'The Producers' review — Mel Brooks's jaw-dropping musical is as full of spectacle as ever

Read our review of The Producers, starring Andy Nyman and Marc Antolin, now in performances at the Menier Chocolate Factory to 1 March 2025.

It has been 20 years since Mel Brooks’s Tony Award-winning musical The Producers crossed the Atlantic and arrived in the West End, picking up three Olivier Awards in the process. Now it is back in a production helmed by director Patrick Marber (Leopoldstadt), off West End at the intimate Menier Chocolate Factory, and I’m pleased to report the show is as wonderfully tasteless, jaw-dropping, and full of spectacle as ever.

First conceived as a 1967 film starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, before being adapted into a musical for Broadway in 2001, and then made into a movie musical in 2005, The Producers follows a failed producer (Max Bialystock) and his downtrodden accountant (Leo Bloom), who scheme to get rich quick by fraudulently overselling interests in a Broadway show titled Springtime for Hitler, which is destined to be a flop.

From sparkly swastikas and countless Hitler moustaches, to sex-obsessed, Bialystock-worshipping grannies forming a chorus line with their Zimmer frames (excellent choreography by Lorin Latarro), Marber’s energetic production delights in crazy caricatures and camp spectacle. The show often seems to burst out of the Menier’s tiny stage, and the hard-working ensemble of 12 never rests, whether they’re high-kicking stormtroopers in Springtime for Hitler or transforming into Franz Liebkind’s beloved flock of pigeons, courtesy of some full-body unitards and genius hand puppets — complete with swastika stamps on their wings.

Devious double act Andy Nyman and Marc Antolin, as producer Bialystock and accountant Bloom respectively, have strong chemistry, particularly during the early numbers “We Can Do It” and “I Wanna Be a Producer (Reprise)”. Nyman, who heroically soldiered on despite illness on press night, cuts a dishevelled figure in his faded red velvet jacket and dirty waistcoat, sleazily sweeping his fringe across his forehead and donning a little black beret during the playful “Along Came Bialy”. His performance is, at times, muted compared with the other talent on stage, but he is a grounding presence in a production that sparkles with eccentricity. The character arc of Antolin’s accountant is a joy to watch — entering Bialystock’s office a jittery, stuttering shell (his blanket-related breakdown is particularly fun) and leaving Rio de Janeiro a swaggering man about town.

Trevor Ashley is perfectly cast as the scene-stealing director Roger De Bris. His long career working in drag, cabaret, and pantomime shows, as he makes dramatic entrances in sequin gowns that become mini dresses and, in one particularly memorable scene, rides on to the stage in a chariot. The rest needs to be seen to be believed. Harry Morrison also gives a stand-out performance as the crazed Hitler fanatic Franz, spitting out his words with relish in a throaty German accent, and Joanna Woodward’s endearing, Marilyn Monroe-esque Ulla is a delight.

This finely tuned production is further supported by Paul Farnsworth’s flamboyant costumes, Richard Howell’s starry lighting design, and Scott Pask’s versatile set, which easily transforms from office, to stage, to prison, with just a few simple adjustments.

The Producers has found a very happy home at the Menier, but this production is surely destined for the bright lights of the West End. After all, when you’ve got it, flaunt it.

The Producers is at the Menier Chocolate Factory to 1 March 2025. Book The Producers tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: The Producers (Photos by Manuel Harlan)