Review... The Producers at Gateway

By Roy Bradbrook

All I could think of in between the almost constant laughter during the opening night of Gateway's Long Island professional premiere of The Producers was: How did Mel Brooks do this? How could you possibly believe that a film or musical could succeed, when its premise is that an unscrupulous theater producer could make a fortune by staging a musical with no chance of success and after it quickly closed enjoy the money that well meaning investors had put into the show? Oh, and while they're at it, ensure that throughout the show you make very non-PC and very funny jokes about almost every nationality, profession and sexual persuasion you can think of, including Americans, Germans, Brits, Irish, blacks, gays, Swedes, Jews, wealthy elderly women with strong sexual appetites and then, to cap it all off, make Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party an integral part of the plot. Can you imagine going to the heads of a film studio or a theater group to pitch this?

Well, if you're Mel Brooks you can - and you can also get approval for it. And thank goodness he did, because this is a very funny show - unless you are so PC that the humor passes you by.

This type of farce relies on a cast that knows how to time every moment, because those silent, pregnant pauses when you instinctively know what the characters are thinking are vital. I enjoyed this Gateway production as much as, if not more than, when I saw it on Broadway. Michael Kostroff, as the wily producer Max Bialystock and Adam Wylie as a nerdy, introverted accountant complete with his 'worry blanket,' who ends up wanting to wear a Broadway producer's hat, really make the word synergy meaningful and are reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy at their greatest. Steven Ted Beckler plays the almost demented neo-Nazi, Franz Libkind, complete with performing pigeons, with frenetic enthusiasm.

David Edwards, as the flamboyantly gay director, Roger DeBris, has an opening entrance to savor while Garth Kravits, superbly over the top as his camp assistant Carmen Ghia, specializes in exits seemingly taken directly from Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. You just wonder how long that last fingernail will be in sight! The scene where Roger runs the show by his 'executive team' for approval is one of the funniest, culminating in a conga line with moves to remember. Christine Cherry plays Ulla, the Swedish ingénue, who wants to be a star. She captivates both Max and Leo and who could blame them, for she really is gorgeous and relieves Leo of the need for his worry blanket.

Jessica Sheridan, nicknamed, "Hold Me Touch Me," is hilarious yet scary as Max's prime theatrical angel, as she leads the determined group of sex-starved elderly women who finance his shows. Their dance routine with walkers is another sight for the ages!

The staging works very well and the choreography by Matthew Vargo keeps the show moving at a very fast pace.

In the mood of irreverence engendered by Mel Brook's show, the teaming of Max and Leo, with all of the accompanying glitter and glitz and their intricate maneuverings, were eerily reminiscent of the current presidential political conventions and the comparisons were alarming - you can use your own political leanings to decide which party it brought to mind when Leo and Max triumphantly declare, "We Can Do It!"

But Gateway certainly has done it with another raging success that deserves full houses who should go home giving thanks for the quirky genius of Mel Brooks every night.

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