Alison: This is All Of It. I'm Alison Stewart, live from the WNYC Studio in SoHo. Thank you for sharing part of your day with us. The new Broadway comedy Gutenberg! The Musical! stars Josh Gad as Bud, a sweet guy with big middle school social studies teacher energy and Andrew Rannells as his pal Doug, who gives off a very competent flight attendant vibe. They are friends and on a mission to present their original musical about Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, and they're telling Gutenberg was a wine presser who saddened by the illiteracy in his town decides to switch from pressing grapes to words.

In their dreams, the show has a huge cast. In reality, Bud and Doug are taking on all the roles and they do it by wearing hats, many, many hats. A seemingly endless supply of yellow trucker hats with labels on them like monk, beef fat trimmer, and of course, Gutenberg. Here they are to describe it.

Doug: What you're about to see tonight is what we call a reading of a musical.

Bud: What is a reading of a musical, Doug?

Doug: Does it mean we're going to print out copies of the script so you can read it?

Bud: No, no.

Doug: No, what it means is there's no set, no costumes, just a few props, and every light they would let us rent from dance party DJs of newark.com. Also, there's no cast.

Bud: Just me and--

Doug: That's right. We're going to sing all the songs and play all the parts and give you some help to understand the potential of what we have written.

Bud: I think the keyword here is potential.

Doug: I also like the word help.

Bud: Now, they're an awful lot of characters in our show.

Doug: How are we going to differentiate?

Bud: Great question, Doug. Great question, Doug. By using these hats, seven, eight. My God, aren't they beautiful?

Doug: Oh, wow.

Bud: I mean, my God.

Doug: Bud spent three days at the FedEx Kinkos.

Bud: They thought I was insane.

Doug: Is this insane? Because when I wear this hat, I'm a boot black.

Bud: And I am a woman.

Doug: Yes, but only for tonight because in an actual production, we would never cast a straight white man as a woman.

Bud: No, representation matters.

Alison: The problem is the show is an unintentionally hilarious mess played to comic perfection by longtime friends Andrew and Josh. You might remember them starring together in The Book of Mormon. Gutenberg! The Musical! is running now at the James Earl Jones Theater through January 28th and we're really excited that Josh and Andrew have been kind enough to join us in the studio and stick around for a while.

Josh: You don't understand. We've done so many interviews and I've never seen Andrew this excited about any interview we've done.

Andrew: I'm very, very excited about it.

Josh: He was like this is the one he's been talking about for weeks.

Andrew: I was like we'll spend all day. We'll just roll through all of this show.

Josh: Can you clear out your Thursday?

Andrew: I love that description of us strong flight attendant vibes.

Josh: That's very correct.

Andrew: Hadn't thought of it in those terms, but yes, that is so right.

Josh: That should be on the poster.

Andrew: I know and a social studies teacher. That's great.

Alison: I scribbled it on my playbill as I was watching and I'm like these energies.

Josh: By the way, do you need a new playbill?

Alison: Do I?

Josh: We can get you a clean one if you want one.

Andrew: That one's destroyed.

Alison: There's probably a couple in the theater. Josh, you were approached by Alex Timbers, a director about bringing the show. Now, Alex is directed Moulin Rouge!, Here Lies Love, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.

Josh: He's a genius.

Alison: That's a wild, wild things.

Josh: He's a genius.

Alison: How well did you know Alex when he proposed this?

Josh: I had been a giant fan of Alex's for many years as had Andrew and we were discussing doing a revival of a funny thing happen on the way to the form, which I was going to drag Andrew into as well with or without his permission and he was--

Andrew: I don't know what I would've done.

Josh: Yes, but he was going to do it regardless.

Andrew: I guess I was just going to watch it.

Josh: He was going to be there every night just in the audience. We had talked about it and for a number of reasons, we just couldn't figure out how to mount it. He knew I wanted to come back to Broadway, but because I live in LA, because I have a family, it's really tough to find that perfect opportunity and that window. He said, "Look, I've got this show called Gutenberg! The Musical! that I directed off-Broadway in 2006," Andrew?

