Misconceptions: A co-worker's remarks on the Producers movie

Posted: 11/14/05 at 2:21pm

A co-worker who knows I love musicals asked me if I planned to see Rent when it came out. After I assured him I'd be there on opening day, he said, "What I'm really excited about is The Producers movie!" I asked him if he was a fan of the show and he claimed he'd never seen it but he couldn't wait for the film version because it's considered the greatest musical of all time. "Why do you say greatest of all time?" I asked. He answered, "Because I heard on the radio that the show has won more Tonys than any other musical ever so it must be the best." I know we at BWW know the Tony winners don't always reflect the best of Broadway but it makes me sad that there are people out there who take these winners literally. I wouldn't put The Producers in the top 25 of all time. At the time of its Tony wins I thought its accolades were over the top and now I'm even more convinced. How many other radio stations will be promoting the movie in this manner causing many casual theater fans to also believe The Producers is the best Broadway has ever had to offer? Bleh. It makes me sad. End of rant
Updated On: 11/14/05 at 02:21 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 2:28pm

Some people, sadly, only believe what the media tells them.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 2:43pm

Smoke!

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 3:08pm

A lot of people on the imdb boards also think this way. I posted that the Tony voters change, unlike the academy voters, so that if something like RENT or The Phantom of the Opera went up against The Producers the results would probably not have been the same. And that many of The Producers' awards should have gone to different shows. I mean, we all know Spamalot didn't deserve Best Musical. So we know that Tony's don't always mean the best.

[kasim]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 3:22pm

Well regardless of knowing anything about awards, musicals, etc ... basing it must be the best of all time on awards is ridiculous.

As you pointed out, you dont get awards cause you are the best of all time, you get them because you are the best for that year.

To say best of all time you really have to step back to compare subjectively all musicals performed.

Posted: 11/14/05 at 3:42pm

So which movie has won the most Academy Awards? I'm just wondering what is the film equivalent of The Producers.

[jynni]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 3:47pm

Titanic, Ben Hur & LOTR: ROTK have all won eleven (I think).

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 4:03pm

Yup, TITANIC, BEN HUR, and LORD OF THE RINGS.

This is sad though. While the score to this show may be the best comedic musical theater score Ive ever heard, and the show itself is wonderful, I wouldn't call it the best musical of all time. Its good, great even. But not the best ever.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 4:09pm

Bwha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

















GAG.

[Plum]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 6:29pm

Wow, way to not take into account the competition in any given year. Anyway, if people who haven't seen it are looking forward to it, I'm not going to complain too much. Besides, I'm certainly anticipating The Producers more than Rent. :)

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 6:36pm

Eh. If it gets their butts into the seats, let them think what they want to think.

The Producers certainly isn't the greatest musical of all time, but it certainly panders to the general public and perhaps it will be the gateway for some people into other musical theater.

[EganFan2]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 6:46pm

I am thinking about seeing this just to see what all the fuss was about. I don't particularly like Nathan Lane, though.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 9:11pm

I heartily enjoyed the musical on stage, but just because someone calls it the best musical of all time, does not make it true. I would be hard pressed to name any show the BEST of all time...just as I would be hard pressed to name the best song, composer or actor of all time. Much depends on the competition at the time, as someone else also said and if you are going to go by awards, there are years when lots of shows should win and only one can...and years when there is precious little to nominate but you have to choose something.

If the Titanic won the most awards as a movie, that should give you some idea of what awards mean. They are nice to have but the idea that the Titanic is the best movie of all time because it won a lot of awards is a little silly. The movie was impressive in terms of technical achievements but both of the lead performances were terrible. So...go figure. I say, decide for yourself what you enjoy and don't be mislead by hype. Whether I LOVE the musical or not and whether I am excited to see the movie (which I AM) does not make it the best of all time and I am sure that even Brooks would admit to that fact. This is all very subjective and should be taken with a grain of salt. Like what you like and don't worry too much about what is the BEST of all time.

[DG]

Posted: 11/14/05 at 9:14pm

"certainly panders to the general public"

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I kind of assumed that that was their target audience.