Published: 20 April, 2009, 17:20
Edited: 20 April, 2009, 17:20
A musical due to be shown in Berlin featuring dancing stormtroopers and a singing Fuhrer has sparked controversy in Germany, with some saying that Hitler and the Nazis are no laughing matter.
Germany's Nazi past is returning to the country, but this time on stage. With tap-dancing stormtroopers and a camp Hitler singing ‘Heil Myself’, Mel Brooks’ comic musical ‘The Producers’ has raised laughs and eyebrows across the world.
The musical The Producers tells the story of two men who, through finding a loophole in accountancy, can potentially run off with huge amounts of money if they stage an overpriced production that bombs on the opening night. Unfortunately for the two organizers, their ‘Springtime for Hitler’ musical becomes a huge success, rather than the sure-fire flop they had hoped for.
Soon The Producers will get its toughest test. In less than a month the show will open in the German capital Berlin for the first time.
Some critics say the city’s historic Admiralspalast Theatre is taking a risk by staging this production in the former capital of the Third Reich. The management, however, think it’s high time Germany staged The Producers, which opened on Broadway eight years ago. With striking posters and banners dotted around the city, the upcoming production is already grabbing people’s attention.
Lone Bech, PR Manager of Admiralspalast said: “The police was here last week because people have been complaining because of the similarity to the Nazi banners.” However, the matter was soon settled since they were not doing anything illegal.
It is especially poignant that it will be shown in the Admiralspalast Theatre, as Hitler himself was once an audience member – sitting in his legendary Fuhrer’s box. It’s now been removed but it once dominated the auditorium.
Germany’s Nazi past continues to be a sensitive issue in Berlin and showing the swastika in public or denying the Holocaust is against the law. The show will feature the swastika on stage, but in the publicity campaign Pretzels were used as the Nazi symbol on the streets.
Opinion on the streets of Berlin is divided:
“I think it’s really good to laugh at the past because if it’s all taken too seriously, then there will always be some force in the way. There are neo-Nazis in some places in Germany at the moment and they take the past too seriously, and then use it to gain superiority,” one Berliner said.
Another local added: “In the last hundred years, Germans have had to deal with a lot of anxiety over their history. There are a few exceptions but most don’t make jokes about it, it’s very difficult.”
Vienna staged the musical in the German language for the first time and after a modest success the same company is now coming to Berlin. Advance sales have been slow, but the theatre is hopeful that with the growing interest, the shows planned run of two months will be extended.
The true test will come on opening night – will life mirror art when the 1,750-strong Berlin audience is serenaded by stormtroopers singing ‘Watch out Europe we’re going on tour’?