Speaking of The Producers, do you want to hear my theory of how much that musical has in common with Hello, Dolly!?

Sure you do.

• They were both mega-hits in their time.
• They both benefited from a catastrophic event in the sense that audiences wanted something light and frivolous to take their minds off the recent event. In Dolly’s case it was the assassination of JFK, for The Producers it was 9/11.
• They both won a record number of Tony Awards. Dolly won 10 which was a record that was only broken when The Producers won 12.
• They both have plots that build up to a show-stopping number in the middle of the second act (“Hello, Dolly!” and “Springtime for Hitler” respectively) and everything that follows is pretty much anti-climactic.
• Hello, Dolly! starred Carol Channing who was a gay icon; The Producers featured Nathan Lane who is gay and an icon, which makes him also a gay icon.
• Jerry Herman wrote the music and lyrics for Hello, Dolly! Mel Brooks approached Jerry Herman to do the music and lyrics for The Producers, but Herman convinced Brooks to write them himself because, Herman said, Mel was just as good a songwriter as Jerry.

Have any more?

Be sure to tune in when I explain how Hello, Dolly! Is just like Sweeney Todd.