The Producers review: Bialystock and Bloom-in’ hilarious
Posted on
| By
Sian McBride
The first major London revival of Mel Brooks’ musical adaptation of The Producers received a sold-out run and glowing reviews when it opened at the Menier Chocolate Factory last year. Now the show has transferred to the West End. But did lightning strike twice? or was the production, like Bialystock’s investors, flatlining? Was it time to call time on Springtime? Or was the show, like Franz Liebkind’s musical, a hit? Shut up, I'm having a rhetorical conversation!
Bialystock (Andy Nyman) muses at the beginning of the production that critics have a lot to say when they leave at the interval. Which is why he would be pleased (or, I guess horrified) to learn that I haven’t written an essay here. I left well after the final bows (there are some great moments post curtain call, that I implore everyone to forgo their earlier train to catch).
Despite being 58 years old, the musical still inspires creatives on both sides of the pond. Brooks’ satire of Broadway excess follows Max Bialystock, a washed-up producer, and Leo Bloom, a timid accountant, as they cook up the perfect scam: stage a guaranteed flop, pocket the investors’ cash, and run. But when their outrageously tasteless new musical Springtime for Hitler - complete with a giant tap-dancing, swastika-clad pigeon - becomes a smash hit, the scheme unravels in spectacular fashion.
Andy Nyman and Marc Antolin reprise their critically acclaimed roles as the titular producers, Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom. Nyman is razor-sharp: his dry, quick-witted delivery slices through the audience with precision of Liebkind’s Fallschirmjäger-Messer. Antolin, meanwhile, is a marvel of physical comedy. Lithe and elastic, he squirms, contorts, and practically folds himself in half as Bloom tries to hide from Bialystock, the mob, and occasionally, his own shadow.
Joanna Woodward as Ulla, and Trevor Ashley as Roger de Bris are real standouts. Woodward unleashes a powerhouse voice that would land her lead role in any Bialystock and Bloom production, and hurls herself headfirst into the absurd comedy. She’s equal parts Mariah Carey and the Muppets’ Swedish Chef, and it works gloriously. Whereas Ashley turns ‘eye choreography’ into an art form. His eyeballs practically launch themselves out of their sockets as he silently, but not so subtly, conveys his thoughts and opinions to his long suffering (business) partner, Carmen Ghia (Raj Ghatak). He savors every moment as Roger, delivering lines with wicked precision and pushing the comedy to new heights. It’s little wonder that fellow cast members are often on the brink of breaking whenever he’s on stage; the audience certainly are.
The Producers is a riot. The comedy is relentless, the pacing tight, and the staging bold. It’s the most I’ve laughed at a West End show this year, and despite it being a classic, there were still some jokes that I nazi see coming.
When it comes to West End comedy, The Producers makes all others look in-Führer.