Seriously? OMG! WTF?

Bialystock and Bloom are bidding farewell to Broadway. The Producers will play its final performance at the St. James Theatre on Sunday, April 22 after 33 preview and 2,502 regular performances. Mel Brooks' next musical, Young Frankenstein, will be the next tenant at the theater. "The last six years working on this show have been pure joy for me," Brooks said in a statement. "There is not a single person who has ever been involved with this production to whom I am not gratefully indebted to for their talent, devotion and support during the run of The Producers."

Broadway

There were rumors that Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were going to reprise their roles one last time, wonder if now that they announced the closing date they will announce that too? 

After a 13-year run, Beauty and the Beast will play its final performance on Broadway July 29. The closure will allow another Disney musical, The Little Mermaid, to make its home at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. When it closes, Beauty and the Beast will have played 46 previews and 5,464 regular performances. The musical opened at the Palace Theatre April 18, 1994, and transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne Nov. 11, 1999. In a statement, Disney Theatrical producer Thomas Schumacher said, "For many theatergoers, Beauty and the Beast has been their first introduction to the magic of Broadway musicals. That’s a wonderful legacy for all of us at Disney Theatrical Productions, and we’re so proud of the show’s record-breaking run on Broadway, throughout the country and around the world. Though the Broadway production is coming to a close, through our relationship with Music Theatre International (MTI), Beauty and the Beast will continue to live on in regional and high school productions around the world." Composer Alan Menken added, "Beauty and the Beast has meant so much to me, both in remembering the joy of creating the animated film and seeing how audiences have embraced it on Broadway for all of these years. I have had the pleasure of watching so many diverse and talented performers sing these roles in the past 13 years. While it saddens me to say goodbye to Beauty and the Beast, I am excited to watch The Little Mermaid take shape as a Broadway musical, and to be a part of its exciting journey to the stage." The Little Mermaid will play a pre-Broadway engagement at the Denver Center Attractions at Ellie Caulkins Opera House beginning July 26. The musical will arrive at the Lunt-Fontanne Nov. 3 with an official opening Dec. 6. For more information visit Walt Disney Theatricals on-line at www.disneyonbroadway.com.

Playbill 

Interestingly The Little Mermaid was the first recent animated Disney movie and then Beauty and the Beast and now The Little Mermaid replaces Beauty and the Beast on Broadway…kind of backwards, no?

Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks’ hotly-anticipated follow-up to The Producers, will arrive on Broadway in the fall, a casting notice confirms. The new musical will begin rehearsals in June and open out of town this summer prior to its Broadway bow. As with The Producers, music and lyrics are by Brooks, the book is by Brooks and Thomas Meehan, and Susan Stroman directs and choreographs. A recent workshop of the musical starred Kristin Chenoweth as Elizabeth (the role played by Madeline Kahn in the film), Brian D’Arcy James as Dr. Frankenstein (the Gene Wilder role), Sutton Foster as Inga (the Teri Garr role), Shuler Hensley as the Monster (the Peter Boyle role). Marc Kudisch was the police inspector who suspects Dr. Frankenstein, Roger Bart was the hunchback Igor (pronounced "EYE-gore") and Cloris Leachman recreated her own role as the horse-frightening Frau Blucher. The Equity chorus call for singers will be held Feb. 8 and 9, both days at 10 AM, at the Hilton Theatre at 214 West 43rd Street, Third Floor.

Playbill 

I can’t wait to see what Mel Brooks did to this to turn it into a musical! 

NO matter how many times they get out, it keeps dragging them back in. Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, the original – and the best – Leo and Max in "The Producers," have been asked to reprise their roles one last time before the show ends its seven-year run in June, The Post has learned. They haven’t accepted the offer yet, but production sources say the plan is for Broderick and Lane to rejoin "The Producers" at the St. James Theatre in May and send the show off with a bang on June 24. Mel Brooks, the creator of "The Producers," is planning to open his next musical, "Young Frankenstein," at the St. James in October. A spokesman for "The Producers" yesterday declined to comment on the offer, but said: "Nathan and Matthew have always had a standing invitation to come back to the show whenever they would like to. They’re family, we love them, and the show will always be their home should they wish to come here." Since the holidays, "The Producers" has weakened at the box office, with weekly grosses dropping from $1 million to $600,000. Tony Danza was brought in as Max to boost ticket sales during the winter doldrums, but the general sense on Broadway is that "The Producers" has run its course. Its advance stands at slightly more than $1 million, and last fall the show posted a couple of money-losing weeks. Broderick and Lane would certainly lift the box office. Industry insiders speculate premium seats could go as high as $400, and ticket scalpers say they could get as much as $1,000 a ticket for Broderick and Lane’s final hurrah. "The sky’s the limit," says one broker. "Everybody knows this is the last time you’ll see these two guys in their greatest roles." Production sources say the two actors could command huge salaries to close out the "The Producers." When they stepped back into the show three years ago, they each earned about $120,000 a week. This time, they could get as much as $175,000 a week for their six-week stint. But will they do it?

NY Post 

I hope they do because then the show could go out in style and not saying that Tony Danza killed the show.

« Previous entries Next entries »