About The Producers
THE MUSICAL
Based on the 1968 film, Mel Brooks’s musical The Producers is a laugh-out-loud, outrageous, crowd-pleasing farce that has been a smash hit since its 2001 debut. Fading Broadway producer Max Bialystock is desperate to get to the top of his profession again, and he finds an unlikely ally in mousy accountant Leo Bloom, who hypothesizes that one could make far more money with a flop of a show than with a hit. Together, the two set out to produce the worst musical ever to hit Broadway, with the worst script, the worst director, and the worst cast they can find; the catch is that they will raise two million dollars to finance the show, and they plan to take the money and head to Rio when the show inevitably closes after just one performance. Too bad for Bialystock & Bloom that, against all odds, the show is a total hit! With dozens of big and bit parts alike, no shortage of showstopping musical numbers, and Brooks’ signature humor keeping audiences in stitches, The Producers is definitely far from a flop.
BROADWAY SUCCESS
The production opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre the on April 19, 2001. It ran for 2,502 performances, closing on April 22, 2007. Susan Stroman was the director and choreographer and Glen Kelly was the musical arranger and supervisor.
After the opening, The Producers broke the record for the largest single day box-office ticket sales in theatre history, taking in more than $3 million. The loss of the original stars later in the run had a detrimental effect on the success of the production, prompting the return of Lane and Broderick for a limited run from December 2003 to April 2004. The show's sales then broke its own record with over $3.5 million in single day ticket sales
TONY AWARDS
The production won 12 Tony Awards breaking the record held for 37 years by Hello Dolly! which had won 10.
ABOUT MEL BROOKS
Mel Brooks is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. A recipient of numerous accolades. He is one of 21 entertainers to win the EGOT, which includes an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. He received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2009, a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2010, the AFL Life Achievement Award in 2013, a British Film Institute Fellowship in 2015, a National Medal of Arts in 2016, a BAFTA Fellowship in 2017, and the Honorary Academy Award in 2024.
Brooks is one of the few people who have received an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony, and a Grammy. He won his first Grammy for Best Spoken Comedy Album in 1999 for his recording of The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000 with Carl Reiner. His two other Grammys came in 2002 for Best Musical Show Album for the cast album of The Producers and for Best Long Form Music Video for the DVD Recording the Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks. He won his first of four Emmy awards in 1967 for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Variety for a Sid Caesar special, and won Emmys in 1997, 1998, and 1999 for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role of Uncle Phil on Mad About You won his Academy Award for Original Screenplay (Oscar) in 1968 for The Producers. He won his three Tony awards in 2001 for his work on the musical The Producers, for Best Musical, Best Original Musical Score, and Best Book of a Musical.
North Carolina Central University Theatre
North Carolina Central University, accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST), takes prides in NCCU University Theatre being listed among the top ten best HBCU Theatre Schools in the United States by Hbcu-Colleges.com. The department is designed to satisfy the needs of a broad range of enthusiastic students and to give them the widest possible exposure to accomplishments in theatre and experiences that will develop them as capable theatre practitioners. Offering a bachelor’s degree in Theatre, our life and career applicable concentrations prepare majors to become performers, choreographers, teachers, directors, designers and technicians, production managers, media specialists, and dramaturgs in a culturally diverse world.
The Department was recently awarded National Awards from the Kennedy Center for the production of The Bus Stop by Najee Brown. Please visit the KCACTF4 website for most information about this celebrated accomplishment.
https://www.kcactf4.org/news/9720/national-honors-for-region-iv-shows/
