I Wanna Be a Producer!

I had had a wonderful experience last weekend. Perfect Wife and I, and her Perfect Parents, went to see a community theatre production of Mel Brook's musical, "The Producers". It was fabulous.

I was a bit leery of going, as PW and I had seen the original production on Broadway, which was wonderful. At the time, I predicted that the show could NEVER be done in community theatre, as there was just too much talent required.

I have done quite a bit of community theatre work. It's quite fun. You meet new people, make friends, and get a little escape  from reality as you perform. You can also get a little ego boost from any laughter and/or applause you generate. There are downsides to doing a community theatre show, for the audience and the performers, though, and I have seen it  all: Fat people (or any other kind of people, myself included) who can't dance front-and-center during production numbers, directors casting their spouses or significant others in roles they are clearly not suited for, 10 minute set changes (during which you check your program and count the musical numbers left, in an effort to figure out how soon you can escape the theatre), backstage histrionics, backstage inappropriate romances, and oh, so much more.

So it was with great trepidation that I attended this show. There was NO WAY any local theatre group could pull this off! As it turned out, I had nothing to fear. Every element of the show was perfect, from sets to costumes to the lighting and especially the cast, who were spot-on perfect. 

It's a crap-shoot when you go to a community theatre show, I admit. You may waste 3+ hours of your life seeing a 40 year old blond Irish woman playing Maria in "West Side Story", or you could see a really talented group of people putting on an awesome production.

Just like we did the other day.