Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford – until 9 June 2018.
Reviewed by Antonia Hebbert
4****
A Broadway producer has sex with rich old widows to raise money, then puts on a merry musical about Hitler which he hopes will fail … With its swastikas and tapdancing Stormtroopers, The Producers might come as a shock to audiences that don’t already know it. It will be familiar to many though, as a 1968 cult film by Mel Brooks, which he turned into a hit Broadway musical in 2001, and then a film of the musical in 2005.
Deliberately outrageous, part slapstick, part satire, peppered with surreal moments and cultural references – all this is a huge challenge for the multi-talented young artists of Guildford’s Performance Preparation Academy.
Directors Lewis Butler and Nick Charters ensure that the ensemble’s energy and enthusiasm are at full throttle throughout, but the first half felt strained at times, as the cast sometimes seemed to be battling with their soundtrack. The show’s age may be a problem too: things that were provocative and anarchic in the 1960s can seem clichéd now. It’s in the second half that the evening really hits its stride, with the ‘Springtime for Hitler’ show-within-the-show, and the unravelling of the producers’ plan.
Jordan Harrison is strong as producer Max Bialystock; Jordan Newman is convincingly naïve as his accountant Leo Bloom. Keeley-May Clarkson seemed uncertain at first as the Swedish assistant Ulla, but in the second half especially had all the necessary presence and glamour. Charles Camrose also blossomed in his role as the super-camp Hitler. Jack Oliver made an elegantly nervy Carmen Ghia, and Carys Gaylor was appealingly quirky in her various appearances. The ensemble dancing is impressive throughout, and costume designer Louise Pieri gives us a splendid array of barmy outfits.
This was a show of two halves: three stars for the first, but four for taking flight after the interval.