total. There's the MC of our show, there are the 5 performers who are performing, and then there's the other 6 ancestral characters. And within following each one of these people, you can get a different experience.

Thank you so much. I'm gonna turn it over to the late person.

Oh no, listen, all right, you're gonna pay for that later. Enjoy our theater, Brian. Um, anyway, I'm gonna build off Brian's question actually. So it sounds like you've got— do you have a centralized onboarding process and then branching, and then do you bring people together at the end? Is that how you're thinking about— that's why I made a Tim Kashani Rube Goldberg chart as you were, as you were talking, so I keep track. I like it. But is that the plan? Exactly. Um, and then one final question to the since we're doing that. Is there a, as you're thinking about that, for your grandmother or your mother, are the AR elements in during the live piece or as part of the onboarding process? Like, are you walking audiences through in AR as they onboard to get into the storyline and then they jump out again?

Exactly. But you'll have the opportunity for both. Like, AR will be in the onboarding process and a part of the show.

Makes a lot of sense.

Jason and Deborah, I think I would see this show no matter what form it took. This is going to be amazing. My question, just as somebody from mostly live theater, is, is there a precedent for all these, all these elements being integrated together into one experience? Has somebody actually been able to figure out how to make what you're envisioning work and has done it already? I'm just curious.

Um, that might be a Tim question, but, um, I would be happy to jump in right there.

The way that they've laid it out, they've taken forms from something that has been done. There's every technology they're talking about, somebody has done. I have not seen anybody do it as streamlined and eloquently as they have presented it to us in the ability for multiple personas to experience in a way that makes it emotionally connective to each of those personas, which excites me because as our art form moves forward, We're looking at how do we always homage what we love about the live experience and use this encapsulated technology as wrappers, ways to bring people into the experience and post-experience aspects of it.

And what excites me about that is the opportunity for us to use technology in order to bridge the gap between theater and audiences around the world, right? Because, you know, Yes, I live in Los Angeles. I would love for there to be a live immersive production of this in LA, right? But my mama is in South Florida. She can't necessarily jump on a plane and come over all willy-nilly. So I feel like the VR technology and the AR technology will make it so that anyone in the world can experience this show. And similar to the question that Brian was having about the different experiences, you would have a different experience based off of the technology that you were using in order to engage with the story.

I think, Deborah, did you have a question? I believe— no? Okay, Dixie.

Um, this is not— this is not so much a question but a comment. I just want to say that I think that the way that you're thinking about intergenerationality, the way that you're thinking about live and bringing technology into the live experience, but layering it is just— it's incredibly exciting. And I think when I think about the integration of technology in theater, I'm always thinking about how does it fit into the live experience. And what you've done here is incredibly inspiring, as well as a storyline or a story that feels incredibly compelling and timely. So I just wanted to congratulate you for, for the thought and the development of the work. Thank you.

Well, that is the perfect segue to— we have now seen all 6 of our teams. So I'd like all the teams to turn on your cameras and your audio, including Ty's cat, because now we have a couple of minutes to ask any questions back from the judges for any of the teams. Since you've now seen 6 amazingly different, wonderful shows, uh, we're gonna throw in a couple minutes here if you want to do any clarification before you go off to dissect that virtual dollar 6 ways.

Feel free to ask away if you have any clarifications, questions for our teams.

Frank?

Yeah, Leo and Hyde, remind me again the ask, just like, because we expanded it. I just want to understand the ask.

It's a great question. I, what I mentioned in the pitch was we're looking for funding to support us on our journey, which we've already started, of £15,000, which is roughly $20,000. But lots of other presentations inspired me that we are also looking for team members who are there for the journey and interested in what we're doing.

So would love the cold hard cash, but would also take mentorship and other support.

Yes, great way of putting it. Friendship.

And by the way, I thought you were in two completely different locations the entire theatre, etc.

So you thought there would be a little twist.

Yeah, a little plot twist. Wow. Nicely done. Okay, other questions for any of the other teams? Kyle?

I have this, the same question Frank had for At the River I Stand. I know you talked a little bit.

Can you just give me a two-sentence what's the ask Yeah, for us, uh, the ask would be $20,000 to $30,000 in order for us to put together a 5 to 7 minute immersive demo, uh, for test audiences over the summer. And we're looking for a development period of 4 to 6 weeks.

