In the interest of full disclosure, I should begin this review by stating that I am a huge fan of The Producers. I saw the original Broadway version starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, I saw the production in Los Angeles starring Jason Alexander and Martin Short; and I saw the touring company when it came to Sacramento starring people whose names I no longer recall. And I loved all three versions of the show.
So, when I saw that The Producers was going to enter the world of community theatre, I was, shall we say, a tad trepidatious. How, one had to wonder, will such a star-driven show play at the local level where the talent pool doesn't generally include the likes of Lane, Broderick, Alexander, and/or Short? I told myself to moderate my expectations - community theatre is not Broadway.
And yet the comparisons were unavoidable. For example, there is a scene in the middle of Act II where Max Bialystock, abandoned by his partner Leo and hauled off to jail, sits alone in a cell and bemoans his fate. When I saw it in New York, I remember Nathan Lane literally stopping the show at this point. The song he performs, in which he recaps the entire show up to that point in two or three minutes, was met with wave after wave of applause cascading down on the beaming/mugging Mr. Lane. At Davis, at the same point, the very game and witty Martin Lehman performed the same song to somewhat bewildered applause from the audience. It wasn't that it was bad, it was just that the number had changed from a showstopper designed to show off the talents of a specific Broadway Star to a somewhat curious number that didn't really move the plot forward. So, while I know it isn't fair, I can't help viewing any performance of The Producers through that prism of prior experience with the show.
The musical version of The Producers is based on Mel Brooks’s very funny movie of the same title. Both the movie and the musical tell the story of a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer Max Bialystock (Lehman) whose latest show, a musical version of Hamlet called Funny Boy, has just closed on its opening night to terrible reviews. Nearing financial collapse, Max is visited by Leo Bloom (Andy Hyun), a milquetoast accountant who, in the course of discovering a discrepancy in the producer's books, postulates that a producer could, in fact, make more money with a flop than with a hit. This leads to the development of a grand scheme to find and produce the "worst show ever written," which, as a surefire flop, will make the two men millionaires and leave the authorities none the wiser. The catch, of course, is that if the show is a hit, the plan backfires and they will likely go to jail for a good long time.
The two embark on a comic adventure that leads them to their personal holy grail - a play about the Third Reich called "Springtime for Hitler." Along the way, they encounter and collect the comically unreformed Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind (Kyle Hadley), the comically gay director Roger DeBris (Richard Spierto), the director's even more comically gay "common law secretary" Carmen Gia (Joseph Boyette), and a comically vivacious, curvaceous and thoroughly bodacious Swedish songstress/dancer named Ulla (Amy Jacques-Jones). Together, these six individuals set out to launch "Springtime for Hitler" on an unsuspecting world. Those familiar with the original movie will note the absence of the crazy hippy named "LSD," whose elimination from the story when it made its way to Broadway spared the world perhaps one comically stereotypical character too many.
Since the fortunes of The Producers depend so decidedly on the talents of these six stars, let's take a moment to review their performances:
Most of the heavy lifting, acting wise, in The Producers is handled by Lehman and Hyun, as Max and Leo. And both, while perhaps too young for the parts they were playing, were generally up to the task. Lehman's Max was very good in his opening scene with Leo, alternately belittling and baiting the younger man, showing his near manic persona in nice juxtaposition with his more playful side. While his singing (particularly in the aforementioned "Betrayed") left much to be desired, he delivered his numbers with gusto and enthusiasm. His best singing moments were, perhaps, in the number "Along Came Biali," in which he sets out to raise money for the pair's doomed show by wooing (for want of the more graphic word that pops to mind) a brigade of little old ladies in New York city in order to separate them from their money. He is appropriately smarmy, devious and charming throughout this number.
Hyun, as Leo, took a little longer to warm up to, but eventually managed to make the part his own. In the early scenes he was a little too clearly acting, rather than inhabiting his role, but he seemed to grow more comfortable as he went along. He has a nice singing voice, and his scenes with Ulla were pleasant, as the two showed some nice chemistry.
Which brings us to Ulla. Ms. Jacques-Jones is really very good in the role – sexy and teasing, her Swedish accent only occasionally disappearing. While she inhabits the role very well, her singing voice is, like most of the company’s, not quite up to the demands of the songs she’s asked to sing. This is particularly true during her signature song “When you Got it, Flaunt it.” When she says “Now, Ulla belt,” the expectation is that Ulla will, in fact, belt. But belting isn’t really part of her repertoire. Other than that, though, she is extremely good in the part.
(A sidebar question – why doesn’t DMTC use microphones? This production was really hindered by their absence, both for the leads and the ensemble. Case in point, the opening of the show, the curtain opens, two usherettes step forward and sing the opening lines of the show… and you can barely hear them. What’s up with that?).
Mr. Spierto, playing the flamboyant director Roger DeBris, is very funny, if a little physically precarious. His performance is another, though, that would have benefited from the use of amplification. But Joseph Boyette, who was recently very impressive in Runaway Stage's Footloose, stole every scene he was in. He was the standout in the cast, making what can be a ridiculously overwritten part almost believable.
And then there's Kyle Hadley, who, as the unrepentant Nazi Franz Liebkind, gets more laughs than anyone else (well, short of Mr. Boyette perhaps). A non-singer in a role that doesn't really require great singing (if you need proof of that, catch Will Farrell playing the role in the movie version of The Producers!), Hadley's iffy German accent doesn't take away from a very funny performance.
The rest of the cast is unspectacular, although there were some very funny individual efforts. Both Eimi Stokes and Adam Sartain, each of whom played a number of ensemble roles, stood out in their brief moments in the spotlight.
For the most part, the cast put together a very creditable version of the show. The major set pieces were well done. The exception would be the big "Springtime for Hitler" set piece, which suffers from the limitations imposed by the community theater environment. The stage just isn't big enough, the costumes aren't flamboyant enough, and the overall impact just can't live up to expectations.
The sets are passable approximations of the original versions, although if you're going to use projections in lieu of set pieces (as this production did a couple of times), I'd suggest the theater invest in some better quality technology.
So, what's the verdict? It was good. It was fun. It was worth seeing. Was it anything like the versions I'd seen before? Well, no. Not really even close. But for local theatre? Not bad at all. A fun evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment