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CVLT produces flop terrifically
(by Herb Hammer - July 28, 2010)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
CVLT produces flop terrifically
Can the comic genius found in Mel Brooks' musical "The Producers" survive in Chagrin Falls? After all is said and done, the smash Broadway hit requires an enormous amount of stage talent, an inventive director and enough genuine silliness to keep audiences laughing for nearly three hours.
Fearlessly up to the challenge, Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, under the brilliant directing of J.E. Ballantyne Jr., has scored and scored big.
With a marvelous cast and all the complex insanity necessary, the theater on River Street has produced the best all-around musical this writer has witnessed at CVLT in 35 years of reviewing.
Based on Mel Brooks' 1968 cult movie, the 2001 Broadway musical with songs by Mr. Brooks won 12 Tony Awards. Four years later, with the same two stars, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, the movie musical opened to the same rave reviews.
At CVLT, Tom Hill and Nathan Early have stepped into the leading roles, and they never miss a beat.
Mr. Hill plays Max Bialystock, a Broadway producer with a string of flops to his credit. His exasperation gets the show off to its hilarious start.
Max is visited by his accountant, Leo Bloom, played with equal dexterity by Mr. Early. Bloom casually mentions that producing a flop on Broadway could easily make a couple of million dollars. Just raise the money, put on a cheap show that closes on opening night, and Bloom and Bialystock walk off with a million a piece.
Mel Brooks has just begun. With a new surefire disaster written by a nearly insane pigeon-raising Nazi and a gay director who has never had a hit, the show is sure to fail.
One of the show's best moments is the show within a show, entitled "Springtime for Hitler," which should offend just about everybody. The show has just the effect Max wasn't looking for, a hit.
Even Mel Brooks couldn't have chosen a better Max Bialystock than Tom Hill. His comic timing is a joy to watch. He moves and sings as well as any Max you'll ever see, and, along with Nathan Early, as Bloom, whose singing voice coincidentally sounds a lot like the voice of Matthew Broderick, the pair do memorable work.
But the talent on the CVLT stage doesn't stop there. Tom Majercik, as the Nazi writer and composer, if you can imagine that, is exceptionally terrific. Gary Samarin steals his share of scenes, especially as the gay Hitler.
The production sticks to the original with leggy chorus girls and old ladies who become the financial backers of the flop that didn't flop.
Kat Clover is a delicious Ulla, the Swedish beauty who winds up painting Max's office and eventually runs off with Leo.
But we know all that.
"The Producers" has been around long enough for every showgoer to have seen it at least once.
CVLT makes true believers out of anyone lucky enough to latch onto a ticket. Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan's book, along with the Mel Brooks songs, will have everyone back for at least one more look. The Chagrin Valley Little Theatre is certainly the place to be.
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