Reviewed by Les Spindle
Mel Brooks' 2001 tuner, based on his 1968 cult-film classic of the same name, earned a record 12 Tonys and proved there's still an audience for the old-fashioned musical frivolity that flourished during Broadway's golden age. Credit for this four-star crowd-pleaser goes to director Steven Glaudini and company, who bring renewed vitality to Brooks' irreverently goofy spoof.

The libretto by Brooks and Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray) is a faithful yet imaginative adaptation of Brooks' screenplay, a burlesque-styled sendup that's an equal-opportunity offender, capped off with inspired jabs at the musical genre. Central to the success of this screamingly funny staging are the bravura lead performances of Michael Kostroff as conniving impresario Max Bialystock and Larry Raben as his neurotic accomplice, Leo Bloom. This dynamic duo shares a chemistry that deftly sidesteps overkill, generating ribald humor at every turn. These expert farceurs know exactly how and when to rein in the lunacy, anchoring the shenanigans with flashes of recognizable humanity.

The excellence of the group effort never falters. Statuesque Sarah Cornell is a smorgasbord of delights as the sexually aggressive Swedish pastry Ulla; her singing and dancing prowess equal her comedic talents. David Engel is explosively amusing as fey director Roger DeBris, whether strutting around in full drag regalia or relishing his show-within-a-show turn as Adolf Hitler by way of Ethel Merman. Michael Paternostro as DeBris' flaming "assistant" Carmen Ghia parlays politically incorrect gay humor into unabashed hilarity. As deranged Franz Liebkind, Nick Santa Maria is the funniest warbling Nazi ever to prance across a stage. And how can one forget the chorus line of walker-equipped octogenarians, led by the sublime Tracy Lore as the horny Hold Me-Touch Me?

Design elements -- some rented, some locally rendered—are Broadway caliber. Daniel Thomas' music direction is boffo, and Matthew J. Vargo offers exhilarating re-creations of Susan Stroman's choreography. It's springtime in February for Musical Theatre West, substantially raising its achievement bar with this fabulous production.