THE PRODUCERS Comes To Pittsburgh CLO 7/6-18

You'll double over with laughter when Pittsburgh CLO presents the outrageous Tony® Award-winning hit musical The Producers, July 6-18 at the Benedum Center.

Based on Mel Brooks' Academy Award-winning film, The Producers is the story of down-on-his-luck producer Max Bialystock, his amusingly awkward accountant Leo Bloom and their "sure-fire" scheme to get rich quick. The plan? To raise more money than they need to mount a guaranteed Broadway flop - Springtime for Hitler - and head to Rio with the cash when the curtain comes crashing down. Audiences will be in hysterics as they sing and dance their way through the greatest show biz scam there ever was! This musical guilty pleasure won a record 12 Tony® Awards and includes such hits such as "I Wanna Be a Producer," "Where Did We Go Right?" and "Til Him."

ABOUT THE CAST

Joey Fatone (Franz Liebkin) makes his Pittsburgh CLO debut. He has appeared on Broadway in Little Shop of Horrors (Seymour) and Rent (Mark Cohen), as well as in the films "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "The Cooler." He is best-known for his work as a member of the band *NSYNC, which has sold more than 56 million records worldwide. In 2007, he finished second on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" and would go on to host "The Singing Bee" on NBC. Mr. Fatone was the host of NBC's cirque competition series, "Celebrity Circus." He also produced his first cable television series "The Singing Office" for TLC and co-hosted the show alongside Melanie Brown.

John Treacy Egan (Max Bialystock) was most recently seen at the Benedum as Mr. Bumble in Pittsburgh CLO's Oliver! Mr. Egan appeared in the recent revival of Bye, Bye Birdie at the Roundabout Theater. He created the role Chef Louis in Disney's The Little Mermaid on Broadway. He played Max Bialystock in the Broadway production of The Producers as well as the roles of Roger DeBris and Franz Liebkind. He was an original cast member of the Broadway production of Jekyll & Hyde. Off-Broadway, Mr. Egan created roles in Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly! (RCA Records), and was also an original cast member of Batboy The Musical. He has appeared on "30 Rock," "Cupid," "Law & Order," "Late Nigth with Conan O'Brien," and "As the World Turns." He can be seen in the upcoming film "Last Night" with Sam Worthington and Eva Mendes, and the film version of The Producers. He can also be seen in the upcoming HBO series Martin Scorcese's "Boardwalk Empire" fall 2010.

Stuart Marland (Roger DeBris) returns to Pittsburgh CLO after his appearance in Curtains (Christopher Belling) and Lunch (Father Michael). He has appeared on Broadway in Xanadu (understudy for Tony Roberts), as Lumiere in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, General Lord Glossop and Mr. Utterson in Jekyll & Hyde and in Cyrano - The Musical. National Tours include The Producers (Roger DeBris), Seussical with Cathy Rigby (General Genghis Kahn Schmitz), Evita (Juan Peron), Ragtime, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber with Sarah Brightman, The Who's Tommy, A Chorus Line, Sophisticated Ladies and The King and I with Rudolf Nureyev. Recent regional credits include Les Misérables (Thenardier), Run For Your Wife (Bobby Franklyn), Dames at Sea (The Captain/Hennessy) and Man of La Mancha (Dr. Carrasco).

Ashley Spencer (Ulla) returns to Pittsburgh CLO this summer for three consecutive performances, starring as Nikki Harris in Curtains, Ulla in The Producers and Amber von Tussle in Hairspray. She appeared in the 2009 Pittsburgh CLO production of Les Misérables, on Broadway in Grease and Hairspray and in the National Tour of Barbie Live in Fairytopia. She was a finalist on NBC's "Grease: You're the One That I Want."

Jim Stanek (Leo Bloom) returns to Pittsburgh CLO for the first time since 1994 when he takes the stage as Leo Bloom in The Producers. He was a CLO Mini Star, attended Seneca Valley High School and Carnegie Mellon University and appeared in several CLO productions in the early 1990s. He has appeared on Broadway in Lestat, Little Women, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Indiscretions.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION STAFF

Bill Burns (Director/Choreographer) is directing a Pittsburgh CLO production for the first time. Most recently, Bill served as Resident Choreographer on the US Premiere Tour of Dirty Dancing and directed & choreographed the 2010 Japanese premiere production of Curtains. He previously served as resident director and choreographer for the National Tour and Las Vegas company of The Producers. He has directed and choreographed international companies of The Producers in Japan, Korea and Mexico City in their respective languages. Regionally, he also mounted productions of the show at North Shore Music Theatre, The Muny in St. Louis (Kevin Kline Award nomination), the Ogunquit Playhouse and Lyric Theatre. Mr. Burns' Broadway and National Tour performing credits include Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Fosse, Guys and Dolls, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life, All That Jazz, Can-Can, Beauty and The Beast, Victor/Victoria, and La Cage Aux Folles.

