GRANTED THAT The Producers is an old dirty joke, Mel Brooks' Tony Award–winning comedy still manages to have the chutzpah and bite to be funny more than 40 years after it was first put on the silver screen. This is fortunate for Foothill Music Theatre's production of the campy tale of theatrical embezzlement, because satirizing the Third Reich and Broadway hypocrisy could become rather shrill and grating if not handled with the right degree of high spirits and winking naughtiness to keep it fun. The production, now at the Smithwick Theatre in Los Altos Hills, is taken scene by scene from Brooks' Broadway musical adaptation, which carted off a dozen Tonys in 2001, based on Brook's nonmusical 1968 film of the same title.

In the role made classic by the ample Zero Mostel and Nathan Lane, Gary DeMattei is greasy enough in demeanor if not in girth as Max Bialystock. Even with pants obviously stuffed around the waist to denote a nonexistent spare tire on the fit actor, DeMattei is irrepressible in the role of the seedy theatrical producer who decides to turn a sure-fire flop into an embezzlement cash cow he can run away to Rio with. (San Jose native DeMattei is also a co-founder and producing director of Theatre on San Pedro Square in downtown San Jose.)

Tim Reynolds plays Max's bashful and mousey accountant turned co-producer Leo Bloom. Reynolds' performance is taken right out of the book of Matthew Broderick, but his voice and appearance are eerily similar to Steve Carell of The Office fame. Though not the best singer, neither is his character, so Reynolds could get away with a few cracks and weak warbles on opening night. Plus The Producers is inherently one of those forgiving shows where the actors can cover up any mistake with a witty backhanded remark. Other notable performances include Brittany Ogle breaking out all the charms as the undulating Swedish eye candy/secretary Ulla, and Ray Joseph, who steals every scene he's in as Roger DeBris, the hack director who insists on "keeping it gay."

The final re-creation of '40s-era musical numbers in the vein of Der Führer was surprisingly lavish, with feather- and sequin-clad Ziegfeld-esque girls descending stairs in impressive sausage and pretzel headdresses. The chorus lines of hotsy-totsy Nazis were practiced if not perfectly in sync but should still receive kudos for attempting the complicated dance numbers of the Broadway play on Smithwick's small stage. (How often do actors have to dance in perfect swastika formation, anyway?) As always, The Producers proves that bad taste can be hilarious. With an enthusiastic cast, this crowd pleaser will keep the laughs coming and the songs stuck in your head long after the curtain falls, even if the audience already knows what jokes are next.

THE PRODUCERS, a Foothill Music Theatre production, plays Thursday–Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm through Aug. 16 at the Smithwick Theatre, Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills. Tickets are $16–$26. (650.949.7360)

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