# ISABEL (A Nouns Musical)

![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GdZT9XjbAAAaE2r?format=jpg&name=large)

Hi Nouns community,

We had some technical issues with our proposal but we got it all fixed and we're back, sorry for the delay.

We’ve carefully read, reviewed and considered each of your comments from our first proposal. It was exciting to see how many of you were enthusiastic about this musical and equally heartening to know that you cared about the project's success.

Our initial three-step funding proposal, in hindsight, wasn’t the right fit for the production process or for ensuring that this musical comes to life, we understand that now. This is our first time presenting a creation to voters, and we’ve learned a lot through this process. Another important lesson was transparency, which is why we’ve taken the time to elaborate on the process and how we envision this musical taking shape.

We are ready to get to work and make this community proud!

INTRO:

We write for you, for the Nouns world, and its characters. For the past six months, Jeff Feldman (Alone Architect) and I (maxpretends) have poured our hearts into building the first-ever Nouns musical – developing a compelling story while faithfully keeping the value and integrity of this amazing community intact. We are finally ready to dive into the script, and this is the point where we need your help.

It has not been easy writing the lore of a crypto-founded project into a musical that can truly resonate with the masses and stand on its own, but our goal is to push the boundaries of art and create a world and story that kids – as much as adults – can relate to.
An impactful story is at its core, transformative. Remember the first time you watched Toy Story? While we can not compare ourselves to those geniuses, the feelings we hope to evoke in our audiences are ultimately the same deep, age-transcending emotional connection you very likely had with those toy characters.
Jeff and I have had a blast developing this story. It has made us reflect on our own character arcs through the journey our characters are taking, and we can not wait for you to dive into this world too. But first, we need a script!

ABOUT US:

As artists ourselves, we bring years of substantial experience to this project. 

Jeff Feldman, raised in Canada, currently residing in Los Angeles, has been a music producer for twenty years. Previously signed to Atlantic records, he is used to creating worlds around an artist’s song and learned the subtlety needed to find a middle ground that pushes the narrative. He got to where he is by embracing every aspect of the music industry and taking on new challenges when they arose, including being the personal technician for Mike Shinoda. 

I (max pretends) was born in France and have been songwriting / playwriting for ten years. After learning how to engineer with “The Voice” (Australia) and songwriting for a trailer house in Los Angeles, I moved onto ghostwriting for EDM artists as a topliner, under the independent label “No face Records”. This is the second musical I'll be writing – After five years of work, my first musical will be hitting the Scala Theatre in Paris on January 2026, co-written with Alain Boublil (Author of Les Miserables) based on Mark Twain’s novel “Adam & Eve”.

![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GcHv3vYasAUNwPV?format=jpg&name=large)

We have been working behind the scenes, making other artists and labels happy for years, but it takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to produce a project of this size from beginning to end. For us, being in the limelight has always taken second place to staying true to what we have created, and we intend to do nothing less with this musical.

We are devoted to the Nouns family, and our three years in this space have truly shown us what it means to adhere to our values and to the progress of art. 

Jeff and I have always made sure that artists have had a home in Web3, from songwriting sessions every week in Discord, creating spaces where they could show their musical progress and value to the community…

![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GcHv2I_asAAivUv?format=jpg&name=large)

To organizing a week long songwriting camp in New York where Web3 musicians could collaborate – some for the first time. Jeff and I have always wanted to bring the experience that we were thankful enough to learn and share it with our on chain family and the amazing artists we’ve met along the way. 

![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GcHv0byasAIzc1b?format=jpg&name=large)

MUSICAL SYNOPSIS:

In a segregated world where diverse characters are created daily by a single machine, one crystal stands at the source of its power. The King watches over Nouns Land from the capital, where Isaac – a young and eager Mustard sauce – is excited to join the annual Flavour Festival of his village. Unfortunately, his sauce is deemed immature, and he is forced to sit it out, once again. Despite all the warning signs, Isaac is determined to help his family win, but sadly, his attempts ultimately end in disaster, leaving him heartbroken and his family disqualified.
Disappointed, Isaac heads to the woods where he meets Doug the duck, who surprisingly loves his sauce. They discover smoke from afar coming from the machine and decide to investigate. Leaving their families waiting, they unexpectedly come across a shard of the magic crystal and with it, find themselves transported to the past.
They set off on an adventure where they meet Isabel Ketchup, a princess. Their fates are entangled in a complex conflict involving family, power, and legacy.
As they navigate these challenges, Isaac, Isabel, and Doug learn important life lessons about acceptance, loss, and the natural cycle of life and death. They will have to trust each other to overcome the treacherous path that awaits them. Sacrifices are made, teaching Isaac and Doug about selflessness and the deeper meaning of family. At the core of Nouns values, this story is about the significance of moving forward and the enduring power of love and friendship. 

