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Dec 26, 2001 from People.com:
Sarah Jessica Parker in bulky brown-and-pink cardigan, Levi's and green Wellingtons kissing hubby Matthew Broderick on Madison Avenue in New York City.

Dec 24, 2001 from Playbill:

Maybe eight shows a week he wants to be a producer, but Matthew Broderick (and his wife Sarah Jessica Parker) are investors in a new dining establishment. Angus McIndoe, a self-named restaurant from the former Joe Allen's maitre'd, opened next door to the St. James Theatre, so eatery angel Broderick won't have far to walk for a meal. Joining the two for dinner are Off-Broadway actress J. Smith-Cameron and playwright Kenneth Lonergan. (Photo by Aubrey Reuben)

Dec 17, 2001 from New York Magazine:
The American Foundation for AIDS Research won't be honoring individuals the way it usually does at next year's fourth annual Seasons of Hope gala. Instead, the event - hosted by Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick - will feature celebs reading works about the spirit of New York written by authors and playwrights including Woody Allen, Terrence McNally, Tony Kushner, Dominick Dunne, Adam Gopnik, John Guare, Michael Cunningham, Pete Hamill, Liz Smith, and Candace Bushnell.

Dec 14, 2001 from Playbill:
On New Year's Eve 2002, San Diego will get the West Coast premiere of the Broadway's mega-hit "The Producers" for a two-week run at the Civic Theatre through Jan. 12, 2003. Tickets at the 2,975-seat Civic will run decidedly less than the the $480 top price for "Inner Circle" ducats at Broadway's St. James Theatre. The price range for the CA stay will run $34.50 $78.

No word yet (as of Dec. 12) on dates for the show's sit-down engagement in L.A., and a report from the Colorado-based Rocky Mountain News notes that Denver Center Attractions, which had hoped to land the musical in 2003, won't see it until spring 2004 at the earliest.

Dec 12, 2001 from Playbill:
The gasps have quieted down now that $480 tickets to Broadway's "The Producers" have been on sale for nearly a month. Announced as a way to foil scalpers, the price hike counted on the desire of people who really want to see the hit show being willing to pay top-dollar and then some.

Joe Farrell, CEO of Broadway Inner Circle, which handles the big-ticket ticket sales, told Playbill On-Line, "Sales are certainly going well and meeting our expectations." Farrell did express pleasant surprise that the $480 tickets maintained their appeal even when star Nathan Lane was out of the show, a fairly frequent occurrence. "I think it's because Lane and Broderick are both extraordinary, too, and Mel Brooks shares equal billing with them. They're there to see the show," Farrell said.

No word yet on how long Lane, Broderick and costars Cady Huffman, Brad Oscar, Gary Beach and Roger Bart will stay with the production. According to a Barlow-Hartman spokesperson (reached Dec. 12), Lane and Broderick are contracted until March 17, 2002. Broderick will have a week's vacation, Jan. 8-13, but his planned filming of a television version of "The Music Man" next year won't get in the way of The Producers' schedule unless he stays well past March. The Producers regularly sells out the St. James theatre at 101 percent attendance. The show grossed nearly $1.2 million for the week ending Dec. 9 - nearly $200,000 more than its closest competitor, the equally-sold-out "The Lion King."

from Actors' Equity Association:

Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, a.k.a. Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom of Broadway's "The Producers," invite readers this December to produce baskets for the annual Stephen J. Falat Holiday Basket Project of Actors' Equity Association. Since 1986, volunteers have delivered baskets (large, colorful shopping bags) filled with clothing, books, CDs, candy, toiletries, etc. to local hospitals and AIDS organizations to brighten the holidays of people living with AIDS. This year, over 2,500 baskets will be delivered to more than 20 hospitals, AIDS hospices, pediatric AIDS centers, and HIV community services in the New York metropolitan area. All merchandise in baskets is new, and basket donations are welcome in any quantity. For example, samples from cosmetic counters and the mini-toiletries from hotels would be just what the doctor ordered if you work in those industries. Volunteers also fill baskets at the Equity Audition Center on the second floor. Members can drop by and be put to work between auditions. Send deliveries to Stephen J. Falat Basket Project, c/o Second Floor Audition Center, AEA 165 W. 46th St., New York, NY (Thanks, Ann!)

Dec 11, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
Variety - Before starting rehearsals for Edward Albee's "The Occupant," the first week in January, Anne Bancroft and hubby Mel Brooks head to vacation in the Caribbean. With Bancroft on stage in N.Y. while Mel's "The Producers" goes on (forever!), it does not necessarily mean they'd be in town together. Mel reminds me he commutes to L.A. for Brooksfilms biz -- but nothing's yet set to film.

As for "Producers," road companies plus London and Australia are in the works. While Matthew Broderick may take another job when his pact's up in March, he would like to return to the legiter.

