Los Angeles — A new theatrical concept album, billed as “Book of Mormon for the NRA,” uses satire, a string-dominant orchestra, and a celebrity cast to imagine the end of the Second Amendment. “Good Guy with a Gun!” is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Philip Labes and his collaborators Micah O’Konis and Hal Rosenfeld. The album, released August 14, features Chris Sullivan, Kimiko Glenn, Jason Alexander, Richard Kind, Anthony Rapp, and Vic Michaelis.
A Satirical Story of Guns and Politics
The album’s narrative centers on Ron, voiced by Sullivan (known for his role on NBC’s “This Is Us”), a father who becomes an NRA lobbyist after his wife dies in a mall shooting. His daughter Jenna, voiced by Glenn (known for “Orange Is the New Black” and the original Broadway cast of “Waitress”), is a liberal student. God, voiced by Alexander (who played George on “Seinfeld”), gives Ron a magic gun that turns people conservative and Jenna a magic megaphone that turns people liberal.
The story swells with the number “On the Day (The Second Amendment Is Wiped Away),” reminiscent of Les Miserables. It begins with right-wingers singing of “the day that we’ve always feared, the liberals come to take our guns away.” A brief monologue from a Cockney woman spirals into mania: “They came at night, they took the little ones first. Glocks, small handguns you keep under your pillow. It was an invasion. Basements and attics violated. Soon, they’ll come for the rest. Family heirlooms, hunting rifles, Gatling guns, historical cannons!”
The satire skewers the NRA’s “good guy with a gun” myth, as well as liberal inclinations like love for Trader Joe’s or a couple crooning “our preferred pronoun is us.” The cast sings, “There’s always a way to close the distance, ’cus we want to listen.” The album concludes with the revelation that people have different opinions not because they’re “doo-doo and stinky,” but because they’re “trying their hardest.”
Personal Connections to Gun Violence
Labes, a musician and comedian with several hundred thousand followers across social media platforms, was drawn to the subject after a personal brush with gun violence. About a decade ago, he was held up at gunpoint on the Expo Line while traveling back to USC. As he told a crowd at an album release party, he immediately started writing a musical about it with O’Konis, then his housemate. After that, Labes said, the duo “did a lot of deep dives into the NRA: their leadership structure, and their history within the larger context of the way conservatives create political agitprop and political theater.”
Rosenfeld, the album’s executive music producer and orchestrator, attended middle school with Labes. He also has a personal connection: Rosenfeld was held at gunpoint in LA. “I’m very lucky to be alive,” Rosenfeld said. “It’s just very apparent that there’s a problem, and it’s unfortunate that people who are not mentally stable have access to guns.”
A Self-Funded, Genre-Spanning Project
The album is self-funded and spans multiple genres, from the Beach Boys-esque “Liberal Guilt Trip” to the gospel bop “N-R-AMEN!,” the jazz number “Do The Lobby,” the Western “Good Guy with a Gun,” and the R&B-fueled “I Like To…”
The cast came together through the creators’ connections and outreach, Rosenfeld said. Glenn and Yvette Nicole Brown (known for “Community”) were following Labes on social media; the group knew Michaelis from LA’s comedy scene; and Brown and Kind share a manager. “You would think this production had a lot of money to get Jason Alexander and all these people,” Rosenfeld said. “These actors worked for way below what probably any of their agents would let them work for. But every single one of them believed in the project, and were very vocal about that.”
Why Satire and Why Now
Labes said he wanted to explore the end of the Second Amendment “to remind people that other countries routinely rewrite their constitutions. That laws are meant to be statements of values.” He added, “There seems to be a significant portion of our country that thinks the law is more important than the value behind the law. What I’m surprised by is that we engage with the conversation on their terms, instead of imagining new ways to be and convincing people that those ways are better.”
On the magic gun and megaphone, Labes explained: “The magic in a show always has to be a metaphor. In this case, the metaphor is basically that it can feel like the other side is brainwashed. If you ask someone in a blue city, they’re probably thinking MAGA is a cult, they’re brainwashed. Talk to that conservative, and they’re going to say liberals are a cult and they’re brainwashed. So we wanted to play with that world, and give our lead characters — and by default, the audience — the experience of: here’s exactly what you want, everyone agrees with you. Is that better?”
Rosenfeld highlighted the musical influences, including a quote from “Hamilton” in “On the Day” and a banjo used in the style of Alex Lacamoire, his friend and former collaborator who orchestrated “Hamilton.” He also noted the “Liberal Guilt Trip” features a guitar solo callout to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, though it’s actually played by Jason Lazarus.
What’s Next for the Project
Labes and Rosenfeld are open to staging the show, whether Off Broadway, on Broadway, in schools, or as a film. “We wanted something that was incredibly accessible. Broadway tickets are increasingly expensive,” Labes said. “We’re open to putting it up Off Broadway, on Broadway. We’re open to bringing it to schools or developing it as a film. But all those things require partners, because this project was entirely self-financed.”
On the album’s impact, Labes said, “I don’t think any of us think the show is going to solve gun control, or stop the violence, unfortunately. But I hope it makes people slow down and listen to one another. I hope it reminds people that the things that unite us are stronger than the things that divide us. And I hope it helps people laugh at things that they think they can’t laugh about. When you laugh together, it’s harder to think of someone as your enemy. It’s harder to be angry at them. It’s harder to assume that they are dumb and don’t get it. And it humanizes them.”
Rosenfeld added, “I want people to take away everything, ranging from realizing that musicals are cool to getting people to be more aware of the social issues and injustices that we’re talking about, through music that people like and can latch on to. Obviously I want people to be more cognizant of guns and gun violence. And another cause that’s really important to me is mental health. We don’t really go too in depth on mental health, but I think the whole brainwashing thing can also be looked at as a symbol for mental health.”
