Following hot on the heels of its critically acclaimed production of Shakespeare in Love last month, Penarth Operatic & Dramatic Society (PODS) has announced its next production. PODS, which celebrates its Centenary this year, will be staging the musical version of The Producers at the Paget Rooms in May.

Based on the 1967 classic cult film of the same name by Mel Brooks, The Producers is a rip-roaring, great big whoopee cushion of a musical, packed full of brilliant songs including "When You Got It, Flaunt It", "Keep it Gay" and "Prisoners of Love" together with laugh-out-loud, in-your-face humour.

Fading Broadway producer, Max Bialystock is desperate to get to the top of his profession again and Leo Bloom, an accountant with dreams of someday becoming a theatre producer, discover that they could get richer by producing a floprather than a hit.

They start by finding the worst show, worst director, and worst actors in order to stage a mega-flop and escape to Rio with their investor's money. When their new production, the gloriously offensive "Springtime for Hitler," turns out to be a smash-hit success, their plan is thrown off course and their lives into chaos.

They finally go to prison for their misdeeds, but at the heart of this insanely funny adventure is a poignant, emotional journey of two very different men who, through it all, become friends.

The original Broadway production of The Producers, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, opened in 2001, winning a record twelve Tony Awards and wowing capacity crowds night after night for six years. The show opened at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London's West End in 2004 where it won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. In 2005, a film version of the musical saw Uma Thurman starring alongside Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.

PODS production of The Producers is being directed by Fiona Porter-Smith who earlier this year won the Glamorgan Drama League's "Glammie" award for Best Director of a Musical for PODS 2023 production of Chess which has also been nominated for Best Musical by the National Operatic and Dramatic Association.

"When PODS approached me about directing The Producers as the main musical for its Centenary year, I jumped at the chance" said Fona. "It's such a great show and we have an amazingly talented cast and production team. Everyone is having the best time during rehearsals. The songs are brilliant, it's hilariously funny and I know that everyone who comes to see the show is going to absolutely love it."

PODS has been providing first-class entertainment for the local community since 1924 and during its incredible 100-year history it has staged many hundreds of musicals, plays, pantomimes and concerts.

In addition to The Producers, which will be on at the Paget Rooms from 15th to 18th May, PODS has a whole programme of productions and events lined up to mark its Centenary year. These include the Alan Parker musical Bugsy Malone which is being performed by PODS youth group, an open air theatre production of Under Milk Wood, a concert celebrating 100 years of the musicals that PODS has performed, an interactive exhibition charting the history of the society, the play Steel Magnolias and a brand new production of the pantomime Sleeping Beauty which has been devised and written especially for PODS.

Tickets for all PODS productions can be booked at www.ticketsource.co.uk/pods and further information is available from the PODS website – www.podspenarth.org