Okay, so much has happened since the conception of this project. But to get caught up in a nutshell, here's the play-by-play:
1. I put the idea on paper and pitch to it a few producers who all have interest
2. I ask two iconic drag queen friends if they'd like to be involved in creating the project
3. One of those two queens, Marvin Nathan, moves from Florida to take part in this project and also to perform in Reno for the "Divas" show that Frank Marino is mounting there soon.
4. Marvin is supposed to stay in my home for two days until his apartment is ready for move-in
5. Marvin secretly cons me into letting him stay with me for over two months by stating several deceptive lies about different money sources being delayed. He also says he's going to cash in his life insurance policy to pay us back for all the help, and also to invest in the play
6. After too many "the money will be here tomorrow" scenarios, I start calling people to investigate Marvin's history. It was then that I found out he has conned several others in the same manner
7. I filed charges against Marvin
8. After I went public with this, Frank Marino hired someone else to take Marvin's place in his Divas show in Reno. Marvin also got kicked out of his apartment that I paid for because he could not keep up with the rent. Marvin then became a vagrant in our local airport but was soon kicked out of there. To this date, no one has been able to tell me where Marvin is so that I can serve legal papers on him.
9. I cleaned up all the financial and emotion mess that "Hurricane Marvin" left in his wake and am back on track with the musical. Marvin was in my home from the end of September to the end of November 2013.
It is now February 21, 2014. I've managed to complete the first draft of the script and get most of the original songs in a rough demo form. This was not easy since I not only lost a ton of money by helping out Marvin, but I also did not have the investment money to develop the show. Because I was counting on that investment money to be in the bank in November, I did not book many other Cher gigs and my husband did not schedule many clients in his recording studio so that we could concentrate our efforts on the musical. It was a rough time financially. But they say that bad things often come in "threes," as was the case with us.
The second problem to be faced during this difficult time was a legal battle in which a man wanted to cancel one of my trademarks in an effort to use it for his own company. Here's the fact on trademark law. You don't have a permanent trademark until you prove continual usage during the fifth and sixth years after you obtain the mark. Up to that point, anyone can challenge your mark. If they have enough money to keep you in costly litigation, you can either spend a fortune defending that mark or give up and let the opposition take it. I know it doesn't sound fair. Welcome to the business world. So far, we've been defending the mark and are still in the middle of this situation.
The third problem was that my husband, Gene, found out he needed some surgery to remove a large polyp in his colon. The surgery is next month. They need to take out ten inches of his colon to ensure his safety. It looks like it will be routine and there's a good chance there is no cancer. But it will be costly as well as emotionally draining. So, the last thing we needed was to be conned by a "friend" we took in and supported.
Where are we now as far as handling the above? Well, we just met with two of the producers who are interested in this project. They want us to do a reading of the script for them in April. We also want to somehow do a showcase on a stage because with every original and new idea, it is much better to SEE it than to try to visualize it. Thus, I am trying to figure out how to make this happen. I've been considering using "Kickstarter" which is an internet site used to raise funds for projects. But I'd rather find an investor who can see the value of this project and who will assist in seeing it through. I'm still working on this end of things.
As for the trademark lawsuit, it is on hold for now. I'm creating some big things for usage of the mark in the meantime. I'll let you know what happens.
Gene is feeling fine as if nothing is at all wrong. We feel that his surgery will also go just fine and that he'll be back to snuff in a few weeks afterward.
There are some other fun things in the works, but I'll get to those in the next blog post. I'll also give you some fun pictures from people recording songs for the play in our studio and from script readings, etc. So, if you'd like to follow this story, best to become a "follower" by adding your name to the list. There is an icon to the top right that will help you to do this. If you have any problems, just leave a reply to this post and I'll help you.
Okay, so we are off and running once again! Can't wait to post some pics soon!
Always,
Heidi
marvin is staying at a motel 6 in maine.. he conned me too
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