Andrew: That's right.

Josh: He sent it to me. I was hesitant because anything called something, something the musical seems a little surface and like not--

Andrew: It could be tricky.

Josh: It could be tricky so I was like, "Nah," and he sent it and I was floored. I said, "Okay, I would only ever consider doing this if I could do it with Andrew Rannells," and he goes, "Funny you should say that because I also sent the script to Andrew."

Andrew: He's a sneaky one, then Alex Timbers. He had given us both the script and we both came to this conclusion on our own? But really, it was Alex design that we could do this together.

Josh: It was nefarious and so we did a reading of it and an internal reading with Alex and our two writers. Scott and Anthony, Scott Brown, Anthony King and we were like, yes-

Andrew: Let's do it.

Josh: -let's pursue this and that was March of 2020.

Alison: Well then.

Andrew: We had to hit the pause button just for a couple of years.

Josh: Like the warrior.

Alison: And now?

Josh: Here we are. We did it.

Alison: All right. This is the one to get in character for a minute.

Andrew: Oh, boy.

Alison: Andrew, what song do you think Doug listens to before he goes on stage to get amped up?

Andrew: Oh, that's a good question. I think Doug is probably like the real musical theater fanatic so I'm guessing he really pipes in a lot of Les Mis. I think in his mind, they've written Les Misérables. I think that's how serious-- [crosstalk]

Josh: I know for a fact, Bud listens to Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now from The Mannequin soundtrack.

Andrew: That seems correct also. Very motivational. Which is not--

Alison: Jefferson Starship?

Andrew: Yes, correct. Not dissimilar to what happens at the James Earl Jones before the show.

Josh: Correct.

Andrew: That is very--

Josh: Josh Gad also listens to The Mannequin soundtrack.

Andrew: Andrew Rannells is listening to a lot of show tunes.

Alison: Do you really listen to music in your dressing rooms to get pumped?

Andrew: Our dressing rooms are next to each other. It's very similar to our time at The Book of Mormon and we both very loudly listen to our own stuff. When my music is going, I can't really hear yours so we're a little isolated.

Josh: No, we're a little isolated but I try to open my door and make Andrew listen to my '80s pop.

Andrew: Yes, and he does and we do.

Alison: [chuckles] We don't get to learn too much about the history of this friendship. Josh, when you think about how these guys bonded, why are Doug and Bud so bonded?

Josh: Well, I think they've been lifelong friends in pursuit of a dream and that dream happens to be writing a musical and sharing that love of musicals with the world. I think the reason that I was so attracted to the material is it's not only the funniest thing I've read since Book of Mormon, but it was also just so heart-forward. It's really got its heart in the right place and especially at a time when theater post-COVID is struggling to come back, it just feels like the right moment for this.

It feels like the audience is, by the end of the show, they want so badly for these guys to succeed because they've watched their idiocy on stage, but they've also watched their undying adoration and love for each other. You can't help but root for that and these guys they work out an elderly home, an elderly nursing facility. They're always caretakers and custodians of this vision. They've spent all their money to rent this theater for one night. It's literally all on the line and they're unapologetic for it. They know that this could be disastrous, but they don't care because they have decided that they need to pursue this dream.

Andrew: Yes, and they're unaware even when things are not going well or when the story doesn't really make a lot of sense. I think they more lean into that and they are blissfully blind to the fact that the story doesn't really make a ton of sense in their show.

Josh: I think it makes a lot of sense.

Andrew: They are so enthusiastic about it that we watch the audience get on board every night and they're like, "Okay, I guess this is the story of Johannes Gutenberg."

Alison: It's just interesting, you said about it being heart-forward. I feel like people wanted that after the pandemic. I'm wondering if-- there's no way to know, you can't go back on the way back machine, but if audiences might have been a little too cynical for this show in 2017.

Andrew: I wonder that too.

