What is MAXA?

“With consummate skill, Maxa, the Princess of Blood, had died again.”

Written by Mika Kauffman (book and lyrics) and Thomas Jacobsen (music), MAXA, The Maddest Woman in the World is an epic rock horror musical capturing the life story of Paula Maxa, the famed French tragedienne who died thousands of deaths for the patrons who haunted the infamously bloody theater known as the Grand Guignol. In 1940's France, it becomes Paula’s strange destiny to carry the very same horrors of the Grand Guignol into her private life; only then does she confront the night that changed her existence forever.

MAXA is a heartfelt, shrewd examination of the timeless struggle between trauma and healing, exemplified by Kauffman’s brilliant wordplay of levity and macabre, as well as Jacobsen’s complex, sweeping orchestrations with a contemporary electronic score. Since its inception, our show has had several read-thrus to finesse the script and songs, from a table read at Symphony Space in December of 2019 to a workshop presentation at Playwrights Horizon Studios in March of 2020, the week COVID-19 shut down the city. Its staged world-premiere at the University of Duluth Minnesota has been postponed until 2021. In the meantime, we’re still pursuing our dream in a new medium and hope that you can help us!

Why Are We Crowdfunding?

MAXA is in development this fall with the support of a Virtual Performance Residency at The Center at West Park in the historic West Park Presbyterian Church, a New York City landmark. We cannot think of a better place to honor the Grand Guignol, once a desecrated church renovated into a sacred theatrical performance space for the macabre. We have decided to go all out and create a series of socially-distant music videos led by Obie award-winning performer L Morgan Lee, directed by Interval’s “Women to Watch” Daniella Caggiano, and filmed by Emmy award winning photojournalist Jay McMichael. These videos will be specially crafted and choreographed to give us and our audiences an exciting look at how our show can be performed stylistically on site within a church. These videos will be shared on social media, guaranteeing a product that will not be a one-time viewing.

We need your help to pay all respective performers and creatives involved in the creation of these videos. Every dollar you contribute allows us to make macabre magic happen together, with the ultimate goal of accessibility to original work like ours in the time of COVID-19. As a backer, we guarantee that you’ll feel informed and empowered to be part of this musical journey now and in the future. Your donation is also tax deductible!

The Impact

You will be supporting a cast and creative team comprised of queer, trans and gender nonconforming artists who very unfortunately remain unemployed as the entertainment industry rests in limbo during this pandemic. With no clear start date in sight, we are proud to provide work for our artists safely and securely.

You are also supporting a show that deep dives into the exploration of trauma and healing. As a survivor themself, Kauffman has written this piece with extreme care. Their goal is to share Paula’s story with audiences comprised of survivors, with the purpose of finding catharsis and consolation, together.

How Can You Be Involved?

Contribute
Contribute if you have the means to do so. If you can support MAXA, please donate and you’ll be rewarded with some special perks. We have perks available from $10 and up.

Invest
Invest if you wish to truly be a part of the team developing MAXA. Please email us for more information on how to do this.

Share
Share the fundraiser with your friends and family. The further and wider this goes, the more opportunities we have to get support!

Follow
Follow us on social media. We’re on nearly all social media channels including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok where you can find content and updates of our progress.

Rewards
We’re thrilled to offer the following exclusive rewards as a thank you for supporting MAXA:

$10 - Early access to our videos and a social media shoutout.

$25 - A private YouTube link to our original workshop performance of MAXA at Playwrights Horizon Studios + all of the above.

$50 - A handwritten thank you card sent from the writers + all of the above.

$100 - MP3 copies of original audio recordings from MAXA + all of the above.

$250 - A Grand Guignol Show Poster (8-11”) + all of the above.

$500 - Associate Producer Credit + all of the above.

$1000 - Co-Producer Credit + FaceTime tour of the facility + the $250 perks and above.

$2500 - Executive Producer Credit + *Scheduled Quarantine Visit + $250 perks and above (additionally, future talks and meetings with writers, producers and creative team).

*Pending screening

Stretch Goals

If we do hit our target, we will update you with a new target. Any extra money raised will support the continued development of MAXA after the workshop. This will include further musical workshops, audio and video recordings, as well as future productions.

Risks & Challenges

With the theatre industry in such a place of uncertainty, we are very aware of the risks of putting on any form of theatrical presentation. We are also very conscious of the safety concerns.

The Center at West Park has implemented safety measures to make sure the residency will be as safe for the team and actors as possible. It will follow the strict government guidelines available including at least 6 feet of distance between actors and crew members, no sharing of scripts or props, and masks must be worn to and from work days. You can view the full guidelines here that we will be following.

Have a question? Want to get involved?

Don’t hesitate to email us at maxa.musical@gmail.com. For questions about The Center at West Park, email info@centeratwestpark.org.