 | Dfernando - Scoops Broadway
Our very own Dfernando once again
brings us the current Broadway scoops on
shows and their current cast changes.
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Madness on W. 44th Street - THE PRODUCERS has arrived! So, who can come forth and announce that they predicted all this madness would be occuring over on W. 44th Street in New York City where Mel Brooks' musicalization of his 1968 classic film "The Producers" has found its home at the St. James Theatre? I'm one of the first to admit that I didn't expect much when a few years back they first mentioned that Mel Brooks was going to be adapting his famous classic film "The Producers" (which earned him an Oscar for Best Screenplay) for a musical.
As an ardent of the American Musical Theatre since I was a child (my first show on Broadway was Bob Fosse's original 1972 production of "Pippin" at the Imperial Theatre; I was 7 years old), I had made my peace quite some time ago that Broadway was basically turning into a haven for the Broadway revival - be it musical, comedy or play. It seemed that the concept of an 'original' Broadway show was predicting another possible flop. I mean, it was obvious that people seemed to want to see shows that they were somehow familiar with, either from some production they might have seen or from a film-version. They were completely ignoring the 'new' and 'original' shows. The fatalities of such incredible shows like "Side Show", "Carrie", and "Parade", to as recent as "Seussical" is pure evidence of all this. That is, until this thing called "The Producers" arrived on Broadway to begin preview performances in late March 2001.
In February, the show began its pre-Broadway tryout at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, and here is where all the madness began. The word-of-mouth was reaching the ears of everyone, including myself, even BEFORE the reviews came out for its limited-run in the Windy City. Slowly, the lines started developing outside of the St. James Theatre in New York, anticipating the show's arrival to start preview performances in mid-March. Again…who expected what was to follow?
The show seemed to already have been 'frozen' (where they no longer make any changes in the show, something which only occurs on the official Opening Night of a show) while in Chicago. Even before the show began preview performances on Broadway in mid-March, they already had recorded the show's cast recording - something that is traditionally done either a week or a month AFTER the show has opened. In a rarity of sorts, the show's Original Cast Recording was released the Tuesday BEFORE the show officially opened - Thursday, 4/19/2001. I still cringe at the thought of that date. It was on THIS night that all Hell broke loose on Broadway. That evening's New York reviews were all RAVES, and the following morning the crowds outside of the St. James Theatre box office on W. 44th Street would make headlines and become a part of Broadway history (and legend).
Some claim that the last time Broadway saw something of this magnitude, was back in the summer of 1975, when Michael Bennett's legendary masterpiece, "A Chorus Line", began its early run at the Newman Theatre - OFF-BROADWAY before the show was officially transferred to the Shubert Theatre ON BROADWAY! Back then, people were paying over $200.00 for tickets to the completely sold-out limited run. Tickets were so difficult to obtain that (legend has it) even Diana Ross was seen sitting on the steps of the aisles on one particular sold-out performance.
The box office at the St. James Theatre now opens every morning to an eager crowd of almost 75 to 100 ticket-buyers who are vying to get their hands on a so-called ticket to see this monster hit. According to sources at the box office, Orchestra level seats are completely sold-out into mid-Summer 2002! Mezzanine level seats (remember those?) are completely sold-out into early February 2002! I think we can rest assure that the hopes of today's audiences being excited about a 'new' and 'original' Broadway show CAN happen. Welcome back, and how we, the ardent Musical Theatre aficonados, missed ya! We knew you'd be back!
I am fortunate to have seen the show several times now. Yes, its THAT good. The show emcompasses everything I originally came to love Broadway for - the 'book' show. Full sets, full costumes, HUGE musical production numbers (that 'Stroman trademark'), and yes…actual 'scenes'. In an age where the only hits seemed to be 'sung-thru' musicals (even dialogue is sung), such as "The Phantom of the Opera", "Aida", "Rent", and "Les Miserables", its nice to see actual non-musical 'scenes' again. What a night of theatre, I tell you. Since everyone has already done their praises on the performances of Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick (my personal favorite performance in the show - along with Cady Huffman's adorable Ulla), Gary Beach, Roger Bart and Brad Oscar, that'll I'll leave my comments to myself.
Mel Brooks' has simply taken his film script, expanded it and made it BETTER. Those hardcore fans of the film (y'all know who you are) didn't think a musical version of "The Producers" would work, but they were wrong. Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan (who brought us the original Broadway "Annie" and Mel Brooks' "Spaceballs"), along with the 'what-can't-she-do', Susan Stroman (could she be the next Bob Fosse?), have brought us a totally overblown, totally crassy, totally vulgar, totally shocking, totally politically incorrect and totally hilarious masterpiece.
On Monday, 5/7/2001, Mel Brooks' "The Producers" was nominated for a record-breaking 15 Tony Awards! For 31 years Harold Prince's 1970 masterpiece "Company" held the record at 14 nominations. I do not want to be anywhere NEAR W. 44th Street or the St. James Theatre on Monday, 6/4/2001 - the morning after the Tony Awards ceremony. What is happening now to the show is ONLY the beginning!
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