Hunter Foster to Bloom with The Producers Return, 7/27

Tony Award-nominee Hunter Foster will reprise his performance as Leo Bloom opposite John Treacy Egan's Max Bialystock in The Producers.  He begins performances Thursday, July 27th.

Foster succeeds Roger Bart in the role of the meek accountant. Bart, who is filming the new supernatural-themed SCI FI miniseries "The Lost Room," recently left the production.  Bloom is currently being played by understudies.

Foster returns to the role of Leo Bloom having starred as Ensign Pulver in the Kennedy Center revival of Mr. Roberts. He recently starred in the off-Broadway hit Modern Orthodox. Foster received 2004 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critic Circle Award nominations for Best Actor in a Musical for the role of Seymour in the Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors.  Foster originated the role of Bobby Strong in the Broadway and Off-Broadway companies of Urinetown (Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations). His other Broadway credits include Grease, Footloose, Les Misérables and Alan Menken's King David.  As a writer, he has penned the books to the musicals Summer of '42, which premiered Off-Broadway in the winter of 2002, and the upcoming Bonnie and Clyde.

The Producers, which opened on April 19, 2001 to rave reviews and is the recipient of the most Tony Awards in theater history (with 12 wins), currently stars John Treacy Egan (Max Bialystock), original Tony Award-winning cast member Gary Beach (Roger DeBris), Brad Musgrove (Carmen Ghia), Bill Nolte (Franz Liebkind) and Angie Schworer (Ulla).

Based on Brooks' Academy Award-winning 1968 film of the same name, "The Producers is the story of down-on-his-luck theatrical producer, Max Bialystock, and Leo Bloom, a mousy accountant. Together they hatch the ultimate scam: raise more money than you need for a sure-fire Broadway flop and pocket the difference. Their 'sure-fire' theatrical fiasco?. . . None other than the musical Springtime for Hitler," according to press notes.

The musical, which originally starred Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, features a Tony Award-winning book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, Tony Award-winning music and lyrics by Brooks, and Tony Award-winning direction and choreography by Susan Stroman. The musical also includes Tony Award-winning set design by Robin Wagner, Tony Award-winning costume design by William Ivey Long, Tony Award-winning lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski, and sound design by Steve Kennedy.

The Producers is produced by Rocco Landesman, Live Nation, The Frankel · Baruch · Viertel · Routh Group, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, Rick Steiner, Robert F.X. Sillerman and Mel Brooks, in association with James D. Stern and Douglas Meyer and by special arrangement with StudioCanal.

Tickets, which are scaled at $31.25 - $111.25, are on sale by phone through Tele-charge at (212) 239-6200 or www.telecharge.com and in-person at The St. James Theatre, 246 West 44th Street. The playing schedule is Tuesday evening at 7 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8 p.m., Wednesday & Saturday matinees at 2 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m.