Brewers Across America Brew Beer to Raise Funds for The Actors Fund and Associated Charities to Aid Arts Industry Workers Suffering From the Pandemic Shutdown
New York — Two Broadway actors, Mark Aldrich (Newsies, My Fair Lady, Ragtime) and Jimmy Ludwig (Spamalot, Little Shop of Horrors), saw live entertainment industry workers suffering throughout the pandemic-caused shut down and decided to do something about it. Through their long time webseries The Happy Hour Guys they partnered with Gun Hill Brewing Company and have established the Curtain Up Beer Project raising money for The Actors Fund, the national human services organization for everyone in entertainment and performing arts, and arts organizations nationwide.
The Curtain Up project is a brewing collaboration with more than 65+ other craft breweries in 14 states and DC and counting. Breweries are asked to donate proceeds from the special beer to The Actors Fund as well as a local arts group of their choosing to ensure that communities directly benefit from the project.
Curtain Up 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 led the creation of five beers with five different Broadway shows—including Hamilton, Come From Away and Waitress.
Gun Hill Brewing Company, creator of the first Broadway Brew Hamilton beer, has developed a Hazy IPA recipe for Curtain Up to be brewed and released by 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, a year later, they face loss of income, health insurance, threat of eviction and more,” says Jimmy Ludwig/The Happy Hour Guys.
“Our industry has never faced anything like this. The need grows with each passing month, which is why we expect the project to last throughout 2021,” adds Mark Aldrich/The Happy Hour Guys. “Our mission with Curtain Up was to create 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 brewery partners across the U.S It’s also an opportunity to raise awareness of just how vulnerable arts workers are and to start the conversation on how to repair that.”
“Very happy to join the Happy Hour Guys once again to help our arts community. Live performance is a vital piece of NYC both culturally and economically,” says David Lopez, Co-Founder, Gun Hill Brewing Company. “We look forward to more breweries joining and making Curtain Up throughout the year to help arts groups in communities nationwide and hopefully beyond,” he adds.
Curtain Up is available on tap and in cans at select retail locations, bars & venues across the country as breweries continue to release the beer. Dates and details can be found at curtainupbeer.com
Breweries and arts organizations that would like more information or to get involved can reach out through Curtainupbeer.com or info@thehappyhourguys.com.
About The Happy Hour Guys:
Jimmy Ludwig and Mark Aldrich, both Broadway actors, co-Host this video series of great Craft stories that has been in production since 2006. The Craft of Theatre and Craft Beverages have more in common than you think, and Jimmy & Mark have made it their mission to pursue the greatest stories, sips and stops the world over to bring this terrific content to their fans. The idea for the Broadway Brews Project came about as a way to bring The Happy Hour Guys’ Acting lives and their Craft lives together, and what a ride it has been so far! http://www.thehappyhourguys.com/.
About The Actors Fund:
The Actors Fund is a national human services organization that fosters stability and resiliency, and provides a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals over their lifespan. Through offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, The Fund serves everyone in film, theater, television, music, opera, radio and dance with programs including social services and emergency financial assistance, health care and insurance counseling, housing, and secondary employment and training services. Visit actorsfund.org.
About Gun Hill Brewing Company:
Gun Hill Brewing Co., the first production brewery in the Bronx since 1961, opened its doors in January of 2014. The brewery’s co-founders, Kieran Farrell and Dave Lopez, met on a baseball field in early 2004 playing on a men’s semi-pro baseball team, the New York City ThunderDogs. With New York City’s brewing revolution strongly focused in the borough of Brooklyn, Kieran and Dave decided to head north. Getting a location yards away from Gun Hill, the site of a strategic battle of the Revolutionary War, the guys not only found their name, but also an identity to match their ideals. While Gun Hill lends its name to the brewery, the values, and personality come from those colonists that dragged a cannon up a hill in defense of their ideals, and forced a British army to turn on its heels.