Gutenberg! The Musical! A laugh-out loud romp!

I roared my pants off.  Come on, what isn’t inherently funny about a musical based on the supposed life and times of a medieval printing press inventor?

In this hour plus show, the co-creators of “Gutenberg! The Musical!” do their earnest and enthusiastic best to pitch their musical brainchild to us through performing a staged reading, or rather, singing.  Between the two of them (with the help of hats), they play all of the characters, and even some wildlife.   The result is a cross between Spamalot and The Reduced Shakespeare Co. presents The Compleat Works Wllm Shkspr (abridged): improbable, irreverent, and hilarious. Originally written by Anthony King and Scott Brown of the Upright Citizens Brigade, it’s frankly pretty hard to steer this cruise ship wrong and much of the fun comes from the excellent writing.  Nathan Clark and Ken Lawson (who play Doug Simon and Bud Davenport, respectively) are savvy comedians who find a touching blend of showmanship and sincerity.  Their genuine and dedicated zeal for their project rounds out the slapstick humor with just enough heartwarming poignancy to be endearing.  There were performance lapses in the singing: Clark had the volume, but not the tone, while Lawson had the notes, but not always the volume.   I wanted more fullness in the musical numbers and there were moments where the action felt tired.  However, the clever directing and choreography helped us through the gaps and the brilliance of the script immediately made any necessary rebounds.   Fun, fun, very good fun.   

Gutenberg!  The Musical! was originally produced by Trevor Brown at Jermyn Street Theatre, London.  Written by Anthony King and Scott Brown, Original Musical Direction and Arrangements by T.O. Sterrett.   Vancouver Fringe production directed by Brian Anderson, choreographed by Patrick Lambier, with Musical Direction by Ken Lawson.   Performed by Nathan Clark, Ken Lawson, and Matt Grinke (band).  

For show information and public reviews go here.