Tom Helm (Music Director) returns for his 15th season with Pittsburgh CLO, where he has been the musical director for more than 40 productions, including Les Misérables, Barry Manilow's Copacabana, and Into the Woods in 2009. On Broadway, he was the musical director of Les Misérables, Me and My Girl and the revival of Brigadoon. Mr. Helm was also the musical director for the First National Tour of Cats and conducted Cats on Broadway early in its historic run. Mr. Helm is the resident music director at Paper Mill Playhouse, where he has been the conductor for more than 30 productions. He is also the musical supervisor for live Theater Productions of Diego Live, Blue's Clues and Dora the Explorer.

Andrew David Ostrowski (Lighting Designer) has designed the lighting for 10 CLO Cabaret productions, including Nunsense, Forever Plaid, 8-TRACK, The Sounds of the 70's, My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. His other recent credits include Porgy and Bess for the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh and both Without You and Long Story Short for City Theatre. Mr. Ostrowski has been the Associate Lighting Designer on 50- plus Pittsburgh CLO shows and has designed for Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Quantum Theatre, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre and Pittsburgh Musical Theater.

HISTORY OF THE SHOW

The Producers started as a 1968 comedy film written and directed by Mel Brooks. It was the first film directed by Brooks, who won an Academy award for his screenplay. A friend of Brooks persuaded him to turn his movie into a stage musical. Brooks then asked Thomas Meehan to join him in writing the book for the stage.

The original production opened at the St. James Theatre on April 19, 2001 and ran for 2,502 performances, closing on April 22, 2007. The show originally starred Nathan Lane as Max Bialystock and Matthew Broderick as Leo Bloom. It won 12 Tony awards, breaking the record held for 37 years by Hello, Dolly!, which had won 10.

After the opening, The Producers broke the record for the largest single day box-office gross in theatre history, taking in more than $3 million. It then broke its own record in 2003 when Broderick and Lane's return went on sale, with over $3.5 million in single day ticket sales.

At the 2001 Tony Awards, The Producers won twelve out of the fifteen nominations it received, becoming one of the few musicals to win in every category for which it was nominated (it received two nominations in the category for leading actor and three in the category for featured actor). Currently, The Producers ties with Billy Elliot the Musical (2009) for the most nominations ever received by a single show.

The production spawned a successful London production, running for three years, and national tours. Beginning in September 2002 there were two touring companies that played 74 cities in the United States grossing over $214 million.

In 2005, the musical was adapted into a musical film, becoming a movie based on a musical based on a movie about a musical. It starred most of the original Broadway cast, in addition to celebrity actors Will Ferrell and Uma Thurman.

Since it's opening on Broadway, The Producers has also been presented professionally in many cities around the world, including Toronto, Berlin, Sydney, Seoul, Toyko, Copenhagen, Milan, Budapest, Madrid, Mexico City, Prague, Vienna, Athens, Portugal and Moscow, and has been translated into over 15 different languages.

ABOUT THE ORIGINAL CREATIVE TEAM

Mel Brooks (Book, Music and Lyrics) is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. Mr. Brooks is a member of the short list of entertainers with the distinction of having won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award. Three of his films ranked in the Top 20 on the American Film Institute's list of the Top 100 comedy films of all-time: Blazing Saddles, The Producers and Young Frankenstein.

Thomas Meehan (Book and Lyrics) is a Tony award-winning writer, best known for Broadway hits Annie, The Producers and Hairspray. Additional credits include Ain't Broadway Grand, Oh Kay!, Bombay Dreams, and Annie 2: Miss Hannigan's Revenge. In addition, Mr. Meehan is a long-time contributor of humor to The New Yorker, an Emmy Award-winning writer of television comedy, and a collaborator on a number of screenplays, including Mel Brooks' Spaceballs, a remake of To Be or Not to Be, the film adaptation of The Producers, and One Magic Christmas.

TICKETS FOR 2010 SUMMER SEASON

Tickets for The Producers start at $26.50 and are available online at pittsburghCLO.org, by calling 412-456-6666 or at the Box Office at Theater Square. Groups of 10 or more may call 412-325-1582.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE FOR THE PRODUCERS

July 6 Tuesday 8pm July 13 Tuesday 8pm
July 7 Wednesday 8pm July 14 Wednesday 8pm
July 8 Thursday 8pm July 15 Thursday 8pm
July 9 Friday 8pm July 16 Friday 8pm
July 10 Saturday 2pm & 8pm July 17 Saturday 2pm & 8pm
July 11 Sunday 2pm & 7:30 pm July 18 Sunday 2 pm

Pittsburgh CLO gratefully acknowledges PNC Bank for its sponsorship of The Producers as part of the PNC Spotlight Series.

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