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Kevin Holbert as accountant Leo Bloom, Deirdre Lynch as Swedish bombshell Ulla and Greg Korin as former ‘King of Broadway’ Max Bialystock combine forces in Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre’s production of the Mel Brooks’ comedy ‘The Producers.’

Wanting so badly to fail, where did poor Max and Leo go right?
“We searched Broadway on and off for singers with a cough,” the characters sing.
“And to trip the light fantastic, we picked dancers who were spastic.”
That’s not all.
As the plot of “The Producers” unfolds, experienced producer Max Bialystock and his erstwhile accountant, Leo Bloom, seek out the worst script, the worst director, the worst everything to guarantee themselves a Broadway flop in hopes of pocketing the investors’ money and skipping town.
They probably couldn’t get much worse than a musical written by a Nazi sympathizer and titled “Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden.”
Unfortunately for Max and Leo’s scheme, audiences mistake the show for satire and keep coming back for more.
All this makes for great hilarity, said Dave Baloga, who is directing “The Producers” as the opening production of Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre’s 2010-2011 season.
The musical-within-a-musical is especially over the top, with cast members in ridiculous, mock-German get-ups.
“One girl comes out with a bratwurst on her head, and another has a big pretzel on her head,” Baloga said. “One girl is dressed up as the German eagle of the Third Reich.”
Roger, the man Max and Leo chose as “the worst possible director,” ends up filling in as just about the worst actor they could imagine when he steps into the role of Hitler and plays him with flamboyant style.
“It turns into a big diva number,” Baloga said.
“The Producers” debuted in a 1968 film version starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. In April 2001, the stage version opened at the St. James Theatre starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and tickets were extremely difficult to come by.
The production continued a six-year run, and, after Lane and Broderick departed, Baloga saw it twice. “It’s probably the best musical I’ve ever seen,” he said. “The show is so well written.”
To anyone who might be shocked or offended by the subject matter of the play-within-the-play, Baloga said, “There’s always that concern, but this comes from Mel Brooks, who is Jewish. What Max and Leo are trying to do is be not only bad but ‘offensive to every race, creed and religion.’ I’ve always thought of this show as Mel Brooks’ dig at Hitler.”
“The Producers” opens at 8 p.m. tomorrow at Little Theatre and continues through Sept. 19.

Also this weekend, Downtown Arts is offering “For the Love of Art,” a free celebration of dance set for 7 p.m. Saturday in the Downtown Arts Building on North Franklin Street.

The program includes performances by Jaime Verazin, Lauren Bilski, Raphael Cooper, the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, Jeanne Zano and the Without Walls Dance Co.
Among the many offerings, Without Walls will perform a modern-dance piece called “Equilibrio” as well as one of its repertory pieces, “Unsquare.”
Don’t expect the latter to be like square dancing.
“There’s no elbow linking,” dancer Bridget Giunta said with a laugh. “But there is some partnering in it. It’s a unique piece because dance is usually counted in eights, and this is counted in sevens.
“If you could cut us in half, we’d look very modern on top and very much tap dancing on the bottom.”
Cooper, who has been active as a teacher of ballroom dance in addition to teaching English at GAR High School in recent years, is returning to his roots for a ballet performance.
Actually, his contribution to the show is “ballet with a little jazz flavoring,” he said, explaining he’ll dance to a Ray Charles song called “Mess Around.”
Choreographer Gina Malsky has put together a diverse program, Cooper said. And, if you should feel inspired to sign up for lessons, Giunta added, Without Walls is “always looking for people who want to dance.”