Borrego Sun - Since 1949

Playwright and former Borrego Sun Staff Writer for six years and now contributing writer, Michael Sadler, is nearing the end of his 10-year quest to finally stage (and film) one of his plays, “Panthers: A One Hour Dramedy-Musical for School Kids K – 12.”

“All school kids need role models and positive messaging,” Michael says, “and both dialogue and music were written to do just that.”

At only one hour in length and given that “Panthers” is also meant to be a learn-through-entertainment experience, he adds that Panthers is tailored specifically for what he calls a “short attention-span theatre” audience.

On Jan. 1, Michael launched a 31-day fundraising campaign on Kickstarter.com to help him reach his first goal – a Panthers Premier production of one-to-three full performances, depending on funding.

With his four-member cast of young-adult, professional actors in place from the greater Los Angeles area and “six great rehearsals under their belts,” he says, plus a highly experienced production crew on stand-by, Michael has his eyes set on the theatrical Premier somewhere in the San Fernando Valley just north of Los Angeles sometime before Spring of this year.

But Michael’s goals go much further than local productions.

He has plans to target as many as possible of the more than 131,000 K – 12 schools all across the U.S. in districts having Performing Arts departments; the drama students themselves will be performing the roles and staging their own productions under a Performance Licensing Agreement with his newly-formed company, Blazer Theatrical LLC.

A 10-minute trailer will be produced from the footage shot at the Premier and distributed via email link to the schools and districts.

In the next issue of the Borrego Sun (Jan. 20), we will share more details with a Panthers Q & A, as well as how the fundraising effort is faring as his deadline of Jan. 31 approaches.