And is that meant to be a remote immersive, so like people are in their own homes testing, or you also need a space to do it and it covers all that as well? Remote testing. Remote testing. Okay, everyone. Okay, got it.

Frank, you had another question.

Um, no, that, that actually hit it. It was the aspirin at the river, though. Kind of just a general non-theater type thing. In New York City, they had that immersive thing where you'd go in upstairs, downstairs, and follow people.

What was that? Sleep No More. Is that—

is the live version of what you guys are talking about similar to that type of thing and adding on to it kind of the Disney type thing where you're rendering a lot of technology to deepen the story? Yes. Okay.

I'll give up now.

Emily and Molly, I had a question about your use of the sort of augmented reality or XR technology, have you considered how to make it a more integrated part of the storytelling as opposed to a sort of an ancillary experience?

Sure. Emily, do you want me to talk, or would you like to talk? So something— we sort of came into this and we're really excited about the idea of you know, when we're on land, we're in like the theater and we're not in any kind of AR. But then our plan was like, when you go underwater, imagine being able to see the scope of like the ocean and like the size and sort of scale of a giant whale. And something that we sort of realized through this 2-week experience was a lot of what we love about sort of the aesthetic of our show as it stands is it's really trunky and really physical. And it felt like, you know, we spent the 2 weeks sort of seeing, you know, how could we use this in our show? And it just felt like it was against the, the sort of whole vibe of the show to have a really advanced technology versus, you know, very like glue this on the back of this and that's what a boat is now kind of goal that we're, we're working on. Am I lying, Emily? I can't hear Emily, but she's saying something.

Well, she can't call you out because we can't hear her, so you're fine.

Yeah. Thank you. Yes, thanks.

All right, any last questions before you start calculating away? Okay, I'm going to close the Q&A then. So, judges, we're going to give you a couple minutes to calculate. And as a reminder, Kyle, you go first because we go in reverse order. So calculate fast when we come back.

I'm already in it, Tim.

All right. Oh, fantastic. I'm not surprised, Kyle. I want to take a moment to make sure that I thank our incredible Apples and Oranges team. Who has been feverishly working behind the scenes for this class and every other Theater Accelerator class. And so I want to give a shout out to Christopher Sepulveda, Ido Gall, and Ali Rice. If you want to pop up for a second there, you can. Otherwise, uh, thank you so much for all your work. We couldn't do it without you. You're an integral part of this team.

And, and what I'm going to do is let everybody know that we have another class that's starting next week in the New Reality Edition. We were overwhelmed with applications and we broke it up into two classes so that we could make sure that we keep this momentum going forward. Some of you may be thinking, oh, what about all these stupid glasses and headsets and all the plugs that you're putting in people's heads? What does that have to do with live theater? One area that we focused on particularly in this class is how to use these technologies purely for a development aspect, meaning while we are facing all kinds of numerous challenges for restarting an industry, we need the ability to be able to collaborate on a global level in a cost-effective way that allows us to give the stories what the stories need, and that's a key part of Theater Accelerator. You may not see the VR version of this show, but VR may help the show get to the stage where you're going, or you may go to the stage and you may walk away with an AR experience. In the last 2 weeks, we've been looking at all those different pieces of modalities and will continue to do so, and we're going to be sharing more and more to all of our colleagues around the globe, from high schools that we help in our nonprofit as well as the regional theaters, about about how we can give more artists voices to keep stories flowing.

And we want to keep doing this. We want to keep helping more artists, more creatives, more theaters, more people in this industry to keep the art flowing. And there's ways that you can help us easily. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel, or you can support us by making a pledge, and we'd appreciate any nickel, dime, or $10,000 check or more that you could, you could donate to us. And thank you in advance. Or your virtual dollar.

Okay. The time has come for us to bring up all of our people and our judges right now.

And remember, this is all done in fun. So this doesn't mean that if you get the most money today that your show is immediately going to be launched and if you don't get anything, that your show is not going to go anywhere. It's not that at all. This is just a cross-section, a reaction of some esteemed friends and colleagues, and it's all to support you and your work. So let's dive in.

