In 1968, a virtually unknown comedy writer named Mel Brooks wrote a film which caused a sensation. It was a farce about a Broadway Producer named Max Bialystock who has written a succession on failures. Most of the funding for these plays comes from little rich old ladies that Max romances to get the funding. When his accountant Leo Bloom arrives after his latest failure, he informs Max that his books don't add up. He explains that Max had raised $100,000, but the show cost only $98,000. Max asks Bloom to hide the $2,000 so he doesn't go to jail.
But Bloom, makes a simple observation that it is possible to make more money from a flop than from a success, since no one cares about a flop's losses. Max then proposes that Bloom join him in a scheme to find a sure-fire flop, raise a million dollars from little old ladies and keep the extra money. Leo reluctantly agrees and soon the two find the worst show, with the worst cast and the worst director. The show they choose, written by a helmeted ex-Nazi is called "Springtime for Hitler", a musical. The comedy was the first in major achievement in the career of Mel Brooks, whose films include "Blazing Saddles", Young Frankenstein", "High Anxiety" and a dozen more hits.
In 2001, Mel Brooks with co-writer Thomas Meehan adapted the film into a sensational Broadway Musical which ran for 2,502 performances over six years and won a record 14 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Original Score (Mel Brooks) and Best Actor in a Musical (Nathan Lane). Mathew Broderick who portrayed Leo Bloom was also nominated for that award.
Don't miss this final musical of 2014 at the Courtyard Theater.