Arts & Entertainment ? Town Hall's 'The Producers' is irreverent fun ...

Leo (Tim Howard) and Max (Bernie Cardell) conspire ? unsuccessfully ? to produce a Broadway flop in Mel Brooks?s The Producers at Town Hall Arts Center in Littleton. The musical runs through June 17. Photo courtesy of Town Hall Arts Center

By Peter Jones

The ambition and detail in Town Hall Arts Center productions never cease to impress. As a rule, aspiration can be the downfall of local theater, but with its latest production ? a musical adaption of Mel Brooks?s The Producers ? the Downtown Littleton venue is again the little theater that could.

Admittedly, I was skeptical about Town Hall pulling off this kind of big-cast Broadway production, one that is replete with song, dance and an ensemble cast that barely fits on the modestly sized stage.

What?s more, Brooks?s dark humor and ?politically incorrectness? require a talented and self-assured cast, something that isn?t always easy to assemble.

Thankfully, director Bob Wells, a Denver theater veteran with roots in improvisational comedy, understands the crucial casting that an offbeat production requires ? and the raw Catskills origins of Brooks?s brazen material.

The Producers has something to offend virtually everyone, but because the characters are so likable and because Brooks throws his brunts with such equal opportunity, most will find the show, and this rendering of it, refreshing.

The Producers mostly takes aim at the cynical business of theater itself. Max, a washed-up producer, and Leo, a wide-eyed accountant, conspire to produce a Broadway flop ? a production so bad and unsuccessful that investors would not have to be repaid and the two could abscond to Rio with the leftover $2 million.

With offensive material in the hands of a ham-fisted director and played by the worst cast to dodge traffic on 52^nd Street, how could Max and Leo lose, err win?

But Springtime for Hitler, the carefully crafted and decidedly inept play within a play, inexplicably becomes a critical and commercial success, leaving the producers of the musical?s title to spend the final act behind bars. But not before a long series ? some may argue too long ? of distinctively Brooks-penned ditties and one-liners.

Originally a 1968 Brooks cult classic starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, The Producers did its time in revival houses and VCRs for decades until the story was rejuvenated as a Tony-winning Broadway musical in 2001.

The production famously centered on lousy theater came full circle four years later when the musical was transformed into a second movie, a version that did not fare as well as its predecessors, but wasn?t quite a ?flop.?

In Town Hall?s version, actors Bernie Cardell and Tim Howard are both very well cast as Max and Leo, often successfully evoking Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick from the Broadway show and movie remake ? in a way that nods to their marked professionalism, not to copycat distractions.

The musical numbers are well done, if not a little laborious at times. But the singing and comical cast shines. The show reminds you that the 30-year-old Town Hall really is ? as promised on the programs ? metro Denver?s most intimate and professional theater.

And you could do worse than Springtime for Hitler. Believe me.

Written by: editorial on June 6, 2012.

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