Still In Full Bloom

Theatre Review
The Producers - London 11.15.04 -@@@@@

If you read in my last post that this was going to be the 6th time I've seen The Producers musical, it should be pretty obvious that I like the show. A lot. In fact, I'll state that it is the most entertaining show of any kind -- musical, play, concert performer, tv show, movie -- that didn't exist prior to the 21st century. I was fortunate enough to see it's world premiere in Chicago back in February 2001, and since them have become a self-professed Producers-ologist. I've seen it on Broadway (as in Chicago) with Nathan Lane & Matthew Broderick, in LA with George Alexander & Martin Short and in two touring productions without major stars. Some were better than others, in terms of various performances and such, but the show has always been great. Tonight's London show, just a week after it officially opened here, was supposed to star Richard Dreyfuss as Max Bialystock and a British actor named Lee Evans as Leo Bloom. But either because he was ill, injured or just bad, Dreyfuss got thrown to the sharks, so with a seat front row center, I had a close encounter once again with Nathan Lane, who was again fabulous. I still think Broderick is the best Leo I've seen, and the side-splitting humor hasn't been shocking since the first time, but the London crowd loved it and gave a standing ovation, which they didn't at the other two shows I saw. Obviously, I highly recommend The Producers to anyone who gets the chance to see it.