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Wanna get one of those hard-to-find rare Nathan things for your collection? Check out the following!
eBay ID: PRS44 eMail Address: schleger@nyc.rr.com Website URL: http://www.schleger.com What He's Currently Selling on eBay: Peter has The Producers playbills for as low as 99 cents and $1.99 with Buy-It-Now! Items for Sale by prs44 Feedback Information: Peter has NO negative feedbacks entries. View all his positive feedback here. What Else: One of the things he sells on eBay is a copy of The Producers Farewell Video. It features some of the cast, including Nathan, signing autographs outside the stage door after the Sunday matinee on the 17th of March 17, 2002. Check it out here! You also get footage of when they changed the Broadway signs at the St. James theater. 33 minute tape for about $20. Not a bad investment! If that's not a must-have, I dunno what is! See below for more details.  ..::About Peter/What He's Got::.. And he can send a list of all his tapes he has available. He is interested in the activities that go on around Broadway. His most recent tape is Broadway on Broadway that Nathan Lane hosted with Jane Krakowski, but he didn't think their chemistry was all that great. He also has tapes of the previous 3 years as well as Nathan guest hosting on Letterman. Peter has also flown to Los Angeles to see the show at the Pantages, with Martin Short and Jason Alexander, if you have any questions, he's happy to answer them. MAKING OF THE PRODUCERS CD When you win this Producers Playbill, you receive free this up close and personal 85 minute look on VHS of the talented folks who sing and dance on stage every night in THE PRODUCERS at New York's St. James Theater. Watch Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Gary Beach, Cady Huffman, Brad Oscar and the entire cast in action doing many of the numbers from the show. Lots of story exposition by Mel Brooks. He certainly has his story down pat as most of it matches what he talks about on The Producers Panel Discussion tape. This is another must for Producers fans. Yes, you are paying for the Playbill, but it helps to match names with very lovely faces on the tape I am throwing in. Shipping within the USA is $3.86. As usual, elsewhere costs way too much, and I'll let you know how much that way too much is. Questions are welcomed. THE PRODUCERS VIDEO--SIGNING PLAYBILL Here it is, THE PRODUCERS themselves, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick signing autographs on playbills and posters (not checkies) at the stage door of the Saint James Theater in New York. This tape was made after 5 different performances in May and has been edited down to a fun filled 30 minutes of fans being fans in the presence of Broadway’s hottest actors. Tape is VHS NTSC, shot on Mini DV. Also featured, as in the play, are Brad Oscar and Ray Wills. AND A SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE by Sarah Jessica Parker doing as much signing as her husband and his co-star after the Mother’s Day Matinee. Hear what Brad Oscar says about eBay, Jessica’s “cool” comment, and Matthew’s comment to a fan about Argentina. This was a lot of fun shooting and editing, and I’m sure this will be fun to own. Shipping is $3.86 to North America and a whole lot more if you are living elsewhere. THE PRODUCERS FAREWELL VIDEO, NEW CAST, SIGNS Sunday matinee, March 17, 2002, and the glorious run for THE PRODUCERS stars NATHAN LANE and MATTHEW BRODERICK has come to an end. One last performance and one last round by the stage door. Perhaps the only time since the fall when he was diagnosed with throat problems, that Nathan came out the stage door to sign autographs. Matthew, as usual, accommodated everyone with pictures and autographs and banter. For the first time on one of my tapes, we have GARY BEACH and ROGER BART up close and personal. The show's co-creator, TOM MEEHAN, was there and proved to be a big fan favorite. Lauren Bacall makes a brief appearance as does SUSAN STROMAN in her signature baseball cap and pony tail, Sarah Jessica Parker (SJP), BRAD OSCAR (IDK), dad Paul Oscar who looks as if he could understudy his son, CADY HUFFMAN, and a tumultuous crowd of fans and news types. Only Mel Brooks was notably absent after the performance. The tape also includes a middle segment taped over two mornings that shows how Broadway signs and the signs at the St. James theater are changed. The sign material is PVC based Flexface that is ink receptive. (Glad I asked?) I was the only one taping or taking pictures so this is the only record of it. I even have video of the Playbill delivery truck bringing the new style Playbills for the first time. And then we have the opening night for next generation stars HENRY GOODMAN Oops. Star for a month, Brad Oscar is now Max Bialystock and STEVEN WEBER on Tuesday evening, March 19, 2002. A different sort of happening. The tape runs 33 minutes. There are opening and closing tribute montages from my first stage door signing tape set to appropriate music sung by.for anyone who buys the tape and can identify the singer I will donate $5.00 to Broadway Cares. ($250 