A newly filmed presentation of Gutenberg! The Musical!, starring Bobby Conte Thornton and Alex Prakken, will stream as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The performance, recorded by Pierre Marais at Open Jar Studios, features piano accompaniment by Andrew Callahan and choreography by Kaitlyn Frank.
The video will premiere March 18 at 8 PM ET on YouTube. While free to watch, donations are encouraged.
The musical follows two aspiring playwrights, Bud and Doug, as they attempt to secure producers for their new musical about printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg. The pair sing all the songs and play all the parts in the hope of a Broadway contract.
Gutenberg! The Musical! was created in 2003 at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre. The comedy features a book and score by Tony nominees Scott Brown and Anthony King (Beetlejuice). It premiered Off-Broadway in 2006 at 59E59 Theaters, in a production directed by Alex Timbers and starring Christopher Fitzgerald and Jeremy Shamos.
Both graduates of the University of Michigan, Thornton and Prakken previously performed Gutenberg! at Green Room 42 in 2018. Thornton made his Broadway debut in 2016 in A Bronx Tale. Prior to the shutdown, he was in previews for the revival of Company. Prakken appeared in the first national tour of Newsies! The Musical.
Click here to donate to Broadway Cares.