Josh: Some people have said that it's the Ted Lasso of musicals. I think that that--

Andrew: Did you say that, Josh?

Josh: I said that. By people, I mean, me.

Andrew: Josh said that. No, I think I have thought that a lot recently that I wonder if everything had gone as planned I don't know how the show would've been received, but we are at a point right now where I think people do want to come and laugh for two hours and that's exactly what we're hoping to provide.

Alison: My guests are Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells. The name of the show is Gutenberg! The Musical! now at the James Earl Jones Theater. This is a scene where Bud and Doug recount a bit of time they spent together at the nursing home where they work and you can get a little bit of the friendship dynamic.

Doug: This is awesome.

Bud: We're doing it.

Doug: I'm going to go off script for a second.

Bud: Hey, do it go off script.

Doug: I'm going to go off script for a second. When I'm singing that song, I'm singing about this giant moment for Gutenberg, but I'm thinking about, do what I'm thinking about?

Bud: I have no idea and I don't want to guess.

Doug: The day of our miracle.

Bud: Miracle? No, that-- [crosstalk]

Doug: Bud ran a dead lady back to life.

Bud: No, I didn't.

Doug: Yes, he did. This is what happened, so Bud I used to work in a nursing home.

Bud: We still do.

Doug: Yes. We would do these lip sync concerts for people in wheelchairs.

Bud: They are such a great audience.

Doug: Yes. It was mostly classics. We would do like Frank Sinatra, James Brown, Cynthia Lauper.

Bud: But sometimes we take requests.

Doug: Yes, so this one day just poker from the back of the room named Fran McAllister.

Bud: [laughs] Doug, they have no idea what a poker is. You have to tell them. Tell them what poker is.

Doug: Sorry, sorry, okay. In nursing home lingo, we call someone a poker if you have to poke her to make sure she's still alive.

Alison: From Gutenberg! The Musical!. Cynthia Lauper.

Josh: Cynthia Lauper.

Alison: That's a sleeper laugh.

Josh: My favorite moment of the entire show is you just hear like suddenly a bunch of people in the audience explaining to them.

Andrew: Cynthia.

Josh: Yes, Cynthia, it's Cynthia.

Alison: She was a classic.

Andrew: Cynthia Lauper, we should say the full name.

Alison: Josh, what do you like about breaking the fourth wall with the audience?

Josh: Oh, God, everything. I mean, it's such a fun opportunity because really, the sky is the limit. Sometimes Andrew and I go a little far with that. When people come in late, it's one of our favorite things or when people's phones go off, that's really a fun one because there's nothing stopping us now.

Andrew: No.

Josh: But it's also an opportunity to really organically make the audience the third character in the show. There's a moment in the show where we actually ask the audience to sing along with us and it's so interesting to see them all lean into that and be so willing. A lot of times, in a situation like that, as an audience member, you'll be uncomfortable, and with this show, you're so comfortable that you're a part of the show because we're constantly talking to you and with you that you want to be a part of it. You want to sing at the end, you want to join it.

Andrew: We not only talk to the audience but this is the only time I've ever been on Broadway that I make direct eye contact with individuals in the audience. You develop tiny little relationships with people sitting in the audience throughout the show. Really, it's a very unique experience I think for us that we do are encouraged to actually really include the audience in a way that you're really not supposed to do. Don't get me wrong, we were very unprofessional at The Book of Mormon and often looked directly into the audience but that was a little different.

Josh: That was celeb--

Andrew: That one we had to fake, but this one, we actually really are encouraged to connect with these people.

Josh: Andrew spends more time connecting with the audience than he does with me.

Andrew: It's really true, I'm tired of it by this time.

Josh: It makes me feel alienated.

Alison: Done, he's done with you.

Andrew: I just like to make him jealous.

Alison: What did you learn from your time at Book of Mormon that's been useful in this particular show?

