'The Producers' review — Mel Brooks's joyously subversive musical provides non-stop giggles and glorious escapism

Read our review of The Producers, starring Andy Nyman and Marc Antolin, now in performances at the Garrick Theatre to 21 February 2026.

Only a true misery guts could pick faults in Patrick Marber’s revival of Mel Brooks’s The Producers. Expanded in scale and transferred from a run at the Menier Chocolate Factory last Christmas, it delivers one belly laugh after another. And still, there is so much more to this production than good, old-fashioned tomfoolery. Sewn together with an unceasing ability to laugh at itself, it is a musical as radical and joyously subversive as when it first appeared on film in 1967.

At its centre is Andy Nyman’s extraordinary Max Bialystock, the wayward producer who has lost his knack for making Broadway hits. Cheekily played by Nyman, he is packed full of shameless tricks and bravado. His partner-in-crime comes in the form of Marc Antolin’s Leo Bloom, the accountant-turned-producer who looks uncomfortable in his own skin. Clutching his blue blanket at every opportunity and seeming always on the edge of a breakdown, he reluctantly follows Bialystock through his schemes to make money off the biggest flop in theatre history. Together, they form a double act you can’t keep your eyes off.

Joanna Woodward is scene-stealing as the Swedish secretary Ulla in what otherwise is very much a boys’ show. But its humour never falters. Harry Morrison’s Hitler-loving Franz Liebkind is brought on board with his bound-to-offend script, Springtime for Hitler; dressed in leather and demanding the producers swear their allegiance to “the Führer”, he proves one of the evening’s undeniable highlights. Then the worst director in town, Roger DeBris (an utterly hysterical Trevor Ashley) is signed on, too, to ensure things go as badly as they possibly can.

But, of course, even with such a medley of madness, the critics can’t help but rave. "Springtime for Hitler" is a carnival of glitter and campness: a giant silver Bratwurst, adorned with a swastika, dominates the stage, while a chorus line of dancers goosestep and wave jazz hands with manic enthusiasm. In the hands of Marber and expert choreographer Lorin Latarro, the satire comes through thick and fast.

It is in these big, boisterous chorus numbers that The Producers is at its best. But there are countless small delights, too: Liebkind has a bit-too-close relationship with one of his antisemitic pigeons; there is a wall of pictures of old ladies that Bialystock must entice to win investments; a statue even blows the audience a kiss as he struts offstage.

What a joy it is to revel in Marber’s never-ending silliness. If you want non-stop giggles, gloriously provocative jokes and an easy escape from everyday misery, there’s no better place to be right now than the Garrick. This is an absolute hoot.

The Producers is at the Garrick Theatre to 21 February 2026. Book The Producers tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: The Producers (Photos by Manuel Harlan)