Dec 5, 2001 from New York Daily News:
If Mel Brooks has his way, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick will open "The Producers" in Los Angeles in April 2003. "Understand, they're only signed to the Broadway production until April 2002," Brooks said Monday at Elaine's during a party celebrating his new book, modestly titled "'The Producers': The Book, Lyrics and Story Behind the Biggest Hit in Broadway History! How We Did It."

"We haven't even set the cast in New York beyond Nathan and Matthew," Brooks said. "And I have no idea who will play the leads when the show travels around the U.S. for two months prior to L.A. But if I had my wish, Nathan and Matthew would at least start things off when the show gets to the Ahmanson Theater in L.A."

from New York Post:
John Leguizamo is the highest-paid star on Broadway right now, with his one-man show "Sexaholix," all told, Leguizamo is said to be making nearly $80,000 a week. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, co-stars of "The Producers," are distant seconds.

Both are said to be making about $2.5 million a year in the hit show, or about $50,000 a week. No other performer on Broadway comes close to pulling down that kind of money, though Brooke Shields reportedly was making about $30,000 a week toward the end of her run in "Cabaret" this past October.

Nov 29, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Break out the 76 trombones: Tony-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth has been cast to star opposite Matthew Broderick in ABC's upcoming remake of "The Music Man." Chenoweth will play Marian, the River City librarian who attracts the romantic interest of Broderick's lovable con man. The role was played by Shirley Jones in the 1962 feature that sprang from the original 1957 Broadway tuner.

In addition, Emmy-nominated director Jeff Bleckner ("Serving in Silence," "The Beach Boys: An American Family") has inked to take the helm of "Music Man," to air as part of ABC's "Wonderful World of Disney" franchise next season. Production is expected to begin in March when Broderick takes a break from the Broadway smash "The Producers." Chenoweth co-starred in ABC's critically praised remake of "Annie." She most recently starred in her own short-lived NBC comedy.

Nov 20, 2001
Check out the new GAP advertisement with Matthew and the whole cast of "The Producers" on the new Entertainment Weekly magazine. Also, visit gap.com. (Thanks, Laura!)

from Broadway.com:
It only seemed fitting that the star of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," the nation's hottest movie, came to the Great White Way to check out Broadway's hottest show, "The Producers." That's exactly what happened on November 20 when young Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, showed up at the St. James Theater to enjoy the Mel Brooks smash starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. Broadway.com caught up with the new Hollywood heavyweight backstage. (Photos by Bruce Glikas)

Broderick and Lane let Radcliffe try on one of the famous Producers hats.

Radcliffe and Broderick.

from Yahoo! News:
Launch.com - Enrique Iglesias will be one of the featured performers during the live halftime spectacular when the NFL's Detroit Lions play the Green Bay Packers on Thursday (November 22) at Michigan's Pontiac Silverdome. The special Thanksgiving halftime will feature Iglesias singing his hit song "Hero."

Joining Iglesias at the game celebration will be Detroit's own BeBe Winans, who will sing "Together We Stand," as well as Matthew Broderick, the current star of Broadway's "The Producers," who will do a special salute to heroes on videotape from New York City. And 20-year-old Warner Bros. recording artist Josh Groban will sing the national anthem prior to the game, which is scheduled to air at 12:30 p.m. ET on Fox.

Nov 15, 2001 from Playbill:
Mel Brooks has milked a new revenue source out of the cash cow that is "The Producers." The producer-composer-librettist-funnyman has put out a new book, modestly titled, "The Producers! The Biggest Hit in the History of Broadway! How We Did It." King Midas himself will appear at the 600 Fifth Avenue Barnes and Noble bookstore on Dec. 3 to sign this mighty tome. The event will take place from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM.

Nov 14, 2001 from People.com:
Seen: Sarah Jessica Parker in a chic camel-colored overcoat, jeans and funky green galoshes, dining with hubby Matthew Broderick at Le Cirque 2000 in Manhattan.

Nov 7, 2001 from Playbill:
Nathan Lane, Tony-winning star of Broadway's "The Producers," will reduce his stage commitment to the Mel Brooks musical to six shows a week over the next two weeks. The decision was made after Lane consulted with his doctors; the actor dropped out of the show last week after a polyp was discovered on his left vocal cord. For the next fortnight, Lane will perform only one show a day, Tuesday through Sunday, forgoing the Wednesday and Saturday matinees.

A Barlow-Hartman office spokesperson told Playbill On-Line that Lane did both shows on Sunday, Nov. 4. Reports from those who saw the Sunday shows said that Lane was in poor voice but compensated with his trademark comic gusto and personality.

