Combustion Collective
This campaign has ended, but you can still make donations by visiting this fundraiser's general support page.
Donate NowSkyscraper at Urban Stages
The first-ever NYC revival of this fun, fast-paced musical comedy by Peter Stone, Sammy Cahn, and James Van Heusen.
New York City, NY, US
- $10,112 raised of $10,000 goal
- 134 donations
- -241011 minutes left
Fiscally Sponsored by Fractured Atlas
Tickets now on sale for SKYSCRAPER!Time to GET YOUR TICKETS!!!
Tickets for Skyscraper go on sale next week, but as a thank you for all of the generous support you've already shown us, we're giving you early access before announcing them to the general public! You can purchase tickets here: https://www.showclix.com/tickets/skyscrapermusical If you secured tickets through the campaign and have not yet let us know which performance you would like to attend, please respond to the email from Rachel James (she is coordinating our contributor tickets). We're less than three months away from opening night and can't wait to share this show with you! – Team Skyscraper |
A super special sneak peek for you!We're in the final days of our crowdfunding campaign, and with a little over $1,000 left to raise, we thought we'd share a sneak peek of the music :)
Rachel Lauren James (playing Georgina in our production) teamed up with music director Jason Belanger a couple of weeks ago to record this little snippet of the song "Occasional Flight of Fancy" We hope you enjoy this special glimpse of Skyscraper, and we can't wait to share the rest of the show with you in November! |
It's time to meet our final cast member!DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!
It's time for us to introduce the final member of our principal cast! Playing Tim – the architect whose dream of filling the NYC skyline with beautiful, artistically-designed skyscrapers is being thwarted by both his own father and Georgina – is Travis Murad Leland!  An actor, writer, and producer, Travis' past performances include Tommy DeVito in Jersey Boys (Gateway Playhouse), Pierre in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (Capital City Theatre), Charles Bingley in Pride and Prejudice: A New Musical (Amazon Prime), Once (Casa Mañana), the World Premiere of The Prince of Egypt (TheatreWorks, Silicon Valley), Merrily We Roll Along (Dir. Michael Arden, Wallis Annenberg), and Kristoff in Disney's Frozen Live at the Hyperion (Dir. Liesl Tommy). This summer, he joins the cast of the world premiere of Stephen Schwartz's new musical, The Queen of Versailles (Boston Emerson Colonial), starring Kristin Chenoweth! His films BURY ME IN ARMOR and WEATHER OR NOT can be found on Omeleto. لأمي وأبي @travismleland20 We still have FIVE days to reach our goal of $10,000 and we're so so so close!!! Seriously... we're less than $2,000 away! Please share our campaign with your friends and family, and thank you, thank you, thank you!!! |
HALFWAY THERE!!!!We just hit $5,000, which means our campaign is now halfway funded! What better way to celebrate than to announce another cast member???
Playing Roger – Georgina's sophisticated assistant who figures prominently in her daydreams – is ultra talented Brian C. Veith!  Originally from California, Brian calls New York home. He has worked at theaters like The Rev, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Barnstormers, Gateway, and Moonlight Amphitheatre. Favorite past shows include Newsies (Snyder), My Fair Lady (Freddy), Murder On The Orient Express (Hector), and In Emily's Words (Hindley) with Combustion Collective. After many collaborations with Avital Asuleen over the years, we are delighted to see them working together again. Brian sends his many thanks to everyone at Combustion Collective and Regeneration Theatre, as well as to his friends and family. This one's for Grandma! We hope you've been enjoying getting to know our cast members. We only have a few days left to hit 100 total contributions and receive an extra $1,000 for our campaign! Will you help us reach that goal by sharing our campaign with others? We're so grateful for each one of you <3 |
Another milestone, another cast member!We are DELIGHTED to introduce Katryna Marttala (they/them), who will be taking on the role of Stanley: the best construction foreman in New York who truly pushes the boundaries of convention.
