Sydney Reviews

Stop the press! Gutenberg! The Musical! is a smash!

Take your seat for a wonderful conceit as Doug and Bud pitch their brand new play, Gutenberg! The Musical! These two Americans mistakenly thought they were presenting their pitch to the Hayes Theatre in New York and not a legally binding hire of the Hayes Theatre, Potts Point. They should have read the small print!

Jettisoning their jobs in aged care and schlepping their way to Sydney, the duo are committed to the adage the show must go on. And what a show!

They have written a musical about the inventor of the printing press, Johannes Guttenberg and together they play all the parts, literally wearing many hats. In two frenetic acts, they present over a dozen songs, and a frantically funny narrative. They are accompanied by Music Director Zara Stanton on piano in the guise of Charles, a funeral home pianist from Gosford. Stanton as Charlie is much more than an accompanist, more of an accomplice in this small miracle of a musical.

There’s a love story with a girl named Helvetica and a villain, The Monk, pussy patting a black moggie named Satan, plus an array of townsfolk and farmers, bovines and vermin. 

As befitting a work honouring the inventor of the printing press, Gutenberg! The Musical! is enamoured of words, drunk on words, intoxicated with text, mad for the metaphor, passionate for the pun. The patter, the banter, the lyric line elicit laughs eight to the bar.

A loopy love letter to the theatrical genre, Gutenberg! The Musical! is also a poignant affirmation of pursuing your dream.

Stephen Anderson as Doug and Ryan González as Bud have timing to a T for two. A duo sharing the three music tiers of pathos, bathos and ethos, their vocal, verbal and physical dexterity is exquisitely accomplished.

Lochie Odgers set design is canny use of crimson curtains concealing all kinds of reveals and Veronique Benett’s lighting is spot on from glorious wash to the glowing pits of hell!

The costuming by Lily Mateljan adds an extra layer of visual delight with pink polo and plaid a definitive character expression.

Choreography by Shannon Burns is beautifully crafted, an entire ensemble’s worth of bustle condensed in a superb pas de deux.

What’s so terribly surprising is how good this “terrible” musical is. Actual creators Anthony King and Scott Brown have not put together some paltry pastiche or cheap parody, the lyrics are sharp and hilarious, the music is harmonious and “the book” comprising of conversation between Doug and Bud and their explanation of their process and dreams of production is both hysterical and heartwarming.

Brilliantly directed by Richard Carroll, Gutenberg! The Musical! deserves to be your pressing engagement!