Silly fun, the two-hander is on an extended run at the Denver Center’s Garner Galleria

You might think the story of Johannes Gutenberg’s  invention of the printing press would be a dry choice from the history books on which to base musical. But it’s the life dream of Doug and Bud, who have created the work and are now trying to sell it to someone, anyone on Broadway.

That’s the setup for Gutenberg! The Musical, now playing at the Denver Center’s Garner Galleria. Shows in this space often run for extended stretches, but this one has been up since November and runs all the way into early May. And while reports from those earlier shows were something other than raves, the cast and crew have had ample time to fine-tune this fast-paced, highly choreographed two-man comedy into a real winner.

Under the crips direction of Rodney Lizcano, four actors alternate nights to play the two doofuses, and they’re accompanied on either side of the stage by a keyboardist and percussionist. On the night I saw it, Brett Ambler was playing Doug and Scott Rathbun was Bud, with David Nehls on keys and Steve Wright on percussion. The guys are earnest in their belief that there must be at least one or two Broadway producers in the crowd because, hey, the touring production of Back to the Future: The Musical is playing right across the way at the Buell.

With the aim of doing a demo of the musical for the benefit of the hoped-for producers, Doug and Bud run through every scene and musical number from their show. Due to budgetary constraints, of course, they’ll have to act all the parts themselves. In a clever stroke, they use of a great many yellow ballcaps that define the character: “Woman,” “Doctor,” “Bootblack” and so on. In some places, the character changes come fast and furious, and they might stack several hats on their head and whip them off in quick succession to effect the changes.

As the duo runs through their show, it’s abundantly clear that their Wikipedia research on the life and times of ol’ Johannes is cursory at best. So, they just make up a bunch of stuff, leading to all kinds of fun not only with the main character but the town he lived in (Schlimmer) and his occupation before hitting it big in printing (wine presser). There’s a love interest, the assistant Helvetica (hat with braids) and a villain in the form of an evil, Satan-worshipping monk. In a town full of illiterates, Monk hopes to keep it that way to further his dastardly aims.

Meanwhile, Nehls (also the show’s musical director) and Summey keep things moving with high-speed keyboard and percussion accompaniment.

Light as a feather, sillier than a tRump executive order and quite funny, Gutenberg! The Musical is an ideal show for the cabaret-style Garner Galleria. The show itself has been around almost 20 years, but this is its first appearance in Colorado, and it’s well worth checking out.