Interview: 'The Hardest Thing Has Been Not Laughing at Everyone!': Actor Marc Antolin on Mel Brooks, Intimacy and Corpsing in THE PRODUCERS

The award-winning musical The Producers is finally returning to London in its first revival since debuting on the West End in 2004. The show, based on the iconic 1967 film of the same name by Mel Brooks, tells the story of two producers who discover that a producer could make more from a Broadway flop than a hit, which leads them to put on what they think will be the worst show in history - Springtime for Hitler.

BroadwayWorld spoke with Marc Antolin, who will be taking on the role of Leopold Bloom, played by Gene Wilder in the original film, an accountant who dreams of becoming a Broadway producer. We discussed his love for the show, getting Mel Brooks' personal approval and the very real possibility of corpsing.

How did you first get started in the world of theatre?

When I was younger, I was very into football and rugby. That was my thing that I really enjoyed doing in my spare time. I had a knee injury, had to give up any sort of exercise for eighteen months, and then I got very bored - didn't know what to do. I'd always been interested in music.

A friend of mine went to this drama club and was like, “Oh, do you want to come along? It's on a Wednesday night.” And I thought, “Yeah, I'll do that. That'd be fun!” Ended up loving it and joined lots of other drama groups, so most of my weekends and evenings were spent doing lots of drama clubs, which was the thing I loved doing then.

I'm from Port Talbot, which is famous for Richard Burton, Michael Sheen, Anthony Hopkins . . . And I'd always met lots of people that were like, “Oh, I could have done that if I did have a go,” and I thought, “Well, I'm just going to keep having a go, and hopefully something will happen with it!” And I still feel like I'm having a go, and it might end any time! [Laughs] But I've just never looked back on it, really, and I still love doing it now, which is great.

And what made you want to be a part of The Producers?

It all happened very quickly! Normally, you hear rumours of shows that are coming or people will tell you that they're involved in a production, so you sometimes hear through the rumour mill what shows are turning up. But this happened very fast.

My agent messaged me, saying that I had this meeting with Patrick Marber, the director. With musicals, sometimes the audition process can go on for a very long time. But with this, it happened in two weeks, really. I met Patrick, had a really lovely meeting and then I had to put my audition on tape for Mel Brooks to watch to give me the thumbs up. So that was terrifying, waiting to hear that call!

But I am a massive Gene Wilder fan. I’d been a fan of his from when I was a young kid after watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - I used to watch that on repeat! And I remember seeing the original production of this [The Producers] in Drury Lane when I was studying at drama college. I just thought, “What an amazing show!” To be part of this version of it, which is the first big revival in London since the original version, feels very special. So it all happened very quickly, but as soon as I heard about it, I was like, “There is no way I'm letting this pass me by!”

What is it like to be bringing The Producers to the Menier Chocolate Factory as the first major revival in London? 

It was mad because I’d seen so many productions at the Menier, and it always amazes me how they manage to do sort of big-scale productions in a very small venue. When I re-read the script for this before my audition, it made me realise how, in our heads, this show is a massive, forty-cast, big band show, and actually, when you read the script, it's about six lonely characters that find each other through the world of showbiz and putting on a show, and then all the other characters that you meet through that journey and through these six characters.

It surprised me how small and intimate a lot of the scene scenes are and how many of the scenes there are! The first scene in the show is about twenty pages long without a song - you don't really get that in musicals. It made me realise how intimate the piece is. And that's something that is very evident in ours - you get to see lots of intimate moments between these characters which may get lost in a bigger production. We do have the full bells and whistles of what you would expect from The Producers, which is amazing, and an insane cast multi-roling - there's a lot of fun being had in that. So it feels very exciting to be part of this revival. And Mel Brooks has been very much involved, which is great. 

What has it been like to have Mel Brooks be involved in the production? 

It's been amazing! The Mel Brooks team have been on the end of emails where we've asked permission to add in things that were in the original movie because there were lots of fun lines and jokes and things that we wanted to put in.

There was an amazing moment on our first day of rehearsals where we had a video message from Mel Brooks saying to have an amazing time, and thank you for being part of this production. That felt like a huge moment, knowing that we all had Mel's blessing to be part of the production. It felt very special and a big reminder of why we were doing the show and to do it for Mel, which felt amazing.

So for those unfamiliar with the show, can you tell us a bit about The Producers and your role in it?

Of course! So Max Bialystock - that’s not my role! [Laughs] - used to be this “King of Broadway.”  He was a big, huge, successful producer on Broadway with innumerous hits under his belt, and he hit hard times. He's had a few bum shows that haven't been as successful as he would have hoped and he's in dire need of someone to help him.