![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GcHxoA3bEAAyIHp?format=jpg&name=large)

We are excited to show you one of the songs we’ve been working on for “Isabel”. Most of the show will be in a fun, comedic & sometimes dark humored tone but, for this specific moment, we needed to show the heart that some of these characters have, and this song highlights Doug’s. A duck that has never looked further than his limiting beliefs in himself. 

TAKE MY HAND: Doug’s song

Sung by Doug right after he receives two pieces of a camera lens from a film director who creates the first Noggles. This gift is given to him right after the trio has liberated part of Nouns Land, which had been cursed by a dark spell.

This song reflects Doug’s realization of who he is, who he wants to be, and, more importantly, who he is becoming.

Our three main characters—Isabel (Princess Ketchup), Isaac (Mustard), and Doug (the duck)—are tired but happy and relieved to have freed the film nouns from their Black & White curse. This first stop on their adventure has brought them closer together. They take a moment before leaving the village to gather themselves and let out a collective sigh of relief.

Click on the link and follow along with the script and lyrics in the description below the video.

[https://youtu.be/OAPRGVBTwSk](https://youtu.be/OAPRGVBTwSk)

WHY A MUSICAL?

Theater goes beyond just sitting at the movies and watching a screen. Whether good or bad, theater for thousands of years has left a mark on people, and to be honest, for many years, I, myself, did not fully understand why. Why do people still take the time, in our day and age where information is consumed at such a rapid pace? Why do people still carve out two hours or so in their day to go to the theater?
I have realized that fundamentally, it is about human connection. The audience is just as much a part of the show as the actors are. Plays and mainly  musicals feed off of their audience to perform, and in turn, the audience experiences a uniquely authentic moment they will never forget. If done well, a musical or play will be imprinted in your mind and make the everyday person dream in that moment in their seats, and hopefully, for years to come.

The impact & potential that musicals have on the world goes beyond just playing it on that stage. Once the story is out there, it could lead to many amazing opportunities for the nouns brand to grow, think of schools, camps, any outlet that has a theatre and makes use of it, all we need, is an audience that relates to the characters and the music. I know we will achieve that.  

THE PRODUCTION / BUDGET –

TOTAL REQUESTED: $360k
“You don’t write a musical, you re-write it.” – Steven Sondheim
A musical takes years to put together, but we want to prove that the Web3 space and community can be more efficient. While we will, without a doubt, put all our efforts, resources, and passion into this project, we need the Nouns community to place their faith in us and our ability to deliver. We know it is a tall ask, but we want you to know that we will fight for this every waking minute.

After working on this story for the past 8 months & knowing it inside-out,  we will now be able to focus our efforts on the script as well as the constant content creation across all social media platforms to promote the project. We will make our content fun and relatable. We are striving for the best quality in every aspect of our work, and we want to showcase the Nouns brand as best as possible, and ultimately, make the community proud.
Social media takes a huge part in sharing our story with the world, and with both our combined experience in the music industry, we know incredibly well how to structure the marketing to make it impactful, but it does take a lot of time and effort on top of creating the art itself. We live in a world where one can’t live without the other.

After a year of writing and with progress shown across platforms, we will then move to the second phase, where we will start discussing the show with close friend Miranda Cornell, associate director of the 2024 Tony award for best musical (The Outsiders). She is a creative that I've known for many years and believe that she would do a wonderful job directing this show or at least guiding it for the stage. At this point, the music is done and we move onto the album recording, all the while constantly re writing parts of the show to complete it. Times are changing, and just last year, a musical that was created on Tik Tok won a grammy for "Best musical theater album", without a single stage production. We will deliver a full concept album, but to do so, we will need producers, engineers, and actors/singers. I will personally be playing and singing the voice of our main character, Isaac, for the purpose of the album only. Without sacrificing the art, We will aim to accomplish in two and half years, what theater writers do in four. It is our goal to provide clear and consistent progress, with the hope that the community understands that what we are attempting is undeniably ambitious and that there are probably many lessons to learn throughout the process, as we are (unfortunately) not robots. Once we have a great idea of where the show is going and have the album recording ready, I will be in direct contact with the head of musical theatre department at Warner Chappell Music, who has been extremely supportive & helpful with past works, and If interested, will help us find a producer & in the meantime, we already have our eyes set on an off broadway theater in New York.  

As the authors, we will take only the bare minimum and ensure that approximately two-thirds of the budget is allocated to the final show costs and marketing. This allocation will include expenses for costumes, theater rental, set designers, actors, sound and light engineers, and makeup artists.

This approach will enable us to sustain an initial two-week run on stage and create a meaningful impact. Of course, this means we will need at least two months of rehearsal prior to the premiere of the musical, while also keeping in mind the unexpected surprises that often come with any art form. Thank you for believing in us, we won't let you down.

Outcome: EXECUTED