REBEAT Readers, There’s a New ’60s Bubblegum Musical That Needs Your Help
It’s one thing to support a musical that’s basically a pastiche of all the great ’60s bubblegum music we know and love (and why would you not support that??), but it’s quite another when that musical is written by one of our own.
At the beginning of this month, REBEAT staffer Louie Pearlman launched a crowdfunding campaign for his new stage musical, Joey and Ron: A Sixties Bubblegum Rock Fantasia on American Themes.
First, here’s the Joey and Ron elevator pitch, straight from Louie himself:
Joey and Ron is about a drummer named Joey who plays in a suburban garage band called Ronnie and the Sugars. When Joey is drafted for Vietnam, he and his band members think of a crazy scheme. They dress in disguises as a cartoon band called The Seven Hundred and Forty Fifth Clock Conglomerate to go on tour and try to smuggle Joey up to Canada. The whole time, they are being chased by an evil teacher, the military police, and a sleazy record producer. Will they get poor old Joey to Canada? You’ll have to wait and see…
Personally, I remember Louie playing me demos for the Joey and Ron songs many, many moons ago in Greenwich Village before there was a show, a fully realized concept, or even a title. They were just in their infancy and already, I knew that there was something special that would grab the hearts of any ’60s music fan.
The 12 original songs that Louie has written with his musical collaborator Joel Esher will grab the hearts of any ’60s bubblegum-music fan. Songs with titles such as “Gooey Gooey,” “Small Town Rockers,” and “Love, Love, Love, Love, Love!” could veer into parody territory, but because Louie is such a passionate bubblegum disciple, they genuinely evoke the sounds of bands like the Monkees, the Archies, 1910 Fruitgum Company, or any derivation of groups spearheaded by the great Joey Levine (one of Louie’s major inspirations, of course).
Louie describes the show as “a love letter to the bubblegum music and culture of the late ’60 though a rose-colored Hanna-Barbera lense.” I can personally vouch that if anyone is capable of pulling off that appropriately saccharine psychedelic task, it’s this guy.
So now, here’s how you, dear REBEAT readers, can help it become a real, living, breathing theatrical masterpiece that you — yes, you — can actually go and see later this year at the Players Theatre in NYC’s West Village.
The Joey and Ron Kickstarter is currently about $4,500 away from reaching its goal (with nearly 70% already funded — amazing!). When you support the musical, you have the option to choose from several appropriately groovy rewards:
- Tickets to and/or a video download of the musical
- A limited-edition print or a set of bubblegum cards of The Seven Hundred and Forty Fifth Clock Conglomerate by Archie Comics artist Fernando Ruiz
- A playlist of some deep-cut ’60s bubblegum music Louie himself
- Even a producer’s credit on the musical
We REBEAT staffer and readers alike are passionate about ’60s music and the era from which it was born. Joey and Ron is not only a tribute to all that we hold dear, but a new work that breathes new life into this endearing world of sticky hits. I, for one, can’t wait to rock out to Joey and Ron this fall, and I hope you’ll join me!
Click here to donate to Joey and Ron and be part of where the action is!