Andrew: Well, I think for me, that was the biggest thing that either one of us had ever done in our careers, it was the beginning of our careers and I think that I was in a full-tilt panic attack for about a year and a half doing that show. It was really exciting but it was very overwhelming. I think a lot happened very quickly and there was a lot of eyes on us and there was a lot of momentum to it. While I did enjoy it, and I can say that I can look back at that time and be like, "We did it, we had a lot of fun and we are very close with that cast still to this day."

I really did value all of those moments and all of those experiences but it just felt like we were in this wind tunnel of sheer panic all the time of how do we handle this and how long does it last and will it go away and can I keep this going? Now, 12 years later, Josh and I are back together on Broadway, I think that I feel more sort of a sense of being relaxed a little bit more, of being more confident, of really enjoying the process and nightly getting to do this and trusting that we know what we're doing. The fear has sort of--

Josh: I think that that's spot on. This is my third Broadway show and it's my third decade in my adult years doing a Broadway show. I did Spelling Bee in my 20s, Book of Mormon in my 30s, and this in my 40s. Even though the hardest job as an actor is live theater, Andrew said it best, I've never felt so relaxed on stage because I'm doing it with somebody I love, it's on our terms, and it's a combination of everything we've both learned over four decades of pursuing this craft.

That's a really fun thing to just come back and the stakes are not as high and yet the reward is that much more incredible because it's an opportunity to have a reunion and it's an opportunity to share that thing that so many people fell in love with a decade ago in a whole new way.

Alison: What is being that relaxed and that center open up for you creatively?

Andrew: It opens up a lot. I feel like we do take, and these are not all successful but we do take different chances or we feel a little more free to try things. The show is developing. I feel like last night, you find new things. Although we just opened on October 12th, and last night, I was like, "Why didn't I think of that on October 11th? I could have been done. Dammit. Why, why?" I think that we're still continuing to find things in a way really it just makes it really joyful.

Josh: By the way, I don't think I could have done this show 10 years ago.

Andrew: No.

Josh: Part of it is the show is so unapologetically insane. Andrew and I have to so pop commit to that insanity. To contextualize what the audience is walking into, each of us plays over a dozen characters. We juggle about 140 hats, trucker hats, and we are doing characterizations that are verging on clinically insane. To be able to pop commit and give specificity to such stupidity and allow the audience to fall in love with that is a really hard challenge and the challenge is making it look easy.

That's the thing that I think we've both learned, and we both bring to this experience now is, it was very funny one of my acting teachers from Carnegie Mellon was there last night.

Andrew: Oh, wow.

Josh: She goes, "What's so brilliant about watching the two of you on stage is how simple you make the complex," and I was like, "Thank you." To answer your question, that's what we've learned. It just feels like we now know how to tackle something this crazy and makeup land in a way that doesn't feel broad while still embracing the broad.

Alison: How does your friendship allow you to make the show, Andrew? What element of friendship? Is it the trust part of it?

Andrew: Be very careful about how you answer.

Alison: Is it the love?

Andrew: It's all of it but it is very much the trust because I tend to mix up little-

Josh: Take me for granted.

Andrew: -I do take Josh for granted. No. I will mix up little things nightly in a way that is frowned upon normally in a show that you really should stick to the plan.

Josh: He was such a bastard last night. He started smiling. Literally, he looked at me as we were singing a song at the beginning of the song. He was so such a prick, he starts laughing, and he knows that once he starts laughing, I'm done. He looked at me and he gave me that impish look in his eyes and I was like, "We're screwed."

Andrew: We're done.

Alison: Oh, we had to dump for that word.

Josh: Really?

Alison: He was such a rascal.

Andrew: He was like, "I'm a rascal."

Alison: He was such a scamp.

Josh: Oh, and PR can't say those names.

Andrew: No, you can't.

Josh: Turn it.

Andrew: Josh, this is why you can't have him back.

Alison: He can come back.

Andrew: Please forgive him.

Alison: He is such a--

Josh: Andrew is a rascal.

Andrew: I am a rascal.

