Seacoast Rep Presents Tony Award-Winning Musical THE PRODUCERS

The Seacoast Repertory Theatre's springtime staging of The Producers will present audiences the spectacle of one of Broadway's great farces on the intimate Portsmouth stage.

"The Producers," which opens May 11, represents a confident push by the Seacoast Rep to stage ever more ambitious theater for its growing audience.

"I really want those 'aha!' moments, where you gasp," said director Taryn Herman.

The Producers is Mel Brooks' musical version of his 1967 movie about two Broadway swindlers who plan to stage a flop and fleece its backers. But the plan goes haywire. It is a comic Freudian fantasy, in a storyline mocking Adolf Hitler.

The Hitler references were daring enough to earn Brooks rejections when he was developing the original movie only two decades after the end of World War Two. He had to drop the original title, Springtime for Hitler. But it was eventually produced and became a much-loved classic. The 2001 musical starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick on Broadway won a record 12 Tony awards and was made into a successful movie. Springtime for Hitler was the signature tune.

"There are all of these stereotype characters that we have encountered in our lives, and we know we shouldn't laugh. It gives you permission to laugh," said Herman, a veteran director at the Seacoast Rep.

Herman said she had raised the idea that the Seacoast Rep stage The Producers following the it's success last year with the similarly demanding Monty Python's Spamalot.

"The bar has been set so high you want to maintain it, or surpass it," she said.

The show features six major characters, multiple locations and costume changes, and nonstop big production numbers with music and dance. Herman called it "a humungous show."

"There are just so many moments in this show where you need that big spectacle," she said.

A key to delivering such spectacles on the Seacoast Rep's stage is the set designers, she said. The duo of Ben Hart and Brandon James, working as "The Mad Men of Oopsy Daisy Inc.," have that job for The Producers. They have put their exuberant stamp on several mainstage hits for the Seacoast Rep, including Avenue Q, Oliver, Reefer Madness, and the Rep's "Red Light Series" of adult-oriented events.

The show also demands a "triple threat" cast, Herman said. "There is dancing. There is singing. There is acting - all these huge characters."

Both Herman and Jamie Bradley, another Seacoast veteran who plays the scheming producer Max Bialystock, said they are committed to presenting the show as Brooks envisioned.

"The thing about this show is, it's not broken, so there is no need to fix it," Bradley said. Bialystock was played in the original movie by Zero Mostel, then Lane was celebrated for his musical interpretation of Bialystock. "Nathan Lane does great justice to the character that Zero Mostel created. It was important to me to honor both of those characters," Bradley said.

Herman said she was able to incorporate the original director's and choreographer's notes. "I'm finding a great balance. I'm able to go in and out of the notes with ease, especially with the choreography," she said.

A major challenge in the Bialystock role is conveying the producer's larger-than-life ego, which goes to the heart of Brooks' Freudian inspiration, Bradley said. "He had this brilliant idea of creating these two figures based on the ego and the id, and of and making them producers. And making fun of Hitler."

"On its surface it's just a lot of slapstick, silly fun, but then it does have that element of the psyche in it, some of those things that we go through as human beings. This play exaggerates that," he said.

Herman said she is confident the Seacoast Rep, which has had several sellout performances in recent productions, has put together a strong team to stage shows as ambitious as The Producers. More actors are turning out for auditions; there is a core of regular talent, and audiences are responding. With The Producers, she said, "We really lucked out. Everyone is right on for the role."

The Producers runs May 11-June 10. Show times are Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 2 pm and 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets are available through the Seacoast Rep box office at 603-433-4472, or online at www.seacoastrep.org/tickets. For student discounts, call the box office. The Seacoast Repertory Theatre's 2018 season is sponsored in part by Bondgarden Farms, Portsmouth Public Media, MacEdge and the Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel.

The Seacoast Repertory Theatre is a 501(c)3 non-profit theatre committed to providing a variety of programming for the community. The Rep presents professional programming through its Mainstage, alternative programming through its Red Light Series and also offers a variety of programs for youth and seniors. For more information, or to schedule an interview, please call Director of Marketing Brian Kelly at 603-785-2782 or at marketing@seacoastrep.org.