ArtReach St. Croix

Want to be part of bringing a brand new musical to life,

with the involvement of students from the St. Croix River Valley?

Every play/musical has to go through several stages of development and stage testing before being considered by a theater for a performance season.

You can help bring "Lucette! A Lively Tale of Lumberjacks, Trees & Paul Bunyan" to the stage by helping us raise the matching funds for our St. Croix Valley Foundation Arts grant. Three songs from Lucette! have already had their choral premieres at the March 27, 2023 Spring Pops Concerts of Hudson High School (1501 Vine Street).

This is a new Americana musical from the Northwoods, born in the St. Croix River Valley. The playwright and lyricist, Marybeth Lorbiecki, is an award-winning local author; the composer and creator of the musical score is an up-and-coming talent--Owen Paul Olson, a senior at Hudson High School who has numerous compositions and arrangements performed and has been accepted to some of the finest musical conservatories in the nation for his fall university studies; and Director Dr. Kathy Welch, is an acclaimed Stage Arts professor at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF), co-owner of the Old Gem Theater, and cofounder of Green T Productions, a theatrical troupe.

Meet Lucette, a tall tale woman ready to take on Paul Bunyan and the lumberjacks to protect the forests and animals, teaching a lesson or two with her love tests--where most everyone wins. High school students from the St. Croix Valley are invited to be part of the crucial step of stage-testing it this summer at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Calling all High School students who love music and theater--this is fun!

M-Thursday, 9 am to noon, July 5-August 5

Sign up at Signup Genius-- look it up via email: [email redacted]

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c094aa5aa2aa5f8c25-summer?useFullSite=true#/

Come to the performances at Kleinpell Hall, University of Wisconsin-River Falls--

Thursday, August 4 and August 5--7 pm

Saturday August 3--10:30 am matinee

What will your funds support?

You will be supporting the composing and scoring of the remaining 10 songs and a month-long stage-testing and performing experience at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls from July 5 through August 3, M-TH, 9 am to noon, to finetune it. The public performances (with minimal sets, costumes, props, and choreography) will be on the evenings of August 3-4 with a Saturday morning matinee on August 5, 2023. (More information will be posted as these develop.)

Besides the composing and scoring, some of the stage testing costs include that of the director, venue, script and music copies; then lights, musicians, and videographers for the performances. Money raised does not go to the author. Any funds beyond expenses expressed in the goal will help Lucette! go to the next stage, which is an adaptation for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the summer of 2024 for international stage testing.

Thank you to all who are helping to support this venture and the students and musicians in the choir performances and in the summer workshop, gaining a unique look into how a musical reaches the stage.

We give thanks for the grants of the St. Croix Valley Foundation and the choral work of the Hudson High School Choirs and Choir Director Jaimie Palbicki, as well as the expertise of Attorney Mark Lorbiecki of Williams Kastner Law Firm (Seattle) for his generous work in intellectual property protection. Thanks to the Hop n Barrel in Hudson for hosting our fun fundraiser.

Thank you to ArtReach St. Croix, which is serving as this project's fiscal agent. All donations are accounted for and distributed through ArtReach. Also, a transaction fee will be taken from donations that go through GoFundMe/PayPal. (To circumvent the GoFundMe fees, you can send checks to Lucette Musical, ArtReach St. Croix, 224 N. 4th Street, Stillwater, MN 55082.)

This new musical is based on Marybeth Lorbiecki's original picture book Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart, and the team gives thanks to the skilled artist Renee Graef for use of her incredible artwork from the picture book.

Thank you all again! You're part of something BIG!