The new king of Broadway

Mel Brooks' classic film about the theater becomes theater itself, and it's standing room only for The Producers.

By STEVE PERSALL

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 6, 2001

NEW YORK -- Now, finally, gloriously, it's springtime for Mel Brooks and Broadway.

A 74-year-old newcomer to the Great White Way, Brooks has taken New York by stormtroopers in The Producers, based on his 1968 film about scam artists staging a flop to steal a bundle. Brooks makes his debut the hard way, with a hit, an equal opportunity offender featuring a showstopper titled Springtime for Hitler.

Crude and tasteless? Of course. It's Mel Brooks. But you probably won't find a more enjoyable entertainment in any medium this year, though the more affordable (and available) soundtrack CD is well worth your while.

Tickets to the show at the St. James Theater are tougher to find than a civil rights worker in Rock Ridge.

The Producers is a pricy party (up to $100 per ticket) detonated eight times a week. Standing room only. Black tie is optional; laughter isn't.

A dream pairing of Tony winners Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick cherishes and embellishes our memories of Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in the original film. Lane seems possessed by the late Mostel's decadent bluster. This turn as wily Max Bialystock is a triumph surpassing Lane's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum revival, in a role also originated by Mostel.

Max's introductory number, King of Old Broadway, tips off Brooks' obsession with musical-theater history. Blending Tevye's rhythms and Fagin's guile, the song declares the loss of confidence Mostel expressed with his eyes. Likewise, Broderick's first solo as mousy accountant Leo Bloom, I Want to Be a Producer, transforms Wilder's neurotic mensch into a strangled tenor with Fred Astaire's feet.

With snippy, snappy precision, Brooks' score, the sets and Susan Stroman's direction invoke Stop the World, I Want to Get Off, the most politically incorrect singing in Show Boat, even Broderick's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. That's just the first act. Wait until Hitler (Gary Beach) makes a Hello, Dolly staircase entrance and sits down for a Judy Garland-style soliloquy.

The songs make the show considerably longer than the 88-minute film; they also add new dimension to the characters and the story as Brooks and co-writer Thomas Meehan cleverly expand what were just snippets of dialogue in the movie.

Max's line "If you got it, flaunt it" becomes a showcase for Cady Huffman's voluptuous secretary Ulla; his later lament "Where did we go right?" blossoms into a sad-sack melody.

Stylings range from Cole Porter and Jerry Herman to Looney Tunes, with a generous dose of oom-pah-pah for Nazi playwright Frank Liebkind (Brad Oscar). Dance steps suggest Three Stooges and Marx Brothers inspiration, but they never used lovelorn investors tap-dancing with the aid of orthopedic walkers.

I'll leave it to experienced theater critics to judge The Producers' place in Broadway annals. From a movie lover's perspective, Brooks has done it again, only live. The stage embraces one of his best efforts, revitalizing his comic instincts.

The Producers returns that hug by recalling many of Broadway's greatest hits, irreverently yet affectionately.

This won't surprise fans of his films, who will recall the unexpected musical numbers in a Blazing Saddles brawl, a scientific summit in Young Frankenstein, even the Spanish Inquisition in History of the World: Part I. Brooks polished his act on screen for years. Now there's a reason for his off-color rhyming and show-biz flourishes every few minutes.

The stage offers Brooks more ways to spoof his creative process, breaking down the fourth wall with singers announcing big finishes or Ulla remodeling Max and Leo's office "during the intermission." Brooks proudly steals from his film past with another "walk this way" gag and his own spoken lines, a rare case of a recorded voice earning applause from a live audience.

Legitimate theater, however, hasn't made Brooks legit. Broadway's appeal for gay culture inspires an abundance of swish, especially Roger Bart's slinky "common-law assistant" to Beach's dual role. Smutty one-liners are recklessly tossed around. Women are sex objects and swastikas are sight gags. Yet it's always done with a "just kidding" wink lest anyone stops laughing.

Which is not likely. The Producers is a bawdy, boisterous coronation for overdue stage royalty. Max Bialystock owned Old Broadway and Brooks commands the new. It's good to be the king.

REVIEW: The Producers is scheduled to run through April 2002 at the St. James Theatre, 246 W 44th St., New York. For tickets ($30-$100), call toll-free 1-800-545-2559 or go to http://www.telecharge.com. For more on the show: http://www.producersonbroadway.com; for more on the soundtrack: http://www.theproducerscastrecording.com

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.