• by Joe Mandese , 3 hours ago

Goodby Silverstein & Partners Rich Silverstein has made some of the most creative ads ever, but he has a secret passion project -- a musical based on the Cuban missile crisis -- and while it may or may not make it to Broadway, he previewed an AI-imagined version of it to a live audience in the Palais at the Cannes Lions today. They were blown away.

His presentation of the aptly named "13 Days The Musical" was like a live action mood board, combining historic archival footage of Kennedy-era content with snippets of AI-imagined production numbers, including several song-and-dance numbers (you can listen to a recording of the opening number below).

You could tell Silverstein put his heart into it and that it clearly is something he wants to bring to life onstage, and that the AI-generated content was just a means to get the attention of Broadway producers and enable them to actually visualize it.

He likened it to a combination of "Hamilton" meets "The Book of Mormon" meets "Dr. Strangelove," and if recent Broadway hits are any indication, it may have one on his hands.

Think Tony-winning best musical "Shmigadoon!"