Iowa Theatre: Producers

by Sharon Falduto

TCR - Theatre Cedar Rapids is back! It never really left town, of course, operating as it did for the last year and a half in the found space near Lindale Mall. But finally, rebuilt from the devastating flood, the Iowa Theatre Building is open for business. The Producers is the perfect show to reintroduce the space. This is the musical that saved an allegedly moribund Broadway at the beginning of the Millennium; it's the show that Mayor Guiliani joked you might be able to get tickets to after September 11. It’s the perfect “Welcome Back From the Brink of Disaster” show. It’s got everything going for it: over the top personalities, spectacular dance moves, and pigeons. (No, really.)

First, I’d like to comment on the space — it looks great. The same beautiful theater building you remember, with a new coat of paint, new chairs, and an elegant gallery restaurant where a tasting plate could be had during intermission. When the flood hit, I remember watching the devastation on TV and mentally rifling through the buildings that were underwater, wondering what treasures might be getting inundated. The thing that I worried about at Theatre Cedar Rapids was the pictures. They had gorgeous framed prints from several plays throughout the years located on the walls along the lobby and upstairs outside the balcony. The pictures have returned — sort of. Now they’re broadcast on digital TV screens, scrolling slowly through several different prints. I didn’t care for this. For one thing, the crisp photographs are rendered pixilated when shown on television. Also, it discouraged people from “flowing” through the space. My companion and I spent several minutes just staring at one screen, waiting for the next picture to arrive.

But enough about the exterior, and on to the show. The premise of the show is that Max Bialystock, a washed-up Broadway producer, and Leo Bloom, a nebbishy accountant, are in collusion to produce a Broadway flop. They are operating under the idea that they can raise two million dollars (one for each conspirator), open and close the show in one right (thereby avoiding the eyes of the IRS) and skip town thereafter. To achieve their goal they find the worst play ever written, hire the worst director in town, and cast lousy actors. Murphy’s Law being what it is, they end up putting on the surprise smash of the century.

Max Bialystock is the first non-ensemble character we meet, played by Scott Schulte (of Z102.09’s Schulte and Swann fame). Before the show I wondered aloud, “Can Scott Schulte sing?” The answer is, yes, he can. He mimicked Nathan Lane’s famous New York rasp and mostly carried it off, although at times I felt the music overpowered him and it became difficult to discern all his lyrics, a shame in this show densely packed with Mel Brooks bon mots.

The show’s true heart and its best actor were Leopold Bloom, portrayed by Trevor Debth. His performance early in the show in the song “I Want to Be a Producer” is a metaphor for his entire story arc. He starts off with a little soft shoe, barely moving more than two feet on the stage, and ends the song with a splashy Broadway number, standing on a podium, surrounded by chorus girls. Leo Bloom is the growth character in this show (if one must psychoanalyze it); the fella whose character shows the most growth and change. Debth managed to command the stage even as he portrayed the inhibited Bloom, keeping his arms tight to his body and keeping the waver in his voice even while he projected.

Jason Alberty was perfectly cast as Franz Liebkind, the author of the play Springtime for Hitler. I laughed most of the time he was on stage, although to be honest this was partly because it’s hard not to laugh at a man in lederhosen.

Katie Knudson’s Ulla, although obviously intended as eye candy for the men in the audience, was fun for everyone to watch. She is lithe and very limber, as you see when she does a back flip into a split — a rare but useful talent, especially for a Svedish ingénue.

The weak link of the show, unfortunately, was another former radio man: Tim Boyle as the director of the play, Roger DeBris. The success of the show hinges on this character’s effeminacy, and he just never quite carries it off. Although he first appears wearing a dress, and he has all the mannerisms stereotypically associated with a gay man, he never seems to pull it off. In counterpoint, Nathan Cooper’s Carmen Ghia effortlessly slips into his role as DeBris’ fey little assistant.

