Category: blog

1989 the musical™ is an interactive musical that invites the audience to participate. This musical features alternative dance music that was popular among the “progressive” kids, usually shared between classes with the use of “mix tapes”. The music will bring back memories. So, will the story, an original script that I penned in a one-week period while listening to music of the time, music that brought those memories from the 80’s simmering to the surface.

In the script, I share my real life experiences working at a McDonald’s in the late 1980’s. At the time, I was a student at a nearby private high school. Most of my co-workers attended the rival public school. Working at McDonald’s with public school kids and going to high school parties in the late 1980’s was an experience worth remembering.

1989 the musical brings those experiences to life in this interactive musical that’s full of 1980’s music Discover what it was like to experience life in the last years of the 1980’s, from the perspective of a kid (me) who attended a private Christian school and worked at a nearby McDonald’s after school and on weekends. Get ready to dance. Get ready to sing. Get ready to have fun. Experience 1989 the musical. Finally, an 80’s musical for the rest of us.

About the Musical
In the mid-to-late 1980’s, I attended a private, Christian school in West Palm Beach, Florida, and worked at a nearby McDonald’s after school and on the weekends.  Most of my co-workers attended the public school whose football team was our school’s rival.  This interactive musical, featuring alternative music from the 1980’s, tells the true story of my experiences working at McDonalds and growing up the in the 1980’s.

Finally, an 80’s Musical for the Rest of Us
What do I mean by “finally, an 80’s musical for the rest of us”?  I have yet to see a 1980’s movie or musical that tells my story–a story of a teenager who attends a private Christian private by day and in the evenings, after school, works at a nearby McDonald’s where most of his co-workers are the public school kids whose football team is the rival team to my school.  “For the rest of us” refers to the music that I was introduced to at this time, the musical of bands like The Cure, The Smiths, Clan of Xymox, Depeche Mode, and other alternative bands before it was “cool” to be alternative.  At that time, the music was called “progressive music” and I, with my baggy shorts, big t-shirts, and black dress shoes with no socks, was referred to as a “progressive”. 

An Interactive Musical
I intend to produce this musical somewhere in Brooklyn or Manhattan, New York City, on someone’s rooftop or in an outdoor space or in a theater space, perhaps a basement of a church somewhere in Manhattan or Brooklyn.  This is an interactive musical wherein the audience dresses in 1980’s style clothes and participates in specific scenes, the dance club scene, the roller-rink-turned-skateboard-night scene, and a few others.

1989 The Musical – finally an 80s musical for the rest of us
This interactive musical tells the true story of my experiences working at McDonalds in the late 1980’s.  At the time, I attended a private, Christian school, and worked at a nearby McDonald’s.  My co-workers attended the public school whose football team was our school’s rival and through them, I was introduced to a different world.  1989 The Musical shares the true story of my experiences being introduced to this world–one with alternative music, skateboarding, and cute, shorthaired girls.  

Join us in this 80’s musical for the rest of us

Kris Kemp
347-557-5487
bicycledays@yahoo.com