News & Reviews
Playhouse’s The Producers receives roaring approval
by LAWRANCE BERNABO for the Duluth News Tribune, July 16, 2010 Mel Brooks might not write songs like Stephen Sondheim, but the man knows how to set up a joke and make it pay off. Add to that how director Cal Metts and his cast found countless other opportunities to get laughs, and it is no wonder an appreciative opening night audience roared their approval of The Producers....(click below to download complete review)
The Producers is a gloriously raucous Playhouse season finale
Review by Dennis Kempton for Oeuvre Magazine Before I get to the nuts and bolts, a lavish bit of gratitude has to be expressed to the Playhouse staff, including Tessa Lenneman and Kate Horvath, for putting on a dazzling red carpet pre-show event, replete with limousine and local actors glamming it up as old Hollywood icons such as Gene Kelly, Natalie Wood, Errol Flynn, Audrey Hepburn, and Rita Hayworth. And it sort of felt like old Hollywood, too, seeing so many of those attending opening night of the show dressed in brilliantly colored gowns, elegant cocktail dresses, and men in suits and some of them in dinner jackets and bow ties. It would not be an overstatement to mention that the red carpet event and the fancy dress made an impact on the overall experience. The audience seemed thrilled with getting a chance to dress the way, in my opinion, everyone should dress for opening night and I think that enthusiasm bubbled into the theatre where it was met with one damn fine production. When Mel Brooks wrote a musical version of his already iconic film, The Producers, my first reaction was thinking that more Mel Brooks can only be a good thing. David Geffen convinced Brooks to turn his 1968 film into a stage musical and it opened in April 2001, running for 2,502 performances, winning 12 Tony Awards. With material this good, it is, today, a treat for people to see the show in their community theatres...(click below to download complete review)
July 16, 2010
The Producers review from Duluth News Tribune
July 16, 2010
The Producers review from Oeuvre Magazine
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