Wax Hitler Loses Its Head

(NEWSER) - The Broadway hit musical comedy The Producers finally opened in Berlin to boffo box office receipts—but not before in intense sales push to break through German reluctance to see an ersatz Hitler hamming it up on stage, reports the Los Angeles Times. "If you put it on most places, then it's a jolly musical about friendship and trust," said producer Falk Walter. "If you put it on in Berlin, Hitler is the dominant theme." More»

'The Producers' inspires uneasy laughs with its German debut

(NEWSER) - The Producers has goose-stepped its way onto a German stage 76 years after the springtime when Hitler took power, the New York Times reports. There were plenty of laughs—if sometimes uneasy ones—on opening night Sunday, but the Nazi-mocking musical and its swastika-laden ads prompted a fresh round of soul-searching in the press over Germany's past. More»

(NEWSER) - This could be awkward. Mel Brooks’ The Producers has been a smash around the world, but will the Hitler-mocking musical play in Germany? The Admiralspalast theater in Berlin—which the real Führer once frequented—is betting Germans are ready to laugh at the blood-soaked past, the Daily Mail reports. “If there’s anywhere in the world where it should be performed, it’s Berlin,” says the Admiralspalast’s director. More»

Network provides glimpse of megalomaniac's plans for world capital

(NEWSER) - Berlin has opened three vast tunnels under the city built as part of Adolf Hitler's vision of a grandiose Nazi capital, Reuters reports. The tunnels were to house a transit system beneath planned boulevards, squares, and huge buildings, including a Great Hall with room for 180,000 people. The Albert Speer-designed plans for the new capital—known as "Germania"—were halted by the outbreak of World War II. More»

Berlin police investigate a totaled truck for defects on the set of "Valkyrie"

(NEWSER) - Eleven extras were injured on the Berlin set of Tom Cruise's latest film, "Valkyrie," when the side of a truck—decked out to look like a Nazi military transport—blew open as it took a corner. One man was seriously injured in the crash. Local authorities reported "no findings to suggest anyone famous was involved," the BBC says. More»