The Producers

While it may disturb some future appreciators of Mel Brooks’ Broadway musical and fairly recent movie, the “gay” factor does provide one level of intimate communication lost in today’s America. You must give credit where credit is due, and not a “credi’ repor’” as the annoying commercial says. Just because you have a speech impediment doesn’t mean you should be on television. A good C-R-E-D-I-T R-E-P-O-R-T should be given to Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, and Mel Brooks for producing The Producers. While being gay doesn’t necessarily represent mainstream America, the energy, heart, and sheer bravura of The Producers places it in a class worthy of receiving the 12 or so Toni Awards it did. In this age of “pop” anything that remotely resembles artistry in music and/or theater should be rewarded. I have been studying The Producers since I bought the DVD. Unfortunately I have not seen the Broadway play. Did it close? After buying the documentary of the recording process for the Broadway soundtrack, it seems evident there were some major changes from the play to the movie. Two notable characters were different in the movie. The addition of Will Ferrell and Uma Thurman was successful in my eyes. Why they replaced the original Broadway actors is your guess. Box office draw? The documentary exposing the recording process of the Broadway soundtrack was enlightening. It was evident there were melancholic overtones concerning the play, but upon reading about the differences that is understandable. They, the producers, chose to lighten up the musical for film. It is after all, like a cruise, only a musical. There is no need to bring the seriousness of opera to celluloid. This seems to be a common conundrum in modern entertainment. How much soul should the product have? As in the case of skateboarding, it could be extrapolated that the “New School” could be “pop,” and “Old School” could be rock. That itself is confusing, because with grace and eloquence comes extreme power. When one possesses knowledge of the end, then the means is dictated by the mind as with the book The Inner Game of Tennis. “New School” may not understand the end, because they have never been exposed to “Old School.” The Producers is an “Old School” musical, because it is based upon Mel Brooks’ favorite genre of film R.K.O. l933-1938. Top Hat, Grand Illusion, and Shall We Dance are the movie musicals he lists as his favorites in a depression laden America. With these worthy models Brooks is empowered, and finally his many years in the movie business are rewarded. The Producers is transcendent, because its form is based upon tried and true models. Brooks’ songs quintessentially capture the exact feelings of the characters in the original movie. This is an almost uncanny feat even in light of the Count Basie Orchestra playing in a desert. Brooks’ somehow penned a collection of tunes that will defy time and become standards. It only will be a matter of time and copyright agreement that artists will being re-recording these songs. Nathan Lane and Ferris Bueller uncannily create a chemistry both gay and straight that effectively disguises those boundaries. Their relationship goes beyond gender and approaches the severity and desperation of the human race. A friend is indispensable more so than a lover. It is apparent in the movie Matthew Broderick, while still possessing the ultra-cool characteristics of Ferris Bueller, was well-trained in musical theater. His father was James Broderick, the father on the television series Family that aired in the late 70’s. Who ever knew Ferris could croon? Even with its gay overtones, The Producers speaks to the heart and delivers Hollywood Golden Era musical entertainment unlike anything we see today. They should be applauded for showing the relevance of “Old School.” It is not passé to feel something familiar, when “pop” suggests we are at the mercy of the wind.