Danza and Bart are Broadway's New 'Producers'

Stage, screen, television and recording artist Tony Danza will return to Broadway after a seven-year absence to star as Max Bialystock in The Producers. 

Tony Award-winner and original cast member Roger Bart will also return to the role of Leo Bloom opposite Danza.  The new 'Bialystock and Bloom' begin performances on Tuesday, December 19, 2006.   Danza's engagement  ends on Sunday, March 11, 2007.  Bart's engagement ends on Sunday, February 11, 2007.

The show opened on April 19, 2001 to rave reviews and is the recipient of the most Tony Awards in theater history (with 12 wins). The Producers celebrated its 5th Anniversary on Wednesday, April 19, 2006.  The Producers currently stars Brad Musgrove (Carmen Ghia), Bill Nolte (Franz Liebkind), Lee Roy Reams (Roger DeBris) and Angie Schworer (Ulla).

Perhaps best known for his work in "Taxi" and "Who's the Boss?," Danza's other television credits include hosting the popular talk show "The Tony Danza Show," Showtime's "12 Angry Men" (opposite George C. Scott and Jack Lemmon), an Emmy-nominated turn in David E. Kelley's "The Practice, " and "Family Law."   Danza's screen credits  include the Academy Award-winning feature film Crash, Walt Disney's Angels in the Outfield, She's Out of Control, and A Brooklyn State of Mind.  For his theatrical debut in Wrong Turn at Lungfish, he earned an Outer Critic's Circle Award nomination.  After his Broadway debut in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge, Danza received critical acclaim for his portrayal of 'Rocky' in the revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh opposite Kevin Spacey (Brook Atkinson Theater).  In the fall of 2006, Danza starred in the romantic comedy I Remember You on stage in Los Angeles.  Also a cabaret performer, he released his debut album "The House I Live In" in 2003.

Bart previously created the role of  Carmen Ghia (for which he received Tony and Drama Desk nominations) in The Producers and then returned to the show in the role of Leo Bloom.  Bart received 1999 Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Featured Actor in a Musical as Snoopy in the  revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.  Other Broadway and first national touring credits: The Frogs, Triumph of Love, King David, How to Succeed in Business…, The Secret Garden, Big River, and The Who's Tommy.  TV work includes "Bram and  Alice," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "The George Carlin Show."  He was recently seen as George on ABC's "Desperate Housewives," for which he received the SAG Award for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Film credits include The Insider, Disney's Hercules and The Lady and the Tramp II (singing voice of Scamp), The Stepford Wives, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, and Doubting Thomas.  This past Christmas, he reprised his role (Carmen Ghia) in Universal's feature film version of The Producers

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.

An abridged Las Vegas production of The Producers, starring David Hasselhoff and Brad Oscar, will begin January 31st, 2007.

Visit www.producersonbroadway.com for more on The Producers.