The Producers

The Producers a musical performed by Maghull Musical Theatre Company, on Thursday, 11th June 2026 at Southport Little Theatre, Hoghton Street, Southport.

This jaw‑aching, laugh‑a‑minute, irreverent and often downright barmy musical that opened in 2001, was adapted for the stage from the 1967 film of the same name. Written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, the narrative spins around Hitler, the Nazis, accounting fraud, the criminal justice system, jail, the sex lives of elderly ladies and several other taboo subjects, all aimed at causing maximum controversy!  The central figure, Max Bialystock, is an over‑the‑top, failing Broadway producer who raises money by seducing old ladies, giving them ‘pet names’ like ‘Hold Me Touch Me’ and ‘Lick Me Bite Me’. Set in 1959 New York, the once ‘King of Broadway’ is down on his luck because all his shows are closing on opening night. After yet another flop, Bialystock meets and teams up with timid accountant Leo Bloom in a get‑rich‑quick scheme… or at least, that’s what they thought
it would be!

Production Team...  OMG — what a challenge this must have been! Guiding us through this wonderfully bonkers musical were:  Alexandra Ashall (Director), Phoebe Hill (Assistant Director) Andrew Standeven (Musical Director); Sarah Fletcher (Choreographer)& Tom Avann (Assistant Choreographer). Every now and again a stage musical comes along that takes the theatre world by storm, and I think I’m right in suggesting that this was one of those musicals. It won’t appeal to everyone, but the production team
did a great job handling the controversial subjects and still gave us a fantastic night’s entertainment. The casting was spot‑on and everyone on stage looked well‑rehearsed and ready to give us their all. Andrew did what Andrew always does — providing beautiful musical interludes, accompanying rather than competing with the singers. Sarah and Tom gave us choreography that clearly challenged the cast. I loved, loved, loved the ‘Zimmer Frame’ dance — amazing — and the tap dancing was an unexpected treat, performed with real panache. Well done, folks. A challenging musical delivered extremely well.

The Cast ...
Colin Kilbride – ‘Max Bialystock’;  Matt Christiansen – ‘Leo Bloom’; Chris Rimmer – ‘Roger DeBris’; Dan Rankin – ‘Carmen Ghia’;  Kayleigh Ginley – ‘Ulla’;  Lee Ashall – ‘Franz Liebkind’; Alice McKillop – ‘Hold Me Touch Me’;  Natalie Olson – ‘Lick Me Bite Me’;  Cathryn Blane – ‘Kiss Me Feel Me’; Yasmin Cranny – ‘Suck Me F**k Me’; Alex McKillop – ‘Brian’; Stephen Corbett – ‘Kevin/Stormtrooper’ John King – ‘Scott’ & Issy Housley – ‘Shirley’
Showgirls: Phoebe Hill, Georgia Americas, Siobhan King, Kay Davies, Erin McGowan, Heather Gomersall
Usherettes: Yasmin Cranny, Hannah Charnock, Phoebe Hill, Ellie Simons
Female Ensemble: Leanne Cooney, Ingrid Cleverly, Elle Fletcher, Gaynor Hale, Hayley King, Laura Makin
Gents Ensemble: John Ball, Mat Ball, Bob Cleverly, Ian Culshaw, Paul Dutch, Colin Dryden, Eric Fletcher, Dan McWaters, Chris Taylor
Where do you start when every cast member had clearly given their all? Most will know this is where I ‘stick the old neck out’ and pick favourites… MY favourites! This is never easy, especially when you can see that everyone had given their all and worked ever so well as a team!
But I’m going to start with Colin Kilbride, as ‘Max Bialystock’, who really did lead from the front, supported brilliantly by Matt Christiansen and Chris Rimmer as ‘Leo Bloom’ and ‘Roger DeBris’ respectively. Colin was perfectly cast — confident, charismatic, and made a difficult role look effortless, accent, mannerisms, stage presence — a joy to watch!  Matt captured Leo beautifully — confident, assured and worked superbly with Colin, Kayleigh and the rest of the cast.  Chris… aka Roger DeBris, the ‘ostentatious gay director’ who, it’s said, ‘Couldn’t direct you to the bathroom’. Is there a role this man can’t play?  Honestly, I’m running out of superlatives and then, just an aside he throws in ‘tap dancing’! If Chris gets cast as Elsa in Frozen, I’m out of there — ahahaha! Kayleigh Ginley’s ‘Ulla’ was another highlight for me. She made this role her own! Loved the accent, loved the characterisation, loved the comedy, her interactions with Leo were superb.  Honestly, I could go on — so many great characters created — but I must give a loud shout‑out to Roger DeBris’s flamboyant production team: Carmen, Brian, Kevin, Scott and Shirley, played brilliantly by Dan, Alex, Stephen, John and Issy. Fabulous, hilarious, outrageous — all in the best possible way, and let’s not forget Lee as ‘Franz Liebkind’ and his flock of dancing pigeons… honestly, I was in tears! I really can’t finish without mentioning the ‘figure hugging, leotard wearing Eric and that statuette pose’ — what some people will do for a laugh!  Be proud, everyone — not a weak link in sight.

