Walnut Street Theater's THE PRODUCERS

It's "Springtime for Hitler" and all his outrageous cohorts in the new production of The Producers now playing at the Walnut Street Theater and directed by Marc Robin. 

The Producers is based on the 1968 Mel Brooks comedy film classic which starred Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder.  Down on his luck Broadway producer Max Bialystock (Ben Lipitz) and his insecure, unhappy account Leo Bloom (Ben Dibble) decide to pool their desperation with a scheme to produce a dreadful Broadway flop musical and cash in on the investors generosity. Sounds all too familiar these days doesn't it? The plan backfires when the dreadful disaster of a show explodes with rave reviews and sends the producers into a tailspin.

The Producers original Broadway run starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick garnered a record 12 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book, Orchestrations and Original Score. Lane also won Best Actor in a musical for his now legendary performance as Bialystock.

This Walnut production is definitely one of their best recent stage offerings as the opening night roars attested to, but is not without some high and low points. Colleen Grady's costume designs and Robert Andrew Kovach's sets are impressive and well suit this madcap musical.  The cast, a mix of New York and Philly regulars is wonderful overall, but there are marked moments of lack of chemistry between the two "Bens" who play the key roles.

Ben Lipitz, who does an admirable job, seems to labor a bit getting into this tough role, while Ben Dibble simply soars as the innocent, slightly neurotic partner.  Vocally, Dibble nails his songs while Lipitz seems to struggle with some of his scenes and runs out of steam on the difficult song "Betrayed".  The role of Ulla played by Amy Bodnar, a lovely vocal angel, leaves you wanting more over the top comedy and naughtiness. Jeremy Webb's Roger DeBris is eccentrically wonderful, while his Hitler is not all that funny and lacks direction.

The best-suited casting other than Ben Dibble's Leo goes to Jeffrey Coon, the wacky Nazi Franz Liebkind. Coon is a laughable lug in the role. His pigeon/ dance scene defies a straight face in the crowd! 

 The biggest surprise in this cast however, is the outrageously talented Robert McClure as Carmen Ghia. McClure's spasmodic movements and painted Gloria Swanson facial expressions explode onstage and add an enormous amount of hilarity to an already crazy role.

Marc Robin's direction and choreography is technically terrific, yet at times lacks the comedic eye-popping company numbers that Susan Stroman and Brooks' had perfected.

THE  PRODUCERS will play at the Walnut Street Theater, 825 Walnut Street, Phila. PA from May 20 through July 19th. For Tickets and more information: www.walnutstreettheatre.org or call 215.574.3550 or 800.982.2787

PRODUCTION AND DESIGN STAFF

Director/Choreographer:  Marc Robin
Music/Vocal Director:  Douglass G. Lutz
Scenic Design:   ROBERT ANDREW KOVACH
Lighting Design:   PAUL BLACK
Costume Design:  Colleen Grady
Sound Design:   Nick Kourtides
Stage Managers: DEBI MARCUCCI*, LORI AGHAZARIAN*

THE CAST 

Max Bialystock.....................................Ben Lipitz*
Leo Bloom........................................Ben Dibble*
Franz Liebkind..............................Jeffrey Coon*
Roger DeBris................................Jeremy Webb*
Carmen Ghia............................Robert McClure*
Ulla................................................Amy Bodnar*
Hold-Me-Touch-Me...............Sharon Alexander*
Lead Tenor....................................Joe Jackson*
Mr. Marks.......................................FRAN PRISCO*
Blind Violinist.........................CHRISTOPHER SHIN*

ENSEMBLE
JOEY ABRAMOWICZ*, MAGGIE ANDERSON*, SEAN BELL, SHAVEY BROWN,
KELLY FAULKNER*, Joe Jackson*, Regan Kays*, Stanley Martin*, Katrina Newman*, FRAN PRISCO*, KERRI ROSE*, MEGAN SCHMIDT*, CHRISTOPHER SHIN*, RYAN JAMES,
ERICA SWEANY*, James Tabeek*, Jeremy Webb*, JESSE WILDMAN

Photos: #1 Ben Lipitz, Ben Dibble, Amy Bodnar

#2 Ben Dibble & company

Photo Credits: Brett Thomas

 

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