Current mood:	OVERLY EXCITED
Current music:	Mississippi Cold Case
Entry tags:	broadway, musical, review, show, stage, the producers

It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing...
...but, under the right circumstances, a producer could make more money with a flop, than he could with a hit!

Last night my aunt and I went to the Atwood Concert Hall to watch The Producers which is on it's National Tour. It was her early Christmas gift to me. Because I'm in love with the musical, it's one of my top ten favorites. It's just hysterically funny and if you've been in any part of theater you get just why it's so stupidly true and the humor is just over the top!

Anyway when she ordered the tickets she splurged and got tickets for the main floor/orchestra section. We ended up being in the second row stage left. It was incredible! I've never been to a broadway show that close to teh stage! It was great.

I will admit I was more than a little giddy waiting for teh show - yes I was worried that I would have incredibly high expectations and compare the cast to that of the movie (who can beat Nathan Lane?), and CATS was a major disappointment, it just didn't seem to flow as well as the video (but they were the best of the best in that one).

Funny thing I heard while sitting waiting for it to bein - this guy behind us was talking to his wife/girlfriend/SO lol and he was saying how the only version of the movie he saw was the Mel Brooks version.... which while eavesdropping further I realized was teh 2005 version... um... both movies are the Mel Brooks version. It just annoys me that people don't know simple movie trivia. Or at LEAST read teh play bill where they give credit to Mr. Brooks!!!! But it was funny. "Does this follow the Mel Brooks version?" um I dunno! *smacks forehead* People are morons! LOL

Anyway the lights went down, the music began, and the curtain went up and from start to finish it was just as good as the film. Brad Nacht played Max Bialystock and while he is not Nathan Lane, he was definitely good. My only problem was - for whatever reason - his mic when he talked was turned way lower than the rest of the cast. So the energy just didn't pop. He was very good, though, don't get me wrong, but his energy was all over the place. I don't know if that was just how he made the character or what, but it wasn't BAD.

Austin Own played Leo Bloom and he was perfect at it. His energy, his wide-eyed expression, his youthful exuberance just lit up the stage and he was such a highlight. Never mind Leo is probably my favorite character in the show anyway, he did really well. He was just enough like Brodderick version that the character was familiar, but he totally kept it his own as well. His hysteria fits were different than Matthew's take and that was GREAT.

Anyway the musical had a few surprises / differences from the film, which I knew going in. There were songs that were dropped in the film for continuity and what not but I kinda wish they'd kept a couple of parts in. But oh well... gotta keep them a little different so the stage version won't dry up.

Elizabeth Pawloski was great as Ulla. I'm not sure what it was about her accent that bugged me, maybe because it was so slow like she really had to ennunciate or something, but it wasn't overly annoying. Just different in a weird way. She was very cute in the role, though, and had a great voice.

The show's BEST performance or at least most popular was John West's performance as Carmen Ghia. He totally outshined the rest of the cast (and Roger Bart's portrayal in the original show/movie). He was just made for that role and did an amazing job. Everything about him was PERFECT. You could really tell he loved his part and he more than sold it. He was definitely the buzz around the theater at intermission.

So those were my top characters ;) though everyone was just fantastic...

I won't give a blow by blow as like I said it is pretty close to the movie. But I will highlight a few of the best moments.

First off the orchestra/band/whatever you want to call them was spot on. The only sour note came after the show when a trumpet hit a wrong (flat) note with the exit music. But after 3 hours, I can completely understand and it wasn't a big deal lol... it was probably the best group of musicians I've heard during a show.

During the Springtime for Hitler "show" when Roger Du Bris sings the big solo as Hitler he ended and bowed and then tried to get the audience to participate, no one really got it so I started cheering rather loudly which got it started (after he ran over to my side of the stage and got excited) but it annoyed the hoity toity people around me. I heard one person say someone didn't know how to act in the theater... um, sorry, but when an actor ASKS for my participation it's rude not to play along. Get the stick out of your butt.

Most of my favorite parts of the show were little inside jokes meant just for the audience that took you out of the show for a moment. They came mainly during the second act. Probably because they realized Alaskans are willing to be entertained. It was definitely an energetic crowd for opening night, and the place was PACKED.

It was great. When Max and Leo are in the office after the show is a success and Leo is taking the books to the authorities and Max takes them away from him. Leo starts screaming "FAT!" and Max looked at him and said "I'm not that fat, everything's bigger in Alaska!" The audience LOST it, we went NUTS! And I don't think they were expecting as big a response as they got because 'Leo's' eyes went wide and they both were biting their bottom lip to keep from laughing. It was a great moment and we didn't calm down for almost two minutes. So they just had to stand there.

From then the whole cast was all about just making the show hysterical. They really went all out for the final stretch. They kept building in the energy and feeding off of us and we were feeding off of them. It was GREAT.

From there came my favorite song (not my theme song which would be "I Wanna Be A Producer") "Betrayed" I love Nathan Lane's version... but Brad Nacht did a fantastic job and as he got to teh point in the song where he sings about little old lady land (which in the show has it's own song! LOL) he screamed "INTERMISSION" and sat down on his jail cell got and pulled out a playbill! IF that wasn't funny enough he opens it up and begins reading his little bio and then looks up and says "Well, he'd definitely no Nathan" referring to - of course - Nathan Lane (who is a Broadway God, let's face it!). And that got a huge laugh (and a very sad me because I'd JUST SAID THAT during the real intermission... so I felt bad lol)

The last big surprise was when they were in the court scene and the Jury Foreman was one of our local celebrities. They'd made the announcement that he was playing the part, but it didn't click. It was funny because when the curtain first came up to reveal the courtroom you could tell everyone was basically asking "is that really him" and then it clicked and we all just FREAKED (never did hear his line lol) and he got this huge smile on his face and then walked off. And the Judge looked out at all of us and said "It's like you all know him or something." It was hysterical.



All in all the whole show was top notch. I didn't think anything would top Grease when it was here Christmas of 03, but it did... I don't think it was just because I was second row, or that it was the Producers. It just was a GREAT opening night (Which in and of itself surprises me) and aside from two SMALL flubs that I seemed to be the only one to catch it went off without a hitch.

So there was my night, I'm still coming off of the high (I couldn't stop smiling at all last night!) and I'm just so glad I got to go. It really made my year!


So if you get a chance to see the tour when it comes your way. GO. You won't be disappointed at ALL. I loved every minute of it! ( http://www.producersontour.com )