The Producers at Skylight

Here’s a silly question: Have we had enough of Mel Brooks and The Producers. The original movie has been around for 40 years. And in the last decade, we’ve had umpteen chances to catch the Broadway musical version (the Chicago tryout! The New York production!! The road show!!! The movie!!!! The DVD!!!!!). Surely, we must be tired of Mssrs. Bialystock and Bloom. Aren’t we?
Au contraire! (And stop calling me Shirley.) While you’ve been enjoying yet another version of Mel’s theater follies, performers everywhere have been chomping at the bit, waiting to have their way with Brooks’ collection of show biz lunatics. And so, think of Skylight’s production of The Producers not as a Broadway revival, but as a variety show featuring the best Milwaukee performers, who finally get to sink their teeth into their dream roles (with director Mark Lococo and choreographer Pam Kriger keeping everyone nicely balanced).
    Here’s the roll call:
    As Bloom, Brian Vaughn goes from nebbish-accountant to song-and-dance man in the blink of an eye. Whether he’s convulsing in a nervous panic or high-kicking with chorus girls, he moves like a dream.
    William Theisen reaches Max Bialystock via the Zero Mostel offramp, right down to his oily forelocks. His one-man recapitulation, “Betrayed,” saves the last third of the show (after “Springtime for Hitler,” you just want to see more of the show), and is a schizophrenic tour-de-force.
    Jonathan West (Franz Liebkind)…well, when West started a theater company, he named it Bialystock & Bloom. Enough said? Pigeons haven’t been fed like that since Brando in On the Waterfront. And Marlon didn’t sing an oom-pah song or wear leiderhosen!
    As Roger De Bris, Ray Jivoff is great fun. But his antics with Carmen Ghia (Christopher Klopatek) are only a warm up for his Minnelli-esque star turn as the Fuhrer himself (that’s “Adolf with an ‘F’”). Jivoff draws a lot from Gary Beach’s Tony-winning turn on Broadway, but gives it his own special lilt and energy.
    And speaking of star turns, Molly Rohde has shown lately (in productions like Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s Trying and Milwaukee Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night) that she’s an actress of sensitivity and subtlety, none of which she needs to play Ulla. In her variety of bullet bras (just a few of Susan Branch Towne’s terrific costumes) and blonde locks, she’s over-the-top hilarious. And when Ulla belts, Ulla really belts.
    With performances like this, you can forgive the musical’s slow spots, and the Skylight orchestra definitely “pared-down” sound. This Producers is a hoot and a joy. Mel himself would be proud.