User:Kiersenclerkin/sandbox

Synopsis
Zuccotti Park, is a new musical, chronicling the passionate ideals and tumultuous times of the beginning of the Occupy Movement through the fictional story of a young soldier who--while crossing paths with protesters in New York City--must come to terms with how the United States' financial system is run and learn what it really means to be an American.

== History ==

After graduating from UCLA with an MFA in Screenwriting, Catherine Hurd became interested in politics and economics, and read every book and article she could get her hands on. She had no preconceived notions. She just wanted to understand the way the world truly worked, and thought the best way to do that would be by “following the money trail.” Each discovery Hurd made led to more questions. She had no plan for where this accumulation of knowledge would lead, just a simple desire to learn the truth. The Occupy movement intrigued her. So many of the injustices they were protesting were very closely related to what Hurd had learned in her self-study. The Occupy protesters appeared quite knowledgeable about Wall Street, big banks, corporations, and their influence on our political system.

Hurd’s undergraduate degree was in theater, so it was an easy transition to switch from writing screenplays to writing musical theater. So after receiving her MFA in Screenwriting and teaching Film History at the University of South Florida, Hurd switched gears and began writing stage plays. Her first project was a children's musical, and after that play, she had an epiphany: Why not use the knowledge she had garnered about the intersection of money and politics, and write a musical about the Occupy Movement? That way she could dramatize the problems within the system through the lives of the people most affected. As the project evolved, she added the main story line of a soldier returning from a tour in Afghanistan, who stumbles upon the movement. He became the protagonist, and the script Zuccotti Park was born.

Once Hurd had the first draft completed, she started looking for a composer who would bring the songs to life. She remembered Vatrena King. Hurd had listened to King sing her beautiful original compositions at the Unitarian Church in Davis, and contacted her. King read the latest draft of Zuccotti Park and immediately signed on as composer. Poppy Peach-Nichols was soon brought on board by King to organize and publicize. The small group put together a table reading in February of 2013, with recordings of some of the songs played. The audience reaction was phenomenal: some were moved to tears during the songs, and both cast and audience were ardently engaged about the story and its broader issues. Based on that event, several changes to the script were made.

It was decided that the next logical step was to find a director to help organize a more involved table reading with professional actors and live songs. Through mutual friends, King met Melanie Smith, a talented director who had extensive experience directing musicals.With Smith’s input, and a very collaborative spirit, the four women worked on polishing and improving the book, lyrics and music. They chose a name for their newly formed association, and We the People Productions scheduled its next reading, with professional actors and fresh, new songs, for September 15, 2013. The new production company also talked about its vision to open a premier production of Zuccotti Park in Sacramento, California, and then to extend the show’s ideas and passion to other venues across the country.

The next phase was fundraising, which led We the People Productions to Kickstarter and a request for help in raising the money to bring this very important project to the stage. The steps the company plans to take to realize the completion of the final project are outlined in “Clear Plan As To How The Project Will Be Completed” on the Kickstarter page. The ultimate goal is to open the play on the anniversary of the day the protesters first occupied Zuccotti Park: September 17, 2014.

Biographies
CATHERINE HURD, WRITER

Catherine Hurd graduated from UCLA with a Master’s Degree in Screenwriting, and from Florida State University with an MFA in Film Production. She received her BFA from Florida Atlantic University in Theater. At present, she is utilizing knowledge from both disciplines and writing musical plays. Past awards and credits include a literary scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford University, Honorable Mention in the Eastman Kodak Movie Competition, and First Place in the Southeastern Poetry Festival: Readers Theater Division. Screenwriting awards include the Writer’s Digest Writing Competition, Stephen N. Gershenson Award for Comedy Writing, Jay Grossman Comedy Writing Award, Marty Klein Comedy Writing Award, Chesterfield Film Company Writing Award, and Moondance Film Festival Writing Award. Catherine has optioned three feature length scripts in Los Angeles, one with Donald Petrie attached as director.

VATRENA KING, COMPOSER

Vatrena King graduated from Berklee College with a degree in Music Production and Engineering. She worked at A&M Studios and performed as a side member in a local band until the members of the rock group U2 encouraged her to go solo. For 10 years she sang at various Los Angeles hot spots along with guitarist and songwriting partner George Bellias and with popular L.A.-based a cappella recording groups Vocal Nation and Wahoo Do-Re, made up of six of L.A.'s 1st-call session singers. Vatrena also traveled extensively as a background vocalist for singer-songwriter Mellissa Manchester. And for 5 years, she enjoyed a recurring singing role as an "ikette" on the hit tv show "Ally Mcbeal", recording and performing the show's staple musical numbers alongside singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard; Jane Krakowski; fellow "kettles"Renee Goldsberry and Sy Smith, and a host of guest stars. She has performed and or recorded with such artists as Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, Patti La Belle, Randy Newman, Ray Charles, Barry Manilow & Barry White to name a few. As well as recording numerous tv and film theme songs and several Disney children's albums.

MELANIE SMITH, DIRECTOR

Melanie Smith has been a theatrical director and choreographer in the Equity, community, academic and conservatory arenas for thirty years, with credits including Pittsburgh’s City Theatre, Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, and Civic Light Opera, Washington DC’s American Musical Theater Festival, and many other companies. She holds over twenty-five years of experience as an acting teacher and coach, and served for nearly a decade on theater arts faculty at Sacramento’s American River College, where she also taught theatre history, directing, and stage movement. Her acting credits include the Sacramento premiere of The Vagina Monologues, alongside Rescue Me and The Guardian’s Kathleen Chalfant. Melanie is a co-founder of Generation Next Media, a film and theatrical production company with which she is currently performing in The Living Constitution: A Lively Look at the Creation of America. Melanie has been publicist for organizations such as the Pittsburgh Laboratory Theatre, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, Pittsburgh Playhouse, and others. A published author, Melanie is the owner of The WordSmith, a writing, editing and proofreading business. She holds a BA in Communication and Rhetoric from the University of Pittsburgh and an MA in Theatre Arts from California State University, Sacramento.

POPPY PEACH NICHOLS, PRODUCTION MANAGER

Poppy Peach Nichols started her career working as a flight attendant for Continental Airlines. After her children were born, she retired from the airline industry and settled into the full time job of motherhood. Later Poppy enrolled both of her children in the Waldorf Preschool in Davis, CA, where she met Vatrena King, whose children also attended. Their friendship eventually evolved into a work collaboration, as Poppy organized and helped to produce Vatrena's 2011 Christmas Album and organized and publicized a successful concert of the same album at The Lodge at Odd Fellows Hall in Davis. Poppy also helped produce a series of short films that promote environmental awareness for Nature's Theater, an interactive theatre company that allows kids to experience the natural world, in natural environments such as wilderness sites, camps, or parks. Presently, Poppy has lent her organizational talents to the production of Zuccotti Park.

CHRISTY CORP-MINAMIJI, PUBLICIST

Christy Corp-Minamiji received her Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Davis in 1992 and her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the same institution in 1996. After over a decade in large animal veterinary medicine, her career path shifted when the veterinary practice where she was employed closed due to the poor regional economy. Initially driven to write about the impact of the recession on her life and those of her clients, Christy transitioned a handful of published essays into a new career.

She holds a full-time position in writing and communications for an online veterinary community and is a regular freelance contributor to a number of print magazines, websites, and newspapers. Christy lives with her family in Davis, Calif. where she enjoys distance running, oil-painting, family activities, and writing fiction and poetry.

Christy's professional website can be found here

Websites for Further Information
facebook.com/zuccottiparkmusical

twitter.com/ZuccottiMusical