Show guide
The Producers
The Producers is a raucous Broadway comedy about two mismatched showmen who hatch a hilariously flawed scheme to get rich by staging a guaranteed flop.
- Broadway premiere
- 2001
- Music by
- Mel Brooks
- Genre
- Comedy
- Setting
- 1950s
The Producers: quick answers
What is The Producers about?
- The Producers follows washed-up Broadway producer Max Bialystock and timid accountant Leo Bloom, who plan to get rich by overselling shares in a guaranteed flop, the tasteless musical Springtime for Hitler, only for it to become a surprise hit.
When did The Producers open on Broadway?
- The Producers opened on Broadway on April 19, 2001, at the St. James Theatre, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and ran for 2,502 performances until April 22, 2007. It won a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards.
What kind of musical is The Producers?
- The Producers is a musical comedy with an original score by Mel Brooks, who wrote the music and lyrics, and a book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan. It adapts Brooks's own 1967 film, which was not a musical.
Where and when is The Producers set?
- The Producers is set in New York City in 1959, around Broadway and Max's office, with stops at Franz Liebkind's Greenwich Village rooftop and, finally, Sing Sing prison.
Has The Producers played in London's West End?
- The Producers opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on November 9, 2004, with Nathan Lane taking over as Max after Richard Dreyfuss was let go days before previews, and ran for 920 performances; it won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. A Patrick Marber revival transferred from the Menier Chocolate Factory to the Garrick Theatre in 2025.
Is there a The Producers movie?
- The musical adapts Mel Brooks's 1967 film with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, which won Brooks the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The musical was then filmed in 2005, directed by Susan Stroman, with Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, and Will Ferrell.
The story of The Producers
Set in the 1950s theatre world, the musical follows a washed-up Broadway producer and a timid accountant who realize they could make more money from a spectacular failure than from a hit, if they oversell shares in a show designed to close on opening night. Their solution is to produce the most tasteless, doomed-to-fail musical they can find.
Of course, their plan spins wildly out of control in classic farce fashion, and the show that follows is packed with outrageous characters, mistaken assumptions, and gleefully over-the-top theatrical satire aimed squarely at the business of Broadway itself.
The music and the makers
Mel Brooks wrote the music and lyrics, adapting his own beloved film comedy for the stage and bringing his signature brash, joke-driven sensibility to the songwriting. The numbers are built for laughs as much as melody, full of broad characterizations and comic timing translated into song form.
As a comedy, the score leans into pastiche, borrowing from old-school show-business styles, vaudeville energy, and big brassy production numbers to poke fun at the very traditions of musical theatre it is part of.
The Producers on Broadway
The Producers opened on Broadway in 2001 and was an immediate sensation, celebrated for reviving large-scale comedic musical theatre at a time when the genre leaned heavily toward drama and spectacle. It brought a irreverent, joke-a-minute energy that felt fresh even while drawing on classic Broadway comedy traditions.
Its success helped spark a wave of movie-to-musical adaptations in the years that followed, and it remains a touchstone example of how a beloved film comedy can be reimagined as an equally beloved stage show.
The Producers: frequently asked questions
When did The Producers open on Broadway?
The Producers opened on Broadway in 2001.
Who wrote the music for The Producers?
Mel Brooks wrote the music and lyrics, adapting his own film for the stage.
What is The Producers about?
It follows two Broadway producers who scheme to get rich by staging a musical designed to fail, only to watch their plan collapse in comic chaos.
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