The Producers Film Receives Midnight Screening at Ziegfeld Theatre, Dec. 15

By: Dec. 15, 2005
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The highly anticipated film version of The Producers will be shown in a midnight screening at the Ziegfeld Theatre (141 West 54th Street) tonight, December 15th.

The movie musical will open the next day in single-screen engagements in selected cities (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Toronto) before opening on 1,200 more screens on December 25th and in even more theaters on January 13th.

The Producers, which will be released by Universal Pictures, will star its original bonanza team of Nathan Lane as Max Bialystock and Matthew Broderick as Leo Bloom, Max' partner in theatrical crime. Based on the classic 1968 comedy-with music, The Producers finds Leo and Max in search of the show that most has "flop" written all over on it (they choose Springtime for Hitler, of course). Once the show bombs, they can pocket the money to Rio, but they don't pause to wonder...what if the flop is a hit? The film will feature a new song--"There's Nothing Like a Show on Broadway"--by Mel Brooks; it will be played over the end credits.

The song garnered one of The Producers' four recent Golden Globe nominations--the others were for for Lane (Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy), Will Ferrell (Best Performance By an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture) and Best Picture--Musical or Comedy.

Joining Lane and Broderick in the film will be original stars Gary Beach as director Roger De Bris and Roger Bart as his slinky assistant Carmen Ghia, as well as Uma Thurman as Swedish sexpot Ulla and Ferrell as Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind. Debra Monk and Andrea Martin will play two Little Old Lady Investors, and John Barrowman, Brad Oscar (who has played both Liebkind and Bialystock on Broadway) and Jon Lovitz also have small roles in the film.

As with the Broadway musical, The Producers will feature a score by Brooks and a book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan. It will also be directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman once again; she is making her feature film debut. All won Tonys for the show, which swept the Tony Awards in 2001 and won 12 awards, including Best Musical. Currently starring Oscar as Max and Hunter Foster as Leo, The Producers has so far chalked up a run of almost 1800 performances. It opened at the St. James Theatre (246 W. 44th St.) on April 19th, 2001. The Producers also features costumes by William Ivey Long, sets by Robin Wagner, and lighting by Peter Kaczorowski, as well as musical direction by Patrick S. Brady and orchestrations by Douglas Besterman.


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