Stage Review - Gutenberg! The Musical (Bremerton Community Theatre)
Stage Review - Gutenberg! The Musical
Presented By: Bremerton Community Theatre - Bremerton , WA
Show Run: May 16 - May 25, 2025
Date Reviewed: Saturday, May 17, 2025 (Opening Weekend)
Run Time: 1 Hour, 45 Minutes (including a 15 minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
Who in their right mind would dream of writing a musical about Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press? And who would sit down to write such a musical with their only research amounting to the results of a simple Google search? And who would dare believe they could present this musical to a room full of Broadway producers and think they stand a chance of winning a contract for their show to run at a major theatre? Well, Bud Davenport and Doug Simon, that’s who!! Gutenberg! The Musical is the laugh-a-minute musical revue that recreates the pair’s pitch at a Ramada Inn of their own musical about the printing press inventor and the happy-go-lucky ignorant-because-they-can’t-read citizens of Schlimmer in Germany. And because Bud and Doug have no money, or cast, or any discernable talent of any kind, they’re left to play all of the parts themselves in the run through of their musical, using only hats to differentiate which characters they’re playing. Well, hats and their feeble attempts at changing voices to separate the girls from the boys, the monks from the bootblacks. The musical, written by Scott Brown and Anthony King, first came to the attention of the modern theatre zeitgeist when Book of Mormon stars Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells were cast as Bud and Doug, respectively in the 2023 Broadway production of the show in a limited 3-month run. Fast forward two years and locally, it’s George Shaw and Corey Suraci who have been handed the reins, and the responsibility of bringing this crazy and irreverent show to the stage at Bremerton Community Theatre, where it’s running through May 25 in their Robert B. Stewart Performance Hall. Gutenberg! The Musical is the kind of show that doesn’t take itself seriously at all, doesn’t try to save the world, and is just entertaining and downright funny, and in the hands of George and Corey, under the direction of Chris Borer, audiences are in for a steady diet of laughter, catchy and fun songs, and a choreography of hats that has to be seen to be believed.
The Stewart Performance Hall, which Rana Tan has designed to be a meeting room at the Ramada Inn, is one part comedy club with its brick wall as a backdrop and one part cabaret, complete with piano, and piano player Porter Matteson, who is the musical accompanist for George and Corey as they work their way through the sixteen songs that make up Gutenberg! As the show begins, Porter is the first to enter the stage, as he introduces Bud and Doug, who proceed to address the audience as though it’s full of Broadway producers, there to see this performance of their new musical to decide whether or not to give them a contract. They also set the expectations that they have no money, no expensive props, no cast, and basically that “what you see is what you get”, in other words Bud and Doug are going to be performing every role in the show, and to discern which character they are playing at any particular time, they have a collection of hats, baseball caps printed by Court Wilson for the BCT production, and that’s about it. As they tell the story, George and Cory (as Bud and Doug) play each of the parts, execute the complicated choreography of hat changes, and use their voices to play each of the characters. The characters themselves are all over the board, of course there’s Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, who in this version of the story, that is admittedly “historical fiction because they didn’t go beyond a Google search when looking him up online” (I’m paraphrasing), owns a wine press and lives in a town where nobody, except him, can read. If only they had a device that could print things that the citizens could use to learn to read. Meanwhile, the local Satan-worshipping Monk is trying to control the population by thwarting Gutenberg’s plan to build a printing press and printing copies of the Bible, so that nobody else knows what the Bible really says. There’s the Bootblack, the Young Monk, Gutenberg’s assistant Helvetica, two drunks, and even a little Nazi girl, just to name a few. The character changes come fast and hard, and so do the costume, er, hat changes, and voice changes, and this pair of actors is spot on with each, and every single one is absolutely hilarious.
In addition to the large cast, which is comprised solely of the aforementioned collection of hats, the props in the musical are simple, like a cardboard box that says “Printing Press”, but they’re used as comedic plot devices very creatively. And the songs are simply hilarious. Beyond the songs, though, some of the funniest moments are when the guys explain certain aspects of a musical, as if they’re trying to educate the audience, which of course includes Broadway producers in their minds, like the “I Want Song”, or when they do their dance break. But it is the songs, though, that are the high water mark when it comes to the comedy, and the absolute best is Gutenberg’s assistant Helvetica’s duet with a colony of rats. Yes, a duet with rats, and it’s just about everything that is great about this show from a comedic standpoint. George and Corey do it all here, their singing is wonderful, their dialogue is quick and confidently delivered, they’re in sync with each other, and they are masters at the choreography of hats. I can’t recall another show in which I had a smile on my face through t he entire thing like I did for Gutenberg! the Musical, and there’s so much to appreciate about it, from the fun it pokes at itself and at the genre of musicals to the irreverent nature of the show itself. On the design side, it’s fairly straightforward outside of the set, which itself is generally simple, but Dale Borer’s lighting design, spotlighting individuals when they’re singing or delivering key lines, then bringing all of the lights up when the pair are both interacting together, is solid in its support of the show.
Most in the periphery, or outside, of the theatre-going community became aware of Gutenberg! The Musical when it was announced that Book of Mormon alums Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells were bringing this oddly titled show to Broadway. The satirical musical, which pokes fun at itself, the musical theatre genre, and a ton of aspects of our current popular culture, has now made its way to Kitsap County and the Robert B. Stewart Performance Hall at Bremerton Community Theatre. Featuring George Shaw and Corey Suraci as the fledgling playwrights trying to sell their new musical about the inventor of the printing press, the show is a welcome respite from the many shows that are trying to change the world through their messaging. To put it simply, Gutenberg! is a fun, funny, and entertaining musical presented by two energetic and talented actors that know how to deliver comedy that’s part physical, part situational, and part language and lyric, and is the perfect escape from the seriousness of the world we’re all living in.
Gutenberg! The Musical runs on stage at Bremerton Community Theatre’s Robert B. Stewart Performance Hall through May 25. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.bctshows.com/.
Photo credit: Kathy Berg
