Turtle Lane’s intimate playing space was not at its best this past week as it ended its month long run of Mel Brooks’ The Producers.  The normally intimate 120 seat theatre was awkwardly crammed with tables and oddly placed chairs.  In this “cabaret style”, sight lines were terrible and it was impossible to get up without bumping into someone.  I was given a pair of tickets in which my companion had to sit in front of me, rather than beside me, forcing us to awkwardly constrict ourselves in order to share a word between the acts.  I found the whole thing to be rather distracting, which is a shame, because I rather enjoyed this classic production and did not welcome the disturbances and annoyance of the seating arrangement.  A quick glance around the room confirmed that everyone else was uncomfortable and awkwardly placed as well.

Thank goodness the cast and crew of The Producers put on a solid performance to distract me from the train-wreck that was “seating” for this show.  Though the opening scene was rocky (I blame that more on a poorly constructed opening song than on the performer’s themselves), Scott Giangrande as Max Bialystock quickly and deftly stole the stage in a brilliantly sung monologue (“The King of Old Broadway”) that evoked the inspiration of Nathan Lane himself.  Robert DeVivo held his own against Giangrande offering brilliant comic timing and a very pleasant singing voice.  The two gentlemen laid the foundation for a spot on cast of characters to parade across the stage leaving the audience in stitches.  Even the children in the audience, who missed the more sophisticated jokes, seemed to get a big kick out of the slapstick and spectacle that the production team put together.

In a show that gets a large part of its humor from jokes about Hitler, nothing in the production struck me as unnecessarily offensive, and that in itself, is a huge feat. Seeing Kevin Cirone’s portrayal of the Führer-obsessed Franz Liebkind was really a treat.  He was so committed that the audience could easily get caught up in his fervor.  James Fitzpatrick and Gary Ryan play perfectly against one another, as Roger DeBris and Carmen Ghia- they are believable as lovers AND as artistic partners.  Julie Lyon brought an absolutely darling Ulla to life, her dancing was fantastic, her singing was cheerful and contagious, and the Swedish accent was quite a treat!  As a cast of characters, Turtle Lane’s group was extremely strong.

The ensemble gave a stellar performance as well.  Throughout the production, I was delighted by Deb Poppel (whose portrayal of a chorus girl may have gotten the biggest laugh of the night) and Monica Stein, both were taking their smaller roles quite seriously, completely engaged with the audience at all times.  Emma Putnam (you wear a sausage with style), Rebecca Gastfriend and Mallory Jenkins were stand-outs in the dance ensemble (nice kicks, ladies!) and the entire men’s ensemble were so funny during “I Wanna be a Producer” that I was having a hard time catching my breath.  I have mentioned before my affinity for tap dancing, and these folks were stellar throughout!

The costumes and set also looked excellent- I appreciated the smooth set transitions which were very well covered by the lighting.  Granted I did get up to get a seltzer during intermission, but I was totally surprised by the “Swedish paint job” that opened act two.  It looked awesome and I actually took some time to wonder how they did it without me noticing!  I also LOVED the costume design by Richard Itczak and Kimmerie H.O. Jones, especially the coordinating ensembles of Roger’s team.  I nearly choked on my water when Shirley came out on stage in her purple flannel.  The over-the-top “Springtime for Hitler” costumes were also a riot.  Richard Danehy created a fantastic bird cage complete with moveable, ‘saluting’ doves that is worthy of noting as well.

For the strength of the production itself, I really was disappointed by the lack of thought put into seating, and a few other housekeeping notes as well.  The program was extremely busy and difficult to read, and the characters were not even properly labeled- two actors are billed for each production and there is no way of knowing which one you are seeing, there wasn’t even an announcement.  For a reviewer, giving appropriate credit is key and I didn’t think it was necessary that I should have to go out to the photo board and try to match up faces with my memory.  I was disappointed because I had a lot of good things to say about this production but I just could not let these management pieces go unnoticed.

Overall, though, way to go cast and crew of The Producers, I had a really great Thursday night and will look forward to your upcoming season!

Kevin Cirone as Franz