Alison: [laughs] My guests are Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, the name of the show is Gutenberg! The Musical!. Do these guys in the show think they've written a good musical?

Andrew: Absolutely.

Josh: Oh, 100%.

Andrew: Absolutely.

Alison: They're devoted?

Andrew: Yes. They're new fans of musical theater so they're discovering the joy of Broadway and musicals later in their lives and they're very enthusiastic about it.

Josh: [laughs] Their points of references are also pretty wild.

Andrew: I think they're 100%. I think they've written-- [crosstalk]

Josh: One of the funniest things was JJ Abrams, who's one of our producers, he's watching one of our final dress rehearsals and he came up to us and he goes, "What's so shocking is that you start the show, and we're all shaking our heads going this is crazy, and then by the end of it, despite the insanity of the story we're telling, you actually as the audience members start to care about these characters that," not even the two guys, the show within the show.

Alison: Oh, the musical within the musical.

Josh: Where people will come up to us and be like, "I want to see the real Gutenberg," and we're like, "No-

Andrew: I don't think you do. Can't see that.

Josh: -you don't want to see that. That's not something you should ever want to see."

Andrew: No, no, no.

Alison: We have to break for our fundraising drive.

Josh: Can I just say that everybody right now needs to stop what they're doing, take out their credit card, and they need to donate because without NPR, who are we?

Alison: That was very earnest.

Andrew: That's very earnest.

Josh: Andrew, your silence is speaking words.

Andrew: I'm blown away. I'm blown away by your appeal, and thank you, Josh. Thank you for that.

Josh: You're welcome, Andrew. You're welcome, NPR.

Alison: You're listening to All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. My guests in studio are Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells. Their musical is called Gutenberg! The Musical! about two guys, Bud and Doug, who just want to put on a musical. It's in their hearts. It's in their soul. Part of the joy and the fun of it is the meta part, the musical within the musical. Musicals they have that rhythm. It's the opening act. The big gnat says, "This is what the show is about." Then there's always the big barn burner before the intermission, the curtain comes down.

How does that structure apply to, let's start with the actual musical, the Andrew and Josh musical?

Andrew: We use Gutenberg! The Musical! that Bud and Doug have written as the structure for the show, although it does start in an untraditional way in that it's just Josh and I coming out on stage explaining what the show is going to be. We don't kick things off with a big traditional opening number, but then we do get to our big opening number. It's a fun way to explain musicals. Most of our audience, I think, has that knowledge already of like, and this is what an eleven o'clock number is. This is what the end of the first act should be but we literally explain it every step of the way.

This is what a term song is. This is what conflict means. This is called character development. We have also just learned these terms. We are sharing our new knowledge.

Josh: We're very excited to share our new knowledge with the audience.

Alison: Let's listen to that big opening number, the Schlimmer.

Andrew: Oh, boy.

Josh: This is the closest we'll ever get to watching ourselves.

Andrew: It's true.

Bud: [singing] It's nice to live in Medieval Germany

In the beautiful town of Schlimmer

We all get along in perfect harmony

Doug: I'm a beef fat trimmer

Bud: Hey

Doug: The beef comes in all white with fat

It leaves a good bit slimmer

Both: We're just drunks coming home from the bar

In the beautiful town of Schlimmer

Doug: Hey, Gutenberg, ya got any wine?

Bud: You're the wine presser! Tell us where the wine is

Doug: Is it over here?

Bud: It's not over here!

Doug: Hey, guys. Drinking my wine isn't the answer to all your problems

Bud: Yes, it is.

Doug: Yes, drinking your wine is the only thing that makes our terrible lives worth living

Both: Gutenberg

Alison: So many accents.

Andrew: Yet, none of them are German.

Alison: That was my point.

Andrew: The show takes place in Germany.

Josh: By the way, I just want to say I'm sorry to every British listener right now for what you just heard.

Andrew: I know. We do.

Josh: Our characters really do not understand how to do British style.