All right, so quick reminder, here are the shows that you saw today. First up, you saw Super U, followed by Guy, the new musical. And that number, our third show, Keaton and the Whale. And our fourth show, The Lesson. Fifth show, The Super. And last but not least, At the River I Stand.

And Kyle, you got the hot seat now. We want to hear what you're going, how you're going to divvy up those pennies.

Great. In years past, I have spread my money across the entire roulette board, but in this particular moment, I've selected one thing that I would want to put money into because I think it's ready to go pretty much right now and can really start to generate revenue, and another that I think is a really, really, really big idea that is going to be very expensive, but I think has some very interesting potential in my business on Broadway and tangentially in kind of the Second Story extension space. So the two big investments I made, I did 40 cents, or half of my— or not half, 40 cents out of my dollar for Keaton and the Whale. So that was really fantastically done. I think you guys have a really great story. I, like I mentioned before, I think it has a lot of potential and a very broad audience, which I like to see when I'm thinking about story. And I think you guys are awesome, but I thought everyone was awesome, so that's not just you. But I think it's a really nice thing, and I think your plan to start going to museums and to site-specific performances is a really smart way to start to workshop the story as you go, and that's a really nice way of doing it and generating revenue at the same time. The second larger investment was for At the River I Stand. I love the concept of the beginning point branching and onboarding branching experiences where you feel comfortable, and then ending with the same kind of story and that really achieves that goal of changing people's hearts and minds, which is why we all do this to begin with. And I think it eases people into how to think about XR and AR and different ways of consuming story. I also gave 10 cents to The Lesson and 10 cents to— sorry, I'm not looking at here, sorry, everyone's in the worksheet— The Super, both because I thought they were really interesting concepts and I like the story you're trying to tell with The Lesson. I think there's a really interesting story there. I didn't follow it as well as I followed the other ones, which is why I gave a little bit less, but I think there's real potential there, and I really like bringing the history aspect into it, and I like what you guys are doing. I like the aesthetic and the sound, so I think that could be cool. And then the Super, I just always put money into the comedies because I love musical comedy, and I like you guys made me laugh, and it also has some heart, which I love. So I think everyone's presentation was fantastic. As Tim said, this is not a slight on anybody who didn't get any, but I was wanting to be a little more focused just this time, so I gave the book to two. So that's, that's what I did.

Thank you, Kyle.

Thank you, Kyle. Thank you, Kyle.

Next up we have Brian. Hello. Okay, so I want to echo everything Kyle said. Every single presentation was absolutely fabulous. It really was top to bottom. Everything is emotionally compelling and ready and thrilling and creatively viable. It's commercially viable. It's well done. You made this extraordinarily hard this year, just saying. Okay, I wanna start with Super U. This is so ready, and the plan that has already been happening with you guys, it feels like it needs to continue on this organic route. So I elected not to invest today, but it's not because of lack of belief. It's because the organic nature of your project is the most thrilling portion of your project alongside the music that you've already created. So I would just say keep going because you're already doing it. Okay, Leo and Hyde, I love the guys, so I put 10 cents into that. Molly and Emily with Keating and the Well, I put the bulk of my investment into that as well, just like Kyle. I put 40 cents into that. I put 5 cents into The Lesson because I'm very curious of what's going to develop out of that. The Super, I also put 5 cents into that, and I put the other bulk of my investment into At the River We Stand of 40 cents, because I am so taken with this experience. I'm very curious about what it's going to do. I think it can go right now. Sign me up. But congratulations to all of you.

Thank you, Brian. Fantastic feedback there. Next, we have Jason.

Okay, I'm going to cop out. But let me just say that it was never my intention to just love all of you. This is a really special group. You are all really strong songwriters. Your stories are compelling. Your protagonists, for the most part, are about people who are not traditionally centered in storytelling. This is amazing. This is an amazing group. So I did some math. 16.5 cents per project with half a cent left over, so I'm going to give that half cent to Guy. One, because you have a fat gay man centered in your story, and two, I really do think it's the most VR of all these projects. So congratulations to all of you. Much respect.

Thank you, Jason. And thank you for the math. Yeah, well done on the math. Way better than I could do live. And Frank.

Okay, I could echo what everybody else said, but I'll just save you some time. So, SuperU, if you could only be more enthusiastic, enthusiastic.

That'd be one thing I'd appreciate.

