In a true example of a community in action, members of the South Bushwick Reformed Church made space for musical comedy “Good Morning New York” to record its debut Off-Broadway album at the historic site. 

The musical premiered in 2018 at People’s Improv Theater and New York Theater festival to rousing success. A deeper look into local newsroom culture, the storyline of “Good Morning New York” (GMNY), came organically to Jacklyn Thrapp — writer, co-composer and executive producer of the musical. While working as a television news writer Thrapp noticed a change in local news, as a result of the 2016 presidential election. 

“I moved to New York City to write for PIX11’s four-hour morning show, and I started writing the musical comedy after noticing a shift in the way news was being presented,” Thrapp says. “After the election, breaking news from D.C. would overpower local news stations resulting in a lot of reporters never getting air time and their stories being floated [a term for deleted from the show].”