By D. A. Blackburn
How do you make the most raucous, riotously funny musical in recent memory an even more enjoyable evening of theater? Mount it outdoors, under the stars, and infuse it with a healthy dose of gay camp. This is precisely the approach being taken at St. Dunstan's Theatre Guild of Cranbrook, as it becomes the first Detroit-area theater to present "The Producers," May 29 through June 13.
"When it's a beautiful day in June and you're watching a fun play, and you're laughing, and you're outside, under the stars, there's just nothing like it," said co-director Jeff Davison.
Bringing the work to the stage of Cranbrook's outdoor Greek Theatre, however, has been a long and arduous task. The Guild had originally scheduled an indoor production of "Annie" for the May/June slot, but when the show also appeared on the season's bill at the Fisher Theatre, plans began to change. Production rights for Mel Brooks' award-winning "The Producers" became available around the same time the conflict became evident, and so the decision was made to switch shows. But debate about how to mount the work remained.
"We did, originally, have it planned for inside, but it was kind of split down the middle, like some wanted it in, some wanted it out, because what happens when it's outside, you do run the risk of losing a performance. But it's just too large to do it on our indoor stage," said Davison.
Eventually, the reality of being the area's first community theater to tackle the show, and a sense of responsibility to the production, prevailed.
"We just couldn't do it. I mean, unless someone had some real unique vision, and made it a lot smaller," said Davison. "But my personal opinion was if you're going to do it for the first time, you've got to do it pretty traditional. There are some shows that have been around a while that you can take and make a little edgier and alter it, but this one, I think, because we are the first, and it is sort of setting the bar, people expect more of the original version, which means big."
To pull it off in such an unusual setting (by "Producers" standards) the Guild enlisted the help of Monika Essen, a respected designer, capable of transforming the stage to meet the needs of the production.
"'The Producers' is very theatrical, it talks about theater, it's about theater, so I used every theatrical convention known to man," said Essen. "I've created my own proscenium with its own show curtain so that we could hide what's going on with three turntables and then also just bring in some of that theatrical flavor."
With the physical requirements well in hand, Davison and his partner/co-director Anthony Marsalese turned their attention to the cast and script, making detailed adjustments to accentuate the show's LGBT themes.
"We are really showcasing and making the gay scenes pretty funny. We've added little bits here and there that really work at that angle," said Davison. "I'm just making them (gay characters) really pretty big–bigger than life. We're just adding a little bit of gay humor into different areas of it. It's very funny."
There's little doubt that St. Dunstan's "Producers" will be one of the most unique productions of the season, and of this much-loved musical. But – weather permitting – there's also little doubt that it will be one of the funniest.
PREVIEW:
'The Producers'
St. Dunstan's Theatre Guild of Cranbrook in the outdoor Cranbrook Greek Theatre, 400 Lone Pine Rd., Bloomfield Hills. May 29-30, June 4-6 & 12-13. $20. 248-737-3587. http://www.stdunstanstheatre.com