donated so far by me.) Shipping is $3.86 to the USA, $5.86 to Canada, $9.96 elsewhere in the world. The winner receives a free playbill that is now a collector's item. THE 2001 TONY AWARDS MINUS THE PBS PORTION This is the awards show hosted by Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick where The Producers won everything possible. PLAYBILL-THE PRODUCERS-BACKGROUND STORY A MUST-SEE PROGRAM IF YOU WILL SEE OR HAVE ALREADY SEEN THE PRODUCERS--THE HOTTEST SHOW ON BROADWAY. ALSO MUST-SEE FOR THEATER BUFFS AND ACTING STUDENTS. Fun and fascinating taped Discussion about producing this (and any) Broadway smash hit musical. Heavily monopolized by Mel Brooks at his usual unrestrained manic self as he mixes anecdotes with details. The panel also includes Susan Stroman, the shows director, Tom Meehan (who also wrote Annie), Managing Producer Richard Frankel (who was chosen by Brooks) and others. Brooks discusses the history of the film and its transformation to Broadway. As Brooks said, this was one case where "Nothing Went Wrong." Find out who the real Little Old Ladies are. Learn about the wisdom at all costs of going to Chicago with the show. Hear the producers discuss some of the budget factors that go into making a production from talent to sets and costumes to going out of town for tryouts. It was also noted that no one took "pot shots" at them in an arena where pot shots are par for the course. Everyone involved was in high spirits and who can blame them?! Includes a few clips from the show. Tape is VHS NTSC. Running time is about 80 minutes. Shipping is $3.96. Shipping overseas is $9.45.
..::About the New Producers Cast::.. Dear Boys and Girls, (This was originally sent in mid April, 2002, and I will send this out on an on-going basis as I think about it. Sorry if you got it already. My assessment re Leo v. Max was affirmed in early May by the NY Daily News critic.) This is going out to everyone who has bought a Producers or Broadway related item from me on eBay, even those who haven't paid. I did see the show again with Henry Goodman and Steven Weber last week, and had intended to give my evaluation as some folks had asked for. I found it odd that none of the papers gave a critique, but I guess this period was the tryout as such, and May 1 was the day the theater critics were invited. Meshulam Riklis (Mr. Pia Zadora) once said the he lets mail age on his desk, and that most of it takes care of itself. Well, I waited a week before doing this, and it has taken care of itself. Henry Goodman got fired. (Article below.) Nevertheless, some comments, as promised. I had thought the show was bullet proof-didn't matter who the stars were. I had seen Nathan and also Brad Oscar, but Brad played opposite Matthew. Brad was fine. A level below Nathan Lane, but then who isn't? This time, I felt the more miscast, if anyone was, was Steven Weber. He did not have that nebbishy, lost boy quality that Matthew has. Too tall and good looking and strong. Goodman was fine, though he does not have that funny persona that Nathan Lane brings to the show. (I think Danny DeVito would be terrific in that regard.) It would have been interesting to see Goodman opposite Broderick; maybe it is the Leo role that is the key? Nevertheless, some comments, as promised. I had thought the show was bullet proof—didn’t matter who the stars were. I had seen Nathan and also Brad Oscar, but Brad played opposite Matthew. Brad was fine. A level below Nathan Lane, but then who isn’t? This time, I felt the more miscast, if anyone was, was Steven Weber. He did not have that nebbishy, lost boy quality that Matthew has. Too tall and good looking and strong. Goodman was fine, though he does not have that funny persona that Nathan Lane brings to the show. (I think Danny DeVito would be terrific in that regard.) It would have been interesting to see Goodman opposite Broderick; maybe it is the Leo role that is the key? I have probably listened to Nathan and Matthew dozens of times, and am used to the quality of their voices, and anyone else will ring false. Nathan's voice is funnier. As is Matthew's. (I can't stand Bob Murphy of the Mets, but like Jack Buck of the Cardinals just for voice quality.) But I will agree that chemistry is the issue. These are 2 actors who were very much into each other on stage. There was a Laurel and Hardy quality about some of their bits-especially when they first meet Roger DeBris. Goodman improved on the Yiddish bit in the opening number, it comes from his being Jewish and having been in Yiddish theater, but it was Jewish pain, and Nathan’s take was simply one of bewilderment. Bewilderment is funnier. In the virgin milkmaid scene, Goodman had bigger shtick, while Nathan had one gesture. Keep it simple? The one place no laugh was gotten was the “It’s good to be the king” line. I think the line was not emphasized and got lost. It is delivered by someone in the ensemble. As a friend who works for the St. James said, he feels the pacing of the show is off. Goodman improved on the Yiddish bit in the opening number, it comes from his being Jewish and having been in Yiddish theater, but it was Jewish