The Producers [QLD]

Absolutely not "the worst show in town": Blue Fish 'produces' success

I had quite a bit of expectation for this show, because of the recent elbow rubbing I had been doing with Blue Fish Theatrical I had built up a real want to see this show and had quite high ideas about what it would be like. I was not disappointed in any way.

Blue Fish delivers a stunning and supremely entertaining restaging of Mel Brook’s widely known and widely loved musical “The Producers”. Most of us die-hard theatre fans will know the story, but for the benefit of some who may not have seen or heard of the phenomena, the story of “The Producers” is very simple:  Max Bialystock (wickedly delivered by Gary Rose), a down on his luck Broadway producer joins forces with a buttoned down accountant Leo Bloom (charmingly portrayed by Tony Campbell) when they discover that with a little ingenuity, a show could be more financially successful if it failed than if it was successful. Enter chaos. Max and Leo embark on a series of crazy adventures to find and stage “the worst play ever written”, finding their muse in the Nazi worshipping and deeply wrong “Springtime for Hitler” a musical debacle that hero worships the fuehrer.  Enter the most eccentric and occasionally drag-clad director on Broadway, the worst cast ever and the whole play is set to fail miserably but instead audiences love it, critics rave and the plan is ruined. Max and Leo are sent off to jail for fraud.

The Blue Fish staging of this classic is practically flawless, there is nothing amateur or underdone about their show. With a full live orchestra in the pit the musical is expertly delivered and each of the catchy show tunes is convincingly sung by the leads and the cast, as promised the show is also wonderfully naughty and raucously funny. Many of the ruder portions being plucked for maximum flavour and effect, particular favourite moments were Max Bialystocks romps with his older admirers/investors, Franz Liebkind’s (energetically ands incredibly brought to life by Kieran Davey) pigeon choreographing and Hitler-worshipping madness and Max and Leo’s inevitable falling out.

One of the beautiful parts of this marvellous showing of “The Producers” was the interplay between the characters on stage. The leads of Gary Rose and Tony Campbell form a dynamic and raucously funny duo, the supporting roles of Roger Debris (deliciously brought out of the closet by Jim Price) and the scintillating Swedish secretary Ulla (sexily staged by Kimberley Chapman) also bind and blend well with the other players and the on-stage ensemble. There is a wonderful, warm and electric on stage chemistry, the casting is so hot it positively sizzles and everyone just seems to click and work really well together. It is certainly the tight ensemble cast that makes this show so wonderful to behold.

I feel a little sorry for Blue Fish Theatrical that the Schonell Theatre, despite being a rather large venue, was not very filled on their opening night. I believe that they deserve the larger audience that they more than probably long for. Alas, as often happens to be the trend in Brisbane, very good work is occurring in a lesser known venue to a much smaller audience than would suit the calibre of performers.

“The Producers” by Blue Fish is a wonderful show that will not disappoint the high expectations you may have around Broadway, I hope that the Brisbane audience will join me in rectifying the small audience phenomena and fill the ears of the hardworking and dynamo ensemble on stage with the sound of much deserved applause.