Stage & Tech.... set design was by Alexandra Ashall, MMTC Tech Team and Infinity Technical Services. 
Stage Crew: Ed McKillop, Brendan Gillow, Amelia Hayes, Holly Power Scenic Artist: Bob Jesamine Flyman: Colin Hayes Follow Spots: Corina Davies, & James Settle.
Lighting Design/Operation: Tom Schofield (Infinity) Sound: Matt Hughes. The set was minimal yet provided a relatively good background throughout with stage furniture, signage and cloths being added/used to produce different locations and to show different moods ... this enhanced the production whilst allowing scene changes to flow with ease. Sound was good throughout. Lighting was minimal with the follow spotters doing a good job. My only concern — echoed by several audience members — was the amount of haze used with such minimal lighting, it was excessive at times and slightly detracted from the overall enjoyment.

The Shubert Theatre Orchestra ... was led impressively by Andrew Standeven (Musical Director) with: Niamh Boland, Sarah Dutch, John Padfield, Mel Waddington, Michael Grant (Reeds) Adam Dutch (Bass) Cliff Ray, Miranda Woodward (Trumpet) JP Warder, Austin Ralphson (Trombone) David Wall (Keyboard) Sam Jones (Drums) Jess Holding (Violin) Owen Tyas (Percussion/Harp).  What is always notable when Andrew MD’s a production is the complete support he offers the actors, both soloists and chorus alike!   We had an incident, where a song, being sung by Colin aka Max, stopped but hadn’t finished!  The audience applauded loudly … Andrew and Colin, looked at each other, Andrew held the orchestra, waited for the applause to die down… had a short but meaningful conversation with Colin ... then carried on as though nothing had happened … professional or what on all parts!

Costumes were fabulous, of the era and enhanced the show ever so much. Hired from The Costume Shop with some provided by Maghull MTC themselves.  Props used were first rate, used extremely well under the watchful eyes of Ingrid Cleverly, Alexandra Ashall and the Cast. It’s not every day/every show that you need a ‘flock of pigeons’... but when you need them you obviously need an Ingrid Cleverly who not only made them but engineered them as well... congrats Ingrid... I loved those pigeons!

Final Thoughts ...  Wow!  Thank you so much Maghull for another wonderful night of theatre! Thanks for inviting my wife and I and thanks to Saz for her warm welcome and for looking after us throughout.  You really are setting the bar high for musicals in District 6 and encouraging other societies to follow suit — which can only be a good thing for everyone, except me, who is always considering awards ahahah!

Already looking forward to Frozen.

Stay safe, keep well.
Stronger Together

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW –
District 6 Rep

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