It’s Win Time for ‘Producers’

Goodbye, “Dolly.”

“The Producers” tore through the Tony Awards on Sunday, winning 12 out of 21 of Broadway’s top honors, topping the previous record of 10 Tonys for a single production set by “Hello, Dolly!” in 1964.

The ceremony at Radio City Music Hall in New York was a singular triumph for Mel Brooks, the writer and director who established his career in the early days of television in New York and then moved to Hollywood to make movies, including the original screen version of “The Producers” in 1968, which, he told the Tony crowd, was his first screenplay.

Brooks, who will turn 75 next month, personally won or shared three of the evening’s Tonys, as one of the show’s producers, its co-writer and composer. The show won in every category for which it was nominated; three of its nominated actors did not win because they lost to fellow cast members in their own show.

In production categories for which “The Producers” was not eligible, David Auburn’s “Proof”--which earlier this year won the Pulitzer Prize for drama--was named best play; “42nd Street” won best revival of a musical; and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” took the award for best revival of a play.

Other than “The Producers,” the only multiple winners of the evening were “Proof,” with three awards, and “The Invention of Love” and “42nd Street,” with two each. Several shows with multiple nominations were shut out, including “The Full Monty”--the season’s early favorite--”Follies,” “Jane Eyre” and “A Class Act.”

But “The Producers” was the talk of the town. The musical is a Broadway tale through and through, depicting the backstage shenanigans of a pair of scheming producers who hope their Broadway musical about Hitler will be the biggest flop of all time, allowing them to quickly abscond with their investors’ money.

“Heil, Mel!” exclaimed Gary Beach, picking up on the theme of the Nazi spoof as he accepted the award for best featured actor in a musical for his role as director Roger De Bris in “The Producers.”

Brooks also referred to the Hitler theme, briefly donning a Fuhrer-like mustache as he accepted the award for best musical and thanking Hitler “for being such a funny guy onstage.” He went on to call the more than a dozen producers of “The Producers” and other personnel from the “Producers” team, who had lined up behind him onstage, “an avalanche of Jews.”

“It would be foolish to try to thank them all,” he said, then looked at them and said, “You should have worn signs.”

Earlier in the evening, while accepting the award for best book of a musical, Brooks said, “I’m going to have to do the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life--act humble.” He recognized his co-writer and fellow winner Thomas Meehan and noted, “I could have done it without him, but it would have been half as good.”

After “The Producers” won the first seven awards without interruption, an award finally was presented for which the mega-musical wasn’t eligible--best director of a play. The winner, Daniel Sullivan (“Proof”), began his remarks by saying, “There must be some mistake. I had nothing to do with ‘The Producers.’ ”

Accepting the award for best score, Brooks acknowledged his fellow nominees and said, “In any other year, you would have won. But this is a phenomenon, forgive me for that.” He also thanked Stephen Sondheim “for not writing a show this year.”

After the ceremony, in a backstage interview, Brooks said he is “toying with the notion” of converting “Young Frankenstein”--another of his movies--into his next stage musical.

The celebration of “The Producers” began even before the show started, in the writing of the comedy dialogue that opened the second hour of the show, featuring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, the co-hosts of the ceremony and the stars of “The Producers.” Broderick joked that “The Producers” is “ ‘The Sopranos’ of musical comedy. . . . I could have people killed.”

Lane and Broderick competed against each other for best actor in a musical. Lane won for his role as Max Bialystock, but he brought Broderick to the microphone with him to accept the award, saying, “I can only accept this on behalf of the two of us. . . . Without him, I’m nothing.” He also said he wanted to share the award with the late Zero Mostel, who played Lane’s role in the original movie version of “The Producers.”

In backstage comments after the show, Lane added, “It’s wonderful to have made history.”

Mary-Louise Parker, named best actress in a play for “Proof,” was asked who might succeed her when she leaves the cast. “I hope it closes the second I leave,” she joked.

Richard Easton, a veteran of many productions at San Diego’s Globe Theatres, was named best actor in a play for “The Invention of Love,” staged by Globe artistic director Jack O’Brien.

The Tony Awards are sponsored by the League of American Theatres and Producers and the American Theatre Wing. Voters include 705 members of the theatrical profession and journalists.

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Times theater writer Shirley reported from Los Angeles and correspondent Pacheco reported from New York.