Hailed as the most uproarious, and one of the most successful musical comedies ever to be brought to Broadway, Mel Brooks' "The Producers" has won more Tony Awards than any other musical in history. With Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as the two principals, Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, "The Producers" dances and sings the story of two guys who come up with a scheme to produce the worst musical ever, and run off with the profits of a failed Broadway show. Of course, the raunchy, racy, over-the-top musical becomes a hit and Bialystock and Bloom head to the poorhouse.
Written by Mel Brooks with most of the material taken from his successful 1968 film of the same name, "The Producers" was released to critical acclaim in 2001. It won 12 Tony Awards, beating out the record held by Hello Dolly! for 37 years, with 10 Tony Awards. Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Nathan Lane), Best Orchestrations, and Best Direction, and others, "The Producers" swept the Tony Awards in 2001.
Bialystock and Bloom produce "Springtime for Hitler", by hiring the worst writer, a former Nazi, the worst director, who insists that the musical end by having the Germans win WWII, and the worst actors and actresses. With musical numbers such as "We Can Do It," "Keep It Gay," "Haben Sie Gehört Das Deutsche Band?," "It's Bad Luck to Say Good Luck on Opening Night," and the title song, "Springtime for Hitler," the musical promises to be horrid, controversial and universally hated - with dancing Nazis.
"The Producers'" plot can be explained most succinctly by Max Bialystock: "Step 1: We find the worst play ever written. Step 2: We hire the worst director in town. Step 3: We raise two million dollars...One for me, one for you. There's a lot of little old ladies out there! Step 4: We hire the worst actors in New York and open on Broadway and before you can say Step 5, we close on Broadway, take our two million and go to Rio."
If you're only going to see one Broadway musical, see the best of the best. Purchase tickets to see "The Producers" and laugh your way through the most risqué, the most hysterical, and the most well produced production ever to be seen on Broadway.
