Mel Brooks’ iconic and hugely popular musical ‘The Producers’ makes its well-deserved transfer into the West End from The Menier Chocolate Factory and it’s an absolute riot from start to finish.

The audience of London’s Garrick Theatre is poised with excitement as the curtain rises on Patrick Marber’s naughty, raunchy and extremely camp revival of a show that really is hard to get wrong.

The production has naturally grown from the intimate surroundings of the Menier but the hard-hitting and joyfully offensive nature of the piece is still portrayed perfectly, gaining hysterical laughter from the crowd throughout.

Once-great producer ‘Max Bialystock’ (stellar casting of Andy Nyman) meets anxious accountant ‘Leo Bloom’ (Olivier award nominated Marc Antolin) who realises producing a flop may well be more lucrative than producing a hit. The unlikely pair then find the worst musical ever written and eventually produce ‘Springtime for Hitler’.

As expected, Nyman makes a brilliant Bialystock, commanding the stage with comic timing and the perfect amount of manic charm. Antolin is also a good Bloom but takes a little longer to win over his audience. They have tough acts to follow though with recent outstanding portrayals of the roles from Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick and of course Lee Evans living strong in people’s memories.

There’s also notable performances from Harry Morrison as the zany ‘Franz Liebkind’ and Joanna Woodward as Swedish wannabe actress ‘Ulla’, her rendition of ‘When You’ve Got It, Flaunt It’ a real showstopper. The ensemble are equally outstanding, ever changing into Paul Farnsworth’s eccentric costumes including a nude stone statue, latex-clad gimp suit and as many glittery swastikas as he can fit in. Lorin Latarro’s tight choreography is wonderfully apt and performed admirably.

It’s a truly over-the-top production, capturing the spirit of Mel Brooks’ original while injecting it with new life for a modern audience. Whether a longtime fan of the musical or luckily experiencing it for the first time, it’s an unmissable treat that’s hard to criticise at all. Bialystock and Bloom would be gutted producing this hit as it’s sheer tongue-in-cheek theatrical joy.

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