A production of The Producers is opening in Las Vegas…at the Paris Hotel on January 31, 2007. This is the one that was originally announced for "late summer of 2006" but it's a little late for that now.
My pal Brad Oscar, who played Max Bialystock on Broadway longer than anyone, will return to that role. There's no word on who'll be Leo but the casting of the gay director, Roger DeBris, has been announced and it sounds like a joke: David Hasselhoff. He's going to shave his legs and put on the dress and the Nazi regalia. Say it with me: "Hasselhoff…is…Hitler!"
I'm still curious what they're going to cut. At last report, the plan was to trim the show from 2 hours and 25 minutes, which is how long it is on Broadway if you don't count the intermission, to ninety minutes. There is no way to do this and not destroy whatever is good about that show. Ticket prices will range from $75.50 to $143.50, which is even higher than what they're now getting in New York. Back there, seats run $31.25-$111.25 and many/most of them are sold at the TKTS booth for half price. This may be the first time in history that a Broadway show has ever been cheaper to see on Broadway than somewhere else.