After attending a series of readings of unproduced musicals sent by aspiring writers to the Manhattan Theatre Club, Anthony King and Scott Brown couldn’t believe how incredibly bad they were – passionate but hopeless knockoffs of other shows.

They were struck with an idea. How about they write a musical comedy about a pair of passionate but inept writers who are convinced they have written a surefire Broadway hit, when in truth, it’s dreadful?

And so the duo (who would go on to write the book for Beetlejuice the Musical) came up with Gutenberg! The Musical!. Opening off-Broadway in 2006, it has since had productions around the world including a Broadway revival in 2023.

Stephen Anderson and Ryan González in Gutenberg! The Musical! Photo © John McRae

First seen in Australia in 2009, it is now being presented at Sydney’s Hayes Theatre Co.

Best buddies Bud Davenport and Doug Simon have been lip-synching to patients at a nursing home in New Jersey, but when Bud inherits some money from an uncle, they decide to write a musical together about Johannes Gutenberg, the 15th-century inventor of the printing press.

Tonight is the biggest night of their life – a backer’s audition at which they hope to persuade a Broadway producer to take their show to The Great White Way.

In this iteration, directed by Richard Carroll, they have inadvertently hired the Hayes Theatre in Sydney instead of the Hayes on Broadway – so the airfares have further decimated their limited budget. (Since they find themselves in Sydney, it does beg the question, why do they hope there are several Broadway producers in the audience? No matter. Such questions don’t really matter in a show where silliness is the order of the day.)

Unable to afford a cast or a set, they take on all the roles themselves, donning dozens of named baseball caps to explain which character they are playing – Gutenberg, Dead Baby, Beef Fat Trimmer, Drunk 1, Drunk 2, Helvetica (Gutenberg’s love interest ), Monk, Young Monk and so on.

The nerdy pair may love musicals, but they have no clue how to write one, and their show is heartfelt but pretty dreadful.

Relieved to discover from a Google search there is scant information about Gutenberg, they have come up with a piece of historical fiction in which their hero is inspired to create a printing press from a wine press, envisaging a world where the masses become educated by learning to read. Meanwhile, the malevolent Monk (who is more taken with Satan than Jesus) wants to retain power by keeping the people illiterate.

Stephen Anderson in Gutenberg! The Musical! Photo © John McRae

Along the way, Doug and Bud explain the structure of musicals – what an “I Want” song is, for example.

Both a love letter to musical theatre, as well as a satire of the Broadway musical, the show also explores friendship, dreams and deluded ambition.

There are some very funny lines, such as “A motif is when you use the same music again and again, but it’s not lazy.” The trouble is, in order to convey how bad their show is, Gutenberg! The Musical! deliberately trades on lame jokes, a ludicrous plot and perky but forgettable songs with titles such as I Can’t Read, Biscuits, Stop the Press and the rousing final number We Eat Dreams.

Overall, the show is so naff that, for me – despite two fabulous performances – much of the humour doesn’t land (though others clearly found it very funny).

Stephen Anderson and Ryan González are both spot-on as the lovable losers, the enthusiastic Doug and the less confident, anxious Bud. They do a brilliant job in creating character after character, switching hats as they go, without ever losing sight of the fact that it is Doug and Bud playing them.

Richard Carroll and his set designer Lochie Odgers have fun and games with the DIY aesthetic, using cardboard boxes to create most of the props. Shannon Burns’ inventive choreography, Zara Stanton’s musical direction, Véronique Benett’s lighting and Lily Mateljan’s costumes all play their part. But at two hours (including interval), the show feels overextended, with the central joke wearing thin.

You couldn’t ask for two better performers to tackle the show. I found myself watching them with huge admiration and wishing they had better material to work with.

Gutenberg! The Musical! plays at the Hayes Theatre Co, Sydney until 10 May. More information here.