Slipped discs are extremely painful and can take a LONG time to heal. Godspeed to Mr. Bart.
In the mean time they need to get a real standby for the role. From what I've heard from several people, his current understudy looks young enough to be Megan Mullaly's son. That won't do.
As for Broderick, well Brooks wanted to avoid major names in the leads, since replacing Lane and Broderick in THE PRODUCERS proved to be such a daunting task. Everyone saw the show as a "star vehicle" and the box office dropped off precipitously when Foster, Bart, Oscar etc... took over the lead roles. Brooks didn't want to repeat that with this show and wants to make the show itself "the star" (like Wicked, Jersey Boys, etc...) -- so NO major names.
Aside from his Bart problem, let's hope Brooks gets busy fixing the show's other problems. Apparently Trevor Nunn was seen at the show yesterday with a pad and pencil (he's an old friend of Stroman's and is in town directing Stoppard's ROCK N ROLL). This doesn't seem like Nunn's kind of show, but, hey, maybe he can help (they NEED to call Tommy Tune and Neil Simon, two of the most experienced show doctors around).
Anyway, I wish them well.....
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney