Penny wise, never wins. I missed the theatre version of The Producers while in London last December just coz I wanted to save a few bucks. Bah, but this Hollywood version kinda made up for it. Though I really couldn't help imagining it as a stage play.
Timon?? - Pardon my ignorance, but I didn't recognise Nathan Lane's voice as Timon from Disney's Lion King. Lucky thing too, or I would've broke into Hakuna Matata every chance I got :P
Successful failure? - Raise more money than you need, ensure your show's a total failure, and make away with all the money! Sounds like a plan? Desperate Broadway producer, Max Bialystock(Nathan Lane) ropes in his accountant Leopold Bloom(Matthew Broderick) to co-produce the worse play ever written, acted by the worse actors after Bloom came up with the get-rich-quick scheme.
IMHO Matthew Broderick was a bit plastic, but the cast of comedy "actors" and the magnificent Nathan Lane, made up for him. Broderick can sing, but that wasn't always the point of the show.
Eye candy - Uma Thurman is stunning as ever, playing the dumb (Swedish) blonde part of Ulla. Nope, she wasn't telling the weather this time. She can't sing, she can't dance, but boy does she make ya wanna get onto the next dieting fad. Though I did love the idea of a totally white apartment!
My favourite character has to be scriptwriter, Nazi Franz Liebkind(Will Ferrell). He brought on the best laughs, besides the gays. Check out his collection of pigeons. They are almost scary! I can almost imagine Rob Scheider playing this role. LOL, better quit while I'm ahead.
Didya know?
- With the exception of Will Ferrell and Uma Thurman, all the lead actors originated their roles in the Broadway production.
- A lot of the extras in the audience scenes are people who donated money through a charity, therefore they got to be in the movie.
- There really was a Hamlet musical. And it really was a flop. It was called "Rockabye Hamlet", starring Larry Marshall as Hamlet and Beverly d'Angelo as Ophelia. It lasted for 7 performances at the Minskoff Theatre in 1976.
