"The Producers" at Toby’s of Columbia

SHOW INFORMATION: Through November 23.  Show times vary.  Ticket prices also vary, but all include a full dinner or brunch buffet.  Go to www.tobysdinnertheatre.com or call 410.995.1969 for reservations and information.

◊◊½ out of five.  Three hours, including intermission.  Adult language, situations and sexuality.

 

Time has not been kind to The Producers, that musical that now holds the record for most Tony Awards (an even dozen).  Coming at a time when we, especially New Yorkers, needed to laugh and forget, this in the midst of 9/11 show swept everything.  Predictions of its success (not to mention its outrageous ticket process) ran rampant - "It'll run longer than Phantom!"  "It will be sold out a year in advance!"  Then, curiously, it tanked.  The original cast, one of the best assembled ever, I'll admit, departed and the seats were empty.  Why?  Well, I guess Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick certainly have their drawing power on their own, but I'd suggest it was their chemistry and an innate sense of how to put over Brooksian style humor more so than a superb score (it isn't) or book (it is even less so).  The public knows what it likes and at $250 a seat for a decent view, the public wanted them and no one else.  Further, a blah national tour, a poorly received film (which is nearly step for step the stage show, anyway) only cemented the fact that The Producers ain't the grand dame everyone said it was.  I'm pretty sure in the long run, theatre historians will weigh in that everyone fell prey to the hype and that above average cast, but that it really isn't up there with a real classic like Fiddler, Dolly and A Chorus Line.  Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to find writing about this decade mentioning that season's runner up, The Full Monty more favorably.

Still, it is somewhat of a local coup that Toby's got to be the first local place to do this show.  Toby's, as you probably know, has a history of these firsts, and an even longer history of making so-so shows look like Tony winners themselves (All Shook Up being the most recent).  So, it was with great optimism that I ventured to Toby's Dinner Theatre of Columbia to see the opening of their version. It is with a somewhat heavy heart that I must report that this version will do nothing to raise the critical value of The Producers.  Why?  Well, first and foremost, it just isn't funny.  Second, the technical elements of the show are lacking. Finally, it is (for Toby's at least) very poorly directed, and particularly in Act One, a pretty unoriginal staging.

Let me state, though, from the outset, that if you haven't seen The Producers, you will likely enjoy it.  It is well sung for the most part and the costumes (by Lawrence B. Munsey) are an eye full.  And the show certainly doesn't lack for talent - some of the folks that have recently played leads at Toby's are in the chorus, that's how deep the talent pool is.  But then again, it was bound to happen that even the most talented of Toby's large pool of actors will disappoint eventually.  I guess I just didn't expect it to happen all at once.

Perhaps the largest weakness comes from its direction, by Chris Suchan, a veteran of the national tour of the same show.  He clearly learned a lot during his tenure, namely the steps created by Susan Stroman, which are largely replicated here, though adapted for an in-the-round staging.  More curious, though, especially considering that he has performed on this very stage, is his seeming inability to stage the book scenes for an in-the-round-audience.  And The Producers is, by today's standards, a book heavy show.  I was seated in a section of the theatre that includes the main entrance, while directly across from me was a large Shubert Theatre sign.  I'd venture that easily 65% of the first act and slightly less of the second are blocked such that everyone on my side of the theatre saw the backs of the actors almost exclusively, and they are usually addressing the sign, meaning they are not playing angles.  This is perplexing because in nearly 25 years of attending shows at this venue, this has been one issue that has not come up.  (And before you write, I know that in-the-round seating means that at various times parts of the audience won't see something face on.  Sit where I did, and you will see NOTHING that happens on the casting couch.  A LOT happens on that casting couch.)  Mr. Suchan's direction also seems to have missed the fact that many of Brooks' jokes (mainly the outrageous asides) are somewhat subtle, if bawdy.  But he has directed everyone to deliver each line like they are doing stand up comedy.  All that is missing is the rim shot.  Unfortunately, the jokes aren't all that funny when they aren't delivered well, and in a script that is 95% jokes that is a problem.  Perhaps the most exhausting aspect of the direction, though, is the fever pitch at which the cast is operating - one gear, the high one, is where it starts and it never ebbs.  Quite frankly, it gets dull.

