• Brooks, alongside his creative partner Tom Meehan, penned additional essays and illuminating notes for an expansive, illustrated tome on The Producers. This captivating work was unveiled by Roundtable Press in 2001.

• Simultaneously gracing Broadway’s stages was another musical marvel, Urinetown, crafted by the ingenious Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis. This sharp-edged satire weaves a tale of a dystopian future where a sinister corporation holds all restroom access hostage, charging a fee for nature’s call. The production’s electrifying score echoes the grandeur of musical theater’s storied past, rivaling even the tunes of The Producers.

Guides to Musical Production

• Numerous insightful guides delve into the intricacies of staging a musical masterpiece. Among them stands Matthew White’s contemporary treatise Staging a Musical (1999), a no-nonsense guide published by Theatre Arts Books, covering the essential groundwork with clarity and precision.

Broadway's Dynamic Evolution

• In the wake of The Producers, another vibrant contender emerged on Broadway—Hairspray (2002). This lively musical, inspired by a moderately successful film from 1988 directed by John Waters, boasts a book by the talented quartet: Mark O’Donnell, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittmann, and Thomas Meehan.

Mocking a Dictator

• Satirizing Adolf Hitler boasts a storied tradition, reaching back even to the zenith of his power when political cartoonists dared to lampoon him. Zbynek Zeman’s work Heckling Hitler, published by I. B. Tauris in 1987, offers a detailed exploration of this audacious form of critique.