Nathan and Matthew and THE PRODUCERS

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 10:13pm

Are they returning? I am hearing rumors that they are coming back again. If so, I need to get tickets. Such a great show, and such great leading men!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 10:23pm

They did - the last day of December to early April. This is new to me, the news about a third return.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 10:25pm

I would think they would get tired of return after return. It would definitley boost ticket sales.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 10:28pm

I think they should wait a few years before returning again, if they wanted to. It would be expensive to bring them back, and there are undiscovered people out there who probably can do the job well. There were comments here about Hunter Foster being amazing, maybe better than Matthew, and I'm pretty sure he isn't paid near as much as Matt was, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 10:41pm

I doubt it. Nathan's continuing in "The Frogs" until October and Matthew is doing "The Foreigner" from October through the end of the year. They are scheduled to begin filming the movie version of "The Producers" musical in January and that'll tie them up until Spring.

There have been rumblings that they will team up again, perhaps as early as next Spring/Summer in a revival of "The Odd Couple," though nothing official has been announced.

Nathan was also supposed to head a revival of Simon Gray's "Butley" in the fall of 2005 on Broadway (the role that made Alan Bates a star), but there hasn't been any further word on that since he played the role to stellar reviews at Boston's Huntington Theatre last year.

[saddle shoe side kick]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 10:41pm

Maybe you heard about them doing the movie. I haven't heard anything about a third return. -Penny
Clicketh : "Producers, The (2005)"

Updated On: 8/4/04 at 10:41 PM

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 10:44pm

Will Ferrell as Franz shall be interesting. Besides him and Nicole, it looks like a lot of the principal cast members are going to be in the movie. Was Cady offered the role first?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 10:47pm

Cant wait for the movie, though!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 10:48pm

I know! December 2005...I'll be in college by then. Can't wait. And Hairspray is supposed to be a movie in 2006!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 10:48pm

No -- I mean, could you imagine her turning it down? In exchange for alowing Nathan and Matthew to repeat their roles, the producers wanted a few big stars (as box office insurance) in some of the other roles. Hence, the uncurvaceous Nicole Kidman as the curvaceous Ulla.

[pab]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 11:47pm

Matthew will be too busy with filming the movie version of The Producers and staring in the Off Broadway production of The Foreigner.

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 2:36am

This show is so overrated. Let it be done, please!

[ProducersFan]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 8:44am

You're killing me bronxbound! I will cry the day The Producers closes...

I don't even want to think about such things...

~Jessica

Updated On: 8/5/04 at 08:44 AM

[Caravaggio]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 10:30am

Jessica, I don't think we have to worry about THE PRODUCERS leaving anytime soon! :)

What's nice to hear is that people who have never seen Nathan & Matthew in the show are seeing it fresh and loving it just as much as we old-timers, with special raves for Brad, Hunter and John Tracey Egan (who was on as Roger DeBris when I last saw the show and who was pretty damn flawless).

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 10:56am

The Producers is the most awesome and hysterical show in decades. It wont close anytime soon. I love this show and obviously so did the Tony comittee (a record 12 awards), & critics ("A GIFT FROM THE SHOW BIZ GODS", "ONE OF THE BEST MUSICALS OF ALL TIME!"). Sorry to rain on your parade but it wont be closing anytime soon, bronxbound.

[Penalers]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 2:24pm

"the most awesome and hysterical show in decades"? It's pretty damn funny, but I don't know about that...

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 2:26pm

I just think it's sad that it ha so much critical success in 2001 but hasn't been able to follow the same path commercially (like PHANTOM, or LION KING) This is a sign that it was over hypped. It is a box office dissapointment as Playbill quoted without Lane and Broderick.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 2:27pm

This movie is going to attract both the Broadway audiences and non-Broadway audiences. A lot of people not familiar with Broadway are going to see it for Nathan Lane, Matt Broderick, Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. And a lot of people acquainted with the Broadway scene will get to see Gary Beach and Roger Bart. I am curious as to how Gary Beach will be during the "Springtime for Hitler" scene in the movie, as I love his solos during that song on the CD.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 2:31pm

Bronxbound I don't think you can compare the two shows you mention to the Producers. Lion King is obviously a very family oriented show and has the added publicity and tie in to the movie and all the Disney paraphenalia A favorite of Tri-State area families and tourists alike.

