The Producers is a Broadway comedy about two crooked producers who come up with the scheme to put on a play that will be such a horrendous flop that they will get to keep all of the investors money. Of course, things don't quite go as planned. The show is a huge success, and the producers find themselves in hot water.



Adapted from Mel Brooks' hit 1968 film of the same name, the musical production of The Producers is one of the most unlikely Broadway success stories of the last 20 years.

Most film buffs knew of The Producers and the incredible performances given by Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in the original film, but few, not even Brooks himself, imagined the gigantic hit the Broadway version of the film would become.

However, when you look at the sheer amount of talent involved -- the incomparable Nathan Lane as Max and Matthew Broderick as Leo -- with a screenplay written by Brooks himself, l, the success makes a lot more sense.

In The Producers, Max and Leo get the great idea of producing a musical that is so terrible, so offensive and so sure to be a gigantic failure that the two of them will be able to split the tens of thousands of dollars given them by investors. In one scene, Max and Leo sell large percentages of the show and the expected revenue generated by it, to groups of people, over and over and over again. Of course, if Max and Leo's scheme works out and the show loses everything, it won't matter if they sold a 50 percent share in the production 100 times, no one will get anything, except for Max and Leo.

When their show turns out to be the ironic hit of the season, Max and Leo are left scrambling to cover their crimes. What results is one of the funniest and most creative Broadway shows in history, as well as one of Broadway's most critically acclaimed shows.

Today, you can catch touring productions of The Producers all over the world, but the reputation of this fine show makes it an almost impossible ticket to get. Often times, folks are left standing outside while the show goes on inside. So if you see The Producers headed to your town, don't hesitate to get tickets.