OGDEN, Utah, Feb. 6, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — “The Producers,” the Mel Brooks musical comedy theater piece in production at Ogden’s Ziegfeld Theater, will make you laugh as you cry, and gasp in both offense and delight.
Based on the 1967 film of the same name, the stage musical tells the farcical story of a Broadway producer/conman and a mild-mannered accountant who unwittingly gives the former an idea of how to write off investors’ money costs by producing a show sure to fail almost immediately.
For the scheme to work, the show just has to be absurdly awful and offensive enough that no one will buy tickets after opening night.
The Ziegfeld Theater’s production is astounding in its humor and purposeful offensiveness.
The theater last produced this show in 2014, and anyone who caught it then will be delighted to know that actor Cameron Kapetanov returns in his masterful depiction of rule-bending producer Max Bialystock.
Kapetanov has the acting chops to keep the bombastic Bialystock somewhat relatable as a desperate man taking desperate measures, and making a lot of little old ladies happy along the way.
Andy Conlin is well cast as the tense and nebbish Leo Bloom, who was never brave enough to pursue his childhood dream of being a Broadway producer, but who gets caught up in Max’s wake. Bloom has the biggest growth arch of any character, and Conlin captures it with subtlety, joy and authenticity.
Other standout characters, among the many, are Paul Kipping as Roger DeBris, who cuts a stunning figure whether he’s in a Nazi uniform or an evening gown, and Ryan Gorsline as Franz Liebkind, who has a rich, velvety voice and an the ability to keep a straight face while delivering hysterically twisted lines.
But everyone in this show adds to the heights and depths of its humor. So do all the designers, including Stephanie Coylar on costumes, Keely Parry on choreography, Erica Choffel on sets, and director Larrabee, who also handled projection design.
One warning: If you can’t take a wildly offensive joke, stay home. If you can, we highly recommend this production.
And if you’re still on the fence, consider the words of Mel Brooks, as shared by Larrabee, who admits he had some concerns about joking about sensitive topics during challenging times.
“Time after time, I am brought back to what Mel Brooks himself has said on this very subject, and it rings just as true today with our current political climate in the world: ‘… sometimes, the only weapon we’ve really got is comedy.’
“We can never really forget, as members of the human race, what some of the worst of us have done. But on that same note, we musn’t forget that there is still good, hope, and laughter that can be had even in the darkest of places,” Larrabee wrote in program notes.
“It is the simple values of hope, respect, tolerance, love and laughter that drive this production from our hearts to yours.”
“The Producers” plays through Feb. 15 at the Zig, 3934 Washington Blvd, Ogden, on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee this Saturday. Find ticket information here.
On Feb. 19, “The Producers” begins a short run at Park City’s Egyptian Theatre. Find information on those shows here.
