The Happy Hour Guys and Gun Hill Brewing Company have announced the launch of Curtain Up – Save the Arts, the sixth beer in the Broadway Brews six-pack, which will help raise funds for The Actors Fund, the national human services organization for everyone in entertainment and performing arts. The Curtain Up Initiative is a unique brew collaboration with more than 30+ other craft breweries and counting.
The Curtain Up Initiative is an outgrowth of the Broadway Brews Project, started by The Happy Hour Guys in order to bring Broadway theatre and craft beer together to raise money for charity. Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, the Happy Hour Guys, Broadway actors Jimmy Ludwig (Spamalot, Little Shop of Horrors) and Mark Aldrich (Ragtime, Newsies, My Fair Lady), led the creation of five beers with five different Broadway shows, including Hamilton, Come From Away and Waitress.
“(Jimmy & Mark)…good men who are offering this good beer for a very good cause, which is very good news,” says leading Broadway/TV comedy legend David Hyde Pierce (Frasier, Hello, Dolly!).
The primary mission of the Curtain Up Initiative is to create a source of relief funding for The Actors Fund, which provides a safety net for entertainment professionals throughout their lifespan.
Gun Hill Brewing, creator of the first Broadway Brew Hamilton beer, has developed a hazy IPA recipe for Curtain Up to be brewed and released by more than 30 local breweries throughout the country.
“The entertainment community is about collaboration, heart and creativity. We’re truly grateful to Jimmy Ludwig and Mark Aldrich of The Happy Hour Guys, and to David Lopez of Gun Hill Brewing Company, for this collaborative effort,” said Actors Fund President & CEO Joseph P. Benincasa. “Their heart and creativity in the creation of Curtain Up will raise much needed funds to help those in need in our performing arts and entertainment community.”
“During the second week of March 2020, live performance was halted nationwide. Tens of thousands of arts professionals found themselves out of work with no knowledge of when they would return, and now, months later, they face loss of income, health insurance, threat of eviction and more, and the industry may not be back to full employment until a year after a vaccine is introduced,” Ludwig says.
“This dire situation has hit us too close to home- we knew we had to do something,” Aldrich adds. “Our mission with Curtain Up was to create a palpable relief funding for our fellow arts workers. We’re thrilled The Actors Fund and Gun Hill Brewing Co. have jumped on board as well as our brew partners across the U.S.”
“Very happy to join the Happy Hour Guys once again to help our arts community,” says David Lopez, Co-Founder, Gun Hill Brewing. “We look forward to more breweries joining and brewing Curtain Up throughout the coming year.”
Curtain Up is available on tap and in cans at select retail locations, bars & venues across the country.
For breweries and arts organizations that would like more information, or to get involved, can reach out through Curtainup.beer or info@thehappyhourguys.com.