You got that, right? Guy, I will say the only confusion I had there is I kind of got lost on the ask a little bit, but the talent level for everybody here, keeping the whale straight. The lesson, enjoyed that. Super. And then I probably have a recency bias for At the River I Stand, because the last thing I saw I thought was impactful. I'm going 40 cents Keaton and the Whale, 30 cents The Super, 30 cents At the River I Stand. But really enjoyed all of them and really appreciate all the talent at the table. Thank you.

Fantastic, Frank. Thank you so much. You're on a roll. This is— you haven't missed a Think Tank, I think. You've been our rock, and we so appreciate it. Next up is Diksha.

Hi, I, you know, would echo what everyone said. The talent here is incredible. The work is incredible. I want to come see every show when they're finally done in multiple forms, hopefully. But I decided that as an investor, what I'm really interested in today is where can we break those boundaries between the live performance and technology happening sort of symbiotically. And for that reason, I split my investment, 50 cents to At the River I Stand and 50 cents to Guy, where I'm not sure that you're— it's much earlier on in your thinking, but I think that the The magic is there between the story and the technology.

So that's, that's the way I am. Fantastic, Deepsha. Thank you so much for being here with us today and for your wonderful insights. And lastly, we have Deborah.

Okay, it's hard. I usually I'm first and now I'm last and I can't decide decide if it's worse to be first or last. There you go. I, I think— I don't know how many of these I've done, but I probably have done as many as the most that anybody else is here, or more. And I'm going to echo what everyone said in that this is an extraordinary group, absolutely extraordinary. And I can't imagine any of you not, like, going to the very of wherever you want to go. I typically do what Jason did and I split it evenly across the board, so I'm going to deviate from that this year and do something a little different. I've decided to give the bulk of my investment to At the River because I feel like that piece is as clear as it could possibly be with where you want to go, and for me as producer and investor, I felt like that was, that's a key thing for me to look for. The rest of, so I'm gonna just talk a little bit. SuperU, I will go along with Brian. You guys are so, you're there, you're ready, you've got all the ingredients. And so I would just say you're on your way and carry on. I was really impressed with the presentation. I'm going to split the investment between Guy and Keaton and the whale evenly. So we're gonna— I do this a little oddly— so $15 goes to Guy, $15 goes to Keaton and the whale, and $20 I'm going to give to the lesson. So that, that should equal the amount. I don't like to do the math either, Jason, so I'll let I'll let you carry on with that. The super— I think you guys did a great job. I love the piece. I think there's a little more development process to go on there. The lesson— I'm so excited by that music, and the whole concept that you're trying to do is bringing these two historical characters into the 21st century with this new rap vibe is— I love. And Guy, you You guys are really on to something. I love that opening song. I love the pop into the pop music into the musical genre. So everybody did a great job. My last comment on Keaton and the Whale, you guys are amazing, and I really love— I've been looking for a piece that could combine environmental issues with real-life issues, and you're taking the idea of loneliness and mental health issues and bringing it into the environmental world. There's so many ways you can go with this: museums, Exploratorium, aquarium, education, film. There's so many ways you can go with this, and I'm so excited about that piece. I love it. So congratulations to everyone, and I hope my math made sense.

Tim, I guess Yes, made lots of sense. And thanks, Deborah, you're always so insightful and such a huge supporter of what we're doing here and give us a lot of time and love, and we so appreciate it.

And we saw the numbers feverishly calculating down there in the background, and like always, it's, it's very close. And I think the biggest takeaway is that you all have something wonderful to go and to give for. The, the virtual dollar, so take that and a virtual lunch together, uh, did go to At the River I Stand, had the largest, but there was a nice even spread across every one of the shows. And on that note, Pamela, I'm going to turn it back over to you to thank everybody and send us away.

All I can say is wow. I'm I'm quoting a musical there, to thank all of you for your efforts. I hope you know that you've made a huge impact today, and I'm so glad that we're broadcasting this for our friends out there in the void and appreciate you joining us today. Please stay in touch with us through our website and our channels and come back for our next exciting Sing Tank, which is happening quite soon. April 2nd. So keep that date in mind, where we have another wonderful group of new artists that are showing you their exciting works. So until next time, have a great rest of your day and keep, keep on truckin'. Bye everybody.