Curb Your Enthusiasm/The Producers

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 4:24pm

Last night, thanks to HBO On Demand (I can watch some shows whenever I want for free...don't know if you guys know what this is), I watched Episode #40 where Larry David makes his debut in the Producers along with David Schwimmer. Can someone please explain if this was an actual performance? At first I thought it was, with the posters outside the theaters and the ads, but as the show went on, everything else looked staged - people walking out, the expressions on everyone's face, Larry David's speech in the middle of the show. I am sure the show is staged, but can someone who knows more about this show please explain?

[SamIAm]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 4:26pm

This was part of a several part lead in that set up David's debut as Max. It was staged and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Though in light of the recent debacle with Dreyfuss it's just a little too much like life imitating art.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 4:27pm

That episode is a parody on the reaction Springtime for Hitler got in the movie The Producers. In fact, a lot of the direction is verbatum! But that is the Broadway ensemble doing the actually choreography with Larry David

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 4:29pm

Curb Your Enthusiasm is a sitcom, not a documentary (though a lot of dialogue is adlibbed). The David/Schwimmer performance was done in LA at the same theatre where the LA company of the Producers was playing. Mel Brooks, Cady Huffman et al were all scripted. It's fake.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 4:35pm

I know, there were a lot of direct references from the movie, such as the "O's" on the audiences mouth, people walking out, the main character going on and on, people raving about the show during intermiss and the producers/people associated with the show (Ann Bancroft and Mel Brooks) in the bar buying drinks.

Did Larry and/or David actually ever go on for real? BTW, I had to watch it a couple of times ("Opening Night" and "King of Broadway") because I love the show!

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 4:37pm

no
it was a set up for the show
but it was the best season of CYE ever

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 4:45pm

The whole thing was set up for David's show -- it had nothing to do with the actual LA run of the Producers. So, NO, they never went on (and it was never even considered -- in interviews, David emphatically rejected any notion of ever playing Max Bialystock in an actual production).

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 5:03pm

I remember them shooting some of this in New York, in front of the theatre. When I walked by, I was like..."No, it can't be!" Then I realized what was going on.

[mallardo]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 6:19pm

And in real life Cady Huffman is NOT a Republican.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 6:31pm

in an earlier episode, larry and cheryl (his "wife") went to see the LA version of Producers starring Lewis Stadlin and Don Stephenson. It was very weird, as the Pantages looked remarkably like the St James....

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 6:35pm

I will tape it & when I get my new DVD recorder put it on the same DVD as the opening night special re the original cast that appeared on the tube

[BialyBloomInc02]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 7:36pm

Actually, ALL filming, with the exception of the Pantages Exterior shots in the first episode, was done in NYC at the St. James Theatre. You can tell by the Shubert Alley set piece, the lettering of 'Funny Boy' is smaller in the tour version of the set (as is the rest of the Shubert set). Plus, Lewis, Don and Cady, never appeared together anywhere else but in NYC. The clip of the office scene (with Lewis, Cady and Don) was taped at the St. James, as were all the Larry David scenes.

Hope this helps!
Cheers-

[RadioTV2]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 8:09pm

Bialybloom, the outside scene with Larry David going to see The Producers in LA in the box office area is indeed the Pantages. Check if you like. You are correct in saying that the actual show they saw that night was filmed at the St. James.

[BialyBloomInc02]

Posted: 10/25/04 at 9:50pm

RadioTV2,

No arguments here!

Quote:
"All filming, **with the exception of the Pantages Exterior shots in the first episode** was done in NYC at the St. James Theatre."

I believe you might have misunderstood what I had said.

Cheers-
BBi02 Updated On: 10/25/04 at 09:50 PM

[Speed]

Posted: 10/26/04 at 2:28am

The David and Larry PRODUCERS scenes were shot in New York at the St James, not LA. Most of the episode was shot in New York last July.