Go See 'The Producers'

by Marchelle Hammack

Run, run, run to your computer, log onto www.musical.org and order tickets immediately for Musical Theatre West’s production of “The Producers.” This is the last weekend of their run and hopefully they are not sold out because this may be one of the funniest shows you will ever see in your life. God knows we need some laughs right now and Mel Brooks’ stage adaptation of his film of the same name is gut-bustlingly hilarious.

Only a comic of the Jewish persuasion such as Mr. Brooks could get away with doing a musical satire of Hitler.

To wit: Once celebrated Broadway producer Max Bialystock (played by the brilliant Michael Kostroff) is on a losing streak. When milquetoast accountant Leo Bloom (the excellent Larry Raben) audits Max’s last ill-fated production, Bloom makes an offhand remark about how easy it would be to make money on a losing production if you raised more money than you needed to put it on. Bloom’s deeply buried fantasy of being a Broadway impresario is nurtured by the nefarious but zany veteran producer.

Ergo: Springtime for Hitler, a sure-fire bomb of a musical written by a former Nazi named Franz Liebkind (the amusing Nick Santa Maria) still in love with der fuehrer. The two producers now look for the very worst director they can find: the flamboyant Roger DeBris (MTW favorite-for-good-reason David Engel). Show-stopping, scene-stealing Michael Paternostro plays the director’s secretary and life partner Carmen Ghia. His exits leave Seinfeld’s Kramer’s entrances in the dust. Nobody does it better.

And last (and definitely not least) of the main players is the very tall and very deeply accented Swedish bombshell actress/secretary/housekeeper Ulla, played with ecstatically dead-on comic instincts by Sarah Cornell.

What a cast! The crazy comic zingers fly through this show like cupid’s arrows straight for our funny bones. Ouch! So funny it hurts. So funny we got off our behinds for a deserved standing ovation. Yeah – when’s the last time you saw that happen rather than a standing evacuation?

Big congratulations to everyone involved. Mel Brooks was also responsible for music and lyrics with help on the book by Thomas Meehan. The ensemble is wonderful. Director Steven Glaudini, Musical Director Daniel Thomas and Choreographer Matthew J. Vargo and, of course, Paul Garman, executive director/producer have pulled off another great production.

I am telling you, you’ll be kicking yourself if you miss this.