Tom Reed and Dominic Schiro Photo by Dan Norman

And that is the kind of logic that runs rampant in this hilarious show production, starring Tom Reed and Doug Schiro, directed by Tyler Michaels King, and music-directed by Jason Hansen, a merry band of collaborators if ever there was one. This show is a lightweight, yes, and trades heavily on musical theatre tropes that will especially tickle the funny bone of theater aficionados, but it is conceived and executed with such joy, affection, and uninhibited silliness that it is irresistible.

After a brusque message from Hansen telling the house to settle down, we find ourselves at the first public reading of a brand-new musical created by the aspirational team of Doug Simon (Reed) and Bud Davenport (Schiro), friends and co-workers waiting to strike it big on Broadway. After a couple of attempts that failed to launch, they are hopeful their latest effort, a show about Johannes Gutenberg with the same title as the actual show we are attending, will hit pay dirt. Along with random theatre fans in the audience (that would be us), Doug and Bud are hoping there is a wealthy Broadway producer in attendance who will stand up after the finale and boldly cry out, "I want to produce this show on Broadway!"

The show Doug and Bud have devised is loosely based on the actual life of Johannes Gutenberg–and by "loosely," I mean they made everything up. They even changed Gutenberg's hometown from the German city of Mainz to fictional Schlimmer–which, after all, is a lot funnier to say than Mainz. They conceive of Gutenberg as operator of a wine press who is frustrated by being the only person in Schlimmer who can read. When he realizes that nobody else reads because they have nothing to read, he converts his wine press into a printing press in order to provide books for the Schlimmerians.

As for plot twists, there is romance–his wine-stomping assistant, Helvetica, is in love with Gutenberg, though he is oblivious to her feelings–and conflict–he is thwarted at every turn by an evil monk named Monk who wants the people to remain illiterate so that they are forced to believe his pronouncements about what it says in the bible. Other Schlimmer denizens who make appearances include a pair of town drunks, a boot black, a meat trimmer, the monk's hapless assistant, a mother and daughter, and a Nazi girl. That last is because Bud and Doug feel that including a Nazi in their show gives it a cache of social importance. 

Oh yes, one more thing: since the creative team spent all their money renting the theater, they have not hired any actors. Instead, they play every character, switching off baseball caps with character names emblazoned on the front, which sometimes causes quite a frenzy and is especially challenge during the big dance numbers. For props, they use things at hand, such as cardboard boxes and plastic milk crates. For music, they wanted local band The Magnificent Seven, but could only afford to hire three of them.

Reed, who has been funny in a host of shows at numerous venues, including years with Dudley Riggs Brave New Workshop, adds the role of Doug to his lengthy roster. Schiro, who I last saw as Razumikhin in Open Window Theatre's Crime and Punishment, proves he can turn 180 degrees from weighty drama to zany comedy, showing his mettle at both ends of the scale. The coolest thing about casting these two actors is that, whether or not they are friends in real life, they play together with such easy rapport, honesty, and affection that one easily believes they have been bosom buddies since nursery school.

Director Tyler Michaels King has brought his tremendous talents as an actor and dancer to numerous musicals, so he has a great handle on the traditions embedded in the genre and how to have the most fun with Gutenberg! The Musical!'s mirthful skewering of every one of them. As choreographer, King has ingeniously devised the show's would-be big production numbers so that we can actually visualize a large cast filling the stage with show-worthy moves.

The score produces no contenders for Great American Song Book status, but is agreeable throughout, and the closing "Tomorrow Begins Tonight" has a daft appeal. It is played by Hansen and just two other musicians, but the sound is great (sound design by Peter Morrow) and the music perfectly leveled to King and Brown's witty score with its eye-winking parodies of such musical theatre mainstays as the "I want" song, the charm song, the romantic ballad, and the 11 o'clock number.

Sarah Bahr's set design is a marvelous sea of clutter on the stage Doug and Bud have rented for this one performance, and Zamora Simmons-Stiles' costume designs perfectly match Bud and Doug's personas. Grant E. Merges has the fun of designing the lighting–the one thing Bud and Doug splurged on, not because the garish effects they've chosen have anything to do with their show, but because they believe it makes them look top tier–delivering more delightful foolishness.

So many of the plays and musicals I have seen this season are easy to interpret through the lens of our current landscape of political and societal turmoil. One of the powers of theatre is its elasticity at bringing the concerns of our present day into focus. But it doesn't always turn out that way, nor need it. Gutenberg! The Musical! is just one funny as hell musical, small but sweet, and capable of no more than delivering a great couple of hours, inflated by laughter and imagination. I'm good with that.

Gutenberg! The Musical! continues through May 3, 2026 at the Ritz Theater, 345 13 th Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN. For tickets call 612-339-3303 or go to theaterlatteda.com.

Book, Music, and Lyrics: Anthony King and Scott Brown; Director and Choreographer: Tyler Michaels King; Music Director: Jason Hansen; Scenic Design: Sarah Bahr; Costume Design: Zamora Simmons-Stiles; Lighting Design: Grant E. Merges; Sound Design: Peter Morrow; Props Designer and Supervisor: Madelaine Foster; Hair and Makeup: Emma Gustafson; Assistant Director: Grace Hillmyer; Technical Director: Bethany Reinfeld; Stage Manager: Shelby Reddig; Assistant Stage Manager: Meghan Gaffney; Stage Management Swing: Nate Stranger; Director of Production: Kyia Britts.

Cast: Noah Hynick (understudy for Doug), Tom Reed (Doug), Dominic Schiro (Bud), Carl Swanson (understudy for Bud).