We Eat Reviews

The reviews are starting to come in for the Off-Broadway production of GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL!

The NY TIMES review is a bizarrely-crafted rave that is probably very confusing to anyone who has not seen the show.

Money quotes:

"GUTENBERG! is a smashing success!"

"Who knew that a musical about the life of the inventor of the printing press could have so many laughs?"

"Scott Brown and Anthony King are superb comic writers."

The AP Review is also a rave and much easier to follow.

Money quotes:

"GUTENBERG! is hysterically funny!"

"Writers Anthony King and Scott Brown produced an uproarious script — plenty twisted and just culture-conscious enough, so the show doesn't strangle itself with hipness."

The Variety review is also great! With a nice, typical, Variety business slant.

Money quotes:

"'Gutenberg! The Musical!' is one hell of a goofy evening."

"Gutenberg, the original, was a goldsmith by trade. Handled wisely, "Gutenberg! The Musical!" could be a multiproduction gold mine."

Village Voice too!

Money quotes:

"A hilarious and immensely satisfying jolt of musical-theater schadenfreude."

"Much like The Producers' Max and Leo, who wonder where they went wrong when their "bomb" musical becomes a hit, each of Bud and Doug's wrong turns become delicious comic successes."

A few websites got in on the act as well. Talkin' Broadway.com is also a rave.

Money quotes:

"GUTENBERG! is so bloody good!"

"Fresher, more vibrant, and more truthful than most of what you see on Broadway today."

"A show that leaves you bruised, battered, and (in some cases) incapacitated by the funniest jokes in any musical of 2006."

And then, of course, the inevitable delicious pan - courtesy of Theatermania.com

Money quote:

"And don't convince yourself that framing a send-up of deficient shows as a backers audition is the latest in clever premises. It's been done before -- and done and done. I encountered the idea 38 years ago when Leonard Sillman offered New Faces of 1968 in a stylized stage interpretation of his luxurious East 72nd Street flat. And even the flamboyant Sillman may not have been the first to come up with the conceit."

I feel silly having even dared to think I could ever compete with the flamboyant Sillman.