Gutenberg! The Auditions!
We had the first round of preliminary auditions for Gutenberg! The Musical! – Amphibian’s July production — and let me tell you…there was enough Comedy Gold in that room to make a director such as me feel rich. Every actor who came in to audition brought so many great, hilarious ideas into the room. It was a joy to spend the afternoon with such comedy.
As a director, the auditions are generally the first time that I have the chance to realize the script on stage. In an audition room, I have the chance to see multiple interpretations of a character and the tone of a play and make multiple attempts to articulate what is at the heart of the play. At the heart of Gutenberg! is a particular brand of comedy — the brand that actors weak of spirit may fear to attempt: the energetic and earnest but entirely misguided “acting” of Bud Davenport and Doug Simon that often leaps from sound logic to the brink of embarrassment…
