The Producers - Menier Chocolate Factory

[mrbarnaby]

It is indeed The Producers- and Andy Nyman as Max.
Patrick Marber directing.

[Jon]

Jul 19, 2024 19:45:42 GMT mrbarnaby said:

It is indeed The Producers- and Andy Nyman as Max.
Patrick Marber directing.

Patrick Marber directing a musical does not fill me with hope.

I like Andy Nyman and he's great in Hello, Dolly and great in Fiddler but doesn't seem like a stretch for him.

[Phantom of London]

This seems on every level DREADFUL.

[Talisman]

It would be interesting to know why you think this.

[Being Alive]

Nyman a great choice as Max.
Zizi the obvious choice for Ulla.
All makes complete sense to me?

[Phantom of London]

Jul 20, 2024 16:44:22 GMT Talisman said:

It would be interesting to know why you think this.

I didn’t have that visceral reaction of excitement when I read the rumours, sorry. The Producers is a large scale musical that should be in a big house and deserves a great production. Not some small room with a cheap and tacky plywood set, with no wing/fly space to develop the theatre set. Andy Nyman who I enjoyed in Fiddler and Dolly but I cannot see him being a great Max Ballystock, nor am I convinced that Patrick Marber is the the right choice for this show, he has no track record with musicals, so musical comedies is a non starter, you need a director that knows how to find the funny for this show. Then you read that both Patrick and Andy are mates with the artistic director.
 
The opposite is true with Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein which I saw in New York and London, it was much better in a smaller West End house. You could also say the same for La Cage which I hear was a disaster in the London Palladium, it got a second life in the Menier, but was much better when it transferred to the Playhouse.

But I will see it and that is theatre at its best when I am proved wrong.

[alece10]

Sorry to go off track for a minute but I don't believe La Cage was a disaster at the Palladium. It opened during the Aids crisis when there was a lot of anti gay fear about catching Aids so audiences stayed away.
I remember seeing it and it was spectacular.

[Talisman]

Jul 20, 2024 18:24:18 GMT Phantom of London said:

Jul 20, 2024 16:44:22 GMT Talisman said:

It would be interesting to know why you think this.

I didn’t have that visceral reaction of excitement when I read the rumours, sorry. The Producers is a large scale musical that should be in a big house and deserves a great production. Not some small room with a cheap and tacky plywood set, with no wing/fly space to develop the theatre set. Andy Nyman who I enjoyed in Fiddler and Dolly but I cannot see him being a great Max Ballystock, nor am I convinced that Patrick Marber is the the right choice for this show, he has no track record with musicals, so musical comedies is a non starter, you need a director that knows how to find the funny for this show. Then you read that both Patrick and Andy are mates with the artistic director.
 
The opposite is true with Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein which I saw in New York and London, it was much better in a smaller West End house. You could also say the same for La Cage which I hear was a disaster in the London Palladium, it got a second life in the Menier, but was much better when it transferred to the Playhouse.

But I will see it and that is theatre at its best when I am proved wrong.

[annette]

I think I may have been the first on the board to suggest The Producers (Apologies if that's false news). If I'm right and it is indeed The Producers, I would like to put forward another hunch I have. I think Giles Terera may well be cast as Leo Bloom. I may be way off beam with that, but if not, I think he'd bring so much to that part. As far as Patrick Marber goes, he did start his career in comedy, so I don't think he's a particularly strange choice to direct this. Whether in this day and age the show is as much of a crowd pleaser as it once was I don't know. I've never been a big fan of it, mainly because it's another one of those film to stage adaptations that in my opinion will never better the film.

[Phantom of London]

Jul 20, 2024 18:35:48 GMT alece10 said:

Sorry to go off track for a minute but I don't believe La Cage was a disaster at the Palladium. It opened during the Aids crisis when there was a lot of anti gay fear about catching Aids so audiences stayed away.
I remember seeing it and it was spectacular.

Sorry saying La Cage was dreadful was a bit od hyperbole on myself, should have used the term had problems instead. The Aids crisis obviously hit this show hard and not having an audience was a big issue. Theatre is very circumstantial hence conversely why Chicago and Thriller have done very well.

[Sean]

Jul 20, 2024 19:22:52 GMT annette said:

I think I may have been the first on the board to suggest The Producers (Apologies if that's false news). If I'm right and it is indeed The Producers, I would like to put forward another hunch I have. I think Giles Terera may well be cast as Leo Bloom. I may be way off beam with that, but if not, I think he'd bring so much to that part. As far as Patrick Marber goes, he did start his career in comedy, so I don't think he's a particularly strange choice to direct this. Whether in this day and age the show is as much of a crowd pleaser as it once was I don't know. I've never been a big fan of it, mainly because it's another one of those film to stage adaptations that in my opinion will never better the film.