 An NYC-based actor, musician, and comedian originally from Cibolo, TX, Katryna is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association and Ring of Keys, an artist service organization that fosters community and visibility for musical theatre artists who self-identify as queer women, transgender, and gender non-conforming artists. Favorite credits include Medusa: A New Musical, Hair (Jeanie), Into The Woods (Witch), Finding Helena (NYC Industry Reading), and “Jax” in the upcoming film Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary. Represented by YOU Management, Katryna can be found on Instagram at @katrynamarttala and on their website, www.katrynamarttala.net Next stop: $5,000! Help us get there by spreading the word and sharing our campaign!!! |
We made it to $2,000!!!Time to celebrate by meeting another cast member!Jeff Raab is a theater artist, musician, teaching artist, and origami artist, and we are overjoyed that he will be joining us as BERT – the overly-anxious owner of the construction company that seeks to purchase Georgina's brownstone.  Jeff's performing credits include productions with Music Theatre of Connecticut, Elm Shakespeare Company, Palm Beach Dramaworks, New Stage Theatre, Resident Theater Company, Texas Shakespeare Festival, South Dakota Shakespeare Festival, Westchester Broadway Theater, Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, White Plains Performing Arts Center, and Arc Stages, with favorites credits including Richard III (Richard), Into the Woods (Baker), and Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff). New York City credits include 12th Night and The Entropy Songs with Libra Theater Company, staged readings at the York Theatre and Metropolitan Playhouse, and concerts at Town Hall. His musician credits include music directing many productions and music directing/composing the award-winning score for Libra Theater Company’s 12th Night (NY Innovative Theater Award – Outstanding Original Music). He has played in pits for many shows, and been a singer/multi-instrumentalist with bands from California to the New York island. He is an Adjunct Professor of Voice and Speech at Southern Connecticut State University (certified in Miller Voice Method), and has worked as a teaching artist with Arc Stages, Inside Broadway, and Burgh Healthy Hub in Australia. Training includes Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, GWU/Academy of Classical Acting, NYU/Steinhardt, and Circus Warehouse. Previously with Combustion Collective, he and Avital Asuleen created Tonight for the Tapir. Our next milestone is $3,500... help us get there by contributing to our campaign and spreading the word!!!
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MEET OUR DANCE CAPTAIN!!!We did it! We reached our first milestone THANKS TO YOU!!!! As promised, meet our first cast member! Katherine Winter joins us for her second show with Combustion Collective... this time on stage! Previously, Katherine was the wonderful off-stage swing for The Floorshow! Katherine has many, many NYC credits, including: The Leading Lady Club, Chasing Andy Warhol (Liza Minnelli/Edie Sedgwick), Flora The Red Menace, Money Heist, VOYEUR: The Windows of Toulouse Lautrec (BroadwayWorld Off-Broadway Award Best Performance in a Play), The Floorshow, and Sleepy Hollow. Katherine has many, many NYC credits, including: The Leading Lady Club, Chasing Andy Warhol (Liza Minnelli/Edie Sedgwick), Flora The Red Menace, Money Heist, VOYEUR: The Windows of Toulouse Lautrec (BroadwayWorld Off-Broadway Award Best Performance in a Play), The Floorshow, and Sleepy Hollow. Katherine studied at NYU Tisch New Studio and is the Development Coordinator, Assistant, & Demonstrator for The Verdon Fosse Legacy® We are THRILLED that Katherine will be joining us on SKYSCRAPER and can't wait to share her incredible talent with all of you! Want to meet more of our amazing cast??? When we reach the next milestone of $2,000 we'll announce the actor playing the lovable and slightly (incredibly?) stressed-out Bert!
– Team SKYSCRAPER |
Skyscraper
We are overjoyed to be staging the first-ever NYC revival of the musical Skyscraper at Urban Stages this fall! Our team has raised the vast majority of the funds necessary to mount this show in a way that will do it justice. We’re asking you to help us raise the final $10,000 needed to put on the best possible production.
Skyscraper tells the story of an antique shop owner, Georgina, as she navigates through daydreams – her “flights of fancy” – and the rapidly evolving realities of 1960’s New York City. Adding to her frustrations are the Bushman brothers, Tim and Bert, who are locked in a hilarious battle to see which one of them can be the first to encourage her to sell her brownstone before the skyscraper they’re building behind it is completed.
Rounding out the cast of characters are Georgina’s artistic and sophisticated assistant (who’s quite the fixture in her fanciful daydreams), a construction foreman who challenges conventionality, Georgina’s meddling mother, her rather dull sister, and a slew of your typical and not-so-typical New York City denizens.
Skyscraper is being presented as a collaboration between Combustion Collective and Regeneration Theatre Company.
