I saw The Producers with my children yesterday at the beautiful Auditorium Theatre in downtown Chicago.

Wow, what a great production! It really highlights the problems with the Toronto show, which suffered from very weak leads in the roles of Max Bialystock (Sean Cullen) and Leo Bloom (Michael Therriault). What were the Mirvishes thinking?

This touring company BLEW AWAY the Toronto production.

Bob Amaral (Max Bialystock), Andy Taylor (Leo Bloom), and Ida Leigh Curtis (Ulla) all brought sparkling energy and real polish to their roles. Ida was especially strong as the curvaceous Ulla (wow, what a rack)...sexy, but not perfect. I think that to play Ulla properly, Ulla has to act like she's better looking than she really is...lots of the right parts, but not Barbie perfect. It's what creates the essential vulnerability of the role.

The cast seemed like they were really having fun, and they fed off good energy from the audience. The set pieces seemed almost identical to the Toronto sit-down, which surprised me since this show only ran in Chicago from February 2 to 20.

As a side note, the Auditorium Theatre is spectacular. I don't think I've ever been in such a beautiful theatre. It would be a perfect venue for Plane Crazy...