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Comedy to the max

Staff ReporterWanneroo Times

The musical, adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks’ 1968 film of the same name, is based around McLennan’s character Max Bialystock, a Broadway producer whose most recent work flopped on opening night.

Plagued by his former success and trying to stay afloat, Max experiences a change in fortune when downtrodden accountant Leo Bloom discovers there is money to be made in his theatrical failure.

The two defeated businessmen form an unlikely union with the goal of creating the world’s worst musical.

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The duo enlists the help of a former Nazi Franz Liebkind, Ulla the blonde bombshell secretary (played by Duncraig’s Samantha Gaunt), and a flamboyant director Roger De Bris, and the team come up with Spring Time for Hitler for Broadway.

McLennan, a father of four, physical education teacher and coach, is lending time to his hobby to take the lead role in this production.

He has performed in many productions since his stage debut in 1992, including the role of Horton the elephant in Seussical, the Musical for which he won the 2006 Finley Award for best musical theatre performer, and Chauvelin in The Scarlett Pimpernel for which he won Wanneroo’s Best Actor Award, also in 2006.

McLennan said playing Max Bialystock was a role he had wanted to play since he saw the movie.

‘To be doing it with Playlovers brings back a lot of fantastic memories,’ he sad.

The original Broadway production of The Producers opened in 2001. Starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, it ran for 2502 performances and won a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards.