Customer Reviews

Gutenberg! The Musical!

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Gutenberg! is delightful on so many levels: It's a brilliant, silly satirical musical about big, overproduced, silly Broadway musicals, featuring the inventor of the printing press, an evil monk, a wench named Helvetica (my personal favorite font), and singing rodents. What's not to like, and that's just the beginning! It's full of sly pop-culture references and bursts of pure silliness worthy of The Simpsons and Monty Python, yet it's grounded enough that you actually find yourself rooting for these incredibly odd characters. All that, and the tunes are actually awesome. They will haunt you! I personally recommend the yearnful "I Can't Read Him (He's All Greek to Me)," which will make you laugh out loud (illiteracy! unrequited love!) and then stick in your head so you sing it all the time until your friends ask what your problem is. LOVE IT!

I saw this show many times in New York over the years-- from the original with the authors playing the parts at the Upright Citizens Brigade, to the Off-Broadway run with Fitzgerald and Shamos (whose talents are on this disc)-- and I can't tell you how thrilled I am that this cast recording is finally getting released. This is not your average "ironic musical" fare. Scott & King are amazing songwriters and the songs aren't funny because they're bad (though they are, in their own special way)-- they're funny because they're completely hilarious. Warning: these songs will get stuck in your head. You'll love them, but you'll wish you could forget them. The quality of this recording is excellent and brings back many memories for me of great nights at the theatre. Highly recommended.

very entertaining, especially if you have had to do or watch an original musical being pitched for production or funding. Cute and catchy music and lyrics, but the "gag" does not encourage repeated listening - once you get the gag, then it's really done. I bet it was fun to watch.

I saw "Gutenberg" in 2007 with the original cast and loved the show. The humor ranged from slapstick to very clever, but the characters felt real and the audience seemed to empathize with Bud and Doug as they ran around the stage; determined to make their dream of having a hit Broadway show a reality. Fitzgerald and Shamos were superb and made a great team. I was so excited when I saw that they had made a cast album, but I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with the result.

The line deliveries seem hammier and more self-aware, making the characters feel less honest. Some of the tracks sound like they were lifted right out of a bad children's musical. I think Fitzgerald and Shamos are overcompensating because they don't have an audience to play off of. I really think the show could have benefited from a live cast recording like "Passing Strange."

The material is very, very delicate. This show, in the hands of less capable actors, would have been a nightmare. It's hard to pull off "bad on purpose" material without winking at the audience, but Shamos and Fitzgerald delivered when I saw them live. Though this CD has it's moments ("The Press Song" and "Might As Well Go To Hell" are some of my favorites), it lacks a certain something that made the live show so engaging to me. If you can find a bootleg of the show, I highly recommend getting that.

Maybe a production would save this turkey but I didn't laugh once and only found a bit of the music inventive. Mostly it's tired and racist.

It announces itself as a spoof - on the Holocaust (I kid you not) where we are supposed to hate Germans - all Germans, Germans of the 13th century onwards. Ha ha hate the Germans. Imagine someone reversing this and writing a musical that is suppose to be about hating Jews, all Jews, Jews from the 13th century onwards. It would be closed in days but mostly it would never get made. Mel Brooks spoofs Nazis, and German's of the Nazi era - but an entire people from the 1400s on? It's just racist.

The plot is poor. Other than hating Germans, it's hard to find a central conflict. People are stupid because they can't read. Ha ha. They can't read because books are scarce. Isn't that a funny joke? Oh, he has a wench -who borders on the misogynist and destroys the printing press- The writers call her a "stupid Jew" - see, they seem to be saying, we're not racist because we are using racist slurs. Stomach turning.

And the whole thing is de-constructed. Yup we all know how funny that is, telling you what you are supposed to notice and feel and think. And narrated. Yup, a narrated musical. They can't do it with the writing so they narrate it. All the way through. Ha. ha. h_ And they even run ads for themselves in it, just in case you are not alienated enough. Screw the characters - it's about self promotion. And what is with the English accents?

Pass. Do not buy. Let it die.