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Review: 'Gutenberg! The Musical!'

This musical at Montgomery Theater, and then at Act II Playhouse, is about making a musical focused on the life of the inventor of the printing press -- and it's irresistibly ridiculous. Inquirer theater critic Howard Shapiro reviews.

By Howard Shapiro
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Johannes Gutenberg built his first printing press in 1450, and if he'd seen the irresistibly ridiculous Gutenberg! The Musical!, we might still be reading handwritten scrolls — forget about online media.

Gutenberg! began theatrical life as a one-act by Scott Brown and Anthony King, workshopped by the Upright Citizens Brigade. The two-act version, starring the authors, premiered in London in 2006, then went on to an Off-Broadway run. A frenzied exercise that demands actors with precise comedic timing and a game musician to accompany them, it has all that in the show that opened Saturday at Souderton's Montgomery Theater, where two of the region's busiest actors — Tony Braithwaite and Steve Pacek — would have chewed the scenery if there had been any.

There wasn't, except for a curtain, scant furniture and unadorned side-stage entrances, which makes Gutenberg! enticing for theater companies: The cast is small. the budget is too, but  get the right people and the payoff is huge.

Gutenberg! The Musical! Through Oct. 6 at Montgomery Theater, 124 N. Main St., Souderton. Tickets: $25-$37. Information: 215-723-9984 or www.montgomerytheater.org. From Oct. 9 through Nov. 4, the show will run at Act II Playhouse, 56 E. Butler Ave., Ambler.