Did "THE PRODUCERS" Deserve the Tony's?

[americanboy99]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 6:56pm

Now that THE PRODUCERS has left us, I would like to ask a question.

Do you think THE PRODUCERS deserves its record-breaking 12 Tony awards?

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 6:56pm

No.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 6:56pm

2001 Tony Award® Best Musical
Produced by Rocco Landesman, SFX Theatrical Group, The Frankel-Baruch-Viertel-Routh Group, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Rick Steiner, Robert F.X. Sillerman, Mel Brooks; Produced in association with James D. Stern, Douglas L. Meyer [winner]

2001 Tony Award® Best Book of a Musical
Book by Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan [winner]

2001 Tony Award® Best Original Score
Lyrics by Mel Brooks; Music by Mel Brooks [winner]

2001 Tony Award® Best Actor in a Musical
Nathan Lane [winner]
Matthew Broderick [nominee]

2001 Tony Award® Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Gary Beach [winner]
Roger Bart [nominee]
Brad Oscar [nominee]

2001 Tony Award® Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Cady Huffman [winner]

2001 Tony Award® Best Scenic Design
Scenic Design by Robin Wagner [winner]

2001 Tony Award® Best Costume Design
Costume Design by William Ivey Long [winner]

2001 Tony Award® Best Lighting Design
Lighting Design by Peter Kaczorowski [winner]

2001 Tony Award® Best Choreography
Susan Stroman [winner]

2001 Tony Award® Best Direction of a Musical
Susan Stroman [winner]

2001 Tony Award® Best Orchestrations
Doug Besterman [winner]

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:00pm

yes and no, it wasnt really up against much....

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:01pm

They deserved everything they won. The Producers, as anyone recalls, took Broadway by storm. Universally excellent reviews and ticket sales.

It was one of the few real magical evenings of theater I've had. The Producers was a real musical comedy, a love letter to New York and Broadway.
Updated On: 5/29/07 at 07:01 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:01pm

What should have won in it's place?

The Full Monty (no)
A Class Act (no)
Jane Eyre (no)

It won 12 Tonys because it was a weak year overall, not because it deserved 12 Tonys.

[gumbo2]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:01pm

It seems like The Full Monty should've won at least a couple of those awards.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:01pm

as much as i like the Producers... i really felt the Full Monty should have gotten at least something... it was a much better show IMO

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:02pm

I really wanted Kathleen Freeman to win for the Full Monty.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:03pm

Yes it did. Save for the featured actress catagory that should have belonged to the late Kathleen Freeman, although Cady was great.

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:07pm

yankeefan007-THANK YOU!!!! i was too embarressed to say i loved it, cos everyone else around here seems to hate it. it was also very magical for me, too. "springtime for hitler"-sigh.....

[americanboy99]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:07pm

I wouldn't say that it was a Tony worthy score. The show's best number wasn't even written for the show.

[alwy15]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:14pm

i'd say it didnt deserve best score (should have been any of the other three contenders --- i think fully monty, class act, and jane eyre all have lovely scores), and i think kathleen from full monty was so sadly beaten by huffman. because it was clearly one of her last roles and seemed like such a celebration of both older performers and her own career, i was very sad to see her lose.

[TapTapTapioca]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:17pm

Yes they did.

[clarkstallings]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:18pm

Yes, "The Producers" deserved every single one of its Tonys. I feel that it is a perfect musical comedy. I am never bored with any part of it. I can't say that for many musicals.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:18pm

Most but not all of them

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:30pm

I would liked to have see Kathleen win for The Full Monty and Jane Eyre win for Best Score, Best Lighting and Best Set Design. I think Eyre was far superior in those respects then The Producers.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:33pm

Although it was a weak year, I would've preferred for The Full Monty to win Musical, Score, Featured Actress, and Choreography. It wasn't that The Producers was undeserving, at the time everyone thought that it deserved every single award it got, and some of them it did. But there definitely some other shows that could've and should've gotten love.

[EdmundOG]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:34pm

Most of them.

Costume design should have gone to Rocky Horror, which reinvented iconic characters in an amazing way. Producers costumes were magnificent, but they were (for the most part) normal people. I'd give the edge to the freaks.

Lighting should have been The Full Monty, and supporting actress should have been Kathleen Freeman.

Score maybe should have been The Full Monty, but Producers was very good.

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:43pm

producers costumes normal??????? am i blind...did i really just read that?

[EdmundOG]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 7:57pm

I misspoke. What I meant to say was that in comparison to the Rocky Horror cast, Carmen Ghia and Franz Liebkind seem quite normal. Aside from which, the Producers' costumes were largely taken from the film.

[brad3]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 8:00pm

NO.
That show winning best musical was an embarrassment to mankind.
okay maybe not to mankind but to musical theatre.
Updated On: 5/29/07 at 08:00 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 8:01pm

I think Kathleen should have won. And also Andre de Shields should have won.
I also have never been impressed with the score, but none of the others have stuck with me either.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 8:03pm

The Producers was musical comedy at its finest - it harkened back to the days of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Learner and Loewe, etc. The critics and audiences loved this, especially in such a dreary year.

A Class Act? A jukebox musical. Jane Eyre? A gothic chamber musical. Both panned, by audiences and critics, alike. Full Monty? Too advanced. Pfft - a jazzy musical? Who ever heard of that?

The magic of The Producers was in the cast. Once Lane and Broderick left, you realized how weak the material was without people who could properly do perform it.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 8:10pm

it harkened back to the days of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Learner and Loewe, etc.

I do think Rodgers and Hammerstein and Learner and Loewe would be offended by that. and I think they would have had better taste then to include errection jokes in their musicals. Not to bash Brooks, but those guys were a little more on the classy side.