Review: THE PRODUCERS at Ogunquit Playhouse

Mel Brooks' The Producers is probably one of the most irreverent, outrageous and boundary-pushing musicals ever put on a Broadway stage. It is also one of the most entertaining. That combination is what makes the show work, and Ogunquit Playhouse has assembled a cast that knows exactly what to do with it.

From the opening overture, we are dropped into the crazy world of Broadway, where greed and desperation can apparently lead to a very good business plan—at least if you don't mind producing a guaranteed flop.

The premise is simple enough. Max Bialystock (Jason Kravits) is a fading Broadway producer who discovers that a flop can actually make more money than a hit. He recruits his timid accountant, Leo Bloom (Dan DeLuca, fast becoming one of my Ogunquit favorites), and the two set out to raise more money than they need, produce the worst show they can find and pocket the difference.

What could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot.

Their search leads them to Franz Liebkind (John Rapson), a German playwright whose admiration for Adolf Hitler is, to put it mildly, excessive. His play is Springtime for Hitler. Then there is Ulla (Stephanie Gibson), the Swedish actress who walks into Max and Leo's office, along with Roger DeBris (John Scherer), the flamboyant director they eventually hire, and Carmen Ghia (Nathan Lee Graham), Roger's equally flamboyant assistant.

And from there, things get wonderfully out of control.

The show really depends on the chemistry between Max and Leo, and Kravits and DeLuca have it. Kravits' Max is a larger-than-life Broadway hustler who believes he is still a major player. He moves, mugs and schemes his way through the role with the confidence of someone who has never met a bad idea he couldn't make worse. He knows how to sell a song and, just as importantly in this show, knows how to sell a joke. “Betrayed” is a terrific showcase for him.

DeLuca's Leo is the perfect opposite. He starts out as the nervous accountant who would rather be anywhere but Broadway and gradually discovers that he likes the excitement. DeLuca handles the transformation nicely. He has the voice, the dancing ability and the comic timing, but it is his ability to make Leo genuinely likable that makes the character work.

Gibson's Ulla is more than the blonde bombshell Max and Leo initially see. She has terrific stage presence and a strong voice, and she knows how to play the comedy without turning Ulla into a caricature. “When You Got It, Flaunt It” gives her plenty of opportunity to show both.

Rapson clearly enjoys playing Franz. He doesn't try to make the character anything other than the outrageous Nazi playwright Brooks created, and he commits to every ridiculous moment. That pays off when Springtime for Hitler finally hits the stage.

Then Scherer and Graham arrive as Roger and Carmen, and the show gets another jolt of energy.

Scherer plays Roger as a director who would rather be doing almost anything other than directing a musical about Hitler. Graham's Carmen is his devoted sidekick, and the two turn “Keep It Gay” into one of the evening's highlights. They know when to push a joke and when to simply let the audience take it in.

The ensemble has plenty to do. There are costumes to change, characters to play and dance numbers that require a lot of people onstage at the same time. Ogunquit's company handles it all with energy, and the larger numbers have the kind of controlled chaos that makes a show like this fun to watch. (Fun to see Jim Borstelmann on the Ogunquit stage once again in multiple characters. He was brilliant opposite Sally Struthers in OPs "Crazy for You." And while taking a pause in the review, where is Sally Struthers this year? We miss our long time Ogunguit star.)

The direction and choreography are based on Susan Stroman's original Broadway staging, recreated by James Gray. Stroman's choreography is so closely associated with The Producers that there is plenty for long-term fans to remember. The large production numbers are carefully staged without becoming so precise that they lose their comic energy.

Eric Luchen's scenic design takes us from Max's rundown office to rehearsal rooms and eventually to the Broadway stage. It does what good musical-comedy scenery should do: give the actors plenty to work with without getting in their way. The original Broadway costume designs add considerably to the look, particularly when the full company takes over the stage.

Brian Whitted's music direction keeps the score moving and, unlike the old days with an orchestra in a pit in front of the stage, perpetually makes me wonder where the orchestra is actually located these days. Brooks' songs range from the sweetness of “That Face” to the Broadway optimism of “We Can Do It,” with plenty of silliness in between.

And then there is Springtime for Hitler.

This is the number everyone is waiting for, and at Sunday's performance, it came with an unexpected twist.

Just as the signature scene was beginning, an overhead voice bellowed, “Will the actors please exit the stage due to a technical difficulty.”

The actors quickly went to the wings. Then came silence.

The audience sat there wondering whether this was part of the show or whether something had actually gone wrong. A few minutes later, the voice returned.

“Thank you for your patience as we work on a technical difficulty.”

More silence.

Then: “We will resume the show in just one minute.”

The entire interruption lasted about five minutes. And somehow, given that The Producers is about a Broadway show that is supposed to be a disaster, the timing couldn't have been better. It was a genuine backstage problem that became part of the evening's comedy.

The joys of live theater!

When Springtime for Hitler finally gets going, Brooks' target is everything you would expect. The swastikas, goose-stepping dancers and wildly enthusiastic performers deliberately turn a Broadway spectacular upside down. The number is supposed to be shocking, but it is also making fun of the oversized production numbers Broadway has been serving up for generations.

Not every audience member is going to be comfortable with all of the humor in The Producers. The sexual jokes and stereotypes are plentiful, and the Nazi material is deliberately over the top. But Brooks doesn't exactly play favorites. Everybody gets a shot.

That seems to be the key to the whole evening. The performers don't apologize for the material, and they don't seem afraid of it, either. They simply play it.

And apparently, the audience was ready for it.

A charming elderly lady I met in the concession line put it pretty well.

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