English and Taylor Invade Ogunquit with Producers

They can do it…and they are currently in Ogunquit, Maine!! The Ogunquit Playhouse is currently presenting the Tony® Award Winning musical, Mel Brooks' The Producers through August 9^th, featuring veteran actor Cory English as Max Bialystock and Andy Taylor as Leo Bloom. English just completed a 10 month tour of the UK in The Producers, following a year in London's West End Theatre Royal Drury Lane's production of the show.  Taylor, also a Producer's veteran, returns to recreate his role from the National Tour of The Producers.

I was just thinking about this and Cory English is American not English...so shouldn't he be Cory American?? And isn't Andy Taylor the character Andy Griffith played on The Andy Griffith Show?  Or part of the group Duran Duran?? Ok, yes I am babbling. So anyway,  I spoke to English and Taylor about their respective roles recently and here's what they had to say…

TJ:  Thanks for taking time out of your schedule in Ogunquit. I know it's such a lovely place to be.

ENGLISH:  Yeah, we almost get into vacation mode if we're not careful. Have you been up here before?

TJ:  Absolutely. It's one of my favorite places. So picturesque and relaxing. The beaches are gorgeous and it's a quaint little town.

ENGLISH:  Before I took this gig, I asked people if I should take this gig and go up to Maine. And they said, "Most definitely! You should go!"

TJ: You have both done The Producers before.  How does it feel to get back into it?

ENGLISH:  Well, I did it in the UK for a couple of years on and off.  And I never got to enjoy an American audience. I'm not saying that the British audiences were that bad, but the New York Jewish humor and some of the American references went over their heads. So now, to say the words to an American audience is quite nice. I am getting a lot more laughs, which is always good for the actor ego, isn't it!

TAYLOR:  I did it on the road in Japan and it was the same sort of thing. They were doing the subtitles. So the audience would be looking at the subtitles that were scrolling down vertically on the side of the stage. You would look out at the house and they would be looking off to the side to read the subtitles. So, yeah, it's nice to be doing it again…not to mention that the show is different depending on who your co-star is. We're having a great time.

TJ:  How many times have you both played your respective roles?

TAYLOR:  Mine is over a thousand performances because I did it for a couple of years on the road.

TJ:  How about you, Cory?

ENGLISH:  Well, counting when I was the understudy…I went on four weeks for Nathan over in London…with that little stint and two years off and on, I got to say about 700.

TJ:  So, it's must be old hat just stepping into the role.

ENGLISH:  Well, I just finished in December. Andy was about a couple of years ago.

TAYLOR: Yeah, it was three years ago.

ENGLISH:  I was sort of assuming that it would all come back to me and I actually had to wood-shed a little bit. It was really surreal. I would start saying one line and it would just come out from memory. It took me a little while to remember why I was saying the line. It's all in there, but what am I doing.

TAYLOR:  It's a good thing that we had this because they don't give you a lot of time to put these shows up. We were definitely able to slip right into a groove, which allowed the director to work on the technical stuff…which is huge in this show! ENGLISH:  They've got the sets from the national tour here and costumes.

TAYLOR:  But they're doing it with about 1/3 of the backstage personnel. So, it was a good thing we were ready to go.

ENGLISH:  And it looks great in this little house. It looks fantastic in this intimate little setting. It feels quite good.

TJ:  How has the audience been reacting?

ENGLISH:  Well, it's a great show to do. I can't wait till it hits the high schools, to be honest. Probably in another couple of years, they will be doing it in the amateur houses.

TJ:  But how have they been reacting to some of the colorful language and innuendos?

TAYLOR: You know, we're slaying them, in general. When everything is going really well, they will forgive you for something they find distasteful. It just moves so quickly the way we do it…we don't let anybody get too uncomfortable. If there's something that doesn't appeal to them or offends them, within 2 seconds, we're onto another joke. We're getting standing ovations and it's just rocking here. The response from this audience is as good as any I have ever had and I attribute part of that to the fact that seven years after the show has opened, no one is expecting Matthew Broderick or Nathan Lane to come riding over the hill on a white horse.

TJ: But you get to make the role your own?

TAYLOR: Well, I took it on while those guys were still doing it on Broadway or they had just come back. We would slay them and the audiences would go nuts and stand up and the reviewer in Boise would say, "Well, he's no Matthew Broderick."  But you know, I don't think the guy saw it actually, to be honest. So, it's really nice now because there's less expectation of someone else playing the part. They're just buying it. We're starting at ground zero and it's going great!

ENGLISH:  What you've got to remember is…it's Mel Brooks! It's his timings and his rhythms that Nathan took and Nathan took a lot from Zero Mostel. That's what you've got to remember. It's the timing. It's gotta keep moving…it's a train that never stops.

TJ:  Andy, when you were on the national tour, who was your Nathan Lane, your Max?

TAYLOR:  I did it with Brad Oscar.

TJ:  I love Brad Oscar! He's a great guy.

TAYLOR:  Yeah, great guy! He was my Nathan Lane. And then a guy named Bob Amaral. It was great doing it with Brad. Bob was a little more serious and he was very good in the part. You know, you can have fun with a guy and it can work well for the audience or not…you don't necessarily have to love your co-star to have the show work well. You know, Cory and I are having more fun. It's just more fun this time around. With Brad, that was a thrill…we had a really great time. We're still very close.

TJ:  Cory, when you did the show in the UK, what was it like for you the first time you saw your name up on that marquee?

ENGLISH:  Actually I was with my Leo Bloom, who was a big TV name over there. We walked down the street together and both saw our names up there together and went, "Who the hell are we to have our names up there?" It was surreal and overwhelming. As a matter of fact, as soon as I saw my name up there, I said to my wife, "OK. If we don't have a baby now, there ain't gonna be a better time!"  Because as an actor, you want to be established before you start a family and things like that. And as you know, you're never established as an actor. You're only as good as your last job.

TJ:  And you have a kid now?

ENGLISH:  Yeah, 20 months old. I dressed him up as mini-Max already. I sent out emails to my friends already with the picture noting him as Max for the 2050 revival. I'm not a Mama Rose or anything.

TJ:  And that's important! You don't want to do that to your kids.

ENGLISH:  No!

TJ:  And you actually did GYPSY with Tyne Daly?

ENGLISH:  I did indeed! That's why I an actor today because of her. I started out as a dancer and I Used To watch her from the wings, do Rose's Turn and all that. The first time I went on with her was as a Broadway boy and she scared the living poop out of me. When I came offstage, I was white! All the other guys said, "Pretty cool, isn't it, Cory!" I was numb. She did all the work. I didn't have to do any work. She made me brilliant. She was fantastic!

TJ:  Andy, what was your first job on Broadway?

TAYLOR:  I did Moon Over Buffalo with Carol Burnett and Philip Bosco. We did it for over a year and I look at that as like graduate school for comedy. I feel like I got to work with one of the legends and up-close. We had great scenes together. Some of the best comedy in the show was when Carol and I were on together. It was a great thrill.

Thanks guys! As you can see, these two are more than ready for this show and you need to get up and head over to see them in Mel Brooks' The Producers at the Ogunquit Playhouse, 10 Main Street in Ogunquit, Maine. They are only there until August 9, so don't wait!   You can get tickets through the website at www.ogunquitplayhouse.org or by calling the theatre at (207) 646-5511.  So, as always, ciao for now, folks and remember, theatre is my life!

To post a comment, you must register and login.