BWW Reviews: THE PRODUCERS, New Alexandra Theatre Birmingham, April 21 2015

The Producers, a Mel Brooks musical, has been a favourite of mine since I saw the Las Vegas production years ago starring David Hasselhoff - who was surprisingly good I might add! The show had been condensed into an hour and a half straight through which worked well in my opinion. The musical was adapted from the 1968 film of the same name and opened on Broadway in 1991, receiving 12 Tony Awards - a massive achievement by any standard. The 2005 film version was also very enjoyable and starred original Broadway cast members Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.

Due to technical difficulties, the curtain went up half an hour late. As the show is quite lengthy as well, this set us up for a long evening! Paul Farnsworth's set was unfortunately a little uninspiring and seemed aged. There were also some problems getting smaller set pieces on and off the stage on several occasions. Lee Proud had choreographed cast members to do the scene changes with flair but this suffered slightly when they were experiencing difficulties with furniture manoeuvres. The choreography in general though is very good and the energy from the company contributed to this. Matthew White's direction is a little lacklustre in places but he uses the playing space well. Another disappointing element was the lighting, designed by Paul Anderson; it seemed very much like they had run out of time.

Some of the one-liners in the show are brilliantly funny but with the long, drawn out scenes, it seemed a little like overkill at times. The music under the direction of Andrew Hilton sounded rich and full as it should be and vocally, the performers were on form with some lovely harmonies. Sometimes the sound balance wasn't completely right; too loud if anything but this wasn't constant. It very much seemed like some of the star casting took precedent over production quality which is a great shame.

Having said that, Cory English is an excellent lead as Max Bialystock. Having performed the role on Broadway and in the West End, he is well-practised as the slimy theatre producer. He gave an all-round confident performance and stood out greatly amongst the 'bigger names' in the cast. Jason Manford too is good casting for Leo Bloom; slightly timid and eccentric, he attacked everything with full commitment and vocally he was very competent. And Tiffany Graves' characterisation as Ulla is spot on; she looks incredible and does what is required of the character.

The Producers plays the New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham until 25th April 2015 and continues to tour until July.

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