By Melissa Griegel. . .
I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s during the heyday of Mel Brooks’ famous movies, but I never really enjoyed his style of humor. I remember watching Blazing Saddles and wondering why everyone was laughing so hard. As an adult, I saw a stage production of The Producers, and once again, I wasn’t a fan. Well, I think I now need to revisit all of his films and see any revivals of his stage productions. 54 Below Celebrates Mel Brooks had me in stitches all evening, each song making me laugh harder than the last. There were some huge Mel Brooks fans in the audience that absolutely roared with laughter and applause, and I found myself, surprisingly, joining in. The very talented cast did the upmost to capture the feeling and humor of each song.
Mel Brooks, 96, has a career that spans seven decades and in 2001, he became an EGOT (Emmy. Grammy, Oscar, and Tony winner) after his Tony wins for The Producers Broadway production, which won 12 out of 15 nominations, including Best Musical. The show also won 11 out of 14 Drama Desk Awards and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. 54 Below has twice before had tribute evenings dedicated to Mel Brooks. With the upcoming release of Brooks’ Hulu series The History of the World, Part II, they decided to bring back this popular evening that always sells out. The January 23rd celebration featured music from the films The Producers (1967), The Twelve Chairs (1970), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), High Anxiety (1977), History of the World, Part I (1981), and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). Two of these films became Broadway shows: The Producers (2001-2007) and Young Frankenstein (2007-2009). Brooks also had a show called Mel Brooks on Broadway in 2019. A second film version of The Producers came out in 2005, this time as a musical film.
The star-studded cast included Jill Abramovitz (Beetlejuice, Fiddler on the Roof), Jim Borstelmann (The Producers, Young Frankenstein), Lindsay Nicole Chambers (Lysistrata Jones, Hairspray), Michael Kostroff (The Producers, Les Misérables), Michael Kushner (Moo with Me, The Dressing Room Project), Ryan Mac (Wicked, Anastasia), Stuart Marland (The Producers, Newsies), Alex Puette (Hadestown), Ben Rappaport (Fiddler on the Roof), T. Oliver Reed (Hadestown, Once on This Island), Jelani Remy (Ain’t Too Proud, Disney’s The Lion King), Kyle Seatliffe (Hamilton, The Color Purple), Ben Schrager (Indecent), Adam B. Shapiro (Fiddler on the Roof), Phil Sloves (Spongebob Squarepants), and Karen Ziemba (Contact, Prince of Broadway, Bullets Over Broadway). The show also featured backup singers Caroline Aimetti (Mourning the Living), Asia DeShields, and Jenn Maurer (Elf).
Host Michael Kostroff was the absolute star of the evening, turning me into a huge fan. He was the consummate host, filling us in on tidbits about Mel Brooks and his works and the background of the performers. Best of all was his humor. Kostroff was absolutely hysterical, whether it was his self-deprecating jokes about his career, his singing, or his intros of the guests. He really added to the show, filling in all of the blanks and bringing the Mel Brooks brand humor to light. Kostroff was the understudy for the character Max Bialystock in the first national touring company of The Producers.
Jelani Remy took to the stage first, singing “I Want to be a Producer” from The Producers and was accompanied by the trio of Aimetti, DeShields, and Maurer. Remy is full of charm, and the audience always takes to him. He followed the line “lunch at Sardi’s every day” with “or dinner here!”. After a rousing round of applause, Remy introduced Kostroff, who emceed the rest of the evening. Before moving on to the talented actors waiting to take the stage, Kostroff delighted us with “It’s Me” from Young Frankenstein. This was followed by Kyle Scatliffe decked in a cowboy hat and leather jacket belting out the titular song from Blazing Saddles. He told us to imagine him riding a horse while singing the song. Kostroff explained how Brooks loved to spoof genres of films and music and that this song sounds just like the old westerns. Brooks hired Frankie Laine (“Rawhide”) to sing the theme song for Blazing Saddles.
