History Theatre / GutenbergTheMusical

** When [[Creator/RobertSmigel Triumph the Insult Comic Dog]] appeared as the producer, he jokes that the musical is no ‘’WesternAnimation/FrozenII'' or ''WesternAnimation/TrollsBandTogether''. Gad starred in the former, while Rannells appeared in the latter.

** [[Theatre/TheBookOfMormon Elder Price and Elder Cunningham]] (played by Kevin Clay and Cody Strand) appeared as guest producers. Rannells and Gas originated these roles in the first production.

* HoYay: Doug is gay, but Bud is not (something he actually regrets) and the two of them are extremely close and supportive of each other, with Doug describing them as "like an old married couple."

* BurnTheWitch: Gutenberg is burned by an angry mob that the priest drums up.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: [[{{Lampshading}} Heavily lampshaded]] by Bud and Doug. According to the article they found on Johannes Gutenberg “little is known” about his life. This the writers to put basically whatever they wanted in Gutenberg’s story including a lovestruck apprentice, named Helvetica, an evil Monk trying to stop him, and him being burned at the stake. Bud and Doug try to justify this by saying some of it could have happened.

* TheBadGuyWins: The evil priest convinces Helvetica to help him destroy the printing press, locks her up when she's served her purpose, and leads an angry mob to kill Gutenberg.

** Bud and Doug's own story ends with a DeusExMachina ending when the Broadway producer in the audience gives them a contract.

* BrickJoke: The man whose baby dies in the prologue returns suddenly during "What's the Word?".

* VillainSong: Monk has three: "Haunted German Wood" explains his backstory, "Stop the Press" is about him persuading Helvetica to destroy the printing press, and "Monk With Me" is him attempting to persuade Gutenberg to join him.

* CelebrityCameo: The Broadway production has a RunningGag in which the "producer" character is played by a different Broadway star every performance. Past producers include Creator/NathanLane (who [[ActorAllusion introduces himself as]] [[Theatre/TheProducers Max Bialystock]]), Creator/AshleyPark, Creator/BenPlatt, Creator/JonathanGroff, and Creator/LinManuelMiranda.

''Gutenberg! The Musical'' is an AffectionateParody of musicals and historical fiction written by Scott Brown and Anthony King. Two playwrights think that a sentence and Wikipedia search is enough they need to tell a musical story about the creator of the printing press.

''Gutenberg! The Musical'' is an AffectionateParody of musicals and historical fiction. Two playwrights think that a sentence and Wikipedia search is enough they need to tell a musical story about the creator of the printing press.

* BurnTheWitch: Gutenberg is burned by an angry mob that the priest drums up.

* CelebrityCameo:

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: [[{{Lampshading}} Heavily lampshaded]] by Bud and Doug. According to the article they found on Johannes Gutenberg “little is known” about his life. This allowed the writers to put basically whatever they wanted in Gutenberg’s story including a lovestruck apprentice, named Helvetica, an evil Monk trying to stop him, and him being burned at the stake. Bud and Doug try to justify this by saying some of it could have happened.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory:[[{{Lampshading}} Heavily lampshaded]] by Bud and Doug. According to the article they found on Johannes Gutenberg “little is known” about his life. This allowed the writers to put basically whatever they wanted in Gutenberg’s story including a lovestruck apprentice, named Helvetica, an evil Monk trying to stop him, and him being burned at the stake. Bud and Doug try to justify this by saying some of it could have happened.

* RayOfHopeEnding: After a lighthearted comedy and pastiche, the musical ends abruptly when Helvetica is sentenced to eternal torture, and resigns herself to never returning home or marrying the man she loves. This leads to Gutenberg getting burned alive by an angry mob on seeing his printing press damaged. The playwrights insist, however, that despite this dour resolution, the printing press idea lived on, and eventually the Bible was printed for the masses. Dreams and ideas don't just die with their originator.