Surrealism realized: Musical "The Producers" plays Berlin!

[John Kettler]

Not only is it playing Berlin, but it's appearing in a theater Hitler formerly attended. Because of the prohibition of public display of Nazi symbols, the outdoor ad banners feature bratwurst and pretzels as substitute graphic elements, but inside, the actors are wearing swastikas, SS runes, etc. This is considered legitimate by the authorities. Probably helps that the supremely satirical show was written by a Jewish comedic genius, Mel Brooks! That said, it's still hard to get my head around it. If you think I made this up, watch the BBC World News tonight.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Michael Emrys]

"It's springtime for Hitler and Germany..."

Michael

[Field Marshal Blücher]

Went past the theater last night. Saw the red, black, and white banners with pretzels instead of swastikas in the middle. Commented on it to my friend who had never heard of "The Producers" and didn't know what it was all about, which caused about a 15-minute discussion on why it was funny.

I love the show; I saw it in DC before I moved to Berlin. I hope it does well here.

[Redwolf]

So?

Not getting why this is so special.

[Bigduke6]

Not special?

(From the movie)

Springtime for Hitler -

Ven you got it, flaunt it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6tLv8pfehA&feature=related

I wanna be a producer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGyA_R0Hff4&feature=related

Betrayed!

[Dietrich]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6tLv8pfehA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGyA_R0Hff4&feature=related

Each link says "this video is not available in your country".

But since I've seen "The Producers", I do understand that the premiere of said show in Berlin is indeed a red-letter date.

Which theater is it being played in?

[Redwolf]

I've seen the producers.

What I wonder is why people think it's so special it's running in Germany.

[dieseltaylor]

I have seen the film and the musical - hugely enjoyable.

Redwolf your sensitivity to other nations possible embarrassments earmark you for a job under Dick Cheney To explain it to you will probably be nigh to impossible but it occurs to me if we set the musical :

showing the US invasion of the Phillipines with a knock-about farce where the natives are duped to beat up the Spanish and then sold out as the US and the Spanish sell the islands between themselves. Should go down a storm.

You could probably get the plot basics from here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine-American_War

This could be fun to work in sung to "General Otis regrets"

The most conclusive evidence that the enemy wounded were being killed, came from the official reports of Otis and his successor, General Arthur MacArthur, Jr., which claimed fifteen Filipinos killed for every one wounded. In the American Civil War, the ratio had been five wounded for every soldier killed, which is close to historical norm. Otis attempted to explain this anomaly by the superior marksmanship of rural southerners and westerners in the U.S. military, who had hunted all their lives. MacArthur added a racial twist, asserting that Anglo-Saxons do not succumb to wounds as easily as do men of “inferior races.”[86]