Andrew: No. When we did our first reading, we did attempt to do some German accents. Then with our director Alex Timbers, Josh and I were talking and we decided it's actually better if no one tries to do a German accent. We just make everyone British and then sometimes, not British at all. Like our, Helvetica is our heroine. She does not really have an accent. Gutenberg is from the valley. It's sort of we just pick and choose.

Alison: Does it change every night or is this in the lock?

Josh: I actually proposed to Andrew that one night we should through West this bad boy and I should play Doug and he should play Bud.

Andrew: Yes, I said, "Learn your own lines first and then we can talk."

Josh: [laughs]

Alison: Speaking of, what is a line that cracks you up that you have a hard time?

Andrew: I can tell you what Josh is. Josh has to announce me towards the end of the show as coming in as the beef fat trimmer. Early on, he got a note about diction and he has taken that note to heart and he overpronounces the words beef fat trimmer with such zest that he cracks himself up. The audience doesn't laugh.

Josh: The audience, they don't laugh. They don't understand what I'm doing but I can't get through it-

Andrew: He can't get through it.

Josh: -because I literally savor every consonant now. I go beef fat trimmer.

Andrew: The audience is like, "What's going on?"

Josh: Andrew, literally you'll see him, his body shake with this--

Andrew: Because I know what's happening.

Josh: He's turned away from the audience and you'll just see shoulders shaking and then I'm done.

Andrew: I get the benefit of being able to turn up stage. Josh has to look at the audience and do that.

Josh: They're like, "Why is he laughing right now?"

Alison: Because we're learning so much about how musicals are made and how they're structured, what is something you think that this show is actually spot on about musicals?

Andrew: That's a good question. I think that heart of it, I think that that audiences will get on board with a seemingly absurd idea or just an obscure idea for a musical. I think, obviously, Hamilton is a great example of this, that like I think if you go back and you watch that clip of Lynn performing at the White House years before that show-

Alison: Oh, that show.

Andrew: -and that you hear the audience laugh, you hear all that whole room laugh about the absurdity of writing a musical about Alexander Hamilton. I think there's a lot of examples. I think, probably going back to Les Misérables, the idea of musicalizing that probably seemed absurd and yet when it's done well, audiences will get-- Grey Gardens is another great example of that. That's a crazy--

Josh: I agree. I also think it's a funny thing. It's the same thing we had with Book of Mormon, where these are both satirists who are taking the conceit of what a musical can be and applying comedy to that. Yet they're all actual students of musicals. Trey and Matt-

Andrew: Oh, yes.

Josh: -were so well-versed in traditional musicals, which is why their songs are so good. The same can be said for Anthony and Scott. These guys were obsessed with musicals. The songs themselves are earworms and actually the lyrics are so damn funny, but they're also really good. It's not just a spoof of musicals. It's actually really trying to earn its bona fides as a musical.

Alison: Let's talk about the hats. You said about 140 hats. Give or take a hat. How do you keep track of them? Have you mixed up a hat?

Andrew: Yes. Some hats have gotten mixed up, but we are very lucky that we have a fantastic dresser, Alex Bartlett, and we have a wonderful stage management team that is in charge of the hats. If the hats were left up to Josh and I, it would be a mess.

Josh: Wait, what happened the other day when--

Andrew: We'll talk about it later. We have somebody else organize these hats for us and we just trust that they're in the right place. I would say 99.9% of the time.

Josh: The other day was not. I started getting laughed at and I didn't understand what was happening.

Andrew: I'll tell our listeners. That was human error. I watched you put on the wrong hat as the rest of the audience did. That's part of the fun is that sometimes-

Josh: And you just let me.

Andrew: I did because sometimes you got to teach a man to fish.

Josh: Was it set the wrong way or did I do so?

Andrew: I think you did it. Damn it, sorry.

Alison: By the way, someone just tweeted at us, Josh Gad plugging in a membership drive. I'm cackling. [crosstalk]

Josh: Oh, that's not what I want you to do. I don't want you to cackle. I want you to cackle all your way to your purse. Get that wallet up, babe.

