In My Life Star to Join Gutenberg! Cast
By Kenneth Jones
05 Feb 2007
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David Turner in a scene from In My Life.
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| photo by Joan Marcus | Off-Broadway's Gutenberg! The Musical!, the critically acclaimed showbiz musical about bumbling, no-talent musical comedy writers, gets a new bumbler starting Feb. 13.
David Turner — recognized as the delicious, antic center of the otherwise bizarre, critically drubbed Broadway musical In My Life — will take over the role of Bud Davenport from Christopher Fitzgerald (who heads to Los Angeles for pilot season).
Turner joins Jeremy Shamos, who plays Doug Simon. Shamos and Fitzgerald have been acclaimed for their work in Gutenberg!.
Directed by Obie Award winner Alex Timbers, Gutenberg! The Musical!, by Scott Brown and Anthony King, is currently playing at The Actors' Playhouse, 100 Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village.
"In this two-man musical spoof, a pair of aspiring playwrights, Bud Davenport and Doug Simon, perform a backers' audition for their new project — a big, splashy musical about printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg," according to the producers. "With an unending supply of enthusiasm, Bud and Doug sing all the songs and play all the parts in their crass historical epic, with the hope that one of the producers in attendance will give them a Broadway contract — fulfilling their ill-advised dreams."
Turner has just returned from playing Sir Robin in the national tour of Monty Python's Spamalot. He has appeared on Broadway in Tom Stoppard's The Invention of Love, and as Winston in In My Life, for which the Playbill Broadway Yearbook cited his work beneath the heading "Valiant Performances Under Adverse Circumstances."
His Off-Broadway credits include The Butter and Egg Man (Atlantic), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Century Center), and The Last Sunday in June (Rattlestick, Century Center).
The company of Gutenberg! The Musical! also includes Ryan Karels.
Gutenberg! The Musical! is presented Off-Broadway by Trevor Brown, Ron Kastner, Terry Allen Kramer and Joseph Smith in association with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
This marks the first Off-Broadway transfer for the improv-rooted Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, where it was originally developed in 2003. UCBT showcased an excerpt of the musical at the 2005 New York Musical Theatre Festival as part of the NYMF Comedy Series.
Gutenberg! The Musical! has musical arrangements by T.O. Sterrett.
The musical has lighting design by Tyler Micoleau and costume design by Emily Rebholz.
The performance schedule for Gutenberg! The Musical! is as follows: Tuesday through Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 7 PM and 10 PM, and Sunday at 3 PM and 7 PM through March 25.
Tickets for Gutenberg! The Musical! are scaled at $25- $50 and are now available via Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200.
For more information, please visit www.gutenbergthemusical.com.
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Gutenberg! The Musical! had its world premiere in a production at The Jermyn Street Theatre in London in January 2006. All presentations and productions prior to September 2006 were devised and performed by the authors, Scott Brown and Anthony King.
The U.S. premiere of Gutenberg! The Musical! was presented in September 2006 as part of the third annual New York Musical Theatre Festival, where it received three NYMF Awards, including Excellence in Musical Theatre Writing (Book) for Scott Brown and Anthony King. Shamos and Fitzgerald starred, and the work was revived in late 2006 for a limited engagement at 59E59 Theaters prior to the current commercial run in Greenwich Village.
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