GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL to be Streamed Benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids

Gutenberg! The Musical! stars Bobby Conte Thornton and Alex Prakken as overwhelmingly enthusiastic aspiring playwrights Bud and Doug. The eager duo is getting set to perform a backers' audition for their new project: a big, splashy musical about printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg. The pair sing all the songs and play all the parts in their crass historical epic. Their hope is that one of the producers in attendance will give them a Broadway contract, fulfilling their ill-advised, yet hearteningly sincere, dreams.

The heartwarming musical spoof Gutenberg! The Musical! is set to stream on Thursday, March 18, as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The free streamed event can be watched on YouTube channel beginning at 8pm EST.

Thornton made his Broadway debut in 2016, originating the role of Calogero in A Bronx Tale. Prior to the Broadway shutdown, Thornton was in previews for the highly anticipated revival of Company. Prakken was in the first national tour of Disney's hit Newsies! Both graduates of the University of Michigan, Thornton and Prakken reunited to perform Gutenberg at Green Room 42 in 2018.

Gutenberg! The Musical! was created in 2003 at the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theatre and became the UCBT's first show to transfer to an Off-Broadway run. Following its developmental run, the two-man spoof premiered in London at the Jermyn Street Theatre and was presented at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. It premiered Off-Broadway in 2006 at 59E59 Theaters, in a production directed by Alex Timbers and starring Christopher Fitzgerald and Jeremy Shamos. The off-Broadway run received nominations for Best Musical at the Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Awards, as well as nods for Best Book and Best Director of a Musical at the Drama Desk Awards.

The comedy features a book and score by Scott Brown and Anthony King, who were nominated for a Tony Award in 2019 for Best Book of a Musical for Beetlejuice.

The streaming event features piano accompaniment by Andrew Callahan and choreography by Kaitlyn Frank. It was recorded by Pierre Marais at Open Jar Studios.

https://donate.broadwaycares.org/fundraiser/3143099

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