Gutenberg! The Musical! (Hayes) ★★★★½

Book, music & lyrics by Anthony King and Scott Brown. Hayes Theatre Co. 10 Apr – 17 May, 2026.

The spiritual cousin of indie-musical hits like Murder For Two and [Title of Show], Gutenberg! The Musical! is less about the songs and more about the expertly choreographed comedy.

Bud Davenport (Ryan González) and Doug Simon (Stephen Anderson) are looking for a miracle that will change their humdrum lives working at an old people’s home, and that miracle, they hope, will be musical theatre. They’ve studied the form and have written their own “historical fiction” about Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press. Due to a slight misunderstanding, they’ve flown all the way to Sydney, Australia — turns out the Hayes Theatre they’d been in discussion with wasn’t the Helen Hayes in Manhattan — to pitch the show to investors and Broadway producers.

Their musical-within-a-musical throws “history” out the window to tell a story that’s part Notre-Dame De Paris and part Man of La Mancha (with a generous dose of Spamalot). Can these loveable losers create the next big Broadway hit?

Improv comedy alumni Anthony King and Scott Brown have written a love letter to musical theatre and the sheer joy it can bring. As Bud and Doug stop to explain the mechanics of musical theatre (What is a motif? What is an “I Want” song? What is an “Eleven O’Clock” number?) they break down the walls between them and an audience that gets every joke. Gutenberg is a piss-take on the medium but it’s coming from a place of love and admiration.

With a plot that is deliberately nonsense, and songs that are written to be parodies, it all comes down to the comedic chops of the two main performers, and director Richard Carroll has picked the two best. Stephen Anderson (Titanique) and Ryan González (Zombie! The Musical) are both natural fits for the material — hilariously funny and heart-warmingly adorable in equal measure. You can’t help but root for Bud and Doug’s dreams to come true.

As the two leads simultaneously play dozens of characters, made clear by the use of different caps, they channel an insane amount of zany slapstick energy. Shout out to Shannon Burns’ choreography, which gives them both a real workout. Even when things go wrong (as they did the night I saw the show) it just adds fuel to their comedy engine. I could be wrong, but it looks like they’re both having as much fun as the audience is.

There’s a real art to putting on a show that is supposed to look intentionally ramshackle, while still giving the audience the level of quality they demand for the ticket price, and Gutenberg hits the right level. Lochie Odgers’ set appears to be simple theatre drapery but has some tricks up its sleeve. Liam Roche’s sound design is incredibly sharp (the timing was so impeccable I was wondering what other tricks were being used). And Véronique Benett’s lighting gives the show a notable variety.

The Hayes has proven itself to be the best home for these self-referential, outrageously silly musicals which play directly to their core audiences. Gutenberg fits right in that wheelhouse.