The Producers - Original Cast (CD 2001)

Mel Brooks has made some of the most beloved comedies of our time: "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein," and "History of the World Part One." But his most original, and arguably his best work, is "The Producers." Starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, "The Producers" tells the story of two lads who dream to become Broadway producers. They realize, though, that if executed correctly, it would be more profitable to stage a bomb than to stage a success. So the two find the worst script around, "Springtime For Hitler," and put on the play, only for it to become a success. With a wickedly clever story and great gags from Brooks, "The Producers" is a much loved classic.

Recently, Mel Brooks decided to live out a lifelong dream: to produce a Broadway play of his own. He needed to look no further than his own satire of the Broadway world, "The Producers." At the time of this writing, "The Producers" is currently the hit of Broadway, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.

While I have not seen the play yet (I live in Los Angeles, far from Broadway), I recently purchased the original cast recording, a soundtrack which is wildly entertaining, laugh-out-loud funny, and musically superb. The most impressive thing is that Mel Brooks composed the music and lyrics himself (not an easy task when you look at how many tracks are included on this album).

There are honestly no weak tracks on this album, but there are certainly a few standouts. The most notable is the classic "Springtime For Hitler." The song, featured in the original movie, is the show-stopper of the play within a play. With lines like "Don't be stupid/ Be a smarty/ Come and join/ the Nazi party" the song is simply hysterical. Other standout tracks are Nathan Lane's "The King of Broadway" and Matthew Broderick's "I Wanna Be A Producer." Nathan Lane's voice sounds surprisingly strong throughout the album. Broderick doesn't have a particularly outstanding voice, but he is able to hold his own.

The album is also interspersed with a few German songs like "In Old Bavaria," "Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop" and "Haben Sie Gehort Das Deutsche Band?" What do these mean? I have no idea, but it doesn't matter. Speaking German is not essential in understanding these songs, as Mel Brooks masterfully rhymes German and English.

While these are the standout tracks, none of the others should be skipped or ignored. They are all high quality tracks. It must also be noted that these are not simply funny lyrics with simplistic backing music. The music is very entertaining, with sophisticated arrangements and direction by Patrick S. Brady.

The orchestra and the vocalists on this record are the cream of the crop. Doug Besterman does a fantastic job in his orchestrations, and the chorus, as well as co-stars Roger Bart, Gary Beach, and Cady Huffman, all sound fantastic on the record.

While I have not seen the play, "The Producers" is a truly outstanding and entertaining album, that leaves me salivating in anticipation of seeing the play. "The Producers" is one of my two favorite original cast recordings that I own (along with "Damn Yankees"); it should be in the collection of all musical lovers.