Nov 5, 2001 from Playbill:

She might be saying "I'm on this little TV show and my husband is in a Broadway show you might have heard of...The Producers?" Theatrical power couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick celebrate her Nov. 1 opening in "Wonder of the World" on Manhattan Theatre Club's Stage I. Parker plays Cass, a wife who leaves her husband (Alan Tudyk) when she discovers his secret sexual interest and goes in search of something new and different in Niagara Falls, one of the great wonders of the world. It plays through Jan. 5, 2002. (Photo by Aubrey Reuben)

Nov 4, 2001 from New York Times:
As a significant number of adults are seeking to separate this holiday season from the materialistic splurge of the last decade, it affects everything from gift buying to religious services to entertaining. The actress Sarah Jessica Parker said that neither she nor her husband, the actor Matthew Broderick, feel much like celebrating. The couple live in Greenwich Village and, like many residents of downtown, still feel unsteady. "I just want to sit around and knit," Ms. Parker said. "I told Matthew that unless there was something he really wanted, I just didn't feel like buying anything."

Nov 2, 2001 from Playbill:
Nathan Lane - whose struggles with the exhausting nature of the lead role of Max Bialystock in "The Producers" have been well documented - has been diagnosed with a polyp on his left vocal cord. As reported by the New York Times and confirmed by the Barlow-Hartman press office, the ailment caused the actor to remove himself from the hit musical through the end of this week. Doctors have ordered him not to speak until his throat heals. Spokesperson Barlow told Playbill On-Line (Nov. 2) that Lane would miss both shows Nov. 3, but there's no word on an official return date.

Refunds or exchanges will be proffered to audiences who missed seeing Lane. Both Lane and co-star Matthew Broderick are contracted for the show through March 17. "An extension has been broached" for Lane, Barlow noted, "but nothing's confirmable at this point." He added that whatever Broderick's commitment to playing Harold Hill in an upcoming television version of "The Music Man," the actor would not need to take an extended leave from "The Producers" to do so.

Nov 1, 2001 from Broadway.com:
"Wonder of the World" opening night bash at Brasserie 8: The show is starring Sarah Jessica Parker, she was given a book of Matthew Broderick photos as an opening night gift by her co-star Amy Sedaris. (Photos by Bruce Glikas)

Sarah Jessica Parker & hubby Matthew Broderick.

Broderick and his "You Can Count on Me" director Kenneth Lonergan.

Broderick & brother-in-law Timothy Britten Parker.

Oct 28, 2001 from Newsday.com:
By Liz Smith - Those very funny guys who are "The Producers" - Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick - will join with Rosie O'Donnell to run AMFAR's Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS gala Feb. 4. The event was postponed from November. Call 212-806-1753 for tickets.

Oct 26, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
NEW YORK (AP) - "The Producers" the town's toughest theater ticket, has rocked Broadway by planning to sell 50 of the best seats in the house for a record $480 each, nearly five times the show's current top ticket price. The move was designed to thwart excess profits made by scalpers who buy tickets and then resell them at a huge profit.

Oct 23, 2001 from New York Daily News:
Denis Leary and Carol Kane walked into Gotham Gardens on the upper West Side last week and ordered three $100 floral arrangements: for Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick and Eve Ensler. Leary and Kane were thanking the trio for helping to raise money for the Leary Fighterfighters' Foundation.

Oct 17, 2001 from InStyle.com:

"The Producers"' Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick took their act on the road. A benefit for Denis Leary's Firefighters Fund for New York's Bravest at The Park restaurant, N.Y.C., October 15 featured live and silent auctions and a special performance by Broderick and Lane (who sang a reworked "People Will Say We're in Love"). (Photo by Startraks)

from New York Daily News:
Dennis Leary's firefighters' fund collected $250,000 from supporters like Harrison Ford, Richard Gere, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick and Annabella Sciorra at The Park on Monday night when they auctioned off some big-ticket items.

Revlon CEO Ronald Perelman spent $8,500 on an Annie Leibovitz portrait of Bruce Springsteen wrapped in an American flag. And Julianne Moore gladly handed over $3,000 for a Fire Department-inspired T-shirt designed by Sofia Coppola. An autographed guitar of Sting's and "Producers" tickets (with backstage passes) each went for $6,000.

Oct 12, 2001 from BroadwayOnline.com:
"The Wonderful World of Disney" on ABC, which debuted "South Pacific," starring Glenn Close and Harry Connick Jr., last spring, will roll the cameras on "The Music Man," starring Matthew Broderick, in February.

Oct 10, 2001 from New York Post:
Denis Leary and Patti D'Arbanville are co-hosting a benefit next Monday, Oct. 15, to benefit the families of firefighters lost in the Sept. 11 WTC tragedy.

Expected to attend "New York's Bravest" at The Park (118 10th Ave.) is the entire cast of "The Sopranos," Harrison Ford, Steve Buscemi, "The Producers" stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick and many more celebs including Julianne Moore, Uma Thurman, Penny Marshall, John Leguizamo and a "surprise" guest. All proceeds will be donated to The Fund for New York's Bravest.

