Having started on a national tour back in March, Mel Brooks’ classic The Producers opens at the Mayflower Theatre tonight. With an all-star cast that’s earned the tour a huge media following over the last year, the show promises big things – appearing on stage tonight will be comedians Phil Jupitus and Jason Manford as well as the infamously camp star of Pineapple Dance Studios, Louie Spence.
The Producers, penned in 2001, tells the story of perhaps the worst show on Broadway – it’s the ultimate use of the play-within-a-play trope. Producers Leo Bloom (Manford) and Max Bialystock (Cory English) attempt to put on a terrible Broadway production as a get-rich-quick scheme – and are immediately floored when the show is an unexpected success. Peppered with caricatures and showbiz in-jokes, The Producers seems to promise something to get everybody laughing.
When the tour began in March, it was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews, including four star-ratings from a number of national papers. Miriam Zendle for What’s On Stage commented, “Sometimes you don’t want something complex – you just want something funny. And this delivers that in spades,” while Brian Logan for The Guardian called the show “a machine of a production” with “enduring charm.”
The Producers will be performed at the Mayflower Theatre until 30th May. For more details on the tour, you can visit their website.
