[NEohioPAL] Review of "The Producers" at Beck Center for the Arts

[Bob Abelman]

Beck's 'The Producers' keeps it happy, snappy, gay

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the Times papers 7/22/10

The all-seeing eye that appears on the back of the dollar bill is the universal symbol for spiritual vision. The skull with crossbones on a bleach bottle is the universal symbol for poison.  The universal symbol for uproariously funny is Mel Brooks' name in the production credits.

 

With his humor honed in the late-night cocktail lounges of Borsch Belt hotels and on 1950s TV, Mr. Brooks' comic sensibility leans toward the sophomoric.  His material unapologetically exploits stereotypes and is blatantly offensive, yet it is so obviously tied to a puerile punch line you can see coming a mile away that it is rendered harmless and hilarious upon impact.

 

The Producers, currently in production at the Beck Center for the Arts until August 22, is Mel Brooks' biggest success.  It opened on Broadway in 2001 as the staged musical comedy version of the 1968 film of the same name and became its own film in 2005. 

 

With the book, music and lyrics all written by Mr. Brooks, theater goers should heed the universal symbol and proceed with caution.  There's laughter ahead at everyone's expense.

 

The story revolves around an unscrupulous Broadway producer and his naïve accomplice, who build themselves a guaranteed flop-a musical called Springtime for Hitler that features goose stepping showgirls and lovable Nazis-so they can pocket their investors' money.      

 

Producer Max Bialystock is the fallen King of Broadway, riding an endless stream of monumental failures with manic desperation.  His counterpart, Leo Bloom, is a walking anxiety attack with the dream of quitting accounting and becoming a Broadway producer. 

 

In the Beck Center production, director Scott Spence captures all that is wonderfully irreverent in this musical and wisely sticks close to the original production for inspiration.  It is hard to argue with 12 Tony Awards.  

 

The casting could not be better.  In his portrayal of Max, Mark Hefferman channels the manic tendencies of Zero Mostel from the first film, owns the stage like Nathan Lane from the original Broadway production (and second film), and adds his own comic flair to Max's big and boisterous personality.  He also brings a real humanity to the role, which is an unexpected and welcome addition.

 

Brandon Isner is superb as Leo. Although he is tentative and a bit vanilla out of the gate, he finds his character's voice during the "I Wanna Be a Producer" number and never turns back.  A delightful singer and dancer, Mr. Isner proves himself to be Mr. Hefferman's equal partner although Leo does not become Max's until the end of the play.

 

This number also showcases Beck Center's go-to-guy in heels, Zac Hudak, as the featured and least attractive showgirl.

 

Supporting roles in most Mel Brooks productions are little more than one-dimensional characters, but they are all built for huge laughs in The Producers.

 

As renowned cross-dressing theater director Roger DeBris, Kevin Joseph Kelly doesn't just savor his moments on stage. He devours them and is nothing less than remarkable.  The "Keep it Gay" number, which presents Roger's recommendation for staging the musical (and every musical, for that matter), is a show-stopper.  It also highlights the talents of a very strong ensemble.  

 

Chris Richards as DeBris' common-law assistant, Carmen Ghia, matches Mr. Kelly's flamboyance swish for swish and is delightful.  Also superb is the multi-talented Betsy Kahl as Bialystock and Bloom's sexy Swedish secretary, Ulla, and Gilgamesh Taggert as Franz Liebkind, Springtime's fascist but fun loving playwright.  

 

The score in The Producers, much like the score in Mr. Brooks' other film-to-stage musical Young Frankenstein, is quite forgettable.  It is, however, well delivered by Larry Goodpaster and his orchestra, and nicely accompanies the much more memorable production numbers.

 

Choreographer Mary Ann Black and set designer Ben Needham demonstrate their skills in every self-consciously lavish and intentionally overproduced number in this show, all of which bare the indelible mark of the show's original director/choreographer Susan Stroman.  Less impressive or, perhaps, given less attention are the first two musical numbers of the show, "Opening Night" and "The King of Broadway." 

 

Mel Brooks' humor works because he happens to love what he lampoons.  This is particularly evident in The Producers.  The same can be said for the Beck Center production of it.  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20100722/69f380a9/attachment-0003.htm>