- In the musical, Franz tells Bialystock and Bloom that Hitler's middle name was "Elizabeth", and that "the Fuhrer was descended from a long line of English queens." Later on we meet Roger DeBris, whose middle name is ALSO Elizabeth, and who is an English queen. Apparently, some of Hitler's distant relatives are into musical theater?
- Added bonus: Hitler was a horrible painter...and Roger is a horrible director. Artistic talent is not this family's strong suit, it seems.
- Depending on who you ask, Hitler was a mediocre painter. DeBris is a director who specializes in mediocre shows. The one thing they have in common? They're both done with extreme passion!
- Added bonus: Hitler was a horrible painter...and Roger is a horrible director. Artistic talent is not this family's strong suit, it seems.
- Roger DeBris is outrageously Camp Gay, with the tackiest sensibilities and most ridiculous mannerisms imaginable — but he isn't a bad director. He has a clear vision, works hard, he's never seen losing control of the rehearsal process, and he manages to create a visually arresting (seriously, check out that choreography!), critically adored Broadway smash out of the worst material that Bialystock and Bloom could find. Any veteran actor will tell you there are a few dozen worse things a director could be than a laughably flamboyant Bunny-Ears Lawyer (a Control Freak, The Ghost, or a Small Name, Big Ego Miles Gloriosus, to name but a few)— so, in effect, the producers' plan failed because they didn't hire "the worst director in New York".
- It becomes even more brilliant when you note that Roger DeBris is hired because he's known for doing romantic comedies without substance. They could have hired a no-talent hack but chose someone they considered wholly inappropriate for the material. What, instead, they got was a chance for Roger to prove himself by turning the hyper-serious play into a romantic comedy. One daring enough to get serious buzz. So they gave him a romantic comedy...with substance. Doh!
- Max didn't hire a bad director, he hired what he assumed was an unfit director. That's where he went right!
- Related to that, a few lines make it clear that, while he's clueless about a lot of things, Roger is not a Nazi sympathizer — he calls Franz a "Neo-Nazi nitwit" and says that Hitler "didn't need [his] help" to look foolish. Plus, being gay, he'd have just as much reason to despise Hitler as anyone. So, why'd he take on "Springtime"? He meant to do it as a parody the whole time. As stated above, he's not a bad director — before, he's just had nothing with any substance to work with. And if "Springtime" is anything to go off of, Roger is a genuinely talented comedic actor. Either Roger mistook it for a parody from the get-go, or realized that the scriptwriter was serious, but that it would only work as a parody. After all, he didn't know the goal was to get the show to fail — he'd assume that Max and Leo would want him to make a hit, so he'd make it as over-the-top and satirical as he could, because why on Earth would they want a genuine Neo-Nazi musical? He probably tried to find a "serious" actor for Hitler because he thought it'd be funnier that way. And, well, if a crazy ex-Nazi is sitting in the audition with you, would you admit your intention was to find someone that would make his beloved Fuhrer the butt of every joke?
- DeBris is also off-putting in person, alienating Leo moments after meeting him and spending more time preening and "punning" than in considering whether to do the play. Bialystock is expecting him to be a disaster because DeBris is so self-centered, and doesn't consider that DeBris might actually care about putting on a show.
- In the 2005 version, DeBris is shown to not only have a nice house but have an entire staff of collaborators living in his house at his beck and call. If he can afford to have these things than it stands to reason he might have some talent as a director.
- DeBris having a bad reputation might have something to do with him being openly gay. Pre-Stonewall Riots, gay people weren't exactly respected by mainstream society. Homophobia might play a role in Bialystock's contempt for his artistic abilities.
- It becomes even more brilliant when you note that Roger DeBris is hired because he's known for doing romantic comedies without substance. They could have hired a no-talent hack but chose someone they considered wholly inappropriate for the material. What, instead, they got was a chance for Roger to prove himself by turning the hyper-serious play into a romantic comedy. One daring enough to get serious buzz. So they gave him a romantic comedy...with substance. Doh!
- Franz's play is a celebration of Nazism...that is extraordinarily bad and can only be enjoyed if performed through a satirical lens. Nazism itself was an ideology that was terrible at creative endeavors. In Real Life, for all of his oratory skills, Hitler's artistic works were considered mediocre at best: he couldn't get into art school, his magnum opus is considered lousy in both morals and as a form of literature, and his big architectural plans for Berlin
are considered tacky and unfeasible. And aside from a few movies, most of the propaganda films produced by Nazi Germany were terrible. Franz being bad at art reflects the precedent set by his ideological masters. - Leo and Max's goal was to produce a gigantic flop, right? In the stage musical and 2005 film, Max tries to take advantage of the theater belief that saying "good luck" will cause disaster for the show. However, Springtime for Hitler is taken as a satirical masterpiece and becomes a sellout, meaning that bad luck did happen — to them.
- Why do the men, Leo in particular, suddenly become a lot more willing to take the Siegfried Oath after Franz claims Hitler's middle name was Elizabeth? Because, of course, Hitler's middle name wasn't Elizabeth — by swearing to never mock Adolf Elizabeth Hitler, they're technically promising to never mock a person that never existed, and are free to mock the actual Hitler as much as they want. Sort of like a Lying Finger Cross combined with Loophole Abuse. (Not that that makes a difference to Franz, of course.)
- Ulla is essentially running the same con as Max does with the old ladies. Like him, she uses her sexuality to appeal to the loneliness of someone lonely and many years her senior. This raises the question of whether she is genuinely The Ditz or merely Obfuscating Stupidity.
Fridge Horror
- Convicted criminals (and, well, prison wardens) are not the same as fawning and swooning old ladies. Not even the same as IRS. Chances are our protagonists of the original 1967 version won't live to see the end of their prison sentences (and that is irrespective of whether the show is successful or not).