Oct 4, 2001

Among the aftershocks of the terrorist attacks on New York has been a drastic fall-off in Broadway and off-Broadway theater attendance. One study pegged the losses to the city's economy caused by closed shows at $873 million. The city has mounted a major campaign, including pleas from Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, to support the theater industry, and it is starting to pay off: Ticket sales are up substantially. Yesterday, a crowd milled about the St. James Theater, above, as a matinee performance of "The Producers" was letting out. At right, Matthew Broderick, a star of the show, stopped to pose with fans Megan Brock (left) and Joni Arp of Virginia. (Photos by San Francisco Chronicle)

Oct 1, 2001 from E! Online:

Stylish but somber is the order of the day for Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker the Actors' Fund 20th Anniversary Benefit Concert of the musical "Dreamgirls" at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. In the wake of the September 11 tragedy, Broderick plays it straight in a maroon-bowtied suit, while Parker keeps it low-key in a padded shouldered jacket, black cami and white slacks. Bravo to these stars for having the courage to get out, face the cameras and help get the city moving again. (Photo by ImageDirect)

from USA Today:
Hundreds of Broadway actors - many in full costume and makeup - and supporters descended on Times Square on Friday morning to tape a public service announcement promoting the nation's theater capital and New York tourism in general. Many performers expressed their appreciation to the city agencies involved in rescue efforts. Bebe Neuwirth and Glenn Close also spoke of finding solace in the closeness of the Broadway community. Brooke Shields, now starring in "Cabaret," agreed: "It's a source of relief and refuge at a time like this."

Added Matthew Broderick, "Like the rest of New York, we've realized over the past few weeks how much we depend on each other."

from New York Magazine:
"When we came back on the Thursday (Sep 13) after the attack, the theater looked full at first," says Matthew Broderick. "But then you'd realize that the sound of your own voice was different. It was the sound against empty seats."

Comparatively, though, The Producers is packed. Five Broadway shows have closed since September 11, and shows that haven't been forced to close are still suffering.

Sep 28, 2001

Cady Huffman, of "The Producers" hugs co-star Nathan Lane as they join other Broadway cast members singing "New York, New York" for a public service announcement Friday, Sept. 28, 2001, in New York's Times Square. Also with them are Elaine Stritch, left and Matthew Broderick.

Hundreds of Broadway cast members sing "New York, New York" for a public service announcement shot. In the front row, from left, are Bebe Neuwirth, Susan Lucci, Joel Grey, Michele Lee, Valerie Harper, Bernadette Peters, Betty Buckley, Elaine Stritch, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. (Photos by AP)

Broadway stars Matthew Broderick (R) and Nathan Lane, sing the song "New York, New York" in Times Square, for a special public service announcement which was made to support New York City tourism and Broadway in wake of the September 11 World Trade Center attack. (Photo by Reuters)

from Playbill:
The Booth Theatre - and Broadway itself - had never seen anything like it. The morning of Sept. 28, by 10:30 AM, casts of approximately 30 Broadway shows-from the past, present and future-gathered in the Booth before being herded toward Duffy Square for the taping of the new "I Love New York Theater" commercial, a bit of Broadway cheerleading set to the tune of "New York, New York." The mass gathering is meant to re-invite America and the world to a glittering, tough industry bruised at the box office by the Sept. 11 tragedy.

Tony Award-nominated choreographer Jerry Mitchell demonstrated the basic choreography in the theatre, just eight steps, "a big finale like Broadway Bares," Mitchell's fleshy annual benefit show, "but we'll keep our costumes on," he said. The casts let out a disappointed "Aawww!"

The companies came in all sizes, from the large, fully-costumed and coiffeured "The Phantom of the Opera" to "Dance of Death." One by one, shows were ordered out of the Booth, to congregate on the Duffy Square Island, where they would be filmed with Times Square behind them. Company after company filed out, until only "The Producers," "42nd Street," "The Lion King" and other luminaries were left to fill in what would be the front row of the outdoor group shot. "The Producers" took front-and-center with Tony- winner Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick most prominent.

Before filming with mutiple cameras and two booms, the Broadway companies worked through the choreography as Mitchell shouted instructions: "Sunshine, Sunshine!" (meaning reach for the sky) and "Times Square" (point to the Square with hip cocked, ala "Saturday Night Fever") through a bullhorn. He continued to give the companies commands as they moved to a pre-recorded version of the John Kander-Fred Ebb classic, "New York, New York," which included a solo spot by Tony winner Bernadette Peters.

After four taped run-throughs, a brief break for water and warm up time allowed the casts to mingle with each other. As time and tapings went on, fruit platters were passed around to performers. The long and short versions of the commercial were taped over and over while Broadway awaited the afternoon arrival of a very special guest. New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani arrived to deliver one line of "New York, New York": "It's up to you." (Photos by Christine Ehren)

All together now - well, maybe not. Many takes make a commercial as the companies of Broadway show attempt to get Jerry Mitchell's choreography correct and together. Good takes were awarded with praise and breaks for water and fruit.

One of Jerry Mitchell's assistants teaches the cast of "The Producers" including Tony nominees Matthew Broderick, Roger Bart and Tony winner Nathan Lane and Gary Beach, the eight steps that make up the upcoming "New York, New York" commercial.