Every ensemble song in the show is a thing of beauty. The choreography is fun and fascinating to watch, a rare treat in local theater. “You just don’t see tap dancing like that,” an audience member said. The ensemble fills the stage in various costumes — what a wonderful opportunity, I thought, for someone to get to wear a pretzel, or a beer stein, on her head! The ending of the musical-within-a-musical Springtime for Hitler, complete with roller skating be-Swastika-ed tanks, was an oddly uplifting sight.

As is fitting for the first show back in its new space, many familiar TCR faces had cameo appearances in The Producers. Doug Jackson walked on, sang one stanza of a song, and received applause — sort of like Eastern Iowa’s own version of Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder. There was also a sly in-joke treat for those of us lucky enough to have seen Annie.

The Producers is, overall, a bit bloated — I’d hate to short anyone his or her song, and they’re all fun to hear and watch, but if you’re one of those people who edits out fluff after you see a show, you could find some things to cut.

I mentioned pigeons, didn’t I? I’ve seen the movie of this show (both of them, actually, the Gene Wilder/Zero Mostel version and the Matthew Broderick/Nathan Lane one), so I knew that Liebkind kept pigeons. I really didn’t think a local theatre would be able to pull that off, but I was wrong. Sure enough, an aviary full of fake pigeons was wheeled in for his introduction. This was a great addition, but occasionally the pigeons upstaged the actors. While I should have been paying attention to the “Guten Tag Hop Clop,” I was wondering if someone was standing behind the chicken wire operating the puppets.

I look forward to seeing many more of these Broadway-caliber shows at Theatre Cedar Rapids, both because the auditorium is so beautiful and because the shows are almost always perfectly cast and portrayed. Let’s hope the snows melt slowly and the rains hold off because although TCR handled itself admirably during its absence from downtown, nobody wants them to have to move again.

Sharon Falduto has been involved with theatre for many years. Notable roles include Corrie in Barefoot in the Park with Dreamwell and Myra in Hay Fever with ICCT. She has directed God for the now defunct student group, West Side Players, and Of Mice and Men for Dreamwell. She is currently out of the theatre scene, as she is busy directing the lives of Rachel, Samantha, and Piper at her home in Coralville. She still enjoys the stage, however, and hopes to trod the boards again in the future.

TCR is coming home.

In less than a week, Theatre Cedar Rapids will re-open the Iowa Theater Building with its production of The Producers. The hit musical, by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, won a whopping 12 Tony Awards when it premiered on Broadway. It is based on Mel Brooks' 1968 film of the same name.

In The Producers, producer Max Bialystock and his accountant Leo Bloom learn that they can actually make more money from a flop than a hit - assuming the IRS doesn't notice they're raising more money than they spend. With dollar signs in their eyes, they set out to raise $2,000,000 to produce the worst $100,000 musical ever: Springtime for Hitler. Of course, nothing goes quite as planned, and the result is the combination of ribald humor, zany characterizations and riotous slapstick that has made Mel Brooks famous.

The Producers is the first show to be produced in the newly-renovated Iowa Theater Building. Much of the building was damaged in the flood of 2008, and TCR has been producing plays in the Grant Wood House and at TCR Lindale. Thanks an ambitious reconstruction plan and a vigorous fundraising drive, TCR is now able to move back into its traditional space, and will host a Grand Reopening Gala with drinks and snacks before the show. The new building features added comforts for both audiences and performers, including a lounge, larger restrooms, a new green room and dressing room, and a new stage floor with a more sophisticated trap door system. Constructions crews have uncovered and restored some of the original plasterwork, and Richard Barker has been commissioned to design a mural celebrating TCR's history. Videos of some of the reconstruction process can be found at TCR's website.

The Producers opens February 26th and runs until March 14th. Performances are at 7:30pm Thursdays through Saturdays and 2:30pm Sundays. Tickets are $20-25 for adults, $15 for youth; rush tickets are $12. More information here.

Pages

Monday, March 1, 2010

TCR returns with The Producers!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Producers preview

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

TCR annouces Producers cast