The musical adaptation of the film version of The Producers is one of Mel Brooks’ greatest successes, but the veteran comedian has revealed it nearly didn’t happen. He wasn’t sure his 1967 movie needed any tunes, and had to be persuaded by a persistent producer.
Brooks told The Guardian newspaper that only when producer David Geffen kept calling did he finally agree to the project. He recalled:
“David Geffen called me every day. I said, ‘David, it’s a perfectly good little movie. I won the Academy Award for my screenplay. It’s been honored and saluted enough. There’s no reason to make it a musical.’ Then the next day, he called me again. He never stopped calling me. And finally, I said, ‘Well, he’s not a dumb guy, so maybe there is something.’”
Once Brooks had agreed to the musical, he co-wrote the show with the late Thomas Meehan, and Brooks also wrote the score, including the memorable music number Springtime for Hitler. The outrageous plot follows failing impresario Max Bialystock who plans to stage a Broadway flop and collect on investors’ money. With that in mind, he creates a homage to the Nazi leader, assuming no audience would tolerate such a thing and the show would promptly have to close. We know the rest…
On its Broadway debut in 2001, The Producers won 12 Tony Awards, with The New York Times calling it “a sublimely ridiculous spectacle.”
The show has been seen around the world and is about to be staged at London’s Garrick Theatre, where Brooks previously enjoyed success with the musical comedy Young Frankenstein.
This week Brooks paid tribute to actor Gene Hackman, who appeared in the 1974 film version of the spoof horror. Brooks said:
“I was privileged to know Gene Hackman because he played tennis with another Gene—Gene Wilder. And that Gene told him about a little role called The Blind Hermit in our movie YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN,” wrote Brooks on X. “He said, ‘Do you think Mel would let me play it? I’ve always wanted to do a comedy.’ Needless to say, I was over the moon and he was perfect.”
