‘Gutenberg! The Musical!’ Review: Josh Gad And Andrew Rannells Pitch A Long-In-Coming Hit
13.10.2023 - 02:05
/ deadline.com
When Gutenberg! The Musical! debuted Off Broadway 17 years ago, critics wondered whether it was ready for Broadway. Perhaps they should have asked whether Broadway was ready for Gutenberg!
All these years later, the answer to both is yes. Not only has the musical been fine-tuned and shined-up, but a Shucked-era Broadway is clearly in the mood for some absurdly silly good fun.
The wait has worked out for the best in other ways, as well: The Broadway production opening tonight at the James Earl Jones Theatre has the great fortune of starring Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, the two very funny and strong-voiced actors who finally decided to once again share a stage 12 years after they first did so in The Book of Mormon.
Written by Scott Brown and Anthony King, the duo who wrote the book for Beetlejuice The Musical, and directed by the very busy Alex Timbers (Here Lies Love, Just For Us, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and, yes, Beetlejuice, to name just a sampling) Gutenberg! is a gleefully self-aware theater parody that’s smart enough to tickle the aficionados and flat-out funny enough to bring in outsiders. Few in either group will long remember the pastiche score, but even fewer will get through the show’s impeccably performed tunes without smiling.
The show-within-a-show premise – just one of the many theatrical tropes that Gutenberg! references, from the exclamation point title on down – has two very optimistic stage amateurs named Bud (Gad) and Doug (Rannells) staging the musical they’ve written for an assembled audience of potential backers. Nursing home workers by day, the pals have spent every last dime they’ve earned (or inherited) on a single-night’s theater rental and some measly DIY props. (Only a curmudgeon would
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