The Producers

Mel Brooks' musical comedy The Producers is such a fun show—and so well-written from start to finish—that even if the current production at Westchester Broadway dinner theater is rather unevenly cast, it still delivers a good deal for your entertainment dollar. If you never saw The Producers during its Broadway run, head up to Elmsford, New York. For less than the price of a Broadway theater ticket, you'll get dinner and a spirited show with lots of laughs and lots of color. The energy level of this production is admirably high. And the players, for the most part, have caught the right tone.

The production benefits from the fact that many of the key artists involved—starting with Bob Amaral (who plays Max Bialystock), Joel Newsome (who plays Leo Bloom) and director David Edwards—are veterans of either the Broadway production or the national touring companies. They understand the rhythms of the show, know which laugh-lines to hit, and are familiar with Susan Stroman's original staging and choreography (much of which, happily, is re-created here). No, Amaral and Newsome are not on the level of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, who originated the starring roles on Broadway. Lane and Broderick are in a class of their own; there are no finer male musical comedy stars living. But Amaral and Newsome do a credible job, as do most in the show. (A couple of performances fall short; we wind up with a Franz Liebkind who pushes too hard, and thus loses some laughs; and a much too straight-acting Roger DeBris.) But there is enough here that works well to carry the audience along. And numbers like "Prisoners of Love" and "Springtime for Hitler" remain irresistible. It's good, too, to see once again the terrific "King of Broadway" number, which was unwisely cut from the film version of The Producers.

Chip Deffaa
Cabaret Scenes
October 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org