Entertainment

Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009

'The Producers' coming to Clark Center in Arroyo Grande

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Ryan Cordero remembers sitting in the back row of the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, watching a touring version of “The Producers” and thinking: “I will do this one day.”

“I really consider this show to be what launched me into to thinking, ‘This is what I want to do,’ ” said Cordero, a 23-year-old director. “Jason Alexander and Martin Short are two hysterical comedians, and the show is one of the most amazing things I’d ever seen.”

Last summer, Cordero launched his ambitious Sorcerer Productions with “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” which played to good-size crowds at the Clark Center in Arroyo Grande.

When he learned the rights had become available for “The Producers,” there was no question what his follow-up project would be.

“I have a real appreciation for Mel Brooks and his style and his humor,” Cordero said.

“The Producers” began as a 1968 movie written by Brooks, starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel. In 2001 it became a wildly successful Broadway musical with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.

In both the play and the movie, a washed-up producer named Max Bialystock and a CPA named Leo Bloom concoct a scheme to make a lot of money off an unsuccessful play. They find a bad script written by an ex-Nazi, hire a bad, flamboyant director and proceed to raise $2 million from little old ladies to fund the venture.

But then something unexpected happens: The play, “Springtime for Hitler,” winds up becoming a huge hit. And suddenly their scheme threatens to become an obvious scam.

Because much of the show draws on the interplay between the loud and dramatic Max and the mousy Leo, auditions for those two parts were cast first. Ultimately, Cordero and his audition panel liked the chemistry between Dana Shaheen and Jeff Salisbury.

“We had some great people audition,” Cordero said. “But what it boiled down to was: ‘How are you with taking risks and kind of going extreme with a few things? And also, how are you working together?’ ”

Once cast, Shaheen and Salisbury got together for what they called “bromance lunches,” where they ironed out their characters and their interactions with each other.

“Max and Leo are the ones that drive the action of the show,” Cordero said. “The chemistry between them has to be perfect — you can’t fake it.”

Shaheen, a physician’s assistant, has long been involved in local theater, having run Chameleon Productions with his wife, Jenny. But the director hasn’t appeared onstage in 15 years.

“I hadn’t gotten involved with acting because I hadn’t found anybody I wanted to work with,” he said.

He finally found that person in Cordero. But cajoling from his 12-year-old daughter also had something to do with his return.

“She’d never seen me onstage,” he said.

Salisbury, a civil engineering student at Cal Poly, was interested in the show after appearing in Cordero’s “Thoroughly Modern Millie” last year.

“There’s so much momentum behind Ryan and Sorcerer Productions,” he said.

Once again, Cordero is ambitious with his project. The production is using costumes from the latest tour of “The Producers.” Much of the choreography is exactly how Susan Stroman created it for the original Broadway show. And the performers will be backed by a six-piece band fronted by jazz musician Dave Becker.

“Renting the sets and paying for the live orchestra, this show costs us a small fortune,” Cordero said. “A lot of people look at us and say, ‘Are you dumb — in this economy?’ ”

To cover expenses, ticket prices are a little higher than usual for a local production. But Cordero said this is not a typical local production — it’s more like a touring show. Besides, he promises, the show will make audiences laugh.

“This isn’t Eugene O’Neill or Tennessee Williams — tragedies where you’re going to go home down on life,” said Cordero, noting that early ticket sales have been strong. “You’re going to walk out of that theater with a smile on your face, going, ‘I haven’t laughed that hard in years.’ ”

Despite the many rehearsals, the cast itself seems to have fun with the show.

“You can’t not want to be part of it,” Shaheen said.