Mel Brooks, who co-authored the script for the musical, ‘THE PRODUCERS,’ is
noted as an off-the-wall, hysterically funny film director, screenwriter,
composer, lyricist, comedian, actor, and producer. He is one of the few
artists who has received an Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy. Among his zany
works is The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000 with Carl Reiner. He was a
comedy writer for Your Show of Shows, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and The Steve
Allen Show. His list of movie, TV and stage shows is endless. This is one
talented man.
Brook’s first feature film was the satire, The Producers, a dark comedy.
Because the major production number was entitled “Springtime for Hitler,”
studios wouldn’t touch it. He finally found an independent company which
released it as an art film. It went on to win an Oscar for Best Original
Screenplay and became a cult hit. Brooks later turned the script into a
musical, which became hugely successful on Broadway, receiving twelve Tony
awards. It is this script which is now being presented at the Beck Center for
the Arts.
‘THE PRODUCERS’ centers on a theatrical producer (Max Bialystock), noted for his
many flops who, along with a nebbish accountant (Leo Bloom), schemes to collect
an enormous amount of money, produce a flop, steal the money and fly off to
Rio. Unfortunately, their ‘SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER’ becomes a hit and they wind
up in trouble with the law. This is not before Bloom falls in love with the
curvaceous Ulla, a group of old ladies perform a dance using walkers, a coop of
pigeons do the “sieg heil,” and ridiculous accents, caricatures of homosexuals
and Nazis are presented.
The musical takes much of its format and humor from the film, but deviates
enough so that it becomes its own entity. It is much more upbeat and doesn’t
have the flick’s darker side.
The original production opened on Broadway on April 19, 2001, starring Nathan
Lane and Matthew Broderick, and ran for 2,502 performances.
Judging from the reaction of the nearly sold out Sunday matinee audience I
attended, the Beck production, under the directorship of Scott Spence, delights.
This, in spite of the fact, that some of the characterizations were slightly
off and laugh lines were lost due to timing and nuance issues.
Mark Heffernan physically fits the role of Bialystock. He has a fine singing
voice but lacks the comic timing and development of the shtick that is needed to
fully flesh out the conniving producer. His “Betrayed” was well done, but “The
King of Old Broadway” was emotionally flat. Brandon Isner, as Bloom, has a
well-tuned singing voice but could have been more neurotic at the start so that
we see a more drastic change as he “matures.” His “I Wanna Be a Producer”
needed a harder sell, a more exciting presence. Both men need to grow into
their roles, be more spontaneous and react, rather than act. They feign rather
than are.
Betsy Kahl has the physical attributes for Ulla, but her accent keeps coming and
going, especially when she is singing. Her “When You’ve Got It, Flaunt It”
lacked the necessary overdone sexiness.
Kevin Joseph Kelly displays a big voice and personality as Roger DeBris, the fey
director. His “Keep It Gay” was cleverly conceived and well done. Gilgamesh
Taggett was properly overboard as Franz, the pro-Nazi. His “In Old Bavaria” was
well done.
“Springtime for Hitler” should be a hysterical show stopper. As is, it was
entertaining, but could have been so, so much more outlandish and fun.
The show moves quickly along, aided by well-timed set changes and May Ann
Black’s nicely conceived choreography as performed by the huge but sometime
laboring cast. Larry Goodpaster’s peppy orchestra does a nice job of playing
and not overshadowing and drowning out the singers.
CAPSULE JUDGEMENT: Beck’s ‘THE PRODUCERS’ gets lots of laughs, though it misses
some others. This show should be a total romp. When the cast settles in and
stops begging for laughs and lets Brook’s natural humor and ridiculousness come
through, the show should be even more pleasing.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Roy Berko. Berko’s blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 2009, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info. His reviews can also be found on NeOHIOpal and CoolCleveland.com.Roy Berko, who is a life-long Clevelander, is a Renaissance man. Believing the line in Robert Frost’s poem “Road Not Taken,” each time he comes to a fork in the road, he has taken the path less traveled. He holds degrees, thought the doctorate from Kent State, Univeristy of Michigan and The Pennsylvania State University. His present roles, besides husband and grandfather, are professor, crisis counselor, author and entertainment reviewer… Read Roy Berko’s complete bio here