In 2001, Tamara and I were fortunate enough to see Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick on Broadway in THE PRODUCERS. Until "The Book of Mormon"more than a decade later, its the hardest I've ever laughed in a theatre.
Lane and Broderick nailed it. It was an impossible ticket and a terrific experience.
in 2005, Writer & Creator Mel Brooks teamed up with the director of the stage musical, Susan Stroman for a filmed version.
Brooks and Stroman smartly added some real star power in supporting roles and the result is a hilarious film that we could watch again and again.
Lane is Max Bialystock, a down on his luck schlock Broadway producer who teams with accountant Leo Bloom to produce the worst musical ever seen.
It HAS to close in one night as they have collected 100 times more money than the show costs from investors.
Based on the classic non-musical film version with Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, I've always liked this version even better.
Brooks writes funny and enjoyable songs that stick in your head, somehow sending up traditional theatre songs while executing them at a high level.
The play they pick that's sure to fail is "Springtime for Hitler" a singing dancing ode to the Fuehrer that's drop dead funny thanks to Gary Beach as Roger DeBris, the gayest theatre director of all time and his loyal assistant Carmen Ghia, played to absolute perfection by Roger Bart, who we later saw on Broadway as the mad doctor in Brooks' musical version of "Young Frankenstein" an underrated and hilarious musical stage version of the film.
Add Uma Thurman as their loyal assistant Ula, Will Ferrell as the Nazi creator of the godawful play, Jon Lovitz as the worst boss of all time and a troup of excellent theatre actors and you have this hilarious cocktail.
Lane and Broderick played these roles on Broadway for over a year to sold out houses and they know where every laugh is down to the slightest pause.
Filled with now classic songs and offensive dialogue and songs of every flavor, THE PRODUCERS is a blast.
If you are sensitive and politically correct, skip it. Brooks pulls no more punches than he did in "Blazing Saddles" and is sure to offend the weak of spine and wit-challenged (thankfully!).
A bomb at the box office, it couldn't translate its stage success to the movie theatre, but for fans like us, it's a fantastic filmed memory of one of the funniest stage musicals ever produced.
If you're not laughing when Roger Debris (Beach) takes the stage to play Hitler opening night, you might be devoid of a funny bone in your body.
Hilarious, outrageous, offensive and perfectly executed by Lane and Broderick, THE PRODUCERS is pitch perfect and gets an A.
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