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SYNOPSIS
Act I
Spring in New York, 1959. Evening. The scene is Shubert Alley, outside the Shubert Theatre, Broadway's famed house of hits. But not tonight, because the curtain has just come down on producer Max Bialystock's latest fiasco, a musical version of "Hamlet" called "Funny Boy."
Later the same evening, Max (Nathan Lane), crushed but undaunted, stands in Shubert Alley surrounded by a ragtag chorus of after-midnight Broadway denizens. Angrily, he announces that he once was -- and will be again -- "The King of Broadway."
A few days later, a nerdy, timid accountant, Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick) shows up at Max's office to do his books. Leo casually notes that a producer could actually make more money with a flop than with a hit. "You could raise a million dollars, put on a hundred-thousand-dollar failure, and keep the rest for yourself." Max immediately seizes upon this idea and implores Leo to join him in this bold -- albeit slightly illegal -- scheme.
Back at his desk in the miserably Dickensian accounting firm, where he earns $50 a week, Leo drifts into a fantasy in which he is a famed Broadway impresario surrounded by a bevy of gorgeous chorus girls.
After quitting his
job, Leo hurries off to join Max in his office. They go into business
together as "Bialystock & Bloom, Theatrical Producers." The
partners' first order of business: find the worst play ever written.
They find it. A disaster, a catastrophe, a guaranteed-to-close-in-one-night
beauty: "Springtime for Hitler, A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at
Berchtesgaden," written by a nutsy neo-Nazi playwright and pigeon
fancier named Franz Liebkind.
We now meet Liebkind (Brad Oscar), on the rooftop of his Greenwich
Village tenement, as he reminisces with his homing pigeons about
the good old days in Old Bavaria. When Max and Leo now turn up on
the rooftop, Franz is overjoyed that they wish to produce his play
on Broadway. He refuses to permit them to do so, however, until
they agree to join him in singing and dancing Hitler's favorite
tune, "Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop." Max and Leo hop, clop, and ultimately
depart with Franz's signature on a Broadway contract.
Next stop, the Upper East Side townhouse of Broadway's worst director,
Roger de Bris (Gary Beach), and his "common-law assistant," Carmen
Ghia (Roger Bart). Roger wants nothing to do with "Springtime" --
"World War II? Too dark, too depressing!" -- and is joined by Carmen
and his production team in proclaiming his credo: keep it gay. Roger
is finally persuaded by Max and Leo to direct "Springtime."
Back in the office,
triumphant, with the Broadway rights to the worst play ever written
and a signed contract with the worst director who ever lived, Max
and Leo are visited by a knockout of a Swedish blonde named Ulla
(Cady Huffman). She wishes to audition for them, and audition she
does, all over the
office.
Next step, the money. Max sets out to raise two million dollars by
seducing little old ladies. His description of how he does "it," with
"Along Came Bialy," segues into a full-company Act I finale celebrating
Bialystock & Bloom's forthcoming Broadway production of "Springtime
for Hitler," "a new neo-Nazi musical."
Reprinted from "'The Producers' Original
Broadway Cast Recording" CD booklet, by kind permission of Sony
Classical. © 2001 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Top banner photos: Nathan Lane; the stars
of the musical, Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane; Mel Brooks; music
supervisor Glen Kelly with Mel Brooks. |
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Director and choreographer Susan Stroman, who won the 2001 Tony for "The Producers." |
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Matthew Broderick plays mousy accountant Leo Bloom in the Broadway hit. |
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This program is available on VHS and DVD. |
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