Andrew: Yes.

Alison: Thank you.

Josh: Cackle your way to Apple Pay.

Alison: There you go. Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells are with me in studio. The name of the show is Gutenberg! The Musical! What do you appreciate about just silly humor?

Andrew: In this show that it's allowed and not only allowed but celebrated, it's nice-- Look, I, as an actor, you love to get to do things that you really get to sink your teeth into. Actors love to pretend to cry. That's super fun, but also, it's fun to not have to do that. It's really nice to get to go to work and just be silly and get to be fun and try to make people laugh. There's just a real joy to that. I certainly feel it in our theater every night backstage and in the audience that, like it's fun to get to do something that's fun.

Josh: I also think the state of the world is one that actually like people so desperately want escapism right now. It's so interesting to see that relief just overwhelm the audiences. They come in after just slogging through the news all day. They're just overwhelmed by the sheer joy and pleasure of something that is uncynical, something that's just about pure optimism and joy. That's refreshing right now. I think people so desperately need that and don't even know how much they need it.

Alison: All right. I'm going to ask a hard question and bring it down, and then I'm going to bring it back up.

Josh: Great. I love the calm before the storm.

Alison: Okay. I went to see it about 10 days ago with my best friend Scooter, who had seen it early, early on. There is a moment in the show when there's a joke about anti-Semitism. When I saw it, the laughed was tepid. I asked [unintelligible 00:30:43], "Was it not like that three and a half weeks ago?" He goes, "No, it was a big laugh."

Josh: A gigantic laugh.

Alison: Yes. I'm wondering, did you have any conversations about that?

Josh: We did.

Andrew: Yes. It's part of the convenience of getting to do a live show, is that we can make changes to it. We're not, and our writers, we're not beholden to whatever we did. Obviously, we made some changes to that section of the show, which is a pretty brief section of the show. It certainly needed to be addressed, and our writers, [crosstalk] Scott Brown and Anthony King.

Josh: Brilliantly gave us--

Andrew: Yes, they addressed it, and within the course of one night, we made those adjustments, and we got back to a place where--

Josh: You have to come back and see it again.

Andrew: The audience. I think that we've avoided a lot of discomfort that, especially right now, that language it's not funny, so why do it? There's no reason to do it.

Josh: Yes. It's so incredible having such a collaborative group who is willing to pull their sleeves up and adapt to the ever-changing news cycle. Sometimes if the show is right, it's great to do commentary. Sometimes it's like, "Okay, we can avoid this and still be funny." We're navigating that, and it's been really interesting to see the audience now kind of be accepting of the language and embrace what we're doing.

Andrew: We're talking about the difference of a handful of words. It really does make a huge impact.

Alison: Wasn't it Mark Twain who said the difference between lightning and lightning bug is one word.

Josh: Yes, it's true.

Andrew: Yes.

Alison: My guests are Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, we're talking about Gutenberg! The Musical!

Josh: I said yes, if I knew that quote, but I've never heard that before. I just want it for the record.

Alison: Yes, it's true. I appreciate it. Thank you for the support, really.

Josh: My favorite Mark Twain quote is the--

Andrew: Oh, brother.

Josh: Excuse me.

Andrew: Go ahead.

Josh: The coldest winter I've ever spent-

Andrew: Oh boy.

Josh: -is summer in San Francisco and it's so true.

Andrew: Yes. Did he actually say that? I thought that was disproven.

Josh: I hope not because I've been attributing it to him for a long time, and now I did it on NPR.

Alison: There will be callers.

Andrew: Please call in.

Alison: There're likely will be a Mark Twain scholar who's listening right now. Just so you know.

Andrew: If there is someone, yes--

Josh: "Hi, this is Mark Twain's great-grandson. I did not appreciate Josh attributing that misquote to my great-granddad."

