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Saturday, Nov 07, 2009
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Ridiculous silliness - the musical!
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| Ridiculous silliness - the musical! | ||
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by Miryam Gordon -
SGN A&E Writer Gutenberg! The Musical! Directed by Greg Carter Erickson Theatre Off Broadway Through September 27 "The musical!" is the new black. Here we have another "the musical" with Strawberry Workshop's production of Gutenberg! The Musical! If you see an exclamation point, it's probably extremely silly! This musical doesn't disappoint. It's the perfect silliness to accompany back-to-school doldrums, since you don't have to think about anything when you watch it. Troy Fischnaller and MJ Sieber play Bud and Doug, two musical theater writers who are presenting their new masterpiece to you, the audience, the potential backers of this play. Bud and Doug are the only performers (if you don't count the pianist). So, how do they perform 46 (or so) different parts? With hats. Hats with names and signifiers, like pink for female, and occasional attachments like hair. They change hats with amazing frequency to illustrate the scenes of their musical, singing all the music and compressing the spoken story. Fischnaller and Sieber play off each other with ease and symmetry. But the more fumbly they are, the funnier. They work so hard that sweat pours and towels must be frequently flashed. They display eager condescension to the backers, explaining that a musical must have a prologue and a "charm song" and something very sad in it - to make it "meaningful." In this case, the subject of the musical is the inventor of the printing press, Johannes Gutenberg, so the play is set in Germany, and their somber insertion is a completely irrelevant dose of anti-Semitism. The rest of the musical spoofs every other musical - especially every other "the musical!" Gutenberg, the wine maker, has an assistant named Helvetica who is in love with him. And there is an evil monk who doesn't want anyone to learn to read, because knowledge is power and if they can't read the Bible, they only know what he says the Bible says. Bud and Doug's idea of historical accuracy includes miming an electric pencil sharpener and writing music that could never have been sung in 1400s Germany. You don't need to know any more story, since you can probably guess some of it just from reading the last paragraph. So, recognition has to go to the great piano accompaniment of Don Darryl Rivera, who plays a mousy pianist, helping them keep track of what scene they're on. Rivera is a funny performer, as well, and has great range in comedy. He hasn't displayed his prowess on the piano recently, so this adds more to his resume of talents. Greg Carter gets credit for both the directing and the scene design, where cardboard boxes stand in for grape barrels and printing presses. Costume design by Sarah Harlett doesn't indicate if those dozens of hats are her responsibility or Carter's, but Doug's shirt, with "Rent" spread on the front, is a particularly appropriate T-shirt. Lighting by Jill Beasley helps focus the action in different parts of the stage, and indicates the serious and not-so-serious musical interludes. Of course, "serious" is only in the minds of Bud and Doug. Fischnaller and Sieber sing nicely, but for this show, that doesn't even matter. In fact, the worse they sing, the more it fits the joke. Still, they get in some nice harmony, and belt a few ballads. Ultimately, watching them screw up is a barrel of laughs and guffaws and titters and big grins. Just don't take your brain with you; give it a rest that evening. For more info, go to www.strawshop.com. Comments on reviews go to sgncritic@gmail.com. |
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