Advice to the Producers
There's an article in today's nytimes about the shrinking box office receipts for Broadway's The Producers.
My take on it is very simple: The Producers is the modern equivalent of the 1960s' hit Hello, Dolly!.
- Both shows are simple farces that offer multiple opportunities for elaborate Broadway production numbers.
- Both are filled with likeable characters but none that really touches the heart (I mean has anyone ever shed a tear over Cornelius Hackl's romance with Irene Molloy? Ditto with The Producers where the "romance" is played strickly for laughs.)
- Both suffer from the classic musical comedy Act 2 problem: they spend so much time and energy building up to and milking the big production number (the title song in Hello, Dolly!; "Springtime for Hitler" in The Producers) that everything after that seems like an anti-climax.
- While the shows are really ensemble pieces, they both developed reputations as star vehicles. Carol Channing then; Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick now.
David Merrick kept Dolly running through the 60s by bringing in one star after another and retailoring the show to that star's strengths: Ginger Rogers, Mary Martin, Martha Raye, Ethel Merman, and most famously, Pearl Bailey.
The producers of The Producers need to do the same. While the current cast still delivers a hugely entertaining and satisfying performance, I suspect that the audience is really craving at least one famous name. Especially at these prices!
Posted by jt at November 2, 2003 09:49 AM