The Producers - Menier Chocolate Factory

Watched last night and slightly middling for me (another big fan of the Drury Lane production)

Was entertained enough and never found myself bored and eye-rolling, but I thought Marc Antolin was just so wonderful that it's managed to squeeze the whole thing up to 4*s from me!

I’m worried about seeing this now. Love this show and can’t take it being bad.

Saw this tonight and thought it was terrific, as enjoyable on average, for me, as the original production and better than the 2015 tour, which was not as strong across the board.

Of course, this is not as razzle dazzle in the big numbers as at Drury Lane, but I love the intimacy of the Menier, and the performances are wonderfully well-judged and very funny.

Tonight, Babani said three performers were taken ill, and the stage manager was ill as well, but thank goodness none of the principals were off, swings stepped in for the missing minor roles (Hana Ichijo was off, for one) and thank goodness the lighting designer was able to step in for the stage manager.

Trevor Ashley and Harry Morrison were unrestrained, balls-out, belly laugh funny, in a lineup where there is not a weak link, and everyone is funny.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Contrary to reports above, I found nothing harsh whatsoever about Andy Nyman tonight (perhaps his approach has evolved to be more smiley and relatably warm, as he certainly was not cruel like Zero Mostel in the film, although it wouldn't have been bad if he was, as Mostel was funny-mean). Although a slight hoarseness suggested he had been recently ill, Nyman was human, in-the-moment, zany and loveable, an excellent anchor for the show, and he had a palpable chemistry with Marc Antolin's adorably coy and neurotic, albeit equally warm and human Bloom.

Joanna Woodward may be shorter than a typical Ulla, but her wacky charisma, her slanted Swedish pronunciations, her effervescent mischievousness made for a fantastic, funny and free radiant sprite of an Ulla, utterly entertaining in her interactions with the two main characters. She "strooted" her "stoof" with delightful audience-friendly abandon!

Only Harry Morrison and Trevor Ashley were even more out there:-

Morrison's Nazi writer is like an explosive hilarious Henry Lewis caricature, snarling with reactionary rightwing fury, yet constantly surprisingly regressing to a simpering wimpering repressed cuddly childhood persona, before turning manically murderous again;

Trevor Ashley is an unparalleled Roger De Bris, as camp and as maniacal as Divine, one of the funniest and most out-there characters I've ever seen on stage. He has marvellous chemistry with the equally camp, though more subdued, Raj Ghatak as Carmen Ghia, and I couldn't take my eyes off him, unable to stop laughing at his antics. So, yes, "Springtime for Hitler" at the Menier may be disappointingly small in it's staging (compared to the original), but Ashley's central exuberant unrestrained ultra-campness makes the whole number feel ten times bigger, ten times wilder, and ten times funnier, regardless.

I'd simply love to see this again, and I hope it does transfer and gets even more unrestrained at the edges, anchored so ably by the comedic warmth and believable bond of its two wonderful leads. 4 and a half stars from me tonight.

I've posted two tickets for January 21st on the noticeboard if anyone wants 'em!

Saw this yesterday and it was my first exposure to the material so don’t have the context for the Drury lane production referenced a lot.

I really enjoyed it. The set, while small and not particularly elaborate, was exactly what I expect from a theatre of this scale and while it would definitely need to be built on for a transfer I had no issues with it in this space.

Harry Morrison as Franz was easily the highlight for me, he was absolutely hilarious, other stand outs were Trevor Ashley and Marc Antolin.

Reading through this thread I wanted to add that at no point did I feel like this show needed to be bigger to be effective in its comedy or storytelling, springtime for Hitler was large enough in the context of the rest of the production to still stand out in its spectacle. It made a good use of the space it had.

Overall it was an enjoyable trip to the theatre and the rest of the audience seemed to enjoy with lots of laughter throughout and a partial standing ovation at the end.

I was also there last night and had a great time. Although I know the film and the music very well this was the first time I have seen it on stage.
Very, very funny and some great songs and dance numbers.
Sitting on the front row you can see that the set is a bit on the cheap side but considering the size of the cast and band they cant afford everything. I would guess if this transfers (which it definately should) then the sets will be scaled up quite a bit.
Cast were excellent and, as other people have mentioned, the highlights for me were Marc Antolin, Harry Morrison and Trevor Ashley.
Audience seemed to enjoy it and were very vocal.
It looks like the Menier is back on form after being in the wilderness for a while so I really hope it does well.
It was an easy 5 stars from me.

There’s a ticket for todays matinee on the Noticeboard

Very nice of them to put a sold out show on Rush. I wonder how many tickets have been held back for that? :0

I’ve been able to ask the Mernier to try and sell so it is now available online.

Saw this last night.
Wonderful show and very very funny. The rest of the audience seemed to love it. The actors were clearly delighted to see the audience response at the end.
I’m glad they spent the money on the costumes which were fantastic. Basic set didn’t matter.
Most fun I’ve had at a theatre for a long while.
Definite 5 stars.

I think they'll be happy with these reviews:

Broadway World: *****
The Arts Desk: *****
Independent: ****
Telegraph: ****
Whatsonstage: ****
Guardian: ****
Standard: ****
The Stage: ****

Now I’m excited again to see it, was starting to sound like a dud when previews started