2:02 p.m., 06.04.04
The Producers in Melbourne, Starring Reg Livermore, Tom Burlinson and Big Bad Bert Newton

(note to regular readers: I've decided to do a theatre review here because this site gets some good google loving and there's no reviews out there on the web for this show. Had I *read* a review, I might have been able to save my money)

Dutchy's Theatre Review: The Producers, Princess Theatre, Melbourne, April 3 2004

Starring: Reg Livermore, Tom Burlinson
Written by Mel Brooks

I don't know much about theatre, but I know what I like. And it's not this.

After all the hype and build-up, Nous and I finally went to see The Producers the other evening. More Tony awards than any other musical, longest run on Broadway, yada yada.

People of Melbourne, I'm pleased to be able to warn you first: The Producers ain't all that.

Reg Livermore plays shyster theatre producer Max Bialystock as he teams up with accountant Leo Bloom (Tom Burlinson) to try to produce the worst play ever in the hope of reaping dodgy financial gain from an early closure.

They choose an awful musical called "Springtime for Hitler" and are ruined when it becomes a kitch megahit.

Well, it might have been funny in America, but as a Melbourne lad I found little to laugh about. The Mel Brooks style of humour has always relied on cheap parody, overblown stereotypes and sight gags to get by.

Not that there's anything wrong with that... But Brooks' manic and very jewish humour seems more than a little ridiculous coming out of Australian actors in our country, in 2004.

Gags that I could understand would have been shocking 25 or 30 years ago just fell a bit flat. But now, when Queer Eye and Queer as Folk are prime time staples on your telly, you just don't find gay people that funny in and of themselves like you might have in the past. Taking the piss out of Hitler, in this day and age a long dead villain, just doesn't have the same naughtiness to it anymore.

And the over-the-top acting of Livermore and Burlinson was just a bit sad to watch. You need more jokes if you're going to act that crazy.

The sets, however, are stupendous - particularly a giant mirror that comes out towards the end - and Ula the Swedish bombshell, whoever the actress is, was very hot. All the actors and dancers do their jobs well, and it's as slick a production as you'd expect.

There's also a great scene where a bunch of old grannies get up and do a Zimmer frame dance - and I don't care what anyone says, old ladies are always funny.

Furthermore, there's Bert. I suspect a certain percentage of the audience came along just to see Bert Newton. And why not? He rocks. Melbourne's own Moonface is a pure legend and that's all there is to be said about it.

Anyway, you'll get a few laughs out of The Producers if you go see it, but far too much waiting in between. It's simply not as good as the yanks think it is.

So there. All in all, this one left me with the impression of a well-flogged dead horse. I hope this review saves somebody some dollars. :)

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