To ensure that the play is a total failure, Max selects an incredibly tasteless script (which he describes as "practically a love letter to Adolf Hitler"), and hires the worst director he can find (Roger DeBris), a stereotypical homosexual and transvestite caricature.
Accompanied by dancing stormtroopers, who at one point form a Busby Berkeley–style swastika,[2] the play immediately horrifies everyone in the audience except the author, and one lone viewer who breaks into applause—only for the latter to get pummeled by other disgusted theatergoers.
The play gets rave reviews from critics who mistakenly assume it was a work of satire, ensuring its success, as well as the conviction of the producers, once the fraudulent financing is discovered.
The swastika choreography at the end is displayed to the audience via a large mirror that is raised, à la A Chorus Line.
In the musical version, Franz does not interrupt the play, but waits until after the performance to confront the producers, and then attempts to kill them under the accusation of making a fool out of Hitler ("He didn't need our help!").