GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL! Previews- Page 2

[broadfan327]

Posted: 9/16/23 at 11:34pm

I saw it tonight, I thought it was awful.  The conceit of the show got old very quickly for me.  The stars did the best they could, but the material was packing for me.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 6:11am

Sales have initially been sluggish for just about every show of recent note.  We've had conversations around this perhaps this being the new normal, so I'm not all that surprised here despite the popularity of the two stars.

Updated On: 9/17/23 at 06:11 AM

[Impeach2017]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 7:43am

this show sounds like fun!

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 11:09am

You have to be careful with first responders here. Remember, they all raved about Beanie the first few nights. And then the same people would come back on the board and tear her apart. Time will tell. Don’t go by these first responses. Audiences are usually papered with over enthusiastic people.

[Tom5]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 11:37am

A reviewer on another website said that he didn't believe Steve was as big as he thought he was in the '80s. Yes he was. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 12:16pm

Azúcar! said: "You have to be careful with first responders here. Remember, they all raved about Beanie the first few nights. And then the same people would come back on the board and tear her apart. Time will tell. Don’t go by these first responses. Audiences are usually papered with over enthusiastic people."

I will never forget those hilariously ridiculous reviews. Lolz. 

 

[BroadwaysBroad]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 12:53pm

I saw it a couple days ago

It was okay

Is it just me or does ever Alex Timbers show feel the same 

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 2:11pm

Cynthia Erivo joined the show last night.

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 2:22pm

KevinKlawitter said: "Cynthia Erivo joined the show last night."

And they seem to be hinting at another cameo for today's performance, based on the clue of "special Sauce" it might be Jonathan Groff?

[Pashacar]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 4:22pm

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "KevinKlawitter said: "Cynthia Erivo joined the show last night."

And they seem to be hinting at another cameo for today's performance, based on the clue of "special Sauce" it might be Jonathan Groff?"

I wonder if they're gonna do the OH, HELLO thing where a new celeb joins each night....

[JSquared2]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 4:24pm

BroadwaysBroad said: "I saw it a couple days ago

It was okay

Is it just me or does ever Alex Timbers show feel the same"

 

It's just you -- all of your comments seem depressingly the same gloom and doom.

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 4:54pm

BroadwaysBroad said: "I saw it a couple days ago

It was okay

Is it just me or does ever Alex Timbers show feel the same"

its just you

 

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 5:42pm

Something tells me that Moulin Rouge and Beetlejuice is gonna be a LITTLE different compared to Gutenberg. Lol.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 5:48pm

Yeah Rocky and Oh Hello are vastly different. Maybe you’ve only seen Oh Hello and this which seem similar vibes. 

[Menken Fan]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 6:15pm

Jonathan Groff was the guest in this afternoon’s performance. 
 
Oh, and I really disliked it. The silliness and hats get old after about 10 minutes. The songs are not in the same league as Avenue Q or Book of Mormon. Comedy shows are so subjective, but this one had me counting down the long 2 hours until it ended. 

Pashacar said: "BoringBoredBoard40 said: "KevinKlawitter said: "Cynthia Erivo joined the show last night."

And they seem to be hinting at another cameo for today's performance, based on the clue of "special Sauce" it might be Jonathan Groff?"

I wonder if they're gonna do the OH, HELLO thing where a new celeb joins each night...."

 

Updated On: 9/17/23 at 06:15 PM

[Bobster159]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 8:26pm

Well, it doesn't surprise me that this is going to be somewhat divisive, but I fell very much in the love camp. Two hours of hilarity and joy with just a touch of sweet genuineness at the end. It's not deep stuff, and if you expect something more, you're going to be disappointed. Think of the Goes Wrong shows, but much less physical. Laughter is the goal here. There are some solid tunes, though, and the two guys are amazing; they're clearly having a great time together, and it radiates to the audience. 

As has been mentioned, Jonathan Groff pitched up the end in a cute cameo (he was clearly having fun, too). It's hardly an earth-shattering moment, but it's a nice touch, and I imagine they could stuff all sorts of different people in, and you'd get something just a little bit unique at each performance.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

There's also a neat set reveal at the end, which probably cost way too much for how long it's seen, but it's fun and ties the optimistic ending up nicely.

Overall, I'd wager this will find an audience once word gets out, but it won't be for everyone. I give them credit for their marketing, which is entirely aligned with what the show actually is. I'd also mention I went with my tween son, and he had a blast. I wouldn't take young children, but it's family-friendly.

