‘Producers’ a perfect ode to Mel

Tom Titus

With nothing really cooking, theaterwise, in Surf City last weekend,

I elected to check out the opening weekend of “The Producers” at the

Pantages Theater in Hollywood (OK, I’ve had a ticket since Christmas,

a gift from my daughter, who knows what a big kick I get out of the

old Mel Brooks movies.)

Admittedly, my sense of humor runs toward the outlandish -- I just

directed a pair of Christopher Durang plays that might have gotten me

lynched in some circles not that many years ago. And I’ve always been

particularly appreciative of Mel Brooks’ brand of cinematic

silliness, from “Blazing Saddles” through “Young Frankenstein,” “High

Anxiety,” “Silent Movie,” “Spaceballs” and the one both my now-grown

kids probably know by heart, “History of the World, Part I.”

Before all these flicks, however, came “The Producers,” the movie

that made Mel, and which won him his only Oscar (for original

screenplay.)

“The Producers” premise was simple: Put on a Broadway show that’s

so bad it won’t have a second night -- and live in luxury on the

backers’ investments.

And what more obviously offensive title (especially in New York)

than “Springtime for Hitler”? How many patrons would even stay for

the second act after watching Der Fuhrer prance around the stage,

musically plotting world domination?

The 1968 movie had some inspired casting -- Zero Mostel as the

producer who romances little old ladies to extricate them from their

checkbooks, Gene Wilder (a relative newcomer then) as the

mild-mannered accountant who becomes his wary partner, Kenneth Mars

as the goofy, Nazified playwright and Dick Shawn as the hambone actor

who brings Mars’ hero to life, after a fashion.

Why it took Brooks two dozen years to hit on the idea of making

“The Producers” a Broadway musical is anybody’s guess. When he

finally did -- with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick assuming the

Mostel and Wilder assignments, respectively -- the show hit the Great

White Way like a tornado, shattering box office records, garnering

rave reviews and collecting a plethora of Tony awards.

Now “The Producers” has arrived on the West Coast, with Jason

Alexander and Martin Short heading the cast, at a tariff only a few

bucks less than the New York version. Local playgoers with more

patience than ready cash, however, can circle August 2004 when the

show makes its way to the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Both Alexander and Short are, as expected, hilarious in the Los

Angles production, and the presence of Angie Schworer from the

original cast as the statuesque Swede Ulla is the proverbial cherry

atop this delicious sundae of a musical. Gary Beach, a memorable

Thernardier from the first West Coast production of “Les Miserables “

some 15 years ago, also excels as the cross-dressing director and

ultimate star of “Springtime for Hitler” (combining two roles into

one.)

“The Producers” also tips its hat to some of the old Mel Brooks

movies. Alexander’s line “It’s good to be the king” is lifted from

“History of the World, Part I,” a reference to the “Hitler”

playwright as a “Teutonic twit” recalls a similar admonition from

“Blazing Saddles” and the “walk this way” bit has been used in nearly

all of Brooks’ movie comedies.

The “fourth wall,” if not actually broken, is bent. An

incarcerated Alexander reaps the loudest and longest laugh of the

night as he muses about the audience’s reaction at intermission:

“Well, he’s good, but he’s no Nathan Lane.”

I never saw Lane play Max Bialystock, but I doubt if even he could

have been funnier, or more manically energetic, than Jason Alexander.

It’s a pricey show, but the audience gets its money’s worth both in

comedy and in musical spectacle.

It’s easy to see why “The Producers” knocked ‘em dead on Broadway.

It’s probably due for an equally prestigious run at the Pantages, and

will be an eagerly awaited attraction at the Center a year from

August.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.