There are no words.
Or, many: grape juice, biscuits, pencil, cat face, rosary helicopter, singing rats, Hamlet, medicine.
Gutenberg! The Musical! is a high energy, out of control spoof on musicals, with actors wearing numerous hats in rapid fire and at times, nearly simultaneously. Want the number of characters? Ask someone else. I lost count.
This is a scripted and improved, play-within-a-play. It’s historical fiction, with the emphasis on fiction. Don’t show up expecting to learn the truth about Johannes Gutenberg, German inventor of the printing press– beyond those two facts, what you will get is a few hours of hilarious speculation on the man whose inventions gave the Middle Ages a kick in the pants, launching the culture toward the Early Modern Period.
Written by improv comedians Anthony King and Scott Brown, and developed by the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, this rendition was produced by Julia Pistell and directed by Casey Grambo.
Set in the squalor of Medieval Germany, actors and artists Greg Ludovici, Dan Russell, and Kevin Scott tell stories of aspiration: playwrights looking to make it on Broadway, a man striving to bring literacy to the masses, a simple woman seeking to make a husband out of Gutenberg, and a monk chasing power by hoarding knowledge.
Every seat was filled on opening night. There are two more opportunities to catch the production at the Carriage House Theater on Farmington Avenue: November 15 at 8p.m. and November 16 at 2p.m. Tickets can be purchased online.
Caution: salty language and abuse of a stuffed animal.
