Forward Theater Company
Jen Uphoff Gray (left) and UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.
Madison’s Forward Theater Company just wrapped up its extended production of Gutenberg! The Musical!, which was well received by audiences and critics. Reviews of the performances briefly mentioned a local celebrity making a cameo appearance, but Forward kept this aspect of the production a secret and the surprise performers weren’t even named in the playbill.
Forward artistic director Jen Uphoff Gray, who also directed Gutenberg!, says a Broadway production of the play featured celebrity cameos and that was “one of the things I was really charmed by.”
Each night, toward the end of the play, a different guest star, announcing themself as a Broadway producer, emerged from the audience to offer a contract to Doug and Bud, the two main characters in the show.
The role was not complicated, and involved wearing a simple costume and a small microphone. The guest would sing, speak, or, as Gray puts it, “Rex Harrison their way” through a couple of lines.
“Having a different person every night added such a sense of liveness,” Gray says. “The conceit of the play is they don’t know if the play will be picked up,” and the ways each guest star played the part made for a bit of spontaneous uncertainty.
The performers were selected based on being locally famous and having some experience speaking in public, though Gray acknowledges that hitting the stage under the lights and singing a line isn’t the same as delivering a PowerPoint presentation. Some brought a zeal for improvisation.
“[Boys and Girls Club of Dane County president] Michael Johnson, as expected, went into it with his Michael Johnson energy and enthusiasm and, well, he picked Bud up, which was very exciting and unexpected,” Gray says. “And we realized at that point that it really was going to be something different each night.”
Forward Theater Company
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.
Gray was reluctant to name standouts, but did call attention to a couple of pleasant surprises.
“We also learned that the mayor [Satya Rhodes-Conway] has a beautiful singing voice, which was unexpected,” she says. “The UW chancellor [Jennifer Mnookin] had a very nice ad lib: ‘A play about education and literacy? How could I say no?’”
The full list of guest stars:
Michael Johnson, president, Boys and Girls Club of Dane County
Brian Cowing, artistic director, Children’s Theater of Madison
Satya Rhodes-Conway, mayor of Madison
Zorba Paster, physician, host of Zorba Paster On Your Health
Dave Cieslewicz, former mayor of Madison and Isthmus contributor
Jennifer Mnookin, UW-Madison chancellor
Joe Gothard, superintendent, Madison Metropolitan School District
Pat Chevis, won the cameo experience at the Feast Forward fundraiser
Dr. Ruben Anthony, president, Urban League of Greater Madison
Ben Wikler, former chair, Democratic Party of Wisconsin
Casem AbuLughod, Madison actor
Lindsay Christians, food and culture editor, Cap Times
Renee Moe, president and CEO, United Way of Dane County
Lester Pines, attorney, Pines Bach LLP
Bobby Goderich, Madison Opera
Clare Arena Haden and Ben Haden, Madison actors
Sandy Morales, CEO, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Dane County
Orange Schroeder, owner, Orange Tree Imports
Andrew Sewell, music director, Madison Chamber Orchestra
