Video: Nathan Lane Shares Why He's Done Doing Broadway Musicals

Three-time Tony winner Nathan Lane is shedding light on why he has decided to move on from performing in Broadway musicals. 

"It's a young man's game, let's put it that way," the performer shared on a recent visit to the Today Show. "Doing a musical eight times a week is...like an athletic event. It's very taxing, to say the least. It would have to be something incredibly special that I felt passionate about," Lane added. He went on to confirm that he still enjoys performing in plays, his most recent credit being Pictures From Home in 2023.  

He was on the morning show to promote Spellbound, the new animated musical from Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. He voices a mystical oracle in the film alongside fellow Broadway alum Tituss Burgess. Despite their characters appearing together on screen, the performers only just met this week. "We've really hit it off," says Lane. Even though they hadn't met, Burgess looked to Lane as an influence for years, since the 1992 production of Guys and Dolls. "Then I did the revival, which wasn't as good as yours," Burgess said with a sheepish smile.

Lane made his Broadway debut in 1982 in Neil Coward's Present Laughter where he starred alongside George C. Scott. His other credits include Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Producers, The Frogs, and Angels in America. He has won three Tony Awards. Previous voiceover work includes Timon in The Lion King franchise.

Spellbound follows the adventures of Ellian, the tenacious young daughter of the rulers of Lumbria who must go on a daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters. The cast includes many Broadway performers including Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis, Nathan Lane, and Tituss Burgess. Spellbound will be released on Netflix on November 22, 2024.