Lindsey Nicole Chambers began singing before she even reached the stage, summoning up her best Marlene Dietrich and dressed in lingerie, she wandered among the tables singing “I’m Tired” from Blazing Saddles. After a spot-on performance on the stage, slumping her body to accentuate the lyrics “Let’s face it, I’m tired!”, she continued the song while meandering towards the bar, martini in hand. It was absolutely delightful to watch the audience’s reactions as she passed by the tables.
The foursome of Ben Schrager, Adam B. Shapiro, Phil Sloves, and Michael Kushner continued the raucous humor dressed appropriately in green tights for “Men in Tights” from Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Shapiro stepped it up another notch, dressed as Maid Marian with green tights under his dress. Jim Borstelmann, who appeared in both Young Frankenstein and The Producers, sang “Haben Sie Gehört Das Duetsche” from the latter show, eliciting laughs from the audience. Kostroff introduced his friend Borstelmann as “a funny mother-f*cker” and a triple threat. Borstelmann shared with us his audition story for The Producers, his first encounter with Brooks at rehearsals, and his memories of Ann Bancroft and Cloris Leachman.
Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba once again had the 54 Below patrons in stitches when she came on the scene to sing “He Vas My Boyfriend” from Young Frankenstein. Accentuating the character’s traits in both her body language and voice, she had people cheering for her. Ben Rappaport, along with the trio of backup singers, followed with “The Inquisition” from The History of the World, Part I, in which he danced along to the music with the lovely women on stage. Because of the rhythms and beats in “The Inquisition”, Kostroff told the audience that Mel Brooks was a drummer and turned to Scott Still, the percussionist on stage, and said “Did you know that?” Not missing a beat of his own, Still deadpanned, “Yes. I was at the first show.” (I saw the 9:30 show that evening. There was also a 7 pm show that night.)
The delightful Jill Abramovitz, clad in shorts, brought out her most anxious self for a fabulous and funny “High Anxiety” from High Anxiety. She even got down to lay on the stage in a fit of demonstrative anxiety and ad-libbed some of her own lines. She lauded Ben Rappaports’ performance and questioned “Does he even remember we worked together? Ben—it’s Jill Abromovitz! We did Fiddler together!”
One of my favorite parts of the evening was when Hadestown actors Alex Puette and T. Oliver Reid danced on to the stage with canes and performed “Puttin’ on the Ritz” from Young Frankenstein. Reid was suave and Puette brought out gigantic laughs from the audience with his Frankenstein slow speech and hysterical facial expressions. They nailed the set-up perfectly and were both well-suited for their parts. The trio of back-up singers accompanied the pair.
After explaining how, unfortunately, we would not be able to hear “Betrayed” from The Producers because the song was too damn long, Kostroff broke out into the song after “mail call!” was heard from the audience and he was handed a postcard from Brazil. Having understudied the role of Max on tour, Kostroff brought out the best in the song and during the “intermission” portion of the song, he leaned on the piano conversing with pianist Ben Caplan, “So, I hear there is a $25 food and drink minimum here? And that’s not including the cover charge? For this???” This, of course, brought out roars of laughter from the 54 Below crowd, along with the humor he brought to the rest of the song.
Kostroff introduced the next song by saying, “No tribute to Mel Brooks would be complete without including a mention of who I think has given so much to all of us, and especially to Mel, Adolf Hitler!” This was, understandably, the prelude to “Springtime for Hitler” from The Producers. Ryan Mac sang the part of the Nazi tenor and was accompanied by Ben Schrager and Phil Sloves and the ensemble. The song ended with Stuart Marland dancing on stage as Hitler, replete with the mustache.
Kostroff ended with “Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst” from The Twelve Chairs, calling up the full cast for the ending. The show included six talented musicians: Music Director and pianist Ben Caplan, bassist Lloyd Kikoler, guitarist Jakob Reinhardt, percussionist Scott Still, along with Andrew Conover on trumpet and Josh Plotnes on saxophone, flute, and clarinet. If they bring this show back again, I highly recommend it, even if you are not a Mel Brooks fan. For more information on upcoming shows at 54 Below, visit www.54Below.com.
Photos by Melissa Griegel Photography
