The Producers

Mel Brooks’s 1968 film The Producers frequently features on different ‘greatest’ lists for films. Brooks rewrote it into a stage musical in 2001.

To the uninitiated, the plot follows the scheme of two men, Max Bialystock (a washed-up Broadway producer) and Leo Bloom (a timid accountant), as they set out to produce a Broadway musical called Springtime for Hitler. By producing a tasteless musical, they hope to create a disaster that will close on opening night, allowing them to pocket a cool $2 million.

The production will do anything and stoop to any level for a laugh, no matter how crass. And make no mistake: there are many crass and tasteless moments. But that’s part of the fun: this is a play that doesn’t take itself seriously. How can it, when fundraising is down to sleeping with old women to obtain cheques and pigeons wear swastikas and give Nazi salutes?

There isn’t a weak link in the production. It’s well staged and designed (with lots of wonderful visual gags hidden in the staging, set and lights). And it contains wonderful performances, especially by its two leads. Joe Pasquale makes a great Leo Bloom, capturing a naïve meekness that’s both touching and hilarious. But it is Cory English who takes the production by storm. Max Bialystock has usually been played by a celebrity, but within five minutes it became impossible to see anyone matching English’s work. He gives a performance that is nothing short of a comedic tour de force.

The unsung hero of this production is its director, Susan Stroman. Though the musical is billed as a Mel Brooks production, he only wrote the script and songs. Stroman has had the task of creating a production that fits into the zany world depicted in Brooks’s films while being a polished musical production. That this fits comfortably in both camps is solely down to her hard work.

For fans of Mel Brooks films, there is an additional double-edged sword. On the positive, the musical is loaded with references to other Brooks films. On the slightly negative, however, is the fact that one can’t shake the memory of Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, the original film’s stars. As fantastic as English and Pasquale are, they don’t quite manage to capture the same brilliance seen in the original film. English makes the role of Bialystock his own, but he doesn’t quite measure to Mostel’s crazed drive for cash, and Pasquale doesn’t deliver the same pathetic sincerity that Wilder gave to the role of Bloom.

But that is really unfair, because this production isn’t trying to outdo the original. This musical is its own monster, and it is simply one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I can’t think of a time I’ve heard an audience laugh as loudly and as frequently as on the night I saw it. Unless you are easily offended, you should make sure you catch it while it’s in Glasgow, as this is the only time this production is scheduled to appear in Scotland.