pain, and Nathan's take was simply one of bewilderment. Bewilderment is funnier. In the virgin milkmaid scene, Goodman had bigger shtick, while Nathan had one gesture. Keep it simple? The one place no laugh was gotten was the "It's good to be the king" line. I think the line was not emphasized and got lost. It is delivered by someone in the ensemble. As a friend who works for the St. James said, he feels the pacing of the show is off. I did the farewell video that is on eBay and it may be the only time Henry Goodman is on camera like that. I do believe he was uncomfortable in the role of celebrity, but the night I saw the show, there were exactly 2 people left outside the stage door to greet him so any discomfort didn't last long. The after-show frenzy had vanished on their first night. One big poof and it was gone. Sad. One advantage of seeing the show in person more than once is one can look at what else is going on on stage. When Franz sings Deutches Band during the auditions, I watched the rehearsal Piano player. She is a hoot. One tip-one can easily get 1 ticket via Telecharge. 4 in the orchestra is harder. Peter April 15, 2002 -- EXCLUSIVE Max has gotten the ax. Henry Goodman - the London stage star who replaced Nathan Lane as Max Bialystock in "The Producers" - was fired from the hit Broadway musical yesterday, The Post has learned. Creator Mel Brooks and director Susan Stroman, along with the producers of the show, were "unhappy with the lack of progress Henry was making in the role," a company member told The Post last night. Goodman got his walking papers immediately after yesterday's matinee, the source said. The actor joined "The Producers" last month, and was due to face the critics May 1. He will likely be replaced by Brad Oscar, who currently appears in the show as deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind, the company member said. Oscar was also Lane's understudy. He played Bialystock - a corrupt Broadway producer who schemes to bilk his investors by deliberately producing a flop show - several times while Lane battled vocal problems. Goodman could not be reached for comment last night, and calls to the show's publicist and producers were not returned. But around Broadway this past week, it was an open secret that Goodman, one of England's leading actors, was struggling with the role. He was, cast members say, determined not to repeat Lane's Tony Award-winning performance and may have erred by making the character too serious, too brooding. Jokes and gags that produced roars of laughter from the audience when Lane was in the show weren't working anymore, production sources said. "Henry just isn't funny," one cast member said. "He's a very good actor, but he's very serious. He's not a musical-comedy star." Other company members complained about a lack of chemistry between Goodman and his co-star, Steven Weber, who replaced Matthew Broderick as mousy accountant Leo Bloom, who helps execute Bialystock's scheme. "Matthew and Nathan clicked," one cast member said. "It was like a love story. Henry and Steven don't have that warmth." Weber, who starred in the TV series "Wings," will remain with "The Producers," a source said last night. The box office has cooled a bit since Goodman and Weber took over for Lane and Broderick. The show still grosses over $1 million a week, but seats are available at most performances and the cancellation line that once stretched down West 44th Street from the box office of the St. James Theatre to Sardi's has all but disappeared. Production sources say many of the $480 VIP seats are being sent back to the theater, where they are being sold for the normal price of $100. There is even talk of slashing the $480 ticket to $250, production sources said.
..::About Jeff Denman's Book About His Year With The Producers::.. Since so many of you send me retainer checks to be your eyes and ears on Broadway, let me finally earn my keep. As many of you know, Jeff Denman wrote a book about his year with The Producers. I read it and found 90% of it good, informative, and interesting. He loses his way during the last 20 pages, but not a big deal. Book had minimal gossip, yet Denman was gone from the show not so long after. A friend speculated that he was fired. One of the actors told me he had gotten a gig in Denver. Today I learned there was indeed some unhappiness over the book by they whom you would not want to make unhappy. I also heard he had given an interview in Denver that was really badly received back in NY and posted in the theater. I assume this is the interview. Enjoy. Peter Rocky Mountain News
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Playing to perception
By Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News
In the fall of 2000, as Cats was winding toward its final meow, Jeffry "All of the journal-keeping was in preparation of some memoir that I was going to do someday," he says. The memoir came sooner than planned. Before Cats had closed, Denman had a job in a new musical by Mel Brooks based on his film The Producers. When that show became a phenomenon, Denman's journal became a book, A Year with The Producers.
BOOK SIGNING
. When and where: 7:30 p.m. today at the Tattered Cover Cherry Creek, Denman, now starring in I Love a Piano at the Auditorium Theatre, will sign his book tonight at the Tattered Cover in Cherry Creek. When he started rehearsals for The Producers, Denman, 31, was happy to have a job but fully prepared for a flop. "Before you've started performing, if you get the idea that you're the greatest thing to come along since Hello, Dolly!, you're gonna die a very quick death," he says. "There is nobody - and if they tell you they did know, they're lying - there is nobody who knew what the show was going to be, not even Mel Brooks." As a member of the ensemble, Denman treasured every "bit" he was assigned by director Susan Stroman and every word delivered by Brooks. He played the blind fiddler of the opening number, a Hitler auditioner, a little old lady and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Most important, he was one of Matthew Broderick's understudies for the role of Leo Bloom. The book follows The Producers from auditions through Sept. 10, 2001, when Denman concluded a short run subbing for Broderick. Those days as Leo were the pinnacle of the experience, culminating in the Act II duet with Nathan Lane (as Max Bialystock), 'Til Him. "It was the one moment in the show where the hurricane stops," Denman says. "The rest of the show is Max's. I believe that 'Til Him is Leo's." Born in Buffalo, N.Y., Denman made his Broadway debut as a swing player in the short-lived Johnny Mercer musical Dream. He was in the ensemble of the 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying before getting the job in Cats. But, as his book explains, Broadway shows past did not guarantee Broadway shows future. "When you are in a show that's closing," he writes, "every new show you audition for acts as the best-case scenario." Throughout the book, the performer shows he's aware of his place in the Broadway food chain. "So I get to audition again for 'Stro,'" he writes. "That's what people who have worked with Susan Stroman call her. People who haven't worked with her - but want to - call her 'Stro' too. It sounds forced. I try to say 'Susan Stroman' or at least 'Stroman' - mainly because I don't know her. It seems to me you should earn the right to call her 'Stro.'" A few months later, he asks himself, "By the way, when did I start calling her 'Stro?'" Despite the nickname, he didn't become the director's best friend. In fact, during the run of The Producers he auditioned for the revival of Oklahoma!, choreographed by Stroman - and didn't get the part. "She's very to herself, she's very introspective and almost shy," Denman says. "She's not a big happy mama, and Mel is." Onstage from the first performance, Denman was able to watch the progression of audiences for the biggest hit of the season. During the summer - just after The Producers shut out all other musicals at the Tonys - audiences were ebullient. "They so were just ready to laugh," Denman says. But by the fall, the cast played to a tougher crowd. "Then what we got were the people who couldn't get tickets (earlier)," he says. "October comes, their expectations were up here, and there was no way we could meet that. It never really got back to those good old days til like May, June (of 2002). These were the people who were coming to see the show." Last spring, the show experienced its first cast change, as Broderick and Lane finished their contracts. The British actor Henry Goodman was brought in to play Bialystock and was fired shortly before his opening night. Once again, The Producers was in the headlines. "It was pretty clear from the beginning that he wasn't right for the show," Denman says. "You have to set up the joke and you have to knock it down, and that's it." Meanwhile, Denman was campaigning to take Broderick's place as Leo Bloom. He sent a letter to the producers of The Producers pitching himself. "I had proven myself," he says. "Every time I went on (as Leo), it had gotten bigger and better." Besides, he advised the producers: "You're certainly not going to have to pay me as much. And you set up from the beginning that the show doesn't need a star to be good." Instead, he discovered on the Internet that TV actor Steven Weber would be playing Bloom. As the tour came around, Denman proposed he go on the road as Bloom. "Mel told me, 'You're not Jewish enough,'" says Denman. "I'm not Jewish at all. These are the things that can drive actors crazy, because there's nothing you can do about it." Of course, Nathan Lane isn't Jewish, either, while Henry Goodman is. "He is so waving the flag for Judaism, which is great, and everything he does is flavored with that," Denman says of Brooks. "Every once in awhile, a Henry Goodman will come along and hopefully remind him that that's not true." Denman responded by calling his agent and telling her he wanted a principal role. In the world of professional theater, principals sign the white contract, while chorus members get the rather emasculating pink one. "I told my agent pink is not a good color for me," Denman says. "I said, 'We're gonna work on getting me out of the show.'" He not only got out of the show but out of New York for the Denver production of I Love a Piano, an Irving Berlin musical revue in which Denman is one of six principals. There is no chorus. To be a star, Denman had to leave New York. "I'm kind of doing it backwards," he says. "It's tough, because I'm trying to shift perceptions of me." In I Love a Piano, Denman traverses the decades as a leading man with a dash of vanity. He's still keeping a journal. "I'd like to write a sequel."
Lisa Bornstein is the theater critic.
Last Updated: 29 September 2002.
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