This Greenville Journal article by Paul Hyde was originally published on September 18th, 2025. Photo: Will Crooks
Bev and Deb have a big dream. The two actors have written a musical they hope to see performed on Broadway.
Stepping into a theater in front of potential financial backers, the two proceed to perform all the songs and play all the parts in their outlandish, historically inaccurate epic.
Hilarity ensues.
That’s the setup for “Gutenberg! The Musical!” — opening at The Warehouse Theatre in Greenville on Sept. 19 and running through Oct. 12.
Bev and Deb play a few dozen characters in their ill-advised musical about Johannes Gutenberg, the 15th century inventor of the printing press.
They see the audience — in this case at The Warehouse Theatre — as potential backers, and they’re desperate to make a good impression as they make up much of the historical details.
The musical spoof is a celebration of bad ideas but also big dreams.
“What I love about this show is that it’s about two people who are deeply and joyfully committed to their dreams, however foolish others may see them,” said director Ashlee Wasmund. “Over the course of the show, we as the audience begin to invest in those dreams with them.”
The high-energy musical is filled with an abundance of physical comedy.
“Bev and Deb will go to any lengths to share this story with the world,” said Shelli Delgado, who plays the role of Bev. “They’re really hungry artists who are also lovely people. They’re so heartwarmingly earnest. It’s really an underdog story.”
An abundance of hats
Some of the humor emerges from watching Bev and Deb change character in a wink of an eye, briskly donning a new cap to indicate a new character.
“I feel that 80% of directing this show is keeping track of the hats,” Wasmund said.
Bev and Deb may be slightly ridiculous, but they’re impossible not to love, she said. Bev and Deb throw everything they’ve got and more into their performance.
“Everyone has had a dream, so I think we can all identify with having a dream that other people may think is silly,” Wasmund said.
“History’s paved with the hearts of the stupid,” one character says in the musical.
“Gutenberg! The Musical!” was originally written for two male characters, Bud and Doug. The creators of the show, Anthony King and Scott Brown, have endorsed The Warehouse Theatre’s gender-flipped version of the show, which in addition to Delgado features Jillian Hall as Deb.
Changing the characters from men to women makes the musical “even more of an underdog story” because women are so underrepresented as creators of musical theater, Delgado said.
The production also spotlights musical director and piano player Hailey Anthum Hunter.
