Help Jeremy Shine in Motown Revue Show

Hello,

This is to people whom I admire, respect, and love genuinely. After undergoing my total hip replacement surgery in 2023, I felt moved to lean into dreams that I had regarding sharing and using my gift in music that I slowly started to let go of after many different disappointments in the recording/writing vein of the industry. After my surgery, I felt that God granted me another chance to do the thing I loved. I felt guided to pivot into the performance/live-show production space. This space offers more security monetarily. It offers me a chance to be my authentic self and make a proper living doing so if the right opportunities are earned and offered. Since making this decision to commit to the performance art space, I've had the pleasure of playing Smokie Robinson in an off-Broadway production in LA that focused on the development of Motown, the rise of the MLK-led Civil Rights movement, and how both worked together to birth a new age in Black culture and history. https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2024-01-06/martin-and-motown-production-explores-kings-legacy-through-music

The production was featured in an LA Times article, we performed to a sold-out theatre, and I learned so much about myself in a different way. After that experience, I got an opportunity to tour the U.S. last year with a kid's production. I learned even more lessons about this specific vein of entertainment. I was just offered a contract for a year-long Motown Revue show. It is a residency type of production that is near Dollywood park and is a part of the tourist experience in that area. This is something I've been working towards. A long-term contract with great pay, stellar production value, solid benefits like insurance, and most importantly, the freedom to be my free self and make a living doing so. With all of that being said, you never know when your opportunity is coming. I was offered this only a few weeks ago, and unlike previous performing contracts, they do not pay for their out-of-town talent's travel or housing. I am asking for help with my travel and my first two to three weeks of hotel stay until I earn my first check from the show. I will be getting paid biweekly during shows (8 shows per week) starting on March 4th. I am supposed to leave in two weeks to start rehearsals, but we are only paid a stipend and per diem during rehearsals. I know that in our current climate, things are not cheap, and I in no way want to add any pressure. If there's anything you can offer monetarily, it would be greatly appreciated, and it would be used to responsibly build my foundation in this new city of Pigeon Forge, TN, aka Dollywood. I'm only sharing this with people who know and understand my passion and me as a person, with those who I have learned something from, and people who have poured into me over the years with great words of encouragement, wisdom, and time. Thank you even if all you have to offer are well wishes.

-Jeremy C.