Why Did The Producers Work?

If you’re looking for a comedy musical then you can’t do any better than The Producers. Your sides will literally be left splitting, but considering its somewhat controversial take on sensitive topics, this week I wanted to ask, why did The Producers work?

You have to be really careful when it comes to comedy – it’s a balancing act. Despite the often serious nature  of most musical productions, there are a whole raft of shows from The Producers to Avenue Q to The Full Monty that manage to balance controversy with skill to get their audiences to crack a smile instead of picket the next night with a host of placards.

Springtime for Hitler: A Runaway Smash!

For those of you who don’t know, The Producers is a musical about an attempt to make a musical. However, the people in charge don’t actually want it to succeed. They’ve crunched the numbers and realised that they’d actually make more money out of a flop than a hit.

They proceed to intentionally stage the most controversial play ever. They pick up this darling little script, ‘Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden.’ I don’t even think, Simon Morris readers, I need to let you know just why it was offensive.

They oversell the production, find the worst actor in human history (with the possible exception of Adam Sandler) and proceed to stage a show so shocking it’d turn your hair white. Turns out, they’ve got a hit on their hands and they’re officially screwed.

Art Imitates Life: A Runaway Smash!

Of course, The Producers proved just as big a hit with audiences as ‘Springtime for Hitler,’ and I believe that there are certain parallels. Essentially, it is a comedy that through the very use of the word Hitler, braved mass indignation that could have cut it off at the knees.

And yet outside of the play-within-a-play it’s so camp, so out there and ridiculous that you know it’s a comedy and you can see the funny side. It’s a case of we don’t find the invocation of such a man offensive, because the show goes to pains to make sure we understand that they are very much laughing at him, not with him.

The Producers worked quite frankly because it shouldn’t have. Sometimes the best art is the kind that breaks all the rules and these pieces, risky as they are, tend to live in infamy, delighting viewers across the world for years after the final curtain call.

If you have any questions regarding my musical interest, please contact Simon Morris.

Why Was the Lion King So Successful?

The musical adaptation of Disney’s The Lion King has been one of the most successful musical theatre productions of all time. This week on the Simon Morris blog I want to ask what was it about this beloved Disney classic that translated so well on stage.

Every kid loved The Lion King. This tale of a young orphan lion who struggles against the odds and return to the land of his birth to avenge his father’s death has touched the hearts and minds of a generation, managing to gross a staggering $987,483,777 million at the box office.

However films don’t always translate effectively onto the stage – just look at the disaster that was Spiderman. So what was it about this film that made it perfect for musical theatre?

The Lion King: A Fact File

The musical version of the film basically chronicles the same story and employs the same musical score, with adaptations and expansions incorporated into the production to make it more suitable for a Broadway audience.

The show first opened in the US city of Minneapolis in 1997, before moving to Broadway the same year and the West End in 1999. It was a raging success, bagging the coveted Tony Award for Best Musical in 1998, grossing more than $1 billion to date and playing in cities on every major continent.

For a show that may not have necessarily translated onto the stage, it did so with a fierceness that has to be admired, but it leads me to ask, what is it about the stage version that was such a hit around the world?

Simon Morris on the Popularity of The Lion King

Having had the enviable opportunity to catch this show more than a few times, I can emphatically argue that there are several reasons at least why audiences fell in love all over again once it hit the stage:

· Those songs: The songs that Disney crafted for its movie original, including ‘Circle of Life,’ ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ and ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ were simply superb and manage to entrance audiences just as much on stage as they ever did on the silver screen.

· A Careful Calibration: the stage production isn’t a verbatim copy of the original, yet it doesn’t stray too far from the script. It adds a layer of depth that lends a new appreciation for the characters and the story it tells.

· The Production: Have you ever been to a stage production of The Lion King? They spare no expense. The costumes are detailed, the sets elaborate and the feel authentic. You’re transported to Pride Rock!


The Lion King has transcended its title as a Disney classic to become a staple of the musical theatre world, and it’s a place the production rightly deserves. Simon Morris readers if you ever get a chance to attend a performance of this modern classic, take it with both hands!