Then my character, Leo Bloom, who is an accountant, ends up going to look at Max's books for his latest show to check that his accounts are all in order, and he finds there's been an error in his accounting. And through this, he finds this weird loophole that a producer can make more money with a flop than he can with a hit. This gives Max an idea to put on the worst show possible, scam lots of people out of lots of money, run away to Rio and never be seen again.

So it follows their journey of finding the worst book, the worst director, the worst cast . . . Putting on the worst show, raising $2 million in order to put this show on and hope that it closes in one night. Along this journey, they meet lots of very funny, amazing characters, and it's about them putting on this flop. There's twists and turns and not everything goes according to plan. And you do get to see the show that they put on! It's very funny, it's very silly. 

And my character, Leo, he's an accountant. He's a bit of a loner. He describes himself as a loser, a coward . . . He's a very anxious person. He carries this blue blanket around with him that he's had ever since he was a baby, which is his comfort blanket. If anyone ever gets too close to him or he’s in a situation that he's uncomfortable with, he pulls out this little comfort blanket. A lot of the characters are loners in this show and they all find each other through theatre.

But one thing I will say about Leo is he's always had this dream of being a Broadway producer, and I think he managed to wangle his way into doing Max Bialystock’s accounts because he wants to meet this man who is a hero of his - he saw a show of his when he was younger and he's always had this dream to be a Broadway producer. He's a very loyal, big-hearted character, even though he has all these little hurdles that he has to overcome in order to connect with people. But he lives out his dream of becoming a Broadway producer, which is a beautiful thing to witness and play.

And so how have the rehearsals been going leading up to the show?

The hardest thing about the rehearsals has been not laughing at everyone! The cast are amazing and the team we've got are so brilliant - it's been such a joy going into rehearsals every day. And it's been tough because it is a big show, and we've reimagined it in five weeks. There's lots of text, lots of singing, lots of dancing . . . We've been having an amazing time.

It's been hard not to laugh the whole time, and I think that will be one of the biggest challenges for me - being on stage and not laughing because the text is so funny! Because it's a lot more intimate, you get to see into people's eyes properly - a little twinkle when they're doing a joke or delivering a line - it is very hard not to laugh at people. We move into the theatre this week, which I'm very excited about, because that's the next level of funniness - the set, the band, the theatre, the costumes. I think there's 188 costumes in this production, so there's going to be lots of things to look at this week, which is going to be very exciting! It's such a lovely company. We've been having a really fun time.

On that note of comedy and fun, what is it like to perform in comedy musicals, like the one you were recently in, I Wish You Well: The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski-Trial Musical?

I love it! I always find that comedy is a lot of the roots of entertainment. From musical variety, Shakespeare . . . That is a form of entertainment, and that's what a lot of us need. We just need to laugh. I actually think it's very hard to make people laugh, so when you get to do it, it's very fulfilling.

It’s hard because there's so much in comedy that is timing, building a gag, and it's fun working those things out - working out why something didn't get a laugh one day if it gets a laugh another day. And it's a massive team effort with comedy. You look at a lot of the comedy duos we've had for years and years from music hall days - it was a double act for a reason because you help each other out. It's been very fun finding that in the rehearsal room. There's so much hurt in the world at the moment - sometimes you just want to escape and laugh and be entertained for a couple of hours one evening. So I do love doing comedies to entertain and to make people laugh.

Do you have any favourite songs or scenes from The Producers?

A lot, actually! [Laughs] I get to watch it and I'm not actually in it, but the whole “Springtime for Hitler” section, which is the show, is brilliant because I get to just witness the whole company pun on this amazing spectacle of a show! Incredible dancing, singing, comedy genius. I love watching that in the rehearsal room.

And I love getting to do the first scene with Andy Nyman, who plays Max Bialystok, because it is a massive scene that sets the whole show up. It's a gift of a scene because like I was saying earlier, it's something like twenty pages where you get to do such an amazing book scene. Sometimes you don't get the joy of doing that much text in a musical before you reach a song and I think that sets up the whole friendship between Max and Leo and where the show is going to go. I could just go through the whole show! There's so many moments.

There's an amazing moment at the end of Act One, which is the whole company, and you get to meet all the characters. It’s like the West Side Story quintet, where you get to see fragments of the show you've already seen, and you get to see every character. That feels like a real recap of where we are in the story with everyone on stage, which feels like an amazing moment to do all as one big company. I could go on and on - there's so much I love about this show!

And finally, how would you describe The Producers in one word? 

Funny!

The Producers runs until 1 March 2025 at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Main Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan