The Producers

As I noted in the previous post, I wasn’t feeling so great this weekend, fighting off a pretty bad cold where my every nerve ending was crying out to just stay in bed.

But life has other plans. About 4 weeks prior, I bought tickets to see a play. 

It had been awhile since I took the family out to see a play on stage. So I was rather excited to see the Community Theater of Greensboro (CTG) was putting on a production of The Producers. 

I’ve seen the original 1967 movie The Producers from Mel Brooks about Max Bialystock, a washed-up, greedy Broadway producer and Leopold "Leo" Bloom, a highly nervous  accountant who enter into a scheme based on the premise that they can make a lot more money with a flop than a hit by overselling shares in the production.

Mel Brooks adapted the film into an acclaimed Broadway stage musical (winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards) which opened on April 19, 2001 which was in turn made into a movie in 2005.

I’ve never seen the play or the 2005 movie based on the play so this production of The Producers struck me as a wonderful opportunity to check it out, getting us out of the Fortress of Ineptitude into a theater to see a live production.  

So the day I have tickets for, I’m not feeling well.  Of course.  

So we head for downtown Greensboro which seems uncommonly busy. Randie pointedly reminds us that is Cinco De Mayo which I guess accounts for all the partiers. It also accounts for all the parking near the theater being taken. We wind up in a parking deck about 10 blocks away with barely 15 minutes to make the start of the show.

On our way down the street towards the theater, there is a group of black men in robes who seem to be protesting something. I’m not sure what they're upset about but we pass without incident. We scramble into the theater with no time to spare.

One more thing: normally CTG productions are put on in a venerable institution known as the Carolina Theater, a century old facility with high vaulted ceilings and crystal chandeliers, crimson draperies and gold furnishings. It is quite a classic theater setting and perfect for putting on a production of an acclaimed Broadway stage musical.

But no. This production was in a smaller theater that seats maybe 100 people, I guess? It is, to be fair, a perfectly lovely and intimate setting but perhaps a bit too intimate for a big, bawdy, colorful spectacle of a show that The Producers was supposed to be.

The show gets underway and it is amazing. All the actors jump into their roles with energy and enthusiasm. They’re having fun up there and it shows and it is infectious.  The men cast as Bialystock and Bloom are both dynamic performers, expressive actors with great singing voices. 

In the original movie and the subsequent play, Max Bialystock is an older, stocky individual. There are lines in the play that reference Max as being fat. The guy cast as Bialystock is young and thin so it’s a bit of a disconnect. Still, Bialystock’s actor is so charming and entertaining in the role, I really didn’t care.

There are a few musical numbers that might be too big for the room but the production is not severely limited by the intimate space. Even the big epic production number that comes halfway through the 2^nd act.

In order to guarantee their show will be a flop, Bialystock and Bloom have secured the worst actors directed by the worst director to perform the worst script they could find: Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden. It is "a love letter to Hitler" written in total sincerity by a deranged ex-Nazi.

Oh yeah, this has flop written all over it.

Which brings us to Springtime For Hitler which originated in the 1967 film, an epic musical spectacular led by a jack booted Gestapo and surrounded by luscious showgirls of epic Aryan stature. It is a travesty against all that is good and decent and one of my all-time favorite show tunes. The sheer absurdity of such a song bursting with such wonderful joy about, well, Hitler, it’s hard to resist.

Clickhere for a video on You Tube with John Barrowman taking the lead on Springtime For Hitler. 

Then… Hitler shows up. And suddenly, things start to go right for Springtime For Hitler which means things start to go wrong Bialystock and Bloom.   

The gay, camp performance of Hitler convinces the critics that Springtime For Hitler is a brilliant satire. For the first time in a long time, Max Bialystock is getting the best reviews of his career. 

Which means Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom are as doomed as doomed can be.

All in all, The Producers was a fun experience that almost made me forget about my cold.