Review: GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL! Slays with Historical Fiction

Attention all you Broadway producers out there ... or even you wanna-be producers ... or just people who love to laugh, you'll want to head on down to the Jewelbox Theater at the Rendezvous to catch two comedy savants educate us with some historical fiction with "Gutenberg! The Musical!" But maybe don't expect to learn anything, just expect to laugh.

Written by Anthony King and Scott Brown of the Upright Citizen's Brigade the show is really a backer's audition for "authors" Doug Simon and Bud Davenport (Kate Jaeger and Matt Giles) for their new show chronicling the life of Johannes Gutenberg as he invented the printing press and taught everyone how to read. OK, maybe he didn't do that last part in real life but the authors here would like you to think so as they invent many of the details surrounding Gutenberg since information on their Google search didn't result in much. To make matters worse (or better depending on how you look at it), Simon and Davenport don't have money for performers or musicians so they perform all the parts in the show along with their accompanist Julia Thornton.

In the hands of lesser performers, the constant giddiness and swapping of characters of the piece could be tedious but when you have performers such as Giles and Jaeger the show absolutely shines. They both switch characters at the drop of a hat (literally) and each switch is perfectly clear as to whom we are seeing (even without the aid of the "costumes"). Add into that their killer pipes and spot on comedic timing and you cannot help but have a good time. Jaeger's hilarious facial expressions are, as always, perfection. And Giles matches her wit and pace wonderfully with his own brand of quirky adorableness.

There's not much more to say about this one other than you WILL have a good time. And so, with my three-letter rating system I give "Gutenberg! The Musical!" a big ole belly laugh of a YAY. Just go! You will not be disappointed.

"Gutenberg! The Musical!" performs at the Jewelbox Theater at the Rendezvous through May 22nd. For tickets or information visit them online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2930545.

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