What is Good Guy with a Gun?

Good Guy with a Gun! is a musical concept album. The entire story will be in the tracks, so unlike some musicals, you won’t have to follow along with a Wikipedia article explaining the plot.

It’s got the production value of a pop album with the heartfelt storytelling of a musical in a wild comedy set in Washington DC - kinda like The Book of Mormon for the NRA.

What's the story?

RON BARKLEY and his daughter JENNA don't see eye-to-eye on politics. He works for the National Rifle Association. She attends protests with her stoner boyfriend.

When Ron is confronted at gunpoint by a disgruntled keyboard warrior, he prays to God for help and receives it in the form of a magical gun that makes people conservative.

Ron uses the gun to brainwash Jenna's friends, driving the two of them apart, and in response, Jenna prays for a magical weapon of her own– a megaphone that turns people liberal. Now Jenna has the chance to turn her dad into the person she's always wanted him to be...

What inspired this?

Philip here– A decade ago, I was held up at gunpoint on a train. I came home to my then-roomate Micah and said, let’s make a musical about gun control. That project, formerly called MORE GUNS!, has been in development for over TEN YEARS since that day!

Micah here– As we developed the project, it was fascinating to see how people from all sides of the political spectrum came to the musical in good faith, and laughed! Early versions were staged in limited runs at Second City Hollywood and in San Francisco, which served as a testing ground, allowing us to refine the story, deepen the characters, and elevate the music.

We brought in executive music producer Hal Rosenfeld to bring this project to a new level. His musical genius has helped transform our piano and guitar demos into the large-scale production this album deserves. (And fun fact, Hal went to middle school with Philip!)

Why now?

We live in an extremely divided age. It feels impossible to talk to someone with opposing political views. This musical aims to bridge that gap– by centering a gun lobbyist and his leftist daughter, this show humanizes both sides of a difficult debate through laughter and song.

Look, we’re not delusional, we don't believe one piece of art can solve this problem… We hope we can make people smile and disarm them (get it?), hopefully enough to hear each other a bit better.

The goal is to release the album July 4th, 2026– on the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Sorta like a big THANK YOU to our country.

Who’s in this?

We have an incredible celebrity cast, with credits from Broadway, television, animation, and beyond, that we’re so excited to announce... For now, meet the two stars of Good Guy with a Gun!

CHRIS SULLIVAN as NRA lobbyist and father “Ron”

Chris Sullivan is about to begin production on Amazon/MGM’s next film ALLY CLARK, alongside Viola Davis and Jason Clarke. He also recently wrapped ABC’s newest pilot ROOKIE:NORTH alongside Jay Ellis. He has been nominated twice for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of ‘Toby’ in the hit NBC drama “This Is Us.” Other television credits include Lena Dunham’s “Camping," “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “The Good Fight,” “Stranger Things,” and the standout role of ambulance driver ‘Cleary’ in two seasons of Steven Soderbergh’s “The Knick.” Sullivan is also known for playing ‘Taserface' in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”

Theatrically, Sullivan was seen on Broadway in “The Thanksgiving Play” at the Hayes Theatre. He has also appeared on Broadway in “Nice Work if You Can Get It” (2012 Outer Critics Circle Award nomination), “Chicago,” and “Lombardi,” and he originated the role of ‘Hermes’ in the Off-Broadway production of “Hadestown” (2017 Lortel Award nomination).

KIMIKO GLENN as high schooler and daughter “Jenna”

Kimiko Glenn is widely recognized for her breakout live‑action role as "Brook Soso" on Netflix’s ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. Kimiko can be seen on Peacock’s SACRED LIES, ABC’s hit series THE GOLDBERGS, Hulu’s HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART II, Michelle Obama’s Netflix series WAFFLES & MOCHI, and Doug Ellin’s RAMBLE ON. She is known for voicing some of the most distinctive characters in animation, including "Peni Parker" in the Spider‑Verse films, "Izzy Moonbow" in My Little Pony, "Kiff Chatterley" on Disney Channel’s Kiff, "Baby Shark" in Nickelodeon's Baby Shark, "Niffty" on A24/Amazon's breakout hit Hazbin Hotel.

In her Broadway debut, Kimiko originated the role of “Dawn” in the musical WAITRESS, which was nominated for a 2016 Tony Award for Best Musical and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical

ANTHONY RAPP as keyboard warrior and unhinged bad guy “Silas.”

Anthony Rapp is best known for originating the role of Mark Cohen in Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award-winning rock opera, Rent, for which he shared an OBIE Award with the rest of the cast. He reprised his role in Chris Columbus’s film adaptation opposite other members of the original cast. Recently he was on all 5 seasons of Paramount+’s Star Trek: Discovery. Other television credits include The Good Fight, 13 Reasons Why, The Beauty, The Knick, Psych, Law & Order: SVU, Kidnapped, The Beach Boys: An American Family, and The X-Files. Feature films include the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind, Six Degrees of Separation, Dazed and Confused, Road Trip, Do You Take This Man, Adventures in Babysitting, School Ties, Man of the Century, David Searching, bwoy, and Scrap. Broadway and national tour credits include If/Then, Precious Sons (Outer Critics Circle award and Drama Desk nomination), the revival of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation.

We also reunited with some of the actors from our original production <3

From left to right: Gabe Greenspan, Gwen Hollander, Marnina Schon, Micah O'Konis, Laura Schein, Philip Labes, Ricky Abilez, Caroline Thrasher, Austin Welsh, Hal Rosenfeld

Why support this project?

Here are several reasons (in our humble opinion)...

