Diablo Review: The Producers

Diablo Light Opera Company brings Broadway to Walnut Creek with Musical Comedy The Producers through March 15.

I traveled to London in 2005 with tickets to see The Producers, the Mel Brooks musical about two producers whose dreams of Broadway embezzlement result in disastrously hilarious consequences. The show was amazing, as most London theater is, and I never thought I would see another production that came close—until seeing Diablo Light Opera Company’s version of it this past Saturday night.

DLOC’s performance of the The Producers marks the musical’s East Bay debut, and they welcome it in style. Everyone involved in this show deserved their standing ovation—from the principle cast to the chorus to the sequin-studded costumes, which were originally worn by the cast of the Las Vegas production.

While the script is intrinsically funny, director Ryan Weible adds new energy into the performance, drawing out existing comedy even more by using physical humor, comic timing, and awkward silences. Special applause also goes to orchestra conductor Mark Hanson as well as choreographer Jacob Brent, whose triumphant number involves nearly the entire cast, dressed as little old ladies and twirling walkers over their heads like a synchronized swim team.

The show left the audience in an uproar of laughter, and left me thinking, “look out London, Vegas, and Broadway—here comes Walnut Creek!”

Diablo Light Opera Company’s The Producers runs through March 15th at the Dean Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive in Walnut Creek. Tickets ($34–$43) can be purchased at dloc.org or by calling (925) 943-7469.

 

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