[Jakeevan942]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 8:33pm

I was also at the matinee today. The show is really funny, and Andrew and Josh are clearly loving being back on stage together again. It is very insidery-probably half the jokes rely on a thorough understanding of the theater world. Might be a tough recommendation to a non-theater person. But I imagine the show will do fine for its 20-week run. It's 2 performers, and 2 covers, with 3 musicians on a unit set-the running cost can't be too crazy.

I'll put some other thoughts in a spoiler box, to not give stuff away if you haven't seen this over the past 20 years.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

As stated above, Jonathan Groff was the featured guest tonight. The end of the play is a sing-along with the audience, eventually asking for men to sing along, then women, then the Broadway Producers promised to be in the room at the top of the show. At this point, the guest, wearing a Producer trucker hat sings the line back to them, is introduced by Rannels as a famous Broadway Producer, and comes up on stage, to offer the duo a Broadway contract for this musical. Rannels then proceeded to kiss, extended on the lips, both Andrew and Josh, before walking off stage right. I was outside and saw Groff chain up his bike to the light pole out front, and head in the stage door about 75 minutes before the show, presumably to walk through what he needed to do. This is much more scripted than the celebrity guests at Oh Hello, with the dialogue on a prompter on the mezzanine rail, but my friend and I still can see people going to this multiple times to see what person pops up for this spot on a night-to-night basis.

I'm assuming the lead producer on the production did this on Friday night, since it didn't get any buzz-can anyone who was there confirm?

I'm not going to spoil what happens next, but just know that the set isn't all that it appears to be, at least for the last 30 seconds of the piece. And since the finale set change reverts back before the curtain call, so it isn't spoiled in curtain call photos/videos, I wasn't expecting it, and really liked it.

Our lottery seats were front row balcony, extreme house right. Definitely obstructed by the box jutting out into the show. If you need to pick 1 side, definitely sit house left-the band is set up on the stage right/house left side, so not being able to see that side has essentially no impact, but not seeing the upstage left corner you do miss a few things.

 

ETA: The post above me came up while I was writing this, with a lot of similar sentiment.

Updated On: 9/17/23 at 08:33 PM

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 8:46pm

Russell Daniels who is the Bud standby was the "Producer" on Friday night, so him or Sam (who is the standby for Doug) must be alternating that bit on performances when they can't get a star cameo/if someone bails at the last minute?

Also looking at the next week of performances, it is interesting to note that most nights the premium seats are gone and the sales for friday-sunday are way more sold then tuesday-thurs which probably will mean they start being sold out on most weekends, they would be smart to drop those weekday prices down about 10-15$ especially to fill up that balcony

Updated On: 9/17/23 at 08:46 PM

[RWPrincess]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 8:50pm

I hope the official social media accounts for the show continue to post these nightly guest photos like they did with Cynthia. Seems like a quick and easy way to build buzz for the show.

[Robbie516]

Posted: 9/17/23 at 9:59pm

Saw this today and liked it …did not love it! I thought Gad and Rannells were phenomenal and the idea of it was clever and some would say cute…but I think a funnier topic could have been picked for the fake show rather than Gutenberg…something that people know more about and that would be funnier…I would give it 3/5 stars and would definitely recommend checking it out at least once…if you have to pick only one show to see…ie going on a trip…I might look for something else first however…but if you have the time definitely check it out for these two chemistry alone! 

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 9/18/23 at 12:55am

Was also present today and had a great time. I wouldn't say I was laughing out loud the whole time, but it was a ton of fun and there were still some really solid laugh moments throughout.

Definitely more expensive sets than I would have expected too. I thought this would be a really lean machine, Doll's House style. But, it wasn't really.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/18/23 at 8:51am

Do you mind putting the set change in a spoiler box? I probably won't get to see this and am a huge fan of Timbers' style and direction.

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 9/18/23 at 9:57am

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 9/18/23 at 10:38am

RippedMan said: "Do you mind putting the set change in a spoiler box? I probably won't get to see this and am a huge fan of Timbers' style and direction."

Sure! 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Basically, the walls that you can see in any pictures of the set are false walls meant to look like the walls of a theatre. During the show they describe what they'd want their Broadway set to look like. After the special guest producer gives them the money for their show, the walls all fly out to reveal their Broadways set. It's a rather expansive and detailed version of the town of Schlimer complete with a previously described statue of Gutenberg riding a dragon. 

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/18/23 at 10:55am

Thank you (and love that)