Phantom is Phantom and appeals to a certain type of audience, but though the Producers may not longer be breaking box office records, it is doing well and has a number of road companies out there with the new London production opening in November. I'm not sure how you can say it hasn't been a commercial success. And, while we're on the subject of commercial success, I would say that there are many shows considered Tony contenders and winning Tonys that were not commercially successful...doesn't make it bad art.

[bronxboundexpress]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 2:37pm

Yeah, I just expected better form the show that won the most Tonys ever. Other hit shows like this take sever years to stop selling out and dwindle, but this one took 1 year.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 2:44pm

It has more to do with the nature of the shows and their marketing than anything to do with hype or quality. With LION KING and PHANTOM and LES MIZ and CATS (for years), the show is the star and no one outside the world of theatre message boards knows or cares who's starring in those shows at any particular moment. The show is the brand name that's marketed, not the actors (and the logos reflect that -- the current stars aren't on the posters or in the ads).

THE PRODUCERS has never been able to redefine itself as anything other than the Nathan and Matthew show (and it doesn't help that the two of them figured so prominently in the advertising of the show for the first year). The perception in the public is that the show isn't as funny without them and that the show needs stars of comparable fame and celebrity to be worth-seeing (which really isn't true, although there aren't a whole lot of folks in this era of actors and comedians who have a mastery over that old school, Borscht Belt, broad style of comedy that Mel Brooks demands -- they're a rare breed). The show is still doing very well at the box office (attendance hovers around 90% despite no discounts being available), has made profits in the millions, and will certainly run for several more years (the movie version will probably give it a boost). If it doesn't run for 20 years, that hardly would make it a failure.

Updated On: 8/6/04 at 02:44 PM

[orchajaws]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:39pm

Unless they bring some stars in, the show will be closing very soon. The St. James is a very large theatre, and they're generally filling it to about 70% capacity. I don't understand why Brooks doesn't bring in somebody worthy of replacing Nathan and Matthew.......as of now, they seem to be irreplacable. But, as we've all mentioned in various threads, there are numerous well-known actors who would be fantastic as the leads, and who would bring people in to see the show. (i.e. Robert Klein, Richard Kind, John Goodman, Kelsey Grammer as Bialystock and Martin Short, David Schwimmer, Seth Greene as Bloom)

[saddle shoe side kick]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:44pm

I can not believe you just said that. Anyone is worthy of replacing Nathan and Mathew if they have talent. Roger Bart has talent. Hunter Foster has talent. Brad Oscar has talent. Believe it or not, you don't have to have a big name to have talent. If they are having trouble filling the theatre it will not close. There are smaller theatres on Broadway. -Penny

Updated On: 8/5/04 at 03:44 PM

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:49pm

Orcha...Robert Klein?? Can;t say I agree with that at all...I don't think this show needs the stars -- as Margo said, the show is the star as well as the Mel Brooks name in the title...

I think it will be sometime before they consider moving the show to a smaller house and al the Union rules that go with that...

Regardless of who you put there will always be comparisons to Matthew and Nathan -- it is inevitable but it doesn;t mean the show is destined to close anytime soon -- as long as there are busses and tourists, it has a home on Broadway

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/5/04 at 3:52pm

70%??? Do you read a different version of Variety than the rest of us? They haven't dipped below 85% in months and they've been grossing $850,000 to $900,000 weekly (a weekly profit in the hundreds of thousands). And all that without discounts. Most long-running shows can eke out a few more years by going to discounts -- "The Producers" hasn't even gotten to that point yet and still managing to do 85 - 90+% week after week at full price (remarkable for ANY show). It's not going ANYWHERE for a very long time.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/87685.html