Producer Review | We all do show business

Satire of the entertainment industry and the American dream, The producers is a timeless spectacle. The Press attended the premiere Thursday evening.

The producers by Mel Brooks is a joyous and irreverent musical comedy. And which veers heavily into caricature. Clichés about Jews, homosexuals, Germans, elderly people… Everyone goes through it! In our era of political correctness where everyone is looking for their “safe zone” to protect themselves from the “violence” of stereotypes, this show is a big breath of fresh air.

The producers, it’s also Broadway looking at Broadway. With its Jewish humor, its extravagance and its nods to the failings of human comedy, this burlesque work resonates beyond crude farce. At 97 years old, Brooks can be considered the spiritual father of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David.

The plot of the show revolves around around thirty musical numbers. After a monumental failure of a Shakespeare adaptation (Richard 4 ½), Max Bialystock, ex-king of Broadway, is on the verge of bankruptcy. But he meets Leopold Bloom, an accountant who dreams of show business. Max will join forces with him to produce “the worst show in the world”, Our hearts for Hitler, with among others a chorus line who makes the Nazi salute against a backdrop of giant swastikas!

To do this, the duo hires the worst director in New York, Roger de Brie, with his mediocre team of designers. Gigolo and dishonest, Max extracts the money to produce his turnip from old and lecherous donors. He is convinced that the show will be withdrawn from the poster on the first day. Which will allow him to fly to Rio with the jackpot. However, the show will be a triumph…

The sprinkler watered

By imagining this amusing story, first for the cinema, in 1967, then for the stage, in 2001, Mel Brooks had a genius idea: starting from the nightmare of all artists and turning it into a universal fable. That of the sprinkler being watered. Because Max will quickly become the victim of his own machinations. And he will learn that success, although tasty, is not an ultimate goal in life.

After having played it nearly 400 times in front of Parisian audiences, Serge Postigo offers “a version tailor-made for the Quebec public”, with references to Guy A. Lepage, Revenu Québec and other “take it easy”. The actor takes over the main role, created on Broadway by Nathan Lane, in addition to signing the adaptation and direction.

With his floppy hat, his raincoat and his jacket, Postigo has the outfit, but above all the soul of the producer. This character sticks to him. At times he touches comic genius.

The actor is surrounded by Tommy Joubert (Leopold), Marianne Orlowski (Ulla) and around twenty other artists, including five musicians led by Guillaume St-Laurent. The quality of the production is impeccable! This Quebec version compares with the best on Broadway and elsewhere.

Chemistry works

The chemistry between the two producers is the driving force of the story. And it works well here. At first glance, the choice of Joubert to play Léo could seem risky. This performer is talented, but he has less experience than Postigo. However, from the first solo of the shy accountant, I would like to be a producer, we are reassured. In the secondary roles, let us also mention Thiery Dubé and his nostalgic Nazi who makes his caged pigeons sing; Benoît Finley’s twisting, very effeminate Führer; as well as his flamboyant assistant, played by Jean-Luke Côté.

If the staging indulges a little too much in burlesque for our taste, the choreography, decor and costumes of this production are high-flying. Serge Postigo staged one of the biggest Broadway shows in Quebec, in memory, without the means of Broadway producers. Hats off!

Visit the show website

The producers

By Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan. Adaptation, translation and direction: Serge Postigo.

At the St-Denis Theater and the Capitole Theater in Quebec, Until April 14 in Montreal. From June 27 to July 14 in Quebec

8/10