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Big names bring big laughs

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Comedians Jason Manford and Ross Noble are heading to Aberdeen with the outrageous Broadway hit The Producers, writes Susan Welsh

 

Look once, look twice then rub your eyes in disbelief, because that is an 8ft-tall pigeon dressed in full Nazi regalia you are seeing.

The paratrooper pigeon will visit Aberdeen on the opening night of The Producers, and is a fabulous indicator of the sort of unbelievable sights and sounds awaiting theatregoers lucky enough to have secured tickets for this gag-a-minute, outrageous show.

The hilarious musical stage version of Mel Brooks’s Academy Award-winning movie of the same name visits HM Theatre next week and has a star-studded cast packed with household names, including comedians Jason Manford as Leo Bloom and Ross Noble as Franz Liebkind, while American west-end star Cory English plays Max Bialystock.

Having seen the show already, I can say one thing: this is one you’ll talk about long after the final curtain has fallen. This show is packed with comedy lines, camp characters and fabulous song and dance routines, while no one who has seen the live version of the uber-camp and outrageous musical number Springtime for Hitler, will be able to forget it.

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Ross Noble as Franz Liebkind. Photo: Hugo Glendinning

The multi-award-winning show tells the story of smooth-talking New York producer Max Bialystock, once king of Broadway, who finds his latest show, Funny Boy – a musical version of Hamlet – closing after just one night. Opportunity knocks the next day when nervous and timid Leo Bloom, an accountant who dreams of a life in showbusiness, arrives to do his books and lets slip that Max could, with a bit of over investing, make more money from a show that’s a flop.

They cook up a plan to stage a show so bad it will become an instant flop, and think they’ve stuck gold when they discover escaped Nazi and sometime pigeon fancier Franz Liebkind has written a truly awful play called Springtime for Hitler. Having persuaded him to let them stage it, they set off in pursuit of the worst director in town, Roger De Bris, persuading him he’s the ideal man to add glitz and glamour to the Third Reich. Throw into this mix a glamorous blonde secretary (Tiffany Graves) and a host of old ladies, desperate to invest in the show in return for a little lovin’ from Max, which leads to another laugh-out-loud scene, Little Old Lady Land.

“That routine is fun to do, but I have to concentrate as the props team are very naughty and sometimes swap the photos of the old ladies in the picture frames to put me off. I seem to recall, in one show, serenading a photograph of The Queen,” said Cory, who has a string of west-end shows under his belt, and is a multitalented star who can act, sing and dance beautifully.

“Even after all these years, the show is still really outrageous, but, because I know it so well, I sometimes forget that until I see the jaws of the audience dropping during Springtime for Hitler. You can see them thinking, should we be laughing at this, which then makes them laugh even more.

“I’m looking forward to taking the show to Aberdeen, as I haven’t been that far north before. All I know of the city is it has connections to oil rigs, non-affordable housing, beautiful countryside – and rowies, which I’ve just recently heard about and am keen to try,” said Cory.

Given the energy of his performances, he should have no problem burning off the calorie-laden delicacies.

His sparring partners in the show are comedians Jason Manford and Ross Noble, both of whom reveal there’s more to them than being able to deliver a funny line. Jason, who can confidentially command a stage, does a superb job of playing nerve-riddled and socially awkward Leo Bloom and, as well as having some pretty nifty dance skills, has a fantastic singing voice.

“I’d always focused on stand-up, but then a few things cropped up which allowed me to be funny and sing, so I thought why not? My dream role would be playing Jean Valjean (Les Miserables), but I don’t think they’ll give it to an overweight northern comedian,” joked Jason.

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Jason Manford as Leo Bloom

“This show is a lot harder than anything I’ve done before, especially on the voice, but it’s really exciting to be in it as it’s one of my all-time favourite musicals.

“Playing Leo is great because he’s kind of a straight man, or at least as straight as you can get in a Mel Brooks play. The one thing he has that no one else has is a sweetness which people can see, and that makes for a better show because you get laughs, but ‘awww’ moments, too.”

Also out for laughs is Ross Noble, who plays Franz Liebkind, a role taken previously by Phill Jupitus.

“That was some pretty big lederhosen I had to step into,” joked Ross, a regular visitor to Aberdeen.

“My Franz is pretty physical compared to Phill’s interpretation, so I’m doing a lot of running around the stage,” said Ross.

“People have been surprised to find out I can sing and I’m regularly asked: can you sing? to which I usually reply: well, good enough for a west-end show.”

Camper, cheekier and much ruder than the original cult movie, and featuring a riotous mix of eccentric characters, show-stopping songs and household names as stars, it is arguably the funniest Broadway musical of all time. Miss it at your peril.

The Producers is at HM Theatre, Aberdeen, from Monday, June 22,
until Saturday, June 27. There are performances at 7.30pm nightly and matinees on Thursday and Saturday. Tickets are priced from £17.50 to £41.40. Contact Aberdeen Performing Arts box office on 01224 641122 or visit www.aberdeenperformingarts.com