Photo Flash: THE PRODUCERS Plays the Fountain Hills Community Theater Thru 1/30

THE PRODUCERS will close at the Fountain Hills Community Theater on January 30. Outrageous, hilarious, unexpected, a wee bit naughty and a sure-fire hit! Debuting on Broadway in 2001, this Mel Brooks musical quickly racked up a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards including Best Musical. The Producers follows the adventures and misadventures of Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, who set out to produce a full-fledged flop - and fleece their investors in the process - but unwittingly wind up with a hit on their hands. These two schemers will sing and dance their way through the greatest show biz scam there ever was!

The original production of The Producers opened on Broadway on April 19, 2001, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and ran for 2,502 performances, winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards. It spawned a successful London production running for three years, national tours, many productions internationally and a 2005 film version.

Mel Brooks adapted his Broadway musical The Producers from his own 1968 movie of the same name. The film was only a modest success, but it did win the Academy Award for best original screenplay. Over the course of more than thirty years it became a cult classic, with legions of devoted fans who knew the script line-for-line. The musical, on the other hand, was a phenomenon from its beginning. At the 2001 Antoinette Perry (‘‘Tony') Awards, it took twelve statues-the most ever won by any Broadway show. In the months after the destruction of the World Trade Center, when the entertainment world in New York City was devastated by huge financial losses due to audience uncertainty, the unstoppable popularity of The Producers is sometimes credited with saving Broadway.

The story concerns Max Bialystock, a washed-up Broadway producer, and Leo Bloom, a meek accountant who comes to do his books. When Bloom casually notes that a producer could make more money on a show that failed, because the show's investors would never have to be paid back, Bialystock thinks up a plan to gain them millions. They set about looking for the worst Broadway show imaginable, settling on Springtime for Hitler, A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden. They then enlist a flamboyant gay director, assuming that he can make the show even more unbearable.

The Producers is populated with colorful characters and enlivened with witty songs filled with sly cultural references. It also relies heavily on crass and obvious stereotypes meant to offend all equally, with mincing gays, sex-object women, greedy Jews, bubble-headed Swedes, over-sexed old ladies, gruff Irish cops, and kick lines of singing Nazis. Audiences should be aware that The Producers contains some adult language and situations. The 2005 motion picture was Rated PG-13 for sexual humor and references

The Producers is produced by Patricia Tonzi and Patty Torrilhon and directed by Peter J. Hill. The show is choreographed by Noel Irick and musically directed by Flora Mogerman. The Producers features; Scott Hyder, Michael Stewart, Morgan Ottersbach, Terry Gadaire, Patrick Russo and Matt McDonald. Ensemble members include; Will Bates, Molly Boca, Brittany Dawn Foster, Melanie Foster, Josh Fowler, Mallory Briancesco, Kevin Briancesco, Sandy Gulledge, Bill Graham, Amy Ford, Kellen Hunt, Leah Klein, Amanda Levering, Roger Prenger, Erin Ryan, Tanya Schoenwolf, Diana Song and Ron Tang.

All performances are at Fountain Hills Community Theater on its Mainstage at 11445 N. Saguaro Blvd. (The Corner of Saguaro and Rand). Tickets are available through the Theater Box Office at (480) 837-9661 x3. Box Office Hours are 10:00 AM-5:00 PM Tuesday through Saturday. Visit our website at www.fhct.org.

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