Review: Theatre Charlotte's THE PRODUCERS Is More Politically Incorrect Than Ever

When I first saw Mel Brooks' THE PRODUCERS on Broadway in 2001, my disappointment in not seeing Nathan Lane in the role of Max Bialystock was assuaged by the realization that the show was still so damn good with last-minute replacement Brad Oscar filling the megastar's shoes. Each of the successive versions I've seen in Charlotte - the national tour at Ovens Auditorium in 2004 and the CPCC Summer Theatre production at Halton Theater in 2009 - has only strengthened my conviction that Lane was not an essential ingredient in the show's success.

But isn't it too much to expect a smashing PRODUCERS at Theatre Charlotte, where they don't have a Broadway-sized budget - or even a spacious orchestra pit like the Halton's? Make a couple of allowances and then prepare to be astonished.

Scenic design by Chris Timmons is cheesy, even by community theatre standards, and there are no live musicians in sight - or out of sight - at the Queens Road barn. Once you get past those visible and audible austerities, you can revel in the costume designs by Rachel Engstrom, so crucial to the big "Springtime for Hitler" climax, and in the deep cast, so necessary in putting over Brooks' comedy and his schlocky score.

Benefitting from the embarrassment of riches that showed up at auditions, director Caroline Bower hasn't squandered her good fortune. In David Catenazzo as Max, she has found a leading man who is as seedy as Timmons' scenery. Mostly a secret kept in recent years by JStage at the Levine Jewish Community Center, where he has starred in A Year With Frog and Toad and Fiddler on the Roof, Catenazzo proves to have a strong singing voice to go along with his comedic gifts. He absolutely oozes corruption, eager to enlist humdrum accountant Leo Bloom to cook his books, eager to bilk show investors in a surefire flop, and rabid to shtup Ulla, the voluptuous Swedish actress who turns up early for auditions.

A second solid gold debut comes from Landon Sutton as the diffident Leo, more than nerdy enough for a numbers crusher who discovers how to pocket a shady profit from a Broadway flop. There's pallid innocence to Sutton's manner as Leo, plus a little endearing pudginess, that works well when he's too timid to plunge into the crooked scheme he has inspired. But there's a surprisingly strong and smooth singing voice when Leo jumps aboard on the reprise of "We Can Do It," and hormonal heat in "That Face," his serenade to Ulla.

Brooks' book and lyrics are so politically incorrect that they still seem to draw a pass from the audience - apparently willing to overlook the sexist attitude toward Ulla and the mockery directed at Franz Liebkind, the pigeon-keeping diehard Nazi who has penned the worst musical script that Max has ever read, Springtime for Hitler. Bower makes the right choices in casting the very un-Swedish Hailey Thomas as Ulla, draping her curves with a modicum of modesty, and limiting her flirtatiousness in comparison with Max's leering. The Sveedish accent is ba-a-a-d, which is paradoxically good, and she's positively smashing in her Nazi eagle outfit.

Neo-Nazis are less of a laughing matter than they were 18 years ago, so it's also wise to have Chip Bradley tone down Franz's achtung authoritarian qualities and pile on some extra daffiness. The result is the best performance I've seen from Bradley, particularly when he shows us all how Hitler should be sung at Springtime auditions. Bradley's eccentric excellence is sustained when we encounter the Greenwich Village artistes who will direct Franz's stinker, Roger De Bris and his loyal assistant Carmen Ghia, handpicked for their inabilities.

Here we are blessed with the gay flamboyance of Matt Kenyon as Carmen and the Ethel Merman regality of Paul Reeves Leopard as Roger. It takes a professional-grade queen to pull off Carmen's arrogant servility and Roger's ornate Chrysler Building party dress. Kenyon and Leopard have the goods. Leopard is certainly a different kind of Hitler than Bradley when Roger must sub for Franz on opening night.

On my fourth go-round with THE PRODUCERS, I wasn't laughing out loud until the Springtime for Hitler auditions, where I found myself enjoying the outrageousness as much as the newbies in the audience. I suspect their expectations were surpassed as much as mine were 18 years ago when Lane's absence was announced as I stood in line outside the St. James Theatre. Enthusiasm for the Little Old Ladies and their tap-dancing walkers crackled like I remembered it even if the shtick has gone a little stale for me.

Iesha Nyree as Lick-me Bite-me and Layla Sutton as Hold-me Touch-me rounded out the named characters in the cast, which lists another 14 ensemble members, whose energy makes choreographer Lauren "Loz" Gibbs look good. So what ever happened to the biddie named Kiss-me Feel-me? A victim of downsizing, we must presume.

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