Among the many comic inspirations of Mel Brooks, one of the most enduring is the bromance between down-on-his luck theatrical producer Max Bialystock and his starstruck, gullible accountant Leo Bloom. Together, they hatch a scheme to find a surefire flop play, oversell stock in the production, then close the show quickly and pocket the excess investment money.
First seen in Brooks’ The Producers, his Oscar-winning 1968 movie, Bialystock and Bloom resurfaced in a Broadway musical version of the story in 2001, which walked off with an all-time record 12 Tony Awards. The stage show is now being produced by the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, beginning Jan. 10 for a three-week run.
Playing Max at the Maltz will be veteran New York stage actor Lenny Wolpe, who counts Bullets Over Broadway, Wicked and Mayor Ed Koch in the musical revue Mayor among his credits. So he sees his current role as a natural fit for him.
“There’s a real kind of New York sensibility to him, and I’m from the New York area, so I get what that is,” says Wolpe. “We’d go to the Catskills all the time, so that Borscht Belt world was part of my upbringing. I think I have an affinity for the rhythm of the dialogue.”
Max, who has had a string of costly flop shows lately, is “desperate, only because this is not where he thought his life and career was going to go. I think a lot of people can identify with that,” says Wolpe. “And then that glimmer of hope happens. I don’t think he looks at it as completely illegal or immoral, it’s just grasping at an opportunity and taking full advantage of it. It’s almost like a last chance for him, to redeem himself somehow financially.”
Sure, Max is a conniving crook, but that does not prevent Wolpe from empathizing with him. “I think if you don’t like your character, it’s very hard to play that person,” he says. “I find I really like him because he really is driven and goal-oriented and he does almost succeed. And, hey, it’s a farce.”
Mark Price was recently in The Producers at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse as director’s assistant Carmen Ghia. But he is excited to move up to the role of Leo Bloom at the Maltz, largely because of his admiration for the actor who played the nebbish accountant in the original movie.
“I’d always been a fan of Gene Wilder’s,” says Price. “I think the guy was a comic genius. Much like a lot of Mel Brooks’ comedic players, the thing that made him so genius is he was able to find the pathos and the humanity amid all that ridiculous zany comedy. He was such a gifted, gifted comedian. They’re certainly big shoes to fill, but I welcome the challenge.”
Like Wolpe, Price feels there is more to his character beneath the surface. “The thing that drew me to the role isn’t so much the nebbish quality of this guy, but it’s a hero’s journey. The everyday man being called to greatness,” he says. “That’s the thing that is really enticing for me. If you see him as just this nebbish guy, you’re missing the fun in this journey.”
By the same token, the show itself is a send-up of show business shenanigans, but also a political satire. For the script Max and Leo choose to produce is called Springtime for Hitler, which makes a mockery of Der Führer.
According to Price, the genesis of The Producers goes back to when Brooks was a G.I. in World War II. “He said he remembered being in the war and seeing all these atrocities,” says Price. “He made one promise to himself, if he ever got out of the war alive, he would spend the rest of his life humiliating this man. I think that’s a great definition of what art can do.”
Max Bialystock is one of the great comic roles of the past 25 years and one of the most grueling to play. “I’ve done a lot of major roles in plays, but Max is a very demanding role,” says Wolpe, who performed the part seven years ago at North Carolina’s Flat Rock Playhouse. “You’re rarely offstage and the two of them — Leo as well — really have to propel the story. It’s not a short piece and the songs keep coming at you.”
Notable is Max’s second act solo “Betrayed,” in which he recaps the entire show in double time. It has been described as both a tour de force and a potential heart attack. “Yes, that’s a perfect combination of what that song is,” agrees Wolpe. “If I do drop dead, you’ll know why.”
Asked what the looming challenges of playing Leo are, Price shoots back, “What doesn’t loom? You’ve got the physicality, you’ve got the stamina. The stakes are so high in every single scene. That’s why the show is like a freight train. There’s no letting up. You’ve got to jump on that freight train, because once it pulls out of the station, there’s no turning back.”
Having done the show previously and seen first-hand how much audiences enjoy The Producers, Wolpe is confident that Maltz theatergoers will be thoroughly entertained. “What better reason to go to the theater?” he asks. “You will laugh and just have the best time in the theater. There’s no way you can’t.”
THE PRODUCERS runs from Jan. 10 to Jan. 29 at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E. Indiantown Road, Jupiter. Tickets from $56 up. 561-575-2223 or visit jupitertheatre.org.