Sep 25, 2001 from Newsmakers:
Stage actors participate in "Broadway Stars Band Together" to rally support for Broadway shows and New York City tourism by recording the song "New York, New York" for special public service announcements for the "Let's Go On With The Show" campaign September 25, 2001 in New York City. (Photos by Getty Images)

Alan Alda and Matthew Broderick	Broderick, Bernadette Peters, Tony Roberts, Bebe Neuwirth, Betty Buckley, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Joel Grey
Broderick, Peter Gallagher, Peters and Michelle Lee	Valerie Harper, Lea DeLaria, Dick Cavett, Patti LuPone, Broderick, Susan Lucci, Peters and Roberts

Broadway stars Bernadette Peters, (R) and Matthew Broderick pose for photographers, September 25, 2001 before they start recording the song "New York, New York."	Bernadette Peters (R) and Matthew Broderick sing the song "New York, New York" in New York City for a special public service announcement to support tourism and Broadway in wake of the World Trade Center attack. (Photos by Reuters)
Matthew Broderick, left, and Bernadette Peters break during a special public service recording of "New York, New York."	Matthew Broderick, far left, and Bernadette Peters, second from left, lead a chorus of other Broadway stars for a special public service recording of "New York, New York." (Photos by AP)

As theater performers recorded a spirited rendition of "New York, New York" to help bring audiences back to Broadway, producers announced the latest box-office figures: ticket sales are up, but there's still a long way to go. At "The Producers," every seat and every standing-room slot were sold, according to spokesman John Barlow, grossing $982,952 up from the five-performance figure of $546,858.

from BroadwayOnline.com:

Matthew Broderick and Bebe Neuwirth record radio spots advertising Broadway.

Broderick and Bernadette Peters. (Photos by Elaina Fusco)

NEW YORK -- At a Sept. 24 press conference, the League of American Theatres and Producers, Broadway's trade organization, unveiled plans for a comprehensive fundraising and media campaign that spells out numerous efforts being undertaken by the Broadway community. These include ticket sale donation, lower-priced seats, star-studded benefit - specific dates are still TBA, but an October benefit concert will take place featuring Broadway stars and entertainers, and public service marketing campaign - the League and its members will launch an extensive advertising campaign, estimated at $5 million. These TV, print and radio ads have been donated by various media organizations in an effort to lure tourists back to Broadway and beef up patronage for restaurants, transportation and retail. The full-page print ads will carry the banner headline, "I LOVE New York Theater," with the tag line, "Let's Go On with the Show."

Broadway stars Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane and Kevin Spacey are taping radio spots on Tuesday, Sept. 25. These spots will run on Clearview Channel radio stations throughout the New York City area.

On Friday, Sept. 28, Broadway stars will appear in costume in Times Square, where they will sing "New York, New York" for a television ad campaign and possibly a music video. According to the League, major networks, regional stations and local cable stations have set aside air time for this TV campaign. If the music video is indeed created, it will be shown in cinemas throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Matthew Broderick and wife Sarah Jessica Parker arrive for a performance of "Dreamgirls" at the Ford Theater. Show was a benefitt for the Actors Fund of America. (Photo by Daily News Pix)

Sep 21, 2001 from New York Times:
The League of American Theaters and Producers convened a remarkable array of theater people this week - many of whom are usually competing for audiences, advertising accounts and Tony Awards - to develop an industrywide marketing campaign. Devised by Nancy Coyne and Drew Hodges, who run two of the biggest Broadway advertising companies, the campaign will use movie trailers, print and radio advertisements (probably featuring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick of "The Producers") and a television advertisement featuring every actor on Broadway singing "New York, New York" in the middle of Times Square.

Sep 20, 2001 from MSNBC:
Sarah Jessica Parker and hubby Matthew Broderick were spotted working on a food line feeding the volunteers at the World Trade Center blast. A spokeswoman for Parker says she knows nothing of it.

from New York Daily News:
Ground Zero has also turned into a kind of VIP zone. Police won't let most concerned citizens anywhere near the disaster scene. But actors such as Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Steve Buscemi and Michael Imperioli have helped pass out food or otherwise assisted. Last Friday, Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein and Talk magazine editor Tina Brown joined staff from the Tribeca Grill in delivering hot breakfasts.

Movie producer Brad Epstein, who has been working daily with restaurateur Drew Nieporent and chef Don Pintabona in supplying the vittles, says the cops and firefighters don't seem to mind the attention - especially from Parker. "She was signing a lot of helmets," says Epstein. "The guys loved it."

from People.com:
The mood turned more overtly patriotic, however, at Broadway's hottest show, "The Producers," when stars Nathan Lane, who had to evacuate his TriBeCa apartment near the site, and Matthew Broderick, who lives close enough to have seen one of the buildings collapse, closed the evening by leading the audience in "God Bless America."

from Newsday:
Broadway publicists are encouraging stars from some of the shows, such as Valerie Harper of "The Tale of the Allergist Wife," and Matthew Broderick of "The Producers" to go on national television to inform viewers that New York -- and Broadway, in particular --is safe to visit.

