Bold, brash and a belly-laugh riot
Leo: "Max, I think we're getting in too deep!"
Max: "Too deep? This is nothing! I'll tell ya when we're getting in too deep!"
Mel Brooks has had a career spanning something like 60 to 70 years, and "deep" is not one of the accolades tossed about his output. From "Get Smart" to "Spaceballs"; "Silent Movie" to "To Be Or Not To Be"; and "The Producers" to... well... "The Producers". Originally an almost anarchic screwball comedy film from 1968 with one jaw-dropping musical number to the most successful musical in Broadway history (if you judge by the amount of Tony Awards won -12, by the way) and then back to a film (this time as a musical), "The Producers" is anything but "deep". Forget the intricate lyrics and complex melodies of Stephen Sondheim, or the sweeping sentimental romanticism of a Rogers and Hammerstein classic, or even the melding of real people and events with contemporary musical styles (heya, Lin Manuel Miranda and "Hamilton") - Mel Brooks writes B I G - bold, brash, brassy, and bloody funny to boot.
The success of a show like "The Producers" is almost in spite of itself and that success comes from Brooks being honest about his craft. It's all about humour - and since the Ancient Greek comedies of Aristophanes - being funny is the easiest thing in the world, and also the hardest. The humour of "The Producers" is not complicated (like, say a Feydeau or Moliere farce or a Yasmina Reza skewering of modern social mores), and Brooks is totally honest about that. His characters are almost cartoonish, the punch lines go "boom tish", and the opportunity for gifted comic actors to have a whale of a time is almost limitless. This is why "The Producers" is such a success - Brooks is a brilliant writer of comic dialogue, a clever observer of humanity and, somewhat surprisingly if you didn't know it before, has a gleeful ear for a "hummable tune" (as the late, great Jerry Herman remarked when he accepted the Tony for Best Musical - his "La Cage Aux Folles" beating out Sondheim's Pulitzer Prize winning "Sunday In The Park With George").
Altitude Theatre is the new shiny bauble on Brisbane's rather bare musical theatre tree. Founded by husbands Joseph Simons and Adam Gardnir, who have an extensive career both on stage and backstage, much of it to high acclaim and success, Altitude aims to bring works to the Brisbane theatre goers (and those who are still "afraid" of the magnificent make-believe world of glorious storytelling that is the theatre) that will give local performers somewhere to work their craft, and to entice those that left for brighter footlights elsewhere, back, even if it is just for a season. By choosing the campest musical written by a "straight" comic genius, showcasing the work of actors, singers and dancers (not to mention musicians, directors, choreographers, set, costume and lighting designers, and stage managers) who call Brisbane "home" will give them an excellent kick-start in life and allow them to develop work for many years to come. Drawing from the inspiration of the Menier Chocolate Factory theatre productions in London, where larger scale works are stripped back to allow smaller companies to produce works that would simply be unaffordable by all but the more established behemoths of the theatre world (hello GFO and Cam Mack). This approach will see Brisbane being treated to established professional actors with an impressive portfolio of performing experience working with eager, younger performers who are just starting on their careers - and that is a tremendous gift for all concerned, theatre workers and audiences alike.
Max Bialystock (Matt Young) is a once great(ish) Broadway producer now the king of "stinkers". A young, nervous, almost completely neurotic accountant Leo Bloom (Mark Hill) arrives to “do the books” but inadvertently discovers that it might just be possible to make millions of dollars from staging a flop (than a hit) by craftily defrauding the original investors in the musical and not refunding ticket purchases etc. etc. Max is enthralled with this highly illegal scheme and pressures Leo into making it happen - and Leo also has a life-long, barely supressed dream of "being a Broadway producer". Once Leo has conquered his trepidations, they set out to find the worst script possible, written by the worst playwright ever, and then directed by the worst director on Broadway (throw in barely competent actors as well) and they are sure they will strike it rich - by it being an almighty turkey that closes on opening night. The play they find, "Springtime For Hitler", has been written by the nuttiest Nazi this side of a certain orange turd that resided in the White House until recently. Franz Liebkind (Patrick Conolly) sees the play as a chance to clear his beloved Führer's name and right an historical wrong. What Max sees is a chance to have a totally unacceptable script directed by the outrageously camp Roger de Bris (James Lee) which is SURE to cripple the chance of this show ever making past the closing curtain of opening night. However.... things are not quite that simple.
