"The Producers" Still Flaunts It

Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan; music and lyrics by Mel Brooks; direction and choreography recreated by Bill Burns; original direction and choreography by Susan Stroman; musical direction by Dale Rieling; scenic design by Campbell Baird; lighting design by Jack Mehler; sound design by John A. Stone; costumes based on the original designs by William Ivey Long; costumes provided by Costume World Theatrical; hair and wig design by Gerard Kelly

Cast: Max Bialystock, Scott Davidson; Leo Bloom, Jim Stanek; Franz Liebkind, Patrick Wetzel; Carmen Ghia, Fred Berman; Roger De Bris, Stuart Marland; Ulla, Amy Bodnar; Usherettes, Gail Bennett, Shari Jordan; Hold-me Touch-me, Madeleine Doherty; Mr. Marks, Kevin, Jason Green, Sergeant, Trustee, Joel Briel; Bryan, Jack Lepidus, Judge, Tim Falter; Scott, Donald Dinsmore, Guard, Kyle Brown; Shirley, Foreman of Jury, Valerie Fagan; Sabu, O'Reilly, Jameson Cooper; Lead Tenor, Robin Lewis; O'Rourke, Bailiff, Noah Aberlin; O'Houlihan, C. K. Edwards

Performances: Now through June 1, North Shore Music Theatre, 62 Dunham Rd., Beverly, Mass.
Box Office: 978-232-7200 or www.nsmt.org

After seeing the horror that was Young Frankenstein a few months ago, I truly wondered if a return visit to its Broadway predecessor The Producers would be a disappointment. Would the patented Mel Brooks vaudeville comedy that took me by gleeful surprise in Susan Stroman's inspired original production now seem pale and worn on second viewing?

Happily, the painful memory of the schlock and stock monster musical that for me was anything but alive did nothing to taint my enjoyment of the clever songs, absurd characters, and wildly irreverent humor that earned The Producers an unprecedented 12 Tony Awards in 2001. Currently receiving its New England regional theatre premiere at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass., The Producers acquits itself as a keeper.

No stereotype is left unscathed in this story of a failed Broadway producer (Max Bialystock) and his reluctant accountant (Leo Bloom) who scheme to get rich quick by selling 10 times too many shares in a show they plan to turn into the biggest flop in Broadway history. Their efforts to find and produce the worst musical ever bring them in partnership with a paranoid and impulsively sadistic German playwright (Franz Liebkind), a cross-dressing director (Roger De Bris) and his entourage of artistically challenged and unabashedly flaming friends, an air-brained and untalented Swedish sex pot (Ulla) who becomes the team's receptionist and female lead, and a chorus of geriatric dancing dowagers who are more than willing to turn over their checkbooks in exchange for "services" turned over on Bialy's casting couch.

Most of Brooks' and Stroman's high-spirited hijinks are in tact in this NSMT production. Original staging and dance routines have been recreated by Bill Burns, and original costumes have been duplicated right down to the strutting choreographer's impossible-to-miss codpiece. What is missing, however – and the absence is regrettable – are the knock-out, over-the-top, bravura sight gags made possible only on a proscenium stage.

The tight circular stage at North Shore's theater in-the-round robs Stroman's show-stopping production numbers of their laugh-out-loud spectacle. Leo's breakout fantasy number "I Wanna Be a Producer" lacks the Busby Berkeley razzle dazzle of a huge synchronized tap dancing chorus. The octogenarian ensemble number "Along Came Bialy" loses some of its impact because of the reduced number of chorines wildly wielding walkers. "Springtime for Hitler" suffers because the final, hilarious, jaw-droppingly tasteless Storm Troopers dance formation originally revealed to the audience by a massive upstage A Chorus Line-style mirror is barely discernible, even to one who knows it's coming. For those new to The Producers, these omissions might not matter. But part of the delirium sparked by the original came from seeing the look on Max and Leo's face when they first entered Roger De Bris' fantastically feminine apartment in "Keep It Gay." Ditto their astonishment when they see what Ulla has done to Max's dank and dusty office at the top of Act II. Is the show still funny for neophytes despite the diminished production values? Absolutely. Is it roll-in-the-aisles hilarious? Not so much.

Leading men Scott Davidson as Bialystock and Jim Stanek as Bloom (Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick on Broadway) have colossal shoes to fill, and for the most part their dysfunctional father-son chemistry and game efforts keep the show moving at a brisk pace. However, as the egotistically overbearing and conniving producer, Davidson is more peevish than manic, and Stanek frequently upstages him with his twittering, neurotic, boyish vulnerability and nerdy charm. Their all important comic timing also comes and goes, especially in their scenes with Ulla, who is played too stiffly by Amy Bodnar.

More often than not Davidson and Stanek have the show stolen right out from under them by their wonderfully wild and wacky supporting cast. Patrick Wetzel is a fully committed – and completely committable – hop clopping, Hitler-loving Franz Liebkind. Fred Berman is nearly acrobatic as the hip-swishing, finger-snapping Carmen Ghia. And Stuart Marland, reprising his role of Roger De Bris from his two-year stint on the national tour, positively shimmers whether sporting sequins or the Führer's trademark toothbrush moustache.

The Producers is Mel Brooks at his cleverly offensive best, and the current production at NSMT walks the tightrope of being a hit about a flop that becomes a hit with joyful ease. So check your inhibitions at the door. Even without little old ladies handing over millions to new Artistic Director and Executive Producer Barry Ivan, North Shore can still put on a pretty darn good show.

PHOTOS by Paul Lyden: Jim Stanek as Leo Bloom and Scott Davidson as Max Bialystock; Patrick Wetzel as Franz Liebkind and Scott Davidson; Stuart Marland as Roger De Bris

 

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