Tony Winner Nathan Lane Linked To Baseball Steroid Scandal

The ongoing steroid scandal that has rocked Major League Baseball apparently has Broadway connections.  Nathan Lane has admitted to using the performance-enhancing drug during his Tony-winning run in The Producers.  The admission comes after learning of an investigative report in the upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated that connects him with Yankee star and admitted steroid user Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez.

"Alex got me set up with his supplier back March of 2001 when we were previewing The Producers in New York," says Lane.  "Mel wrote me a bear of a role and there was an enormous amount of pressure to perform."

"I told Alex, Mel's got me on stage for 90% of the night and then he expects me to sing a ballad after the 11 o'clock number.  He nodded his head like he know what I was talking about and then handed me this phone number."

"I've been clean ever since," insists Lane.  "Butley...  November...  That was just me up there.  I'm off the juice."

The American Theatre Wing is now considering whether or not to place an asterisk next to Nathan Lane's name on its web site's official list of Tony Award winners.

When asked how he met Rodriguez, who was playing for the Texas Rangers at the time, Lane answered, "I was an unmarried, middle-aged man starring in a Broadway musical and he was a strapping young athlete who went by the nickname, A-Rod.  Our paths were bound to have crossed."

BroadwayWorld.com wishes its readers a happy April Fools Day and wishes Nathan Lane the best as he prepares to wait for Godot.

Photo by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.