Combustion Collective
Founded in 2016, Combustion Collective's previous productions include Ephemera, a site-specific, immersive dance theatre production created by founder Avital Asuleen and composer Alden Terry, and The Floorshow, a play with music and dance, co-written by Asuleen and playwright Dann Berg. Combustion Collective created several events, classes, and programs to support artists through the uncertain times of the pandemic, and in 2024 revised its mission in order to place the wellbeing of artists at the center of the company's ethos:
Combustion Collective provides artists in all stages of their careers with an artistic home where they can hone their craft, foster new collaborations, and nurture their artistry. We actively work to cultivate a space where people feel excited, empowered, and part of a vibrant, interwoven community.
Regeneration Theatre Company
Regeneration Theatre was founded as an avenue to bring new work and lesser-known shows to the stage so that audiences can discover the thrill of discovery and re-discovery.
Regeneration Theatre's acclaimed productions of forgotten plays include Kennedy's Children, Come back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, As Is, Small Craft Warnings, the New York premiere of The Archibishop's Ceiling, and most recently, The Shadow Box. They have also produced new work including The Boys in the Club and My Gay Best Friend.
Goals
Our desire is for everyone working on Skyscraper to have a professional and satisfying artistic experience that they are proud of and are excited to share with family, friends, and people in the industry. Although this is a small production, we are committed to paying our artists for their work.
We also want to present a full realization of our slick, swinging, and stimulating production design. Our goal is to immerse our audiences into the time period by bringing the colors, shapes, and textures of 1965 New York City to life – this includes set design, costumes, lights, and props. All things that contribute to a beautiful production, and also things that cost money.
How Can You Help?
By contributing to our campaign, you are ensuring that a group of performers, designers, and musicians can collaborate on an exhilarating piece of musical theatre, showcase their talents to decision makers in the industry, and get compensated for their work. You are quite literally helping us provide a small amount of income to artists!
Our budget for this production is $35,000. This chart details how the funds will be used:
The Team
Avital Asuleen is a director, choreographer, producer, and educator currently pursuing an MFA in Direction/Pedagogy through the University of Idaho. Favorite recent Directing and Choreography Credits: Guys and Dolls, Fiddler on The Roof (Bigfork Summer Playhouse), The Music Man, Shrek, Tarzan, and Footloose (Berkshire Theatre Group), Chicago, Legally Blonde, and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Polaris Productions), The Queen Bees (Queens Theatre) Newsies, Crazy For You (Frenchwoods Festival), Legally Blonde (Jean's Playhouse), Beauty and The Beast (Woodstock Playhouse), The Floorshow (Theatre 71), Ephemera (Elektra Lounge), and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
Avital observed Randy Skinner on the New York City Center Encores! production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and was associate choreographer to Lorin Latarro on Jasper in Deadland (Prospect Theatre Company). She is currently on Faculty at Broadway Dance Center and Mark Morris Dance Center, and is a teaching artist for New York City Center/Encores! She is the founder and director of New York Theatre Barn's Choreography Lab, the Artistic Director of Combustion Collective, and a certified Nan Giordano Jazz dance instructor. IG: @AvitalAsuleen www.Asuleen.com
Upcoming:
Crazy For You - Choreographer - Bigfork Summer Playhouse Summer 2024
CATS - Director/Choreographer - Jean's Playhouse Summer 2024
Skyscraper - Director/Choreographer - Urban Stages (NYC) Fall 2024
Jason Belanger (he/him) is a Japanese-American music director, vocal coach, and arranger originally from Fayetteville, NY. Currently based in NYC, he has spent time living and working in dozens of cities, states, and countries. He has collaborated with Broadway stars like Taylor Louderman and Christian Borle and worked on and off-Broadway on original works and revivals.
Favorite credits include How to Dance in Ohio (Music Assistant and Keys 2 sub; Broadway), Hell’s Kitchen (Music Assistant; Broadway), Little Women (MD/Conductor; Edinburgh Fringe), The Muny’s 101st Season (music intern), Spamalot (Keys 2/Assoc. Conductor; 6th National Tour), and Into the Woods (MD/Pianist; Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). He is a proud graduate of the Masters in Music Direction course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Find out more about him at jbelangermusic.com.