Having said that Brooks writes bold, brash, brassy, etc, it doesn't mean that any actor can just coast along relying on Brook's sharp puns and comedic payoffs. This cast have been well directed by Simons (who also does Bob Fosse-like double duty as choreographer) to bring out the comedic gold that is littered throughout the script. Hill exudes all the neuroses and naivety that has the audience cheering for him to win - even though he is really as crooked as Max - and delivers impeccable renditions of Leo's big numbers "I Want To Be A Producer" and the extraordinarily touching “That Face". Young, on opening night, was still, here and there, getting Max's rumpled, almost unctuous personality to sit right and ooze across the audience, the way the character schmoozes the little old (and randy as) widows who provide the "check-ies" that will finance their wild scheme of planned failure. Though in the second act tour-de-force song "Betrayed", Young really hits the homer (the sport, not the poet...or yellow skinned slob husband/father) - it is top drawer work and given another show or two under his belt, Young's Max will be hard to top.
In mentioning Hill's delivery of "That Face" he owes a lot to the obvious stage chemistry with Rachel Ward (Ulla), the OTT Swedish secretary/receptionist/showgirl/all-round blonde bombshell, and that makes it one of the highlights of the show, despite it not being a "showstopper" of a number like the uproarious title number "Springtime For Hitler" (the one song that appeared in the 1968 film version) - which simply has to be seen to be believed. Ward and Hill are just delicious together, and Ward's triple-threat status is well-earned and completely on display. It's a welcome return "home" for an actor who has been wowing audiences around the world in musical theatre. Her pedigree shines and she is one of the stand-out performances in this production. Speaking of stand-out performances, Brooks has written a character that simply cannot be played "subtly” and Roger de Bris is more camp that ten Eurovision Song Contests crossed with every season of Ru Paul's Drag Race. James Lee is simply magnificent in the role, and again, another performer whose professional career puts a stamp on the quality of his work. Who can say where does Lee end and Roger begin? The portrayal is just that good, especially with the showstopper of all showstoppers "Keep It Gay".
Sharing the spotlight - or should that be blatantly STEALING it - are Conolly as Liebkind, who just exudes "mad", but the sort of mad that doesn't got totally potty but threatens to -- until by virtue of the plot he has to go totally postal. Try taking your eyes off him whenever he is on stage - and he has superb "competition" all the time! The other performer who is nearly impossible to ignore and tear your gaze away from is Alex Watson as Roger de Bris' "common-law asssssistant" Carmen Ghia. Usually upstaging is one of the greatest sins of the stage, however, Watson just eats up the limelight - delivers every line with the precision of an Exocet missile, throwing shade that would put even Cher in the shade! And displays a commanding understanding of the value of not only a great entrance but a superb exit. Chloe Taylor as one of Max's old biddies is a bundle of tightly wound energy that never dissipates for one second she's on stage and Jackson Reedman's "Stormtrooper" who gets to sing the solo sections of "Springtime For Hitler" could convince anyone to "not be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Nazi Party" - another eye-catcher of a performer.
The ensemble work their pretzels off - playing dozens of characters with lighting fast costume changes, and also double as the stage crew changing the sets in plain view of the audience, a clever device of the designer Josh McIntosh. The costume design by Madeleine Barlow is exquisitely complemented by the stunning wigs created by Drew-Elizabeth Johnstone. The amount of work musical director, the super-experienced Jacqui Devereux has put into the cast pays off handsomely, as does the superb work by dialect and voice coach Dr Melissa Agnew on bringing the cast's accents - all as broad as Broadway itself - to match the broadness of the comedy. A poignant, and fitting touch, is an "Acknowledgment of History" in the program (which is "digital" - excellent use of resources and modern tech!) by Gardnir in his position as Executive Director of Altitude Theatre, reminding us of the bitter and evil history behind the slapstick and camp comedy of "Springtime for Hitler". As Brooks said himself, the best way to deal with Hitler and Nazism is to mock them mercilessly and laugh at them, then they lose their power to affect history and people's lives because their outlandish methods and actions are shown to be what they are - ludicrous. Another historical parallel is that "The Producers" had opened on Broadway only a few months before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, and the show was the first to re-open as soon as possible after that dark day in history, to get people back out again - and laughing. Altitude Theatre see the synergy with what 2020 gifted us and how in 2021 it is vital we get ourselves off Zoom, out of our trackie-daks and into a theatre, to laugh, to cry, to gasp, and to applaud loudly, and most importantly of all, to support these incredible creative talents, to survive, prosper and thrive. Because, oi vey, we need a laugh and those creatives need support, because it ain't coming from any government "check-ie" despite the vital role the arts play in the fabric of Australian society.
The Producers - an Altitude Theatre production
Brisbane Powerhouse, Lamington Drive, New Farm
Until Saturday, March 13
Reviewer: Blair Martin
Blair was a guest of Altitude Theatre on opening night, Friday March 5 2021 and as part of the Queer Radio team at 4ZZZ had interviewed Matt Young and James Lee on the Wednesday, February 24 QR program - www.4zzz.org.au/program/queer-radio