The Schenectady Light Opera Company’s production of Mel Brooks’ musical comedy classic, “The Producers,” begins Friday night and runs for two weekends. Eric Shovah wishes it was a bit longer. Quite a bit longer, actually.
Shovah, a Heatly High graduate and a well-known face in the Capital Region theater community, plays Max Bialystock, who along with Leo Bloom, played by Brendan Brierley, try their best to put on a Broadway show that fails. The unique premise helped make the movie a huge success when it came out in 1968, and when Brooks adapted his film for the stage in 2001 it was an even bigger hit, winning 12 Tony Awards.
For Shovah, the opportunity to play Bialystock in “The Producers” is something he wasn’t about to pass up. Despite a busy teaching schedule at Heatly, which includes overseeing the re-creation of the school’s drama program, he said saying yes to playing his favorite character in his favorite musical was a no-brainer. He also played Max in a Spotlight Players production at Columbia High School eight years ago.
The SLOC production is being directed by Suzanne Rayome. Joining Shovah and Brierley on stage will be Marc Christopher as Franz Liebkind and Heather-Liz Copps as Ulla. Abby Todd is serving as choreographer and Adrienne Sherman is the music director.
A Green Island native who currently lives in Schenectady, Shovah has been so busy teaching and handling backstage duties lately he hasn’t been on stage himself for nearly four years. His most recent appearance came as John Wilkes Booth in “The Assassins,” by Class Act Productions in Troy in 2012. His SLOC resume includes “The Scarlet Pimpernel” (Citizen Chauvelin) in 2009 and “Hello Dolly!” (Cornelius) in 2007.
Q: Is “The Producers” your favorite show?
A: Yeah, actually it probably is. For me, this is a show I could do another 30 or 40 years. It’s a musical comedy romp the entire night. I’m just so thankful for Mel Brooks. Everything about the show is so well-crafted and the jokes are so well-written. It never gets old.
Q: How many versions of “The Producers” have you seen?
A: I’ve seen all of them. I saw the original movie with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, I saw the Broadway version after Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick had left the show, and then I thought they did a very good version with the movie with those two guys. It translated from the stage to the movie screen very well. I also feel like I play the same kind of roles as Zero Mostel and Nathan Lane. I loved to see their interpretations of the roles. I was also in “A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum,” which they did, and ‘Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” which Nathan Lane did. I guess I’m on track to play those kind of roles.”
Q: What was your first role?
A: I was a student of Suzanne Rayome’s at Heatly, and my first role was as Charlie Brown. That’s what really got me involved in the theater, and working with Suzanne again was one of the reasons why I wanted to do “The Producers” again. She was my teacher in high school and always someone that I admired. I always learned from her. She’s the perfect director. She has the eyes to pare things down, but she also gives actors the opportunity to explore the play and try new things.
Q: Are you playing older as Max Bialystock?
A: Except for when I played Charlie Brown, I think I have perpetually played the older character. I might be a little young for the part, but with a little bit of age and makeup, and just being aware of the age we’ll make it work. One of the things I love about the show is the physicality, and I’m still pretty nimble.
Reach Gazette reporter Bill Buell at 395-3190 or [email protected].
Categories: Entertainment
