Scripted "spontaneous" silliness is the sum and lack of substance of this one-hour-and-45-minute riff, a takeoff from — rather than "of" or "on" — the biography of Johann Gutenberg, the inventor of moveable type and its printing press. Not that Gutenberg's life story would stand up to a straight play, much less a musical; his achievement in bringing books and reading to the masses is what's compelling, not so much the man himself. Still, he has a funny name, and his time period (the 1400s) apparently lends itself to unserious speculation on stage. At least that's the thought of authors Scott Brown and Anthony King and their acting alter egos, Christopher Fitzgerald and Jeremy Shamos. Many audience members seem to agree: The show was an award winner for its book writing and performances — by the present cast — at this year's New York Musical Theatre Festival.
The premise is a backers' audition for a big Broadway musical of the same name, with the two actors (as the writers) playing all 30 roles by means of switching off baby-blue-and-white baseball caps bearing the characters' names. This hat trick is the most arresting thing about the production, and a clothesline hung with caps that becomes a chorus line is quite remarkable. The show satirizes backers' auditions and musical theatre in general, but depends for too much of its humor on weird character names (Dead Baby, Beef Fat Trimmer, Helvetica) and song titles ("Monk With Me," "Tomorrow Is Tonight," "Go to Hell"). The music is forgettable, although the frequently tortured lyrics are not: The near-but-oh-so-far rhyme "feces/squeeze these" stays much too long in the memory. Both performances are energetic, if pat, as is the piano accompaniment of T.O. Sterrett. Alex Timbers didn't direct the NYMF version of the show, but it seems to have been set in stone before he came aboard.
Presented by Trevor Brown, Ron Kastner, Terry Allen Kramer, and Joseph Smith at 59E59 Theaters, 59 E. 59th St., NYC. Dec. 3-May 6. Tue.-Fri., 8:15 p.m.; Sat., 4:15 and 8:15 p.m.; Sun., 3:15 and 7:15 p.m. (No evening performances Dec. 24 and 31.) (212) 279-4200 or www.ticketcentral.com.