Broadway's "The Producers" Takes Its Final Bow

The hit Broadway show, "The Producers," ended its year run on Broadway this Sunday. The musical, created by comedic powerhouse Mel Brooks, focused on two producers who con numerous older women out of $2 million in order to fund their ridiculously rotten Broadway show, "Springtime For Hitler."

"The Producers" originally opened at The St. James theatre with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick taking on the starring roles. Based on Mel Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, the show played 2,502 performances to its New York audience before the final curtain was drawn.

As the cast took the stage for their final bow, Mel Brooks joined the cast on-stage along with director Susan Stroman and co-writer Thomas Meehan. "The Producers" has garnered a record breaking 12 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and issued in a new era of ticket pricing as it made available to its audience, "Premium Tickets." Theatregoers shelled out $480 a pop for these elusive seats which promised to be the best in the house.

In 2005, "The Producers" was adapted for the silver screen starring the original leading duo, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as well as Uma Thurman and Will Ferrell. Though the Broadway musical remained a favorite of critics, the film adaptation elicited mixed reviews from film critics.

Since its first showing in New York on April 19, 2001, "The Producers" has grossed over $1 billion in ticket sales which includes its other worldwide productions including productions in London, Budapest and Las Vegas among others. Some of the famous faces to take on the roles in the worldwide productions of "The Producers" includes Jason Alexander in Los Angeles and, oddly enough, David Hasselhoff in the Las Vegas production (a 90-minute version of the original 2 1/2 hour production).

Brooks gained notoriety with his 1974 film, "Blazing Saddles," a spoof on the classic American Western that drew its comedy from absurdist caricature characters. Becoming the king of the spoof comedy genre, Brooks released a number of other popular comedy classics over the years including "Young Frankenstein" and "Spaceballs."

Now that the curtain has fell on Brooks' New York production, Brooks will continue work on his upcoming production, a musical based on his cult classic, "Young Frankenstein." While casting is still unannounced, the musical is slated to debut this fall and will take the St. James stage vacated by The Producers.

Though the curtain is closing on "The Producers'" original New York production, theatergoers can still catch one of the on-going productions across the nation and internationally.

SOURCE: Associated Press: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/THEATER_PRODUCERS_CLOSING?SITE=VAROA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT