LANES REPLACEMENT IN THE PRODUCERS- Page 2

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 5:46pm

I like the show - I wouldn't have seen three casts if I didn't.

If Mel Brooks had wanted to preserve the stage show for posterity then they should have taped a live performance. I think they needed a different director who understood the media. I don't think the film as it is now makes either the show or actors look good. Like I said, I think this shows lack of imagination on the part of the creative team to want replacement casts, as well as the film to be a perfect carbon copy of what the opening night was like. In my opinion, the film suffers because of this, the only spontaneity comes from the actors not recreating their roles: Will and Uma. I wont even go into Matthew Brodericks mannered , robotic and unbelievable performance.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:45am

SouthFlMarc: Just remember that for those who will see this movie and have NOT seen the stage version (that's probably 90% of those around the world who will go to see the film), these performances are not stale. For those of us who have seen the stage version a number of times, there may not be much new, but for everyone else...it is a first time experience.

[ken8631]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 1:02pm

How about Larry David? lol

[morosco]

Posted: 10/20/20 at 5:22pm

Video footage of Henry Goodman in The Producers...

THE PRODUCERS Henry Goodman as Max Bialystock

[Jarethan]

Posted: 10/20/20 at 8:53pm

ShuQ said: "SamIAm....Lewis Stadlen does it amazingly."

I thought that Stadlen was terrible in the role, and I have liked him since I saw him in Minnie's Boys.  At least at the performance that I saw, he put on too much of a Groucho Marks kind of voice (a la Minnie's Boys??), and that it became annoying.  I do not remember who his Leo was, although I did see Steven Weber in the role.  I seem to remember that (excluding Goodman and understudies) Stadlen was the third Max I saw, but I thought that Weber was the second Leo I saw, so either they were not together or my memory is failing me.

I wonder how hard it will be to get funding for a revival, given how associated the show was with Lane.  Sort of like trying for a revival of Funny Girl without Streisand (and a revival of Mame without Lansbury???).

 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/20/20 at 9:34pm

The stage version was written for Lane. There weren't many replacements or anyone on tour that could match his humor or timing.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/21/20 at 12:35am

It's so strange to see that footage after all these years of wondering what his performance must have been like. It seems as though he was quite good. He just wasn't doing a Nathan Lane impression like most of the other replacements did.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/21/20 at 7:08am

This footage is of his musical numbers, so he’s great on these. Unfortunately, his book scenes were terrible as he didn’t land the jokes and his line readings were off. A British actor trying to do Mel Brooks’ humor didn’t connect and THE PRODUCERS is a heavy book show so he struggled trying to carry the show and why he was let go a month into his run. Huge star on the West End. THE PRODUCERS wasn’t the right fit.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 10/21/20 at 9:21am

I was in London in 2007 and got surprise tickets to the revival of Fiddler on the Roof that Goodman was starting in...I had heard about the Producers incident, and was wondering about his performance...he was out the night I saw the show, and his understudy Max Zimmerman who was incredible.