Alison: You guys are on stage by yourself. The whole show. I'm not going to give to away a surprise. There's a third person who comes on stage, and it's a guest star. A celebrity. It is Marcia Gay Harden in the day.

Josh: Oh, great one.

Alison: That was a good one, and people, if they go to your Instagram, they can see. Was it last night was Josh Groban?

Josh: No, Tuesday night.

Andrew: Tuesday night.

Alison: Tuesday night, Josh Groban, came on, and then it's on your Instagram. It's so funny because then Leslie Odom Jr. starts the commenting, and you guys all went to school together.

Josh: Me, Josh and Leslie were all in the same class.

Alison: It's just funny. It's almost like a little dorm room action happening. It's on Instagram.

Josh: It's so crazy that the three of us are headlining Broadway shows right now. It's wild.

Andrew: Strangely, Annaleigh Ashford and I went to the same school, not at the same time. Outside of our theaters, there's a poster of Josh Groban, and Annaleigh Ashford, and Sweeney Todd, and me and Josh Gad and Gutenberg. This is just funny that the people that you never thought when you meet when you're 19 would still be in your lives.

Josh: It's a beautiful thing, and it's so crazy because I shared the stage with these guys when I was 18 years old. Then even briefly sharing the stage with them again in the case of Josh Groban, Leslie and also Rory O'Malley, who's one of my close friends and was in my class. All of them have done this guest star in our show. It's been amazing to come full circle.

Alison: All right. Leslie's going to be on the show tomorrow.

Josh: Oh, yes.

Alison: What should I ask him?

Josh: To plug NPR and make sure that he does as good of a job as I did.

Andrew: Yes. He needs to do an appeal, obviously. I want to know what Leslie's warm-up is.

Josh: Oh, yes.

Andrew: I'll be curious.

Alison: His warm-up. Okay.

Andrew: Although now he's doing a play, so it's probably a little different. When I briefly was in Hamilton with him. I remember really enjoying his vocal warm-up every time.

Josh: Was he warming up to my songs like In Summer?

Andrew: He was not. He did a much more serious warm-up.

Josh: Oh.

Alison: What was the name of your dorm? Do you remember?

Josh: Oh, yeah. I totally remember. I was in Hamerschlag.

Alison: Hamerschlag?

Josh: Yes.

Alison: All right. I'll just drop Hamerschlag into the conversation and he will know?

Josh: Yes, it's a tough name for a tough dorm.

Andrew: It's a tough one. Sounds like something out of a Stephen King novel.

Josh: It was a tough dorm.

Andrew: It's a tough musical theater dorm.

Alison: You were ruffs. Ruffs and tuff and-- [crosstalk]

Josh: Of ruffians and hammer--

Andrew: A lot of musical theater. Hazing going on in there, bro.

Alison: Who is someone you'd like to see be that guest? Put it out into the world.

Josh: Oh, Billy Joel. I want Billy Joel.

Andrew: Oh, that's a good one.

Josh: There's this weird obsession with Billy Joel in the show. Also, Timothée Chalamet. Those are the two.

Andrew: That'd be good. I want to vote for--

Josh: Vote? This isn't a democracy.

Andrew: Yes. People can call in Hugh Jackman. You know who I want to have come, just because it'd be such a weird twist?

Josh: Who?

Andrew: Is Jessica Lang? Jessica Lang's going to be doing a show on Broadway this spring. I feel if she's in town, we got to get her up on this stage.

Josh: Oh yes, let's do it.

Alison: All right. We put it out into the world. The name of the show is Gutenberg! The Musical!. My guests have been Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells. First of all, thank you so much for being here for the whole hour. You're really supporting us during our pledge drive.

Josh: Well, thank you for having us.

Alison: Really appreciate it.

Josh: If you listeners don't pledge today, then I don't know what to say to you anymore.

Andrew: Thank you, Josh. That was-

Josh: You're welcome.

Andrew: -very sounded really authoritative. It was really great.

Josh: Thank you.

Alison: Thank you.

 

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