Hey Mickey, let’s do a show states Judy Garland in multiple movie musicals. In Gutenberg! The Musical! instead of Mickey and Judy we have the hyperactive duo of Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad back from their days over at the Book of Mormon. Feeling like an underwritten title of show, Gutenberg! The Musical! by Scott Brown and Anthony King just seems like a one trick pony with fabulous direction and choreography by the talented Alex Timbers. You honestly don’t know who brought in the shtick that works is it Rannells, Gad or Timbers, but when it works it is old school comedic genius.

The plot is simple, two best pals Bud (Gad) and Doug (Rannells) have written a musical about Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press. They believe in it so much, they use an an inheritance and have mortgaged themselves to the hilt to rent a theatre “on the weird side of 7th Avenue,” for a backer’s audition. This is a no thrills production, where these two play all the parts with baseball caps and some terrific acting to tell them apart. They perform every song and scene but the problem is the show is not good. Everything is fictionalized, except that he, invented the printing press and that gets destroyed, in some weird version of a demonic take over.

The music is unmemorable and barely a complete song exists in the whole show.

The second act is barely written, more like a let’s catch you up and so they throw at you a semi-famous guest star. On my night it was Ashley Parks.

There are reasons to see this show though. First and foremost the uber-talented Gad and Rannells. With them at the helm some of the jokes are truly funny and this is mindless entertainment, which in this day and age one has to cheer for.

Gutenberg! The Musical!: James Earl Jones Theatre, 138 West 48th Street

The post Gutenberg! The Musical! Brings Back Mickey and Judy in Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad first appeared on Times Square Chronicles.