After five successful plays still on the bill, Alexis Michalik tackles the most awarded show on Broadway, “The producers” by Mel Brooks, and hit the nail on the head. A joyfully outrageous, ironic and schoolboy show.
Max is a nerdy and broke producer. At the end of his last show Never without my skull freely adapted from Hamlet, the reactions of the public are disastrous: “All the characters die, and as we envy them!”.
His chartered accountant, the shy and cowardly Leo, whispers the idea of an insurance scam: go up “the worst musical in history”, flop and leave with the cash register. They will do business with a Bavarian, author Flowers for Hitler, A musical “neo-Nazi” to the glory of the Führer.
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This highly transgressive show was born from the imagination of Mel Brooks, a New York Jewish filmmaker who wanted to laugh at everything. The film, Oscar winner in 1967, became a multi-award winning Broadway show in 2001. Not enough to panic Michalik who, while respecting the libretto and the music, tested and scrutinized all the gags, adapting them for the French public.
The result is there: no downtime, a cascade of witticisms, and cheerful and cheerful characters served by a troupe who are enjoying themselves. In the role of Max, Sergio Postigo has all the demeanor and seduction necessary (especially when it comes to extracting money from old ladies benefactors). Benoit Cauden is a touching Leo, Régis Vallée a jovial and improbable Nazi and Roxane Le Texier a luscious secretary who dreams of being an actress. As for David Eguren, a nerdy and gay director, he makes an irresistible couple with his outgoing and effeminate assistant embodied by a flamboyant Andy Cocq, and straight out of La Cage aux folles.
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Decors by Juliette Azzopardi that transform as if by magic, a perfectly regulated choreography, musicians who take over the boxes at the edge of the stage, we are really on Broadway 50 years ago. And if the songs in French surprise a little at the beginning, some end up sticking with us: “We can do it” sings the troop at the top of their lungs. Michalik did it!
“The Producers” by Mel Brooks, directed by Alexis Michalik
Paris theater
15, rue blanche Paris IXe
01 48 74 25 37
Tuesday to Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m.