Favorite credits include How to Dance in Ohio (Music Assistant and Keys 2 sub; Broadway), Hell’s Kitchen (Music Assistant; Broadway), Little Women (MD/Conductor; Edinburgh Fringe), The Muny’s 101st Season (music intern), Spamalot (Keys 2/Assoc. Conductor; 6th National Tour), and Into the Woods (MD/Pianist; Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). He is a proud graduate of the Masters in Music Direction course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Find out more about him at jbelangermusic.com.
Barnaby Edwards – Lead Producer
The founder of Regeneration Theatre, Barnaby has had the honor of bringing many little-known and forgotten works to New York City audiences over the years. He has also produced several shows for Beautiful Soup Theatre, including Lift, Lillion, Little Wars, and Rags. In London during the 1990s, Barnaby produced Paul Emelion Daly's first musical, Crimes of Passion, and designed some of his early plays, Behind Closed Doors and When Harry Met Barry.
Barnaby is thrilled to finally bring Skyscraper back to the New York stage after nearly 60 years.
Rachel Lauren James – Georgina/Producer
Rachel is an actor and producer in NYC. As an actor, some of her favorite NYC credits include The Floorshow (Carol; world premiere), In Emily’s Words (Charlotte Brontë; world premiere), Raison d’Être: an Evening of Pirandello (Nada; world premiere), and Agamemnon. Regional credits include Chicago (Velma Kelly; Austin Playhouse), The Fantasticks (Luisa), Hairspray, and White Christmas (ZACH). Other favorite roles include Laura in The Glass Menagerie, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and The Girl in Veronica’s Room.
As a producer, Rachel has worked in both theatre and film. She was a lead producer and director of operations for an Austin-based film production company, a producer and company manager for a major musical in Chicago, and a producer for Combustion Collective’s world premiere of The Floorshow. She also gained her first Broadway credit in 2022 as a co producer for The Kite Runner. Rachel has had the honor of collaborating with notable artists such as Matthew Wilder, David Zippel, Johanna McKeon, Cherie Steinkellner, Larry Gatlin, Lisa Brescia, and Billy Porter. IG: @racheljamesnyc
Rewards
Lobby
Donate $10.00 or more
Amount is fully tax-deductible.
As a thank you for contributing to our campaign, we’ll give you a shout out on social media!
20 claimed
Lounge
Donate $25.00 or more
Amount over $8.00 is tax-deductible.
You’ll get that shout out on social media AND one free beverage (wine, beer, or a celebratory N/A option) on us when you come to see the show!
31 claimed
Club Level
Donate $55.00 or more
Amount over $45.00 is tax-deductible.
You’ll get one ticket to the performance of your choice and we’ll list your name on the Combustion Collective and Regeneration Theatre websites so people know just how awesome you are.
17 claimed
Front Desk
Donate $55.00 or more
Amount is fully tax-deductible.
Can’t be in NYC but still want to help out? Contribute to our ticket fund and you’ll provide tickets to young artists who might not otherwise be able to see our show!
5 claimed
Pool & Spa
Donate $75.00 or more
Amount is fully tax-deductible.
We’ll add your name to a drawing for a pair of TWO tickets to opening night! Drawing will be held at the conclusion of the campaign.
1 claimed
Mail Room
Donate $100.00 or more
Amount over $30.00 is tax-deductible.
You’ll be sent a limited-edition poster signed by the cast and creative team, plus our exclusive Lobster Studio x Skyscraper vinyl sticker! We’ll also list your name on our companies’ websites.
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Suites
Donate $100.00 or more
Amount over $90.00 is tax-deductible.
A lovely pair of tickets to a performance of your choice, and your name will be listed on the Combustion Collective and Regeneration Theatre websites.
21 claimed
Rooftop
Donate $250.00 or more
Amount over $130.00 is tax-deductible.
Two VIP tickets to a performance of your choice, two beverages at the show, a super cute, exclusive Lobster Studio x Skyscraper vinyl sticker, AND your name gets listed on our websites!
3 claimed
Penthouse
Donate $500.00 or more
Amount over $155.00 is tax-deductible.
Everything listed in the Rooftop tier plus a limited-edition poster signed by the cast and creative team! We’ll even list your name in our program as a way of saying THANK YOU!!!
3 claimed
Skyscraper
Donate $750.00 or more
Amount over $280.00 is tax-deductible.
Everything listed in the Rooftop and Penthouse levels, PLUS an intimate dinner with the creative team and members of the cast. Now you’re really living!
0 claimed