So I saw the Producers last night.. — Page 2

I just got back from "The Producers". My experience was very much comparable to Danielm's. There were probably 75-100 people there (in a fairly large theatre) and none left. I commented to someone before going to the show that I was sure I was going to miss the audience reactions to the jokes and the songs. I didn't - because they were there. The audience was laughing out loud and applauding all through the show. Overall, I loved it and can't wait for the DVD. I get the VERY strong impression by a lot of posters here that they're a little miffed that RENT is no longer playing in any of the theatres and that "THE PRODUCERS" has taken it's place. Well, get over it. I have nothing against RENT, the play, but RENT the movie just wasn't good.

Some PRODUCERS pros and cons:

- "I Wanna Be a Producer" was incredible. I started to get a little concerned when a few too many showgirls showed up, but it all worked together beautifully. Great production, Stro!

- "Keep it Gay" and "Along Came Bialy" were a little bit of a disappointment. They both felt a little deflated when compared with the stage show.

- "Springtime For Hitler" was another home run. I LOVED it! Apparently everybody else in the theatre did too. Lots of laughter all through it (thank you Gary B.!) and a big applause at the end. The only negative for me was John Barrowman instead of Eric Gunhus. His voice isn't half as good and whoever decided to make this change should be fined.

- "That Face",..... I just had a hard time getting used to Matthew's singing to the camera. I understand why they did it - I just don't care for it.

- "Betrayed" - BRILLIANT! Numbers like that make me think that Nathan Lane can do no wrong.

- Will Farrell was good but when he sang, he made me miss Brad Oscar. I wanted that cab driver to come back!

- Uma T. - was a major disappointment. I wanted Cady back so much. Or anybody who could sing and dance. Uma couldn't.

It was great seeing so many familiar faces. I got excited when Karen Ziemba showed up and I wish I were faster at recognizing others. Like I said, I can't wait for the DVD!

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The only thing I was thinking when I left the movie theatre is why didn't they just film the musical on stage? It was exactly the same!

Updated On: 12/29/05 at 06:18 PM

Just came from seeing it for the second time this week. Still love it. Still laughed. And the audience, again, was completely into it, laughing, applauding, and staying till the very end.

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I don't think THE PRODUCERS is lame, it's suppose to be over top top and wild. Now, RENT that had some incredibly lame moments. People laughed many times when they shouldn't have during RENT.

When I saw TP no one left! The audience was roaring with laugther. It does make a huge difference.

THE PRODUCERS is done in the style of the classic movie musicals, and pays much homage to great musicals and stage talents of the old days - the same can't be said about RENT.

Anyway, PRODUCERS received 4 Major Golden Globe Nominations. The same can't be said about RENT. Many consider RENT to be a travesty, and is making some "worst of 05 lists." I'm not saying RENT deserved all the blacklash etc. The truth is Columbus isn't considered a great director and isn' well respected.

It can't be helped if The Producers movie is showing in some theatres in neighborhoods where most of the people have no taste or sophistication. Then I suppose you could see some people walking out. As for me, I've now seen the film twice, the theatres have been full, no one walked out, and people applauded after various scenes and during the credits. The movie is joyous.

I'm curious to know where everyone has seen the film with a packed theater. It seems that the "premium price" of $12.50 at the Ziegfeld in NYC has been a MAJOR miscalculation on Universals part. Someone on another board noted:

"For a 7:00 show, the house was no more than 15% full. Given the discussion on this board only this morning about every theater in NYC being SRO, I was quite surprised to see the vast expanse of the Ziegfeld sitting nearly empty.

When exiting the theater, there were about 25 people milling about in the lobby and no line whatsoever outside. Midtown was packed with people but they weren't having anything to do with this film.

I once read that the road show release of The Sound of Music lasted 57 months before the film went into general distribution. Times have changed."

I'm hoping that the film scores big in smaller markets with audiences who have never seen the stage show...but frankly, I'm not optomistic.

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"I'm curious to know where everyone has seen the film with a packed theater."

I saw it twice--two different theaters, both in CT. Once was a matinee and once was an evening show (8 pm). Both times full, LOTS of applause, laughter and FUN!!

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"I'm curious to know where everyone has seen the film with a packed theater."

Twice in a little town in FL. Yeah, it was packed...and people loved it! I am so proud of my little town, they are coming along quite nicely! Haha.

"I'm curious to know where everyone has seen the film with a packed theater."

Northern Virginia - just outside Washington, DC.
(It's a big country out there. It goes WAY out beyond NYC!)

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I thought it was okay, but it was quite boring at some parts. A lot of the excitement of live theatre should have been taken into account. Its a movie! I feel sort of empty since I saw the movie before the show. I have a feeling whoever sees this movie before the show will be very disappointed. At least the Rent moviegoers who hadn't seen the show became fans and wanted to see the show. I'm pretty dissatisfied with The Producers movie.

I saw this movie on both christmas and 12/28, and I LOVED it both times. I cracked up so much during the film, and I think I was the only one who laughed when they formed the swastika at the end of Springtime. The Producers is like my favorite film now, and I just can't wait for the dvd.
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"Money back....Money Back....Money back, don't say that again!"
-The Producers

"It seems alot of people are making the point. The audience love it and cheered."

I think the reason many of us are making that point is in response to other posters who say they saw the film in half empty venues, or that people were walking out where they saw it. That clearly has not been everyone's experience, nor is it even the experience of the majority of people here.

Anyway, you're right that a film shouldn't depend on a full theatre to make it enjoyable, but that doesn't seem to be the point most of us are trying to make.

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