By Michael Buckley
20 Nov 2005
While "Springtime for Hitler" was shot at Steiner Studios, the reaction of the audience (all of whom donated to charity to be part of it) was filmed inside the St. James Theatre. "My dance department, which is my three dance assistants, re-created the number onstage, because all the cameras were shooting towards the audience. I asked for the St. James, so that my camera crew could be together with the whole theatre crew [of The Producers]. They got on so well. It made my heart happy."
In the film Lane wears his hair in a style somewhat similar to Zero Mostel, who played Max in Brooks' 1968 film comedy, "The Producers." Comments Stroman, "Nathan has a good head of hair, but he wanted the character to be more desperate and older. Nathan also has a youthful quality. He said he could never do what Zero's hair did Zero's hair was a character all to itself. But Nathan had Zero in mind when he did his comb over.
"As a little girl [in Wilmington, Delaware], I would watch movie musicals on TV. I would watch Fred and Ginger, and pictures like 'Singin' in the Rain' and 'Royal Wedding.' That's why I got into theatre.
"I never imagined that in my lifetime movie musicals would appear again. Now, to have been in charge of a gorilla of a movie musical directing and choreographing is beyond dreams realized."
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There are no opening credits. Fade-in is a night shot overlooking Manhattan, and the focus shifts to the theatrical district. Suddenly, from behind rooftops, rise electric lights that spell out "The Producers."
Playing cameo roles are several actors who will be recognized by Broadway fans. Among them: Brent Barrett, Andrea Martin, Debra Monk, Richard Kind, Jonathan Freeman, Ruth Williamson, Michael McKean, Marilyn Sokol, Peter Bartlett and Ronn Carroll. Many players who have been inThe Producers also have parts in the movie.
Two of Ulla's lines had to be changed for the film. In the play (Act Two, Scene One), Bialystock and Bloom are amazed that Ulla's repainted their office. Asked when she did all this, Ulla replies, "Intermission!" In the movie, Max asks, "How did you find time..." and she answers, "I skip lunch." And instead of inquiring why Leo is "crossing downstage right," Ulla asks, "Why Bloom go so far camera right?" Also different for the film is the Sing-Sing sequence.
The cinematic Shubert Alley looks north from 44th Street and boasts signs for such establishments as McHale's (the 46th Street bar famed for its burgers) and Barton's bonbonniere (once the home of luscious chocolate truffles).
During the "You Never Say Good Luck on Opening Night" number, there are theatrical posters displayed in the faux Shubert Alley. But not all of the shows would have been advertised simultaneously in 1959, the year "The Producers" is set.
My Fair Lady was running, but not with its original cast, as shown. Redhead and Destry Rides Again are okay; the former opened in February '59 and closed in March '60, and the latter ran from April '59 until June '60. However, West Side Story closed in June 1959 and The Sound of Music didn't open until November.
Highlights abound. Broderick's hysterics during his first scene, when Lane asks about Leo's blue security blanket and Lane's reactions reach comedic heights. There's also Bart's sibilant greeting to Lane and Broderick, when he holds the last letter of "Yes." "Someone asked if we had tweaked that," relates Stroman, "but it was all Roger Bart." Perhaps the funniest number is "Along Came Bialy" with Lane leading 83 Old Ladies (some of whom are Laddies) dancing with walkers. Another delight is Beach's explosive "stage debut" ("Heil, myself!") as the substitute star of Springtime for Hitler. And the mutual admiration shared by Lane and Broderick (onscreen and off) is apparent in the song "'Til Him."
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Gary Beach plays Roger DeBris, "The Producers"' (other) director. "After [the show] opened, Roger [Bart] said, 'I wish HBO would film this [so the original cast could be seen].' We know how lucky we are that Mel Brooks and Susan Stroman made us part of the deal."
Beach hadn't seen the film when we spoke (but would on Friday). He recalls, "The set for the Astor Bar was so beautiful. They shot a scene that was in the [original] movie, where Max and Leo go to the bar after seeing the start of Springtime for Hitler and are convinced that it's going to be a failure. You'll see it on the DVD."
Were there any difficulties in making the movie? "One thing for the four of us who had done the play was that we were so used to gales of laughter. In this kind of comedy, the audience is another character. All of a sudden, you're out there talking into silence. That was odd at first."
After the movie opens, New Yorkers will be able to see Beach onscreen and onstage. He's back at the St. James, where Carmen Ghia is now played by Jai Rodriguez (TV's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"), who is seen as Sabu, one of DeBris' staff, in the film.
I'd read that the pose DeBris strikes before launching into his big number when he takes over the title role on opening night of Springtime for Hitler was meant as Beach's tribute to his Lumiere role in Beauty and the Beast. "I read that, too," notes Beach, "but it isn't true. Actually, I'm doing the pose that Angela Lansbury did on the Mame posters. It was very theatrical."
His favorite moment in the film? "I loved doing the section we refer to as 'the Judy section' sitting on the edge of the stage. The support you receive from a 150 people standing around, all doing their jobs, is incredible. When you do a show, how many people are in the room? The cast and maybe five others. In a movie, it's a community, all there to make the movie work. I loved that. I've never had this large a role [onscreen]."
It took a week, Beach confides, "to shoot 'Springtime for Hitler.' They dyed John Barrowman's hair so blond and even though he has blue eyes, they gave him turquoise contacts." Barrowman plays the Nazi officer who sings the "Springtime" song.
Doubling as the DeBris dwelling, says Beach, "was the Pratt Mansion [1026 Fifth Avenue], which is now owned by Marymount [School]. We shot in the entrance hall and, for lack of a better word, the living room."
When sets were being dismantled, Stroman asked if Beach had a country house and might like a memento. "It's a large oil painting that hung over Roger and Carmen's mantle their dead Pomeranian, with an archangel behind the dog. I said, 'Sure.' I didn't realize that it was four-feet tall. I have it in my dressing room. I think I'll give it to Broadway Cares, and they can auction it. I do have a place on Fire Island, but the painting's too gay for Fire Island." [Laughs]
I mention that I was glad one of my favorite jokes remained in the movie. It's an exchange between DeBris and an actor at the Hitler auditions. DeBris: "What have you been doing?" Actor: "For sixteen years, I've been touring in No, No, Nietzsche." DeBris: "Did you play Nietzsche?" Actor: "No, no." That was added for Broadway, claims Beach. Out of town there was a different exchange. DeBris: "What have you been doing?" Actor: "For sixteen years, I've been touring in Charley's Aunt. DeBris: "What part did you play?" Actor: "Charley's Uncle."
One of Beach's fondest memories of The Producers was getting to know the late Mrs. Mel Brooks. "I really felt like I had made it when Anne Bancroft knew my name. 'Gary.' Oh, my God, that's Anne Bancroft saying my name! She had a total idea of who she was and an awareness of her effect on other people which is a nice thing to have. A lot of people who are in that position either don't know or don't care. She was totally aware. That was sort of wonderful!"
Like most actors, Beach doesn't know what his next job might be, "but I'd like to do a comedy." I suggest that perhaps he and Roger Bart could take over for Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick on Broadway in The Odd Couple, and he supposes that might be fun. "Roger's in New York at the moment because he's going to see his [older] daughter play Sally Bowles at the University of Pennsylvania."
From his first scene shot "We call it 'the cop scene,' where Franz comes in, shooting at us in Max's office" to his last scene done "Kissing Ulla, and my [Hitler] moustache comes off [onto her lips]" Beach's film experience was a pleasure. "When you come from the world of theatre and all of a sudden you get into the reality that they deal with for a movie, it's mind boggling."
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Michael Buckley also writes for TheaterMania.com.
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