Giles has been announced as being in Dr Strangelove at the same time so it won’t be him as Leo Bloom

[Phantom of London]

Jul 20, 2024 18:35:48 GMT alece10 said:

Sorry to go off track for a minute but I don't believe La Cage was a disaster at the Palladium. It opened during the Aids crisis when there was a lot of anti gay fear about catching Aids so audiences stayed away.
I remember seeing it and it was spectacular.

Sorry saying La Cage was dreadful was a bit of hyperbole on myself, should have used the term had problems instead. The Aids crisis obviously hit this show hard and not having an audience was the single big issue. Theatre is very circumstantial hence conversely why Chicago and Thriller have done very well.

[mrbarnaby]

I don’t know who has been cast as Leo Bloom- but wouldnt surprise me if it was Charlie Stemp. He was lined up for the previous west end production which all fell apart.

[anthony40]

Jul 20, 2024 19:38:25 GMT mrbarnaby said:

I don’t know who has been cast as Leon Bloom- but wouldnt surprise me if it was Charlie Stemp. He was lined up for the previous west end production which all fell apart.

Leo Bloom

[mrbarnaby]

Oops-typo

[alicechallice]

Jul 20, 2024 19:38:25 GMT mrbarnaby said:

I don’t know who has been cast as Leo Bloom- but wouldnt surprise me if it was Charlie Stemp. He was lined up for the previous west end production which all fell apart.

He's in Palladium Panto.

[mrbarnaby]

Of course he is!

[annette]

Well there goes my clairvoyancy skills. Shame,we don’t see enough of Giles’s prodigious comedy skills (and I believe he’s a big Mel Brooks fan too).
I think Charlie Stemp would be an incredibly strange choice for Leo Bloom. Matt Lucas perhaps?Or maybe the return of Marcus Brigstocke will turn out not to have been a joke after all.


quote author="Sean" source="/post/528928/thread" timestamp="1721503951"]

Jul 20, 2024 19:22:52 GMT annette said:

I think I may have been the first on the board to suggest The Producers (Apologies if that's false news). If I'm right and it is indeed The Producers, I would like to put forward another hunch I have. I think Giles Terera may well be cast as Leo Bloom. I may be way off beam with that, but if not, I think he'd bring so much to that part. As far as Patrick Marber goes, he did start his career in comedy, so I don't think he's a particularly strange choice to direct this. Whether in this day and age the show is as much of a crowd pleaser as it once was I don't know. I've never been a big fan of it, mainly because it's another one of those film to stage adaptations that in my opinion will never better the film.

Giles has been announced as being in Dr Strangelove at the same time so it won’t be him as Leo Bloom [/quote]

[Talisman]

Jul 20, 2024 18:36:37 GMT Talisman said:

Jul 20, 2024 18:24:18 GMT Phantom of London said:

I didn’t have that visceral reaction of excitement when I read the rumours, sorry. The Producers is a large scale musical that should be in a big house and deserves a great production. Not some small room with a cheap and tacky plywood set, with no wing/fly space to develop the theatre set. Andy Nyman who I enjoyed in Fiddler and Dolly but I cannot see him being a great Max Ballystock, nor am I convinced that Patrick Marber is the the right choice for this show, he has no track record with musicals, so musical comedies is a non starter, you need a director that knows how to find the funny for this show. Then you read that both Patrick and Andy are mates with the artistic director.
 
The opposite is true with Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein which I saw in New York and London, it was much better in a smaller West End house. You could also say the same for La Cage which I hear was a disaster in the London Palladium, it got a second life in the Menier, but was much better when it transferred to the Playhouse.

But I will see it and that is theatre at its best when I am proved wrong.

.



Thanks for this. I can see the points you are making. I would have little faith in them making it work in this space.

[Someone in a tree]

I find quite often at the MCF shows are directed and designed with a transfer in mind and the result is it can look a bit 'Spinal tap' until it transfers. If a production was directed for the venue a la Donmar Warehouse then i think we would be a much classier affair.

[Talisman]

Interesting point

Do many productions transfer?

[Someone in a tree]

Jul 21, 2024 8:44:26 GMT Talisman said:

Interesting point

Do many productions transfer?

Not many but it doesnt stop David Babani from thinking big

[alece10]

Sunday in the Park, Merrily (west end and Broadway), Night Music (west end and Broadway), The Colour Purple (Broadway), La Cage, Forbidden Broadway, Funny Girl (west end and tour), Sweet Charity and a couple of plays.
Thats not bad for fringe theatre.

[Rory]

A lot of Menier shows used to transfer but those days seem a distant memory now, sadly.

[Someone in a tree]

Jul 21, 2024 9:03:40 GMT alece10 said:

Sunday in the Park, Merrily (west end and Broadway), Night Music (west end and Broadway), The Colour Purple (Broadway), La Cage, Forbidden Broadway, Funny Girl (west end and tour), Sweet Charity and a couple of plays.
Thats not bad for fringe theatre.

You're quite right and its a fringe venue that punches above its weight.

I wonder if they'll sort out the restaurant space* and return to back having multiple transfers? - i hope so

*which currently looks like a space that was once used for a jumble sale