The Producers (2005) Nathan Lane Max Bialystock Matthew Broderick Leo Bloom Uma Thurman Ulla Will Ferrell Franz Liebkind Gary Beach Roger DeBris Roger Bart Carmen Ghia Eileen Essell Hold Me-Touch Me Michael McKean Prison Trustee David Huddleston Judge Debra Monk Lick Me-Bite Me Andrea Martin Kiss Me-Feel Me Jon Lovitz Mr. Marks Directed by: Susan Stroman Produced by: Jonathan Sanger, Amy Herman, Leah Zappy It's a 1959, and Broadway is buzzing with some of the theater world's biggest names. Producer Max Bialystock, however, is no longer one of them. One day, mousy accountant Leo Bloom shows up at Bialystock's office to do his books and innocently remarks that a dishonest man could make more money producing a flop than a hit show. Immediately, a light bulb goes off in Bialystock's head, and he tries to persuade the reluctant Bloom to join him in his perfect plan to embezzle a fortune by producing a sure-fire Broadway misfire and then skip town with the cash. Deciding he's had enough, Bloom seizes the day and becomes Bialystock's partner in crime. Searching for the ultimate bad play, Max and Leo discover a musical entitled "Springtime for Hitler--A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva in Berchesgarten." They decide to pay the playwright, Franz Liebkind, a visit on his Greenwich Village rooftop. Before he will agree to let Bialystock and Bloom produce his play, however, the Nazi-loving Liebkind insists the two would-be producers join him in celebrating the Aryan way of life and forces them to pledge allegiance to Hitler. Bialystock and Bloom embark upon securing the most appropriately untalented director. Upon entering the piss-elegant apartment of Roger DeBris and his common-law assistant Carmen Ghia, the duo finds that DeBris and company are reluctant to take on such serious subject matter until the producers convince them that, in their hands, "Springtime For Hitler" could bring the director the respect and prestige (read: Tony) of which he's always dreamed. When blonde Swedish bombshell Ulla shows up at the office looking to audition, Bialystock and Bloom hire her on the spot for the chorus. Until rehearsals, the panting duo agree that she'll work as their secretary/receptionist. In order to raise the two million dollars needed to "fund" the play, Bialystock must pay a visit to his demanding benefactors, hundreds of sex-starved little old ladies across Manhattan. Meanwhile, the girl-shy Bloom becomes hopelessly smitten with Ulla and is surprised to find that the attraction is quite mutual. ============== A shady Broadway producer and his nerdy accountant concoct a scheme to over finance a huge flop and pocket the excess budget, but the show unexpectedly becomes a smash. ============== New York, 1959. Max Bialystock was once the king of Broadway, but now all his shows close on opening night. Things turn around when he's visited by the neurotic accountant Leo Bloom, who proposes a scheme tailor-made for producers who can only make flops: raise far more money than you need, then make sure the show is despised. No one will be interested in it, so you can pocket the surplus. To this end, they produce a musical called Springtime for Hitler written by escaped Nazi Franz Liebken. Then they get the insanely flamboyant Roger De Bris to direct. Finally, they hire as a lead actress the loopy Swedish bombshell Ulla (whose last name has over 15 syllables). As opening night draws near, what can go wrong? Well, there's no accounting for taste.