Recording the Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks

"I love unions; they're the best thing to come along since pay toilets." Fans will be keeping it gay, indeed, along with host Mel Brooks in this entertaining behind-the-scenes recording of the cast album for Brooks' record-breaking 12 Tony Award-winning hit Broadway musical The Producers, starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. The story of a blowhard little league producer who teams up with an accountant to intentionally produce a flop and pocket the upfront money, the isn't-it-ironic twist is that the chosen property, Springtime for Hitler, turns out to be wildly successful. While the program contains no actual scenes from the stage show, fans will be thrilled with the performances of the 14 songs, presented here in sparkling Dolby Digital 5.1, including "Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop," "Keep It Gay," "When You Got It, Flaunt It," "Springtime for Hitler," "Where Did We Go Right?" and "'Til Him." While the songs are the real ticket here, the backstage kibitzing is fun as well, with the highlight being Broderick's dead-on impersonation of Marlon Brando. Sporting 11 minutes of bonus footage and a photo gallery, this is sure to be very popular, and is enthusiastically recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)