M.V.P. - New IndieGogo Video

We're goin' to some tried-and-true Internet bait to help out our campaign...

Check out "M.V.P. the musical" on Indiegogo - lots of cool swag for different contribution levels. You voted today - help our production and see who would win the "M.V.P." next spring!

Questions Will Be Answered

Have you ever wondered:

Who would win in a debate: Abraham Lincoln or John F. Kennedy?

Who would win in a fight, George Washington or Teddy Roosevelt?

Who’s got the prettier singing voice: Thomas Jefferson or Richard Nixon?

Well, if you HAVE, M.V.P. has got your answers, and if you HAVEN’T, c’mon, you’re wondering NOW, so see “Well, if you HAVE...” Help us raise the money needed to stage the world premiere of this hilarious musical next spring:

http://www.indiegogo.com/mvpthemusical?a=1560961

Our campaign is off and running, but we need your help. Early pledges bring us to the attention of Indiegogo’s artificial intelligence, its secret-sauce algorithm, which gets M.V.P.’s campaign more prominently placed on the site, which gets it more pledges, and on and on, the circle and so forth! The circle!

We’re offering a lot of great swag for each pledge level - get in on it and support what’s sure to be a great production! Thanks!

Announcement - IndieGogo Campaign for M.V.P.

Hi, Guys -

If I may have your attention for just a brief moment before you wander off to web-parts unknown...

Over the past few months, you've seen bits and pieces about, hints and allusions to M.V.P., my current project. M.V.P., which I co-wrote with actor/writer Matthew Hoffman and award-winning composer David P. Johnson, tells the story of eight great American presidents who are gathered in Las Vegas to compete in a “Miss America”-style pageant. Using only their records, their accomplishments, and their wits, these men have one goal - to be named the “Most Valuable President” in United States history.

M.V.P. is a grand, enthusiastic musical. Historical and hysterical, meaningful and melodic, is a unique story that puts intelligence, humor, and song in an entertainment that makes a statement about greatness in the age of reality-show glory.

The three of us plan to stage the World Premiere Production of M.V.P.  next spring, and that’s where you enter the picture. We've established an IndieGogo campaign to raise funds for this World Premiere Production. Here’s the link:

http://www.indiegogo.com/mvpthemusical?a=1560961

As we begin to move the gears of production - renting a suitable space for such an ambitious musical, finding rehearsal space, auditioning actors and paying them as they deserve to be paid, creating costumes, a set, finished music, publicizing and promoting the production  - we realize that we need to raise funds in order to give M.V.P. its best chance for success. This is where you can help. Please visit the IndieGogo site, check out specifics of the production, including the many awesome rewards you can receive for various pledge levels, and help support M.V.P.

With your help, we can see M.V.P. reach its potential. Like David and Matthew, I've been writing, performing, and producing theater in Los Angeles and New York for over two decades. M.V.P., however, enthuses me more than any project I’ve helped create. Put simply, there's nothing I've written of which I'm more proud. If you've enjoyed my work in the past, this should excite you. If you're new to my work, this should intrigue you. If you don't like my work, well, I think we can both concede at this point you're a little weird for reading this far.

Over the next few weeks, I'll give you more tastes of what you can expect when M.V.P. premieres next spring. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly. Thanks for reading.

billy

A First Taste of M.V.P.

As mentioned, Matthew Hoffman, David P. Johnson, and I are looking to stage the World Premiere of M.V.P. next spring. As we embark on the production process, I want to keep you abreast of developments, and provide some tastes of what you can expect.

In this link,  Richard Nixon imparts some wisdom to his fellow presidents. The film was directed by David P. Johnson.

Check back here, as well as M.V.P.'s Facebook page and Twitter feed, for updates and information...

Check out the M.V.P. page.

Thoughts, info, musings on what's coming up. Click on the M.V.P. tab to keep up-to-date...

-billy

Surprise!

