When "The Producers" came out as a Mel Brooks film in 1968, it gave us the term "creative accounting."

Now that creative accounting (and banking) has slammed the country into a recession, we need to laugh even more than we did 40 years ago, and "The Producers" has come around again to tickle our funny bones. It's the new show at Ephrata Performing Arts Center, marking the first time in three years that EPAC artistic director Ed Fernandez has taken a starring role on his own stage.

It's nice to see Fernandez hasn't lost his comic chops over the years. He makes a perfect Max Bialystock, giving us a touch of the film's star, Zero Mostel. Fernandez and Nick Smith, as partners-in-crime Bialystock and Leo Bloom, almost make you forget Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, who made "The Producers" the hottest ticket on Broadway in 2001 (and starred in the 2005 movie).

Director Pat Kautter's ambitious take on this tale of producers who plan to make money with a show that's sure to tank (creative accounting) features a 35-member cast in over-the-top production numbers, and a 12-man band directed by J.P. Meyer.

Some of EPAC's regular star performers (Kevin Ditzler, Chris Cannon, Bobby Checchia, Kristie Ohlinger and Lakisha Welch) turn up in the dynamite ensemble, playing everything from theater ushers to street people. Others in the ensemble are recent high school or college graduates. All of them are good.

And did I mention that this production is BIG?

Deep-voiced Rich Repkoe portrays the playwright of "Springtime for Hitler," the show Bialystock and Bloom pick as their surefire flop. We meet him on his rooftop just outside his pigeon coop. The birds aren't real, but they move!

Then there's the rolling accountants' desks topped with showgirls in "I Wanna Be a Producer"; the show-stopping "Along Came Bialy" with a chorus line of "old ladies" and their walkers; and the hysterical title song from "Springtime for Hitler" with glamorous girls, clad as German food and Nazi symbols, coming down a long staircase as the masterful Irving Gonzalez sings and dances as the Fuehrer.

Also not to be missed are Mitchell L. Ernst as Gonzalez's too-gay-for-the-stage assistant and beautiful Diane Huber as Ulla Inga Hansen Bensen Yansen Tallen Hallen Swaden Swanson, the Nordic blonde bombshell Bloom falls hard for.

There are frequent scene changes to test the creativity of scenic designer Rebecca Pancoast. (She passes.)

The humor and language are both R-rated, but if you happen to be an adult, your funny bone just might be goosed by this goose-stepping extravaganza.

I actually laughed out loud. A lot. And that's unusual.

"The Producers" runs through July 25 at Ephrata Performing Arts Center, 320 Cocalico St., in Tom Grater Memorial Park. For tickets and showtimes, call 733-7966 or visit http://ephrataperformingartscenter.com.