- Performances: 2,502.
- Open / Close: April 19, 2001 – April 22, 2007
- Theater: The St. James Theatre.
- Tony Awards: Well, in this category, this show is the reigning champ. Nominated for 15 awards, “The Producers” won a record-setting 12. That’s one less nomination than “Hamilton,” even though it won one more award. The surprising key to winning so many was it’s sweep of the technical awards, taking Scenic Design, Costume Design, Lighting Design as well as Choreography (Robin Wagner, William Ivey Long, Peter Kaczorowski and Susan Stroman the winner respectively).
- Fun Fact: For a show so focused on the difficult economics of Broadway, a lot of the fun facts about it center on money. The production broke the record for largest single day box-office sale with $3 million in tickets sold on April 20th, 2001. When a return engagement of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick was announced, the show broke its own record with $3.5 million in sales on November 16th, 2003.
Podcast
There are ongoing conversations about how the most successful shows on Broadway have a certain “mid-brow” appeal. Sophisticated high-brow “arty” shows by folks like Sondheim are adored by some but don’t get as many butts in seats. And that “low-brow” shows like, say, “The SpongeBob SquarePants Musical” can draw some folks but that people don’t usually want to spend a lot of money to see a Saturday morning cartoon on stage.
Some shows have been able to finesse that dichotomy by dressing up “low-brow” humor in fancy clothes and also by being extremely funny. “The Book of Mormon” is the longest-running example but, before that, there was “The Producers.” It’s a LOT of very broad humor but it’s also men in tuxedos and women in ball gowns.
“The Producers” holds a special place in Broadway history because of winning the most Tony Awards handed out on one night to a production (12). A successful revival of the show just closed in London. All of this makes it a fantastic show to talk about in the second episode of the season.
And Jason Marks is a fantastic person to talk to about this show, having played the bombastic Max Bialystock twice in professional productions and also having a composer’s wisdom when it comes to breaking down the appeal of the show.
Here is a link to the “Vanity Fair” article mentioned about the troubled development of the original movie of “The Producers”