The Producers

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Was Newt Gingrich Trying to Fail, Producers-Style?

It sure looks like Gingrich was in this for the money, Steve Kornacki says

(Newser) - “We may be witnessing the political world’s answer to The Producers,” writes Steve Kornacki of Salon : “It’s called the Newt Gingrich presidential campaign.” For the uninitiated, Mel Brooks’ comedy is about a greedy showman who tries to make a musical that will flop—and...

Top Cultural Game-Changers
 Top Cultural Game-Changers 
decade in review

Top Cultural Game-Changers

What will we still be talking about next decade? Britney, for one

(Newser) - The ‘00s were full of important contributions to culture, but which ones will we still be talking about in another decade? Here are some of New York ’s picks:
  • TV: The Sopranos for inventing quality cable, American Idol for changing the music industry, and of course all things
...

Hitler Sells Again in Germany
 Hitler Sells Again in Germany 

Hitler Sells Again in Germany

(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...

'Funny Fuhrer' Finally Hits Berlin

'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...

Billy Elliot Grabs 15 Tony Nods

(Newser) - Musical Billy Elliot snagged 15 Tony nominations today, tying fellow movie adaptation The Producers for most ever. Main rival Next to Normal has a shot at 11 awards. Among plays, Mary Stuart and The Norman Conquests got seven nominations each, but neither got a Best Play nod, while God of ...

Nazi-Mocking Producers Coming to Berlin

(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....

Young Frank 's a Broadway Flub
Young Frank's a Broadway Flub

Young Frank's a Broadway Flub

Mel Brooks' Producers follow-up wears his jokes thin, critics say

(Newser) - Mel Brooks wowed 42nd Street with his musical debut The Producers, but follow-up Young Frankenstein fell flat at last night's opening, says Time's Richard Zoglin. Without Brooks' freshman hit, Young Frank might be “reasonably entertaining”; instead it demands comparison and ends up mere “shtick." Its brilliant film...

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