Gutenberg! The Musical!

Published Tuesday 10 January 2006 at 16:50 by Mark Shenton

In an age of ironic, self-referential musicals about musicals like The Producers and the West End-bound Monty Python’s Spamalot, the pint-sized Gutenberg! The Musical! is a brilliantly accomplished low-budget entry that goes behind-the-scenes of the writing of one with just two actors.

Anthony King is Doug Simon, the 31-year-old, tall and gay book writer and co-lyricist; Scott Brown is Bud Davenport, his composing partner and co-lyricist, recently 30, diminutive and straight. Jermyn Street Theatre is being turned into a backers’ audition for the ludicrously inflated show they are trying to solicit producers for, as “the West End would be an amazing preview for Broadway”.

As they proceed to whisk us through the story of Gutenberg - the man who invented the printing press in 1450 - all they have is a piano, a couple of cardboard boxes and around 30 baseball hats with character names on them that they frantically swap so that they can play everyone in it themselves.

But though there is no limit to their resourcefulness or imagination - they even manage to conjure an entire chorus line at one point - the musical they are trying to show us makes Behind the Iron Mask seem a model of subtlety and intelligence. There are plenty of bad tunes, goofy charm and goodwill here and both performers (who also wrote it) are utterly engaging and endlessly comically resourceful. At 90 minutes (including interval) it does not outstay its welcome. No serious fan of silly musicals will want to miss it.