Sep 19, 2001
Matthew will be on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight, other guests include John Miller, Odetta and the Boys Choir of Harlem.

Sep 18, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
Reuters - Broadway has taken a hard hit since the attack on the World Trade Center, with even the powerhouse show "The Producers" playing to a few empty seats for the first time, industry sources said September 18, 2001.

Sep 15, 2001 from Pagesix.com:
Sighting: Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick at a separate table from Carson Daly and several MTV staffers at Le Madri.

Sep 14, 2001 from E! Online:
David Sedaris tells the Onion that Matthew Broderick is considering the lead in Wayne Wang's adaptation of the author's comic memoir, "Me Talk Pretty One Day."

from Yahoo! News:
NEW YORK (AP) - From 41st Street and "Rent" to 54th Street and "Cabaret," the curtains rose again Thursday on Broadway shows after two nights of dark, empty theaters because of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

"We have an expression in the theater," said Rocco Landesman, one of the producers of "The Producers." "The show must go on." And it did, to cheers and applause from an audience that yelled and clapped even before Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick came on stage. Landesman spoke at the start of the sold-out performance of Broadway's biggest hit, which, he said, was dedicated to "our fellow New Yorkers who died in the senseless tragedy in the World Trade Center."

"The show you are going to see is a comedy, and I couldn't be happier that it is a comedy," he said. "I think laughter is a great bonder of people. I don't think anything could be better in terms of making a statement about what is going on than to attend an event where we can all be together and laugh together."

Before the shows began, Broadway theaters dimmed their lights, and a quiet fell over arriving theatergoers, even the estimated 150 people waiting in the ticket-cancellation line at "The Producers." The hush was sudden and eerie, broken only by the chimes of theater bells urging latecomers to take their seats. At the end of the show, after a standing ovation, the cast and crew on stage led the audience in singing "God Bless America."

Nathan Lane, third from left, and Matthew Broderick, fourth from left, join cast and crew to sing "God Bless America" after performing in "The Producers," at New York's St. James theater, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2001, two days after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. (Photo by AP)

Sep 13, 2001 from New York Daily News:
Actors Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker walked by ground zero last night with their black and white border collie, Sally. The couple said the destruction has shaken their neighbors' desire to live in Tribeca.

"I've been living around here my whole life. I think this is horrible," said Broderick, co-star of "The Producers" on Broadway.

"We'll get it back, but we won't get the people back. I'm in shock."

from Playbill:
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Sept. 12 that Broadway is one of New York City's major attractions - more popular than the Mets and the Yankees, he conceded - and encouraged the Great White Way's theatre owners and producers to reopen for business Sept. 13 after two days of darkness following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on New York City.

Broadway theatres and box offices, as well as the midtown TKTS Discount Tickets Booth, were expected be open for business as usual - albeit, with the disaster and the great loss of life on all minds - Sept. 13. Off-Broadway theatres were also expected to reopen, although some venues below 14th Street, where no traffic is allowed, may be shuttered. Call ahead to box offices or ticket agencies to confirm performances.

Broadway marquees will be dimmed Thursday night "as a gesture of respect for the victims of the recent attack on New York and their families," said League of American Theatres and Producers president Jed Bernstein. Those who held Broadway tickets for shows Sept. 11-12 can get refunds or exchanges at point of purchase, according to a League statement.

Sep 11, 2001 from Playbill:
All Broadway theatres and box offices are closed today, Sept. 11, owing to a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

A League of American Theatres and Producers spokesperson told Playbill On-Line Sept. 11, "everything is shut down for the day." No word on what decisions are being made regarding matinees or shows on Wednesday, Sept. 12. A Tele-Charge operator told Playbill On-Line (12:39 PM) that Broadway ticket-holders could call Tele-Charge (212) 239-6200 later in the day and tomorrow to find out whether shows on Wednesday will be affected.

Sep 10, 2001

New York - Actors Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane at Icons & Legends, a benefit auction to support Friends in Need, the non-profit organization dedicated to providing support for those dealing with life-threatening illnesses. (Photo by eZuma)

from New York Magazine:
Earlier this summer, we reported that Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick were thinking about buying a home in Bridgehampton that Parker sort of stumbled upon unexpectedly. Well, it's time to send them a housewarming present. The couple bought the five-bedroom 1850s Victorian just before Labor Day. They also picked up some land and an equally old barn next door, which they plan to convert into a guesthouse. They paid a little less than $2 million for the 1.5-acre spread, a source close to the Sex and the City star tells us. "She's going to do extensive work on the house," the source says. "She said she wanted something big enough to hold her large family." (Parker is one of eight children.) The couple -- longtime renters on the East End -- weren't even looking when Parker got a peek at the home. Our source says she fell in love with the place when she was tagging along with a pal who was house-hunting.

