Hearing Is Believing! Listen to our Title Theme:

When I was graduating high school, I ran an open mic night at Random Acts of Walbridge, my hometown spiritual coffee shop. It was a very communal and uplifting environment where all were invited to sing and most did! At the end of each night we would all sing "Build Me Up Buttercup" and dance around. Before I left for music composition college, Random Acts granted me a $1,000 scholarship and free coffee for life! You have no idea how many coffees that is.

My mission is to pay back the kindness shown to me by my favorite coffee shop, who believed in my dreams of becoming a musical writer. This musical is a tribute to them as well as my lovely fiancée and editor, Nina. Through the power of character driven musical storytelling I will help create a space of growth for others as Random Acts has been a space of growth for myself. (I am not sponsored by Random Acts, I just like 'em.)

'Time Stop Coffee Shop' explores how to ground yourself when you are floating in space, outer space that is! All of the characters who wind up inside the Time Stop Coffee Shop have torment in their life that prevents them from openly sharing their feelings in front of the others during the open mic night. Through Ophelia's warm insistence and the manipulations of the trickster cyborg, Mr. Butthole, these characters wrestle with the tension between vulnerability and fear.

Sonically - It is a bombastic indie rock comedy musical. The score features driving bass lines, pummeling bari sax, glittering piano, and drums that tie the intense low end groove with the beautiful piano chords. The show is a seven person cast. I take full advantage of this through intricate choir-esque harmonies to create soundscapes through just the voice.

The show will be produced at the Black Swamp Players Theater at 115 E Oak St, Bowling Green, OH 43402 on Dec. 4th, 5th, and 6th. (7pm, 7pm, and 2pm show times respectively). They have been very supportive of Time Stop and they have already taught me a lot about producing live theater. Together we are making a blueprint for other independent writers and artists to use their space, so the better this project can be produced, the more likely more artists after me will get the opportunity to see their work come to life too!

Nina and I have spent the last two years writing and rewriting Time Stop Coffee Shop to be the best musical that it can be. I have spent the last five years writing and producing musicals in the pursuit of musical writing as a career. This pursuit has given me a lot already: two musical featurettes; 'Alien Investigator - Probing Questions' and 'Box Bros - The Musical'; many mentors in music, and a career in audio engineering. This project will give me a filmed version of my first live musical that I can sell to theaters and theater troupes. In its smallest form I get to take one of my projects to the next level. In its biggest form this will be a springboard for my musical writing career.

1) Click the green "Back this Project" button now in the top right section of this page.

2) Choose an amount you feel good about and select the accompanying reward. I've tried to make the rewards fun or one-of-a-kind experiences as much as possible—as a token of my appreciation!

3) Tell your friends! Share this Kickstarter link on Facebook and via email - this is HUGE and helps a lot. We have 180 tickets before we're sold out!

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This $3,000 budget accounts for all expenses minus actors. Our stretch goal of $4,500 will include everybody!