Egc Humanities Cultural Activity 1

Dy l a n Jo h n Mazzi o t t i Huma n i t i e s Cu l t u r a l Ac t iv i t y #1 "The Pro d u c e r s "

I have selected to review the play "The Producers" which I saw at Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Utah. The play is based on the 1968 flm by Mel Brooks, his debut flm. The flm is a story of Max Biyalistok, a down on his luck theatrical producer who has been forced to seduce wealthy older women to bring in money for the plays. An accountant, Leo Bloom is brought in to review Max's books and they end up coming up with an amazing scheme to make a fortune by producing a sure-f re fop. "Springtime For Hitler" is the play selected to be their goldmine. As for the flm itself, Mel Brooks came out of the gate with the amazing humor that we have enjoyed for decades. Gene Wilder portrays Leo Bloom with a meekness that def nes this fearful character. Zero Mostel portrays Max with a desperation and zeal that make you actually want to cheer him on. Many years after the flm came out, Mel Brooks rewrote "The Producers" for the stage. When it debut on Broadway, it starred Matthew Broderick as Leo and Nathan Lane as Max. A few years later, a motion picture based on the Broadway play debut in theatres with Matthew and Nathan still in their starring roles.

After that history lesson of the material, I will fnally get to the review of the play I saw. I really enjoyed every one's performance, the portrayals to me were a nice mixture of the the 2 flms. Leo Bloom was portrayed closer to Matthew Brodericks with a little Gene Wilder sprinkled in. The portrayal of Max was def nitely inspired by Zero Mostel.

Mel Brooks is a genius I hope we see some new from him before he leaves us.