Sep 9, 2001 from Playbill:
Every year the casts of various Broadway shows contribute their time to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS to record a holiday album, featuring new or classic carols for a special CD available during the Gypsy of the Year fundraising period. Sept. 9 and 10, "The Producers," Urinetown, Mamma Mia!, The Full Monty and others will record "Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure 2001" at St. John's Lutheran Church.

The CD will include the following selections:

1. "A Christmas Memory," Mamma Mia!
2. "O Christmas Tree," Beauty & the Beast
3. "Carol of the Bells," Blast
4. "What Child Is This?" The Music Man
5. "Silent Night," 42nd Street
6. "That Time of Year," sung by Labors of Love, (the agents, managers and casting directors singing group)
7. "Don't Let Christmas Pass You By," Kiss Me, Kate
8. "Davy Dinkle Tinkled in the Snow," Urinetown
9. "A Full, Frontal Christmas," The Full Monty
10. "Go Tell It on the Mountain," Aida
11. "The Cactus Christmas Tree," The Phantom of the Opera
12. "Let It Come to Us," Cabaret
13. "Away in a Manager," Rent
14. "O Tannenbaum," The Producers
15. "Holiday Trio," Chicago

The CD, sold for $20, will be available at the participating shows during the Gypsy of the Year fundraising season (six weeks lasting through the end of November, beginning of December), through the BC/EFA catalogue and on the BC/EFA website. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is on the web at www.bcefa.org.

Sep 8, 2001 from E! Online:
Sarah Jessica Parker Has Deformed Breasts: Well, not so much deformed as differently sized, at least according to fashion designer turned TV star Isaac Mizrahi, who finds out how the "Sex and the City" star measures up in the premiere of his new Oxygen talk show (Wednesday, 10 p.m.). Mizrahi, whose fashion line folded in 1998 after Chanel cut off financial backing, shows the same over-the-top (but less neurotic) personality that made his 1995 fashion documentary, "Unzipped," so fun to watch. He learns to make macaroni and cheese, chats with New York Liberty basketball stars and visits S.P.J. in her "SATC" trailer to fit her for the gorgeous custom-designed dress she wears to the opening night of hubby Matthew Broderick's "The Producers" on Broadway.

Aug 24, 2001 from BroadwayOnline.com:
NEW YORK - Nathan Lane is going on vacation from Tuesday, Sept. 18 to Sept. 23 from the hit Broadway "The Producers." In his place, 2001 Tony Award nomineee Brad Oscar will play the role of Max Bialystock, opposite Matthew Broderick's Leo Bloom. Oscar usually plays the wacky, demented role of Franz Liebkind, which will be played by Jim Borstelmann during the time Lane is off.

Aug 18, 2001 from E! Online:
TCM airs the original movie version of hot Broadway property "The Producers" Monday Aug. 20 at 8 p.m. ET. The movie, starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in the roles currently played by Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, is shown in conjunction with a TCM contest that will award one lucky winner a trip to New York and a pair of those ever elusive "Producers" tickets.

Aug 17, 2001 from Playbill:
For a couple of weeks in early summer, it was a day-by-day guessing game when throat ailments would keep Nathan Lane out of Broadway's "The Producers." Then came the news that co-star Matthew Broderick would need to take several weeks off to film "The Music Man" for ABC-TV. The latter project has been put off 'till 2002, but Broderick will be taking a week's vacation in late summer, Sept. 4-9. During that time, two understudies - Jamie LaVerdiere and Jeffry [sic] Denman - will take turns covering the role of Leo Bloom. According to the Barlow-Hartman press office, Broderick will return to the show Sept. 11.

Aug 16, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) - French Stewart, who played the oddball Communicator Harry Solomon on the NBC comedy "3rd Rock From the Sun" for six years, has signed to play the title character in the Walt Disney Co.'s direct-to-video sequel "Inspector Gadget 2," taking over the title role played by Matthew Broderick in the 1999 feature. Alex Zamm (Disney Channel's "My Date With the President's Daughter") is on board to direct.

Aug 15, 2001

Theatre owner Rocco Landsman and Matthew Broderick attend a surprise party for Tom Meehan, who wrote the book "The Producers," where he received his caricature at Sardi's on Aug. 14. (Photo by PageSix)

Aug 12, 2001

Actors Mathew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker and Nathan Lane attend a rainy opening night of Chekhov's "The Seagull" August 12, 2001 at the Delacorte Theatre in New York City's Central Park. Rain interrupted, then stopped the show. (Photos by Getty Images)

Aug 11, 2001 from New York Daily News:
Matthew Broderick joined the New York celebrity team facing the team of WWF/WCW/ECW superstars in a charity softball game before the 1 p.m. game between the Mets and Cardinals.

Aug 9, 2001 from E! Online:
Sarah Jessica Parker, taping an episode of "Sex and the City" at Starbucks. Chelsea. Matthew Broderick stood outside the java joint waiting patiently for her cue, looking even more delish in the skin. No sweat visible on this overheated honey, even in the 90-degree humidity horror. S.J.P. still could not have been any sweeter to the riffraff approaching her on the sidewalk. Good fer you, doll.