AMERICA unlocks the front door and enters the house with HUSBAND. They are in mid-conversation.
AMERICA: ...just don't understand why they feel they need to re-make Spiderman every year...
She enters the living room. SOMEONE turns on the lights. A room full of EVERYONE wearing party hats, drinking champagne. EVERYONE CHEERS.
EVERYONE: (shouting) Surprise!!
Everyone CHEERS and BLOWS their HORN before launching into "Happy Birthday". When the song is finished:
SOMEONE: Speech! Speech!
AMERICA: Uh, no, that's okay. Thanks. Thanks very much. No. Just enjoy yourselves.
SOMEONE: Are you surprised?
AMERICA: Am I surprised?
Pause
No. No, I'm not surprised. I mean, it's the same thing every year. I know this is coming when kids starting shooting off stray bottle rockets the weekend before and all the patio furniture goes on sale. "Am I surprised?" (sniffs) Please.
An uncomfortable pause. SOMEONE brings out a cake. The cake is in the shape of the United States of America, states’ boundaries and all, with 236 candles melting on top. AMERICA stares at it.
AMERICA: (counting) 236. You got 'em all. That's real funny.
SOMEONE: Make a wi-!
AMERICA: (interrupting) I know how it works.
AMERICA thinks, then blows out the candles on the first try. EVERYONE CHEERS.
AMERICA: (mock waving fists) Yeah. Yay. Ya-ayy!
SOMEONE: What'd you wish for?
SOMEONE ELSE: Don't say it; it won't come true!
Some scattered laughter/random chatter.
AMERICA: (muttering) ...It isn't coming true anyway. You wanna know what I want for my birthday?
EVERYONE: Yeah!
AMERICA: Nuance.
EVERYONE: Ya-ayy-what?
Pause.
SOMEONE: New onyx?
AMERICA: Nuance.
HUSBAND: Honey.
Pause.
SOMEONE: Does that come in large?
Some CHUCKLE until America stares them silent.
AMERICA: No, it doesn't come in large. That's the point. Everything around here has to be large. Everything has to be big. Everything has to be one way or the other. Black or white. All or nothing. "America's the best country in the world." To us, maybe. The thing is, that's fine - it doesn't have to be the best to everyone..."America's the worst. America’s evil..." Compared to what? You been to a Spanish League soccer match lately? Ever been to Bangladesh? You realize how stupid saying that is?
Long pause. SOMEONE starts singing "The Star-Spangled Banner".
AMERICA: (cuts him off) Stop it. Don't try to distract me. You know though, that dude, Francis Scott Key, that dude's cousin once said, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." You guys ever hear of that?
Long pause. SOMEONE starts singing "The Star-Spangled Banner".
AMERICA: Shut. Up. "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time..." Well, think of that the next time you think that I don't work anymore, that I'm not what I used to be, that I’m always wrong, that I'm going straight to hell in a handcart. Because around here now, anyone holds two opposing ideas in their mind at once, they're considered insane. They're considered a "socialist" or a "RINO" or a “pinko” or a "wingnut" or whatever. That's backwards.
Pause.
Two ideas at once. Two. At once. It isn't rocket science. Like, there can be freedom for all while also taking care of one other. Like, we can all try to make money while at the same time being held to account if we're dishonest about it. Like, I don't like what you're saying but I still like you. Like, you having to stay out of my face means I also have to stay out of your face. Like, nobody in their right mind lives their life based on a frickin' novel, whether that novel was written two thousand years ago or fifty years ago. Like, the guys who started me were great but they didn't know every goddamn thing.
Pause.
By the way, those guys - stop speaking for them. You don’t know them. They were white dudes in 1776. If they showed up today, you’d knock them straight on their ass if you dialed up Nicki Minaj on YouTube. And chances are, after they got up, they wouldn’t have hung out with any of you. You think they wouldn't have been able to adapt to things today? That's the whole point of this thing to begin with. I think John Adams would’ve been appalled at the prospect of people going bankrupt because they had a ruptured appendix. I’d be willing to bet that Roger Williams would’ve recognized that in 2012, open borders aren’t sustainable. I think Thomas Jefferson would’ve shrugged his shoulders at Anderson Cooper and Neil Patrick Harris getting married. They were smart guys. Who knew nuance. That’s what the goddamn document they signed fucking screams for. Nuance.
Pause.
So that's what I want this year. For my birthday, this year. Some goddamned nuance.
Pause.
And, some peace and quiet. 'Cause the next four months...
Sighs.
My God. I can't take it. I'm serious. You need to check yourselves. Blowing your horns - yeah, that's right. Knock it off. You shout that you love me? You pound your chest and scream I'm the best? Show me the 364 days you're not shoving a hot dog in your face. You think I'm terrible? You think I do nothing right? Those are fucking words. Fix it the 364 days you're not whining about what's wrong. You guys, it’s like you’re middle linebackers before you’re football players.
Pause.
I didn't ask for a day. I didn't ask for a party. I ask that you keep it down and you keep it clean around here. Okay?
Pause.
Okay?
EVERYONE: (uncertain) Okay.
AMERICA: Okay. Now who wants some cake? Is this coconut?

Happy Fourth, everyone.