Local artists make use of Kickstarter to revamp classic
Since 1988, the Columbia Marionette Theatre has entertained audiences of all ages, and it’s done so with funding from the City of Columbia and other arts-related groups.
But to put on “Hansel and Gretel,” that funding wasn’t enough.
Lyon Hill, its artistic director, had a bold vision for the classic fairy tale, so the theater turned to the Internet “crowdfunding” service Kickstarter to make his dream a reality.
“[Kickstarter] was a way to hire people and not simply ask them to ‘donate their time,’ which is hard, because I knew this would be a very demanding project,” Hill said of the effort. “That’s why we used Kickstarter. We got a lot of support for it, and I totally see the merit of it all. I get it now, and I really like the idea.”
The website allows people with projects that need funding to solicit donations of any size from strangers online in exchange for rewards, products or, sometimes, nothing but the satisfaction of contributing.
The theater offered rewards to its backers, including free tickets to the show and autographed posters, and the project had a little difficulty meeting its $2,000 goal.
Every project started on Kickstarter has a set deadline to be funded. If the funding deadline isn’t reached, the project receives none of the money pledged to it, regardless of how close it came.
“I don’t think we reached our halfway point until a week before the deadline, and I think that was pretty scary,” said Payton Frawley, Hill’s assistant.
The idea to use Kickstarter came from Frawley, a second-year art history student who works part time at the theater. The goal was reached in the final few days of the campaign, when it received almost half the money it needed.
Hill is happy he was able to raise the money and make his vision of this age-old story come to life for local theatergoers.
“There’s so many things that I think even a young audience will connect with,” Hill said. “This show is unique for us, as we were trying something new. It has some very dark imagery, which I like, but I think we’ve also made a very warm and funny show.”
The Columbia Marionette Theatre is located near Riverfront Park on the corner of Laurel and Huger streets. The crowdfunded “Hansel and Gretel” show runs every Saturday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.