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.