While many of you were watching an Austrian bodybuilder become governor, I was watching a German dictator become the toast of Broadway. An acquaintance asked why I got seats to see the Los Angeles company of The Producers on the evening of Election Day. I had to remind him that when I bought these tickets, there was no election scheduled this month. Besides, even if I'd known, it was a lot more fun to watch Jason Alexander and Martin Short prance about than to view any conceivable kind of election coverage. Then again, you could say that about almost any show.
Since I was fortunate enough to see Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick do The Producers in New York (report here), it raises the obvious question: How do Jason and Martin compare? Friends of mine who've seen the L.A. company have mostly reported that they liked one but not the other and have been pretty evenly split on which one they liked. I guess we got a good night: I liked both of them. A lot. This production seemed broader than the Broadway version, which may be because the Pantages Theater is larger than the St. James in New York, or it may be because the cast has been doing the show longer and actors often find little schtick with which to get laughs that weren't there before.
It may even be because though Alexander chews no less scenery as Max Bialystock than Lane, Short is a lot more physical and cartoony than Broderick. His version of Leo Bloom writhes on the floor and does "takes" they probably saw in the last row of the balcony…in the theater across the street and down a block. At times, he misses the humanity in the character but he's so funny, you almost don't mind. I wish he'd lose or at least not overdo that strained "inhale" voice he does…but boy, talk about taking a part you didn't originate and making it work for you. Which is also what Alexander does. I'm not sure I liked him more than Nathan Lane but I'm pretty sure I didn't like him any less.
The rest of the cast was pretty good. Lee Roy Reams is playing Roger DeBris and I always thought he was terrific, ever since I saw him in the first Broadway show I actually saw on Broadway — 42nd Street. Bill Nolte is playing Franz Liebkind. (If you're tracking the players in the various companies of The Producers: Gary Beach, who originated the role of DeBris, was out here but he has now returned to the New York company. Fred Applegate was playing Liebkind out here but he went back to New York to take over as Bialystock since Lewis J. Stadlen had to leave due to a hip injury. In fact, Applegate debuted and Beach returned to Broadway last night.) Our Ulla is Angie Schworer who, in keeping with the tone of this production, made her character even more of a caricature than what I saw back east.
It's interesting how the Pantages up in Hollywood has turned into a first-rate (albeit, too large) legit theater. I first knew it as a movie palace. I remember my parents taking me there to see The Great Race in 1965. I'm not sure when it switched to housing plays but I'm pretty sure that's where I saw — not in this order — La Cage Aux Folles with Gene Barry, The Music Man with Dick Van Dyke, Barnum with Jim Dale, My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison, Camelot with Richard Harris, Fiddler on the Roof with Herschel Bernardi, and Peter Pan with Sandy Duncan and again with Cathy Rigby. I'm sure there were others. Owing to a bad case of food poisoning, I saw half of I Do, I Do there (i.e., I saw one I Do) but I don't remember who was in it; all I remember is the men's room. For several of those shows, the acoustics in the place were not wonderful but they are now. It's really become a pleasant place to see a musical. Especially if you can secure seats in the same zip code as the stage.