THE HANGOVER REPORT – Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad reunite for the inspired Main Stem outing of GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL!

Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad in “Gutenberg! The Musical!” at the James Earl Jones Theatre (photo by Matthew Murphy).

This week, I had the opportunity to catch up with the inspired Main Stem edition of Gutenberg! The Musical! at the James Earl Jones Theatre. Written by the team of Anthony King and Scott Brown (who jointly penned the show’s book and score), the two-hander musical premiered in 2006 starring Jeremy Shamos and Christopher Fitzgerald. In essence, the show tells the story of two enthusiastic musical theater writers trying to get their latest work – a musical about Johannes Gutenberg (the inventor of the printing press) – produced on Broadway.

In premise, the show has much in common with Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen’s [title show], another scrappy musical about the writing of a musical. While Bell and Bowen took meta-theatricality to a truly fascinating level, there are nonetheless easy pleasures to be had in Gutenberg!‘s more satiric, one dimensional approach – the tuneful score, the sketch-like humor, the crowd-pleasing gags – making it more akin to shows like Spamalot and Something Rotten! than to [title of show]. Taking over for Shamos and Fitzgerald are the original leads of The Book of Mormon – Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad – who put their own distinctive mark on the show, enlivening it with the irresistible chemistry that helped catapult Mormon into a long-running Tony-winning hit.

For the show’s Broadway bow, director Alex Timbers – one of the most visionary directors currently working in the industry – returns to direct. I initially had concerns whether this quintessentially Off-Broadway musical could fill a Broadway house and satisfy audiences paying Broadway prices. Thankfully, Timbers is smart enough to understand what makes the show tick – the sheer joy of theater-making. As such, it’s hard not to fall in love with the show. And true to form, Timbers inserts a pair of ingenious theatrical coups late in the show – one visual, another that breaks the fourth wall (no spoilers here) – that will leave you tingling with delight.

RECOMMENDED

GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL!
Broadway, Musical
James Earl Jones Theatre
2 hours (with one intermission)
Through January 28

Categories: Broadway, Theater

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