A musical satire about musicals, at the centre of which is a musical love letter to Adolf Hitler is not the first show that would come to mind in the midsts of the festive season, writes Christopher Peacock…
However, at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Patrick Marber directs a new production of The Producers.
The classic 1967 film got its musical adaptation in 2001 and it is this Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan book that Marber sticks faithfully to. When Max Bialystock (Andy Nyman) and Leo Bloom (Marc Antolin) discover that with some creative accounting they could make more money with a Broadway disaster than a success, this show really gets on the road.
They unearth Springtime for Hitler, a sure-fire flop of a musical, and when engaging failing director Roger De Bris (Trevor Ashley) their plan can surely not fail. However, things backfire when the gay romp of a musical becomes an overnight sensation.
With Marber’s production there are many successes.
What stands out is that great comic writing does hold up when presented well.
Mel Brooks’ still wins audiences with the humour and one-liners he is famous for. Satire can fade and wane over time, audience tastes and what may have been shocking and taboo 50-plus years ago change, but the show still has moments that certainly cut through the gaudy hysteria. This is most pronounced when the chorus line of Nazi stormtroopers tap dances a series of gunshots in front of a Jewish man crossing the stage.
Another highlight was from Lorin Latarro’s choreography; she managed an immaculate job in presenting full scale numbers begetting of a much larger production on Menier’s tight performance space.
The performances were near flawless, special mentions would need to go to Joanna Woodward as the Swedish bombshell Ulla and Harry Morrison as the Hitler fanatic Franz Liebkind and all of the chorus that filled the smaller roles.
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A larger production with a bigger audience may get more people through the door but would it lessen the spectacle?
If we are only looking at it from a cynical standpoint we have probably missed the point. The ability to laugh at itself and mock the very form the production takes is a great skill and the pinnacle of satire.
Menier Chocolate Factory, 4 O’Meara Street, SE1 1TE until March 1st. Times: Tue – Sat 7:30PM | Sat & Sun 3PM. Admission: £74.50.
