There can’t be a show with more laughs-per-minute to be had than in The Producers; it’s an entirely irresistible and irrepressible confection of slapstick and sharp, satirical wit.
The Producers is a musical about an attempt to stage a truly terrible musical, and in the hands of Oxford Operatic Society, Musical Director Chris Payne and Director Edward Blagrove it is everything it should be - unsubtle, immature, crass and, most importantly, very, very funny. And not just funny in a camp, ironic manner, but intentionally, uproariously funny. Goose-stepping showgirls and randy old ladies abound. No punch line is too obvious, no stereotype too over the top; you can see many of the jokes coming but they still hit home when they arrive.
After a string of flops, Broadway producer Max Bialystock (a wonderfully frantic James Studds) hatches a plan, with his anxiety prone accountant Leo Bloom (a suitably neurotic and twitchy Andrew Stott), to gather investment for the most tasteless, appalling stage show they can think of, and pocket the cash when the show inevitably closes on opening night. To this end they enlist the 'talents' of Franz Liebkind (Tim Younger), an unbalanced Nazi playwright, and Roger de Bris (Guy Brigg, head to toe in sequins) a director who shares a very pink apartment with his "common law assistant" Carmen Ghia (a ludicrously camp Dave Crewe) and who sees no problem with pepping up the script by letting the Germans win the Second World War. As Bialystock and Bloom's voluptuous Swedish assistant Ulla, Hannah Veale is fabulous, creating a delightfully warm and likeable character from a part that usually only requires a comedy accent and an impressive body.
The choreography from Kirsty Beer and Joanne Cook is very strong throughout and the cast have risen to the challenge; the scene in which the stage fills with little old ladies tap dancing with their Zimmer frames is alone worth the ticket price and the jaw-dropping festival of bad taste that is Springtime for Hitler is an absolute delight.
Thank you, Oxford Operatic Society, for a wonderful evening and to anyone else reading this I highly recommend that you don’t miss this production!
The Producers is a musical about an attempt to stage a truly terrible musical, and in the hands of Oxford Operatic Society, Musical Director Chris Payne and Director Edward Blagrove it is everything it should be - unsubtle, immature, crass and, most importantly, very, very funny. And not just funny in a camp, ironic manner, but intentionally, uproariously funny. Goose-stepping showgirls and randy old ladies abound. No punch line is too obvious, no stereotype too over the top; you can see many of the jokes coming but they still hit home when they arrive.
After a string of flops, Broadway producer Max Bialystock (a wonderfully frantic James Studds) hatches a plan, with his anxiety prone accountant Leo Bloom (a suitably neurotic and twitchy Andrew Stott), to gather investment for the most tasteless, appalling stage show they can think of, and pocket the cash when the show inevitably closes on opening night. To this end they enlist the 'talents' of Franz Liebkind (Tim Younger), an unbalanced Nazi playwright, and Roger de Bris (Guy Brigg, head to toe in sequins) a director who shares a very pink apartment with his "common law assistant" Carmen Ghia (a ludicrously camp Dave Crewe) and who sees no problem with pepping up the script by letting the Germans win the Second World War. As Bialystock and Bloom's voluptuous Swedish assistant Ulla, Hannah Veale is fabulous, creating a delightfully warm and likeable character from a part that usually only requires a comedy accent and an impressive body.
The choreography from Kirsty Beer and Joanne Cook is very strong throughout and the cast have risen to the challenge; the scene in which the stage fills with little old ladies tap dancing with their Zimmer frames is alone worth the ticket price and the jaw-dropping festival of bad taste that is Springtime for Hitler is an absolute delight.
Thank you, Oxford Operatic Society, for a wonderful evening and to anyone else reading this I highly recommend that you don’t miss this production!