It has been a while since I attended a musical theatre production so on Friday the 21st the opening night of Queensland’s Musical Theatre production of The Producers, a new Mel Brooks musical was an absolute tonic!
It was a packed house at the iconic Twelfth Night Theatre, every seat is a good seat. An appreciative audience, we had a wonderful night taping our feet to a humorous array of 44 songs performed by a cast of 30 plus singers and dancers. It was a night of endless laughter with satirical comedy and outrageous lyrics. It was a true hit!
Not to mention the unseen, but certainly not unheard, Orchestra created and conducted by Musical Director Benjamin Tubb-Hearne. The music was electric.
Congratulations to production Director Nathaniel Currie, Choreographer Julianne Burke, Assistant Director James Rogers you have produced an outstanding performance of The Producers.
It was a cast of young and old full of outstanding non-stop energy, one cast member in her eighties, what an inspiration for seniors like me.
Performer Tony Campbell was relentless in his roll of Max with his partner in crime Leo, played by Ray Gillmore. Along with local performers, Steve beck as Roger Debris, Bryon Philp as Franz Liebkind and cheeky Kate Retzki as Ulla, they took us down an outrageous and breathtaking journey synonymous with any of Mel Brooks works.
The Story
For those uninitiated with the story of The Producers, it is a musical with music and lyrics by Mel Brooks based on a book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan.
The story is about an ageing theatre producer and his accountant who have hit hard times and as part of a scam, decided to stage a musical that will fail in the hope they make money claiming it as a loss at the end. According to nervous Leo the accountant producers could make a lot more money with a flop than a hit by overselling shares in the production.
After much research and auditioning they finally settle on a story certain to fail, centred around Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, which in real life, is understandably controversial. Yet the story is well written and focuses on the funny side of things including the means which Max raises his funds by romancing wealthy elderly women in exchange for money. Leo’s concept backfires and with a gun-wielding Hitler supporter, who is also a cast member, everything turns crazy, the main characters ending up in jail. But all is not lost. By an amazing turn of events a successful production that was supposed to fail, has surprising twists and turns and all works out for the better.
It 1967 The Producers was adapted to film and has since been performed globally by theatres large and small. It is a wonderful show and worth the trip out, even during Brisbane’s week of rain.
Performance Times
Friday 21 – 30 October 2022
Remaining performances: Sunday 23 October 1.30pm, Saturday 29 October 7.30pm, Sunday 30 October 1.30pm
Venue: Twelfth Night Theatre, 4 Cintra Rd, Bowen Hills, Qld by #QueenslandMusicalTheatre
Contact: admin@twelfthnighttheatre.com.au Phone: 07 3252 5122 Ticketek: www.ticketek.com.au
Parking: off street in Abbotsford Road, Bowen Hills and streets surrounding Cintra Road.
Ruth Greening holds a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Psychology & Philosophy. Before retirement, she worked for over 40 years in the corporate world in Melbourne and Brisbane and progressed into senior management positions and project roles for both private industry and government.
In her 70th decade, she continues in casual roles as a freelance writer, model, and actor participating in small movies, TV commercials and User Generated Content.
As a grandmother, she is known as Nanny Babe to her grandchildren and writes from a Baby Boomer perspective on her blog www.nannybabe.com. An avid crafter Ruth actively participates in sewing, crocheting and knitting.
While she continues to pursue her artistic passions, Ruth is dedicated to maintaining her health and fitness as she ages by attending the gym, dancing and walking and thrives on mentoring others.
Connect with Ruth or our moniker Nanny Babe; nannybabegengp.blogspot.com.au/
Leave a Reply