Henry Goodman, who was unceremoniously fired from the lead role of The Producers on Broadway, has given his first post-ousting interview. Here's a link to the entire article which, we warn you, will only be online for a limited time. And here's the most relevant quote from the interview…
"Personally, I think they blew it. Of course they'd say, 'No, no Henry, you blew it.' I just wanted the freedom to deepen my character, make him darker, more like Zero Mostel (who played the part in the original 1968 film). Just look at these letters" — he chucks down a sheaf of fan mail — "the bookings were fine. The fact is, 60,000 people saw me and no one asked for their money back. But they wanted a clone of Nathan and I wasn't prepared to give them that."
I never saw Mr. Goodman in the show and my friends who did seemed quite divided about his performance…which may be a matter of differing tastes but it may be that he was evolving in the show. Either way, you have to wonder: What the hell happened here? If ever a show had its choice of leading men, it was The Producers. Henry Goodman was not cast because they were desperate and had to take someone and pray he'd improve. He auditioned, they liked him, they signed him and…what?