Technically, the show ranges from rather bland to poor, as well.  Dave Eske's set pieces are period specific enough, but there isn't all that much to look at when your mind wanders.  To be fair, something was happening on the space of the wall next to me, but again, it was where my half of the audience couldn't see it.  Further, the corner screens, on which occasionally flash high-tech (read: computer generated) messages and icons are at definite odds with the 1950's style everything else has.  (I will give credit to whomever designed this aspect of the show for at least attempting to replicate the mirror effect used in the original production to reveal the formation the dancers make during the "Springtime for Hitler" sequence.  Here a video camera tries to show us that straight from the ceiling view, but it is over before the camera adjusts to the lighting.)  Speaking of lighting, Lynn Joslin, who is a true master of the art, didn't do her best work, either.  In an attempt to liven up the staging, the lights change at a dizzying pace, but very very frequently leave the actors standing in odd shadows or bizarre bright spots.  But perhaps the worst technical aspect of the evening is Drew Dedrick's sound design, which has the music so amped that the actors simply can not compete.  Needless to say, when you can't hear many of the punch lines, whole scenes can (and do) go by unintelligibly, taking out even more laughs.

The cast, on paper, is a winner from top to bottom, and is chock full of actors that this critic has written many a rhapsodic ode to on this very site.  For those of you who have accused me of liking everything they do no matter what, you may find what I am about to write somewhat shocking.  But, as I said, no actor can have a perfect record, and I still hold each and every one in the highest regard in spite of The Producers.  I think it speaks volumes that the most impressive performances came from a small group of supporting characters and a newcomer to the Toby's family.  That small group, Joseph Thanner, Terrence Sweeney, David Jennings and Tina DeSimone, play Roger DeBris' design team, and they all seem to get how to do Mel Brooks - heightened reality, over the top stereotyping, with just a dash of playing it like it is real.  Would that the rest of the cast gotten that.  The newcomer I mentioned is Elizabeth Rayca, who is very funny and very sweet as Ulla, the sexpot secretary/receptionist.  She has a lovely voice, legs that go on forever and a very easy to understand Swedish accent (save for the occasional lapse in it).  Her rendition of "When You've Got It, Flaunt It" is the highlight of act one.

The three main supporting roles, played by three of my favorite local actors - Larry Munsey, Darren Mc Donnell and Adam Grabau (Roger DeBris, Carmen Ghia and Franz Liebkind, respectively) are better than most of the show, too, though they all rely heavily on the shtick of the original way too much.  Mr. Grabau has a good voice and does a funny German accent, while Mr. McDonnell and Mr. Munsey have impeccable timing and a very palpable chemistry (no doubt honed during their recent tenure in La Cage aux Folles).  But even still, all three are working very very hard at being funny, when just letting it happen would have been much funnier.

That working too hard thing is most noticeable, and most detrimental, in the main couple of the evening, Max and Leo, the titular producers, played by David Bosley-Reynolds and Jeffrey Shankle, respectively.  Both are giving technically proficient performances - they hit every note, deliver every joke and do some very shtick-heavy blocking.  And they are working like ants building a new hill (sweat literally pours out of both of them).  But really, are these parts that taxing that they should have to work so hard to get relatively few laughs?  Mr. Shankle, who was so good in George M! last season, gives a completely affected performance.  Not one second of it rings true - when the audience is THAT close, you don't need to play it like you are at the Metropolitan Opera House.  Again, he is great singer.  But his portrayal might be better suited to a cruise ship entertainment than the stage.  Mr. Reynolds, who in three years of covering his performances has never been less than genuine to this critic, here is so reliant on playing over the top that he seems to have forgotten to put a pinch of humanity in his performance.  His "Betrayal," the only time he has the stage to himself, is the lone exception.  Here we get to see (finally) that sparkle and humanity that are the hallmarks of this actor's work.  Even though he doesn't - thank God - do a Nathan Lane impersonation, the rest of the time he seems oddly detached from the show he is in, almost like he has left his own body, leaving the shell to "put on the show."

Fair or unfair as it may be, when you see the same actors give consistently amazing performances, when the show they are in isn't all that great; you gotta tell it like it is.  The good news is, you'll probably still enjoy it in spite of my criticism, and with a great dinner, it remains this area's best value for your dollar.  The last number of the show, "Goodbye," says, "if you think it stinks, keep your big mouth shut!"  Well, "stinks" might be a bit extreme, but maybe I should just keep my big mouth shut. 

PHOTOS: Courtesy of Toby's Dinner Theatre by Kirstine Christiansen.  TOP to BOTTOM: David Bosley-Reynolds; David Jennings, Tina DeSimone, Terrence Sweeney and Joseph Thanner; Elizabeth Rayca; Jeffrey Shankle, Adam Grabau and David Bosley-Reynolds; Darren McDonnell and Larry Munsey; and Tina DeSimone and Elizabeth Rayca (center) with the Ensemble.