Playwright: Mel Brooks ( book, music, lyrics ) and Thomas Meehan ( book ). At: NightBlue Performing Arts at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets: www.nightbluetheater.com; $32-$35. Runs through: Oct. 11 .
Mel Brooks fans will have a fine old time at The Producers, staged by NightBlue ( sic ) Performing Arts "mit a bing, mit a bang, mit a boom," to quote from the show.
Most readers probably know The Producers from Brooks' 1968 non-musical film or his 2001 Broadway musical version which won 12 Tony Awards, and probably deserved half of them. It certainly was not the Best Score of the year, but Broadway rewarded Brooks for providing a big, laugh-a-minute, old-fashioned musical comedy that was box office magic. The songs work in the context of the show, but the music is neither innovative nor particularly memorable.
Quibble aside, The Producers is a valentine to Broadway, a backstage musical that bears little reality to the way shows actually are produced nowadays. It concerns Max Bialystock, a legendary Broadway showman ( now down on his luck ) who schemes with Leo Bloom, a schlemiel of an accountant, to make a ton of money by producing the world's worst and most tasteless musical, a paean to Nazism called Springtime for Hitler. Along the way, Bialy helps Leo grow a pair, get the girl and find happiness.
NightBlue is performing The Producers in rotating repertory with Victor/Victoria, another lavish musical, and there simply is no way to create two lavish scenic designs within the physical limits of the 3/4 round Stage 773 space, so the scenic design is pretty basic and colorless. It's likely that NightBlue didn't have the budget for two massive design concepts, either. Where NightBlue has put its cash is into costumes, designed by David E. Walters who also directed the show. The 19 company members change costumes several times, with men sometimes cross-dressing to enlarge the women's ensemble ( a clever idea of Walters' that works ). From little old ladies to Nazis to other assorted types, the costumes provide the color and pizazz missing from the scenic elements.
Costumes, scenery and songs aside, The Producers rises or falls on the lead performances. This production is fortunate to have two strong, appealing players, Tommy Novak and Casey Hayes. Novak eerily channels the film Bialy, Zero Mostel, rather than Nathan Lane's stage Bialy, while Hayes brings great charm to the role of the cute nerd who blossoms. Both have fine, strong voices. Their able third is Cara Chumbley as Ulla, the sexy love interest. They're backed by a strong band under Charlotte Rivard-Hoster.
Several characters in The Producers are blatant gay caricatures, and I've always felt Brooks is laughing at gays and not with gays in creating Roger DeBris ( Billy Dawson ) and Carmen Ghia ( Dominic Rescigno ). Most, however, do not seem to have this problem and accept these parody characters as part of the show's total buoyant comedic package.