You love musicals! You are a theater kid at heart, and want a new hilarious musical to stream.
You love comedy, and want to laugh.
You are frustrated by the current political moment, and you want art that speaks bravely to that moment.
You want to help make our decade-long dream project a reality.
You want cool rewards (listed below!)
Good art costs money, and you want to support the creation of a unique independent project!

Here’s a breakdown of our budget:

Stretch Goals

To be real, 60k is the minimum it will take to get this made– if you can help us raise past that, we can get help the album reach more people, work with album art designers, make the production even shinier (strings, horns, guitar, oh my!), and stretch for our dream-beyond-dreams: a Grammy nomination!

$70,000: Adding strings, horns, and fancier production elements

$85,000: Professional album cover design + marketing campaign

$100,000: A Grammy© Campaign for Good Guy with a Gun! in the category of “Best Musical Theater Album.”

Rewards

You get rewarded for supporting this piece!

$10 Name in our "Giant Song of Thanks" Livestream

We’ll sing a very long song on social media including the names of everyone who supports us! (Shout out to Zach Reino and Jess McKenna for this amazing rewards idea.)

$30 Digital Download of the album

Digital download of Good Guy with a Gun on release day. (Plus your name in our Giant Song of Thanks!)

$50 Digital Download Early Access + Digital Goodies

A secret link for a digital download of Good Guy with a Gun, two weeks before the release.

(Plus, digital goodies: a PDF of our script, character notes, original demos and more!)

$70 Meet the Creative Team (including one of our actors!)

Join us for a 30-minute Zoom where you can chat with the creative team-- with a special drop-in from one of our stars!

(Plus early download, digital goodies, and your name in our Giant Song of Thanks!)

$110 "Good Guy with a Shirt" Tee

A soft T-shirt with our logo “Good Guy with a Shirt” printed on the front. Available S-XXL, please note your size in the Notes section of your checkout!

(Plus a meet-and-greet with the creative team, an early download, digital goodies, and your name in our Giant Song of Thanks!)

$150 "Good Guy with a Hat" Ball Cap

Unisex and unisize, a beige & blue baseball cap with "Good Guy with a Hat" print on the front.

(Plus a T-shirt, a meet-and-greet with the creative team, an early download, digital goodies, and your name in our Giant Song of Thanks!)

$300 A Song Written For You!

We will write and record an original song about any topic you choose! (No business use, nothing offensive)

(Plus a T-shirt, a hat, a meet-and-greet with the creative team, an early download, digital goodies, and your name in our Giant Song of Thanks!)

$500 A Songwriting Lesson on Zoom

Have a private songwriting lesson with the creators of the show, Philip and Micah! We’ll give away all our secrets to what makes a good song. For yourself, or give it as a gift!

(Plus a T-shirt, a hat, a meet-and-greet with the creative team, an early download, digital goodies, and your name in our Giant Song of Thanks!)

$750 Good Guy with a Gun on Double LP VINYL PRESSING

Be one of the only people on the planet to have this album on vinyl.

Limited to 20 total, this will be a super limited vinyl run available exclusively as a reward for this campaign! Black vinyl, single sleeve pressing.

(Plus a T-shirt, a hat, a meet-and-greet with the creative team, an early download, digital goodies, and your name in our Giant Song of Thanks!)

$2,500 The Goodest Guy

You're the goodest! You get a producer credit (ceremonial) and a personal phone call to thank you and give you an update on how everything's going. Basically, our eternal gratitude.

(Plus a super limited edition vinyl, a song written for you, T-shirt, a hat, a meet-and-greet with the creative team, an early download, digital goodies, and your name in our Giant Song of Thanks!)

NOTE: All rewards that aren’t time sensitive (like Early Release and Download) will be fulfilled by January 1st, 2027 at the latest. Thanks for understanding– we’re doing our best as a really small team!

More about the creative team

Philip Labes (he/him) [Book, Music, Lyrics] is a musician, actor, and writer whose work has garnered a fanbase of hundreds of thousands. After ten years of street performing in LA, Philip gained quick viral fame on TikTok, where he was spotted by Jason Mraz and invited to open on the Grammy-winner's North American tour. That experience was captured in the new documentary The Opener, executive produced by Mraz. His viral songs have generated tens of millions of views on TikTok and Instagram, and frequently reach the front page of Reddit and Tumblr. He has written for TV shows on The CW and digital, and acted in Damon Lindelof's Watchmen on HBO, as well as Minx and JJ Abrams' Duster.

Micah O’Konis (they/them) [Book, Music, Lyrics] is a writer and musician based in Los Angeles. They create musical comedy with their spouse Marnina Schon as Couplet. Couplet has quickly grown a fanbase online and in-person, touring their show Honey Honey Moon Moon to New York, Chicago, LA, Boston, London, and to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Micah also writes and performs with Quick & Funny Musicals at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade monthly, their music has been featured on FX, in a national campaign for the city of San Francisco, and their song "Hot Hanukkah" was reposted by P!NK.

Hal Rosenfeld (he/him) [Executive Music Producer] is a composer, music producer, percussionist, and orchestrator whose work can be heard in nearly 300 films, television shows, and video games. Hal has been involved with projects that have garnered Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony recognition, including The Greatest Showman, Fosse/Verdon, In the Heights, Fortnite, Only Murders in the Building, Top Gun: Maverick, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2023). He recently produced songs for Paramount’s Better Man, which became a #1 album in the UK. Working outside of film and television, Hal has appeared with Ringo Starr, Lady Gaga, Laufey,Hozier, Yoko Ono, Jonas Brothers, Hans Zimmer, Kelly Clarkson, Andrea Bocelli, and Sting.

Good Guy with a Gun! A New Musical Album

A musical comedy about an NRA lobbyist and his liberal daughter-- produced as an album, with an all-star cast!