SHOW INFORMATION: Through November 23. Show times vary. Ticket prices also vary, but all include a full dinner or brunch buffet. Go to www.tobysdinnertheatre.com or call 410.995.1969 for reservations and information.
◊◊½ out of five. Three hours, including intermission. Adult language, situations and sexuality.
Time has not been kind to The Producers, that musical that now holds the record for most Tony Awards (an even dozen). Coming at a time when we, especially New Yorkers, needed to laugh and forget, this in the midst of 9/11 show swept everything. Predictions of its success (not to mention its outrageous ticket process) ran rampant - "It'll run longer than Phantom!" "It will be sold out a year in advance!" Then, curiously, it tanked. The original cast, one of the best assembled ever, I'll admit, departed and the seats were empty. Why? Well, I guess Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick certainly have their drawing power on their own, but I'd suggest it was their chemistry and an innate sense of how to put over Brooksian style humor more so than a superb score (it isn't) or book (it is even less so). The public knows what it likes and at $250 a seat for a decent view, the public wanted them and no one else. Further, a blah national tour, a poorly received film (which is nearly step for step the stage show, anyway) only cemented the fact that The Producers ain't the grand dame everyone said it was. I'm pretty sure in the long run, theatre historians will weigh in that everyone fell prey to the hype and that above average cast, but that it really isn't up there with a real classic like Fiddler, Dolly and A Chorus Line. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to find writing about this decade mentioning that season's runner up, The Full Monty more favorably.
Still, it is somewhat of a local coup that Toby's got to be the first local place to do this show. Toby's, as you probably know, has a history of these firsts, and an even longer history of making so-so shows look like Tony winners themselves (All Shook Up being the most recent). So, it was with great optimism that I ventured to Toby's Dinner Theatre of Columbia to see the opening of their version. It is with a somewhat heavy heart that I must report that this version will do nothing to raise the critical value of The Producers. Why? Well, first and foremost, it just isn't funny. Second, the technical elements of the show are lacking. Finally, it is (for Toby's at least) very poorly directed, and particularly in Act One, a pretty unoriginal staging.
Let me state, though, from the outset, that if you haven't seen The Producers, you will likely enjoy it. It is well sung for the most part and the costumes (by Lawrence B. Munsey) are an eye full. And the show certainly doesn't lack for talent - some of the folks that have recently played leads at Toby's are in the chorus, that's how deep the talent pool is. But then again, it was bound to happen that even the most talented of Toby's large pool of actors will disappoint eventually. I guess I just didn't expect it to happen all at once.
Perhaps the largest weakness comes from its direction, by Chris Suchan, a veteran of the national tour of the same show. He clearly learned a lot during his tenure, namely the steps created by Susan Stroman, which are largely replicated here, though adapted for an in-the-round staging. More curious, though, especially considering that he has performed on this very stage, is his seeming inability to stage the book scenes for an in-the-round-audience. And The Producers is, by today's standards, a book heavy show. I was seated in a section of the theatre that includes the main entrance, while directly across from me was a large Shubert Theatre sign. I'd venture that easily 65% of the first act and slightly less of the second are blocked such that everyone on my side of the theatre saw the backs of the actors almost exclusively, and they are usually addressing the sign, meaning they are not playing angles. This is perplexing because in nearly 25 years of attending shows at this venue, this has been one issue that has not come up. (And before you write, I know that in-the-round seating means that at various times parts of the audience won't see something face on. Sit where I did, and you will see NOTHING that happens on the casting couch. A LOT happens on that casting couch.) Mr. Suchan's direction also seems to have missed the fact that many of Brooks' jokes (mainly the outrageous asides) are somewhat subtle, if bawdy. But he has directed everyone to deliver each line like they are doing stand up comedy. All that is missing is the rim shot. Unfortunately, the jokes aren't all that funny when they aren't delivered well, and in a script that is 95% jokes that is a problem. Perhaps the most exhausting aspect of the direction, though, is the fever pitch at which the cast is operating - one gear, the high one, is where it starts and it never ebbs. Quite frankly, it gets dull.