Aug 2, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
(Variety) - Another deadline for Mel Brooks: Canal Plus, which has taken over ownership of "The Producers," Mel's hilarious 1967 movie, wants to rush out a DVD version, including some equally-funny outtakes, and they want to include interviews with Mel today. He is also busy with a Miramax coffee table book on the success story of the Broadway Tony winner. Publishers also are talking printing the original movie script.

Brooks reminds us of the history of the filmed "Producers," which he says segued from Avco Embassy and Joe Levine to Dino De Laurentiis, to Barry Spikings and EMI to Canal Plus (and now to a DVD). As for the play, Mel says, "We're thinking of taking it to Japan, Australia -- do you think they'd go for it in Germany?" An L.A./SanFran company would be the next "logical" company outside Broadway. As for Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, Brooks believes (hopes?) both will stay beyond their March contract finales. What about Broderick's previously noted time out to TV "The Music Man?" "I don't know if he will do it now. I hope both don't leave the show," Mel says. There's been no thought of any replacements.

Jul 30, 2001 from US Magazine:
Matthew Broderick, the star of the Broadway hit The Producers, bought border collie Sally 10 years ago [in 1991] for $35 from a farmer who was selling her out of a knapsack on a Northern California highway. Today Sally shares a New York town house with Broderick and his wife, Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker. "Sally used to be crazier," Broderick says. "Now she just lies around and licks her feet."

Jul 27, 2001 from Newsday.com:
NEW YORK (AP) - Jennifer Bleyer, the editor and publisher of Heeb - the new magazine subtitled "The New Jew Review," said she would run profiles of Jewish celebrities like Natalie Portman and Matthew Broderick.

Jul 26, 2001 from E! Online:
Matthew Broderick, walking along Ninth Avenue at 45th Street. Same sleepless city. Wearing a blue baseball cap and Risky Business-style shades, Sarah Jessica Parker's other half was also carrying a yellow baseball bat. Hmmm. I know he and S.J.P. have been trying to hit a home run in the nursery, but I guess the boy's a sexy swinger in more ways than one.

Jul 20, 2001

Matthew Broderick joins screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan and his wife, J. Smith-Cameron, at a party at Club Spa celebrating the opening night of the Drama Dept.'s new play, "Music from a Sparkling Planet" in Manhattan, New York. Smith-Cameron stars in the production. (Photo by Daily News Pix)

Jul 19, 2001 from TheaterMania.com:
Apparently, the duties of a best man don't end with the wedding. At least, that's the way Matthew Broderick plays it. He stood up for Kenneth Lonergan when he married J. Smith-Cameron and, after wowing 'em in "The Producers" on Thursday, he dropped by Spa on East 13th where the after-party for the play "Music From a Sparkling Planet" took place and lent his celebrity to Mrs. Lonergan's opening night. The upshot: all three made the entertainment pages of the dailies. Beau geste, Matthew. . . .

Jul 16, 2001 from BroadwayOnline.com:
NEW YORK - Mel Brooks, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Susan Stroman, Roger Bart, Gary Beach, Cady Huffman and Brad Oscar are going to be beamed into New York households when PBS' "Great Performances" debuts its new documentary, "Recording The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks."

The television special -- which will be broadcast 8 PM (ET) on Sunday, Aug. 5 -- documents Sony Classical's recording session of the Broadway cast album for the hit musical that won a record 12 Tony Awards in 2001. A behind-the-scenes look at what took place at the recording booth, the TV documentary intersperses the footage of the daylong session with interviews of Brooks, director/choreographer Stroman, and stars Lane and Broderick, as well as Huffman and Oscar.

"I grew up with all the great shows," Brooks said in the "Great Performances" special. "'Oklahoma!' and 'High Button Shoes' and 'Bells Are Ringing.' And that's what you're going to get here -- an old-fashioned, traditional musical comedy." The TV special is produced by six-time Emmy Award-winning producer Peter Gelb of Sony Classical and four-time Emmy Award-winning producer/director Susan Froemke of Maysles Films. "Recording The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks" has been filmed in the tradition of "Great Performances'" series episodes like "Guys and Dolls Off the Record." Lane and Broderick recorded the original cast album for the Broadway show on March 11. Patrick S. Brady was the orchestra conductor.

In the coda of the "Great Performances" telecast, Brooks added: "It's downright thrilling to write 19 or 20 songs and then listen to this gorgeous orchestra play every note of music that you wrote and listen to every lyric sung by this fabulous cast. This is like one of the great, great days of my life. And you know, I've got a lot of days." "Recording The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks" features the following musical excerpts from the CD album: "Haben Sie Gehort Das Deutsche Band" with Brooks; "The King of Broadway" with Lane and ensemble; "We Can Do It" with Lane and Broderick; "I Wanna Be a Producer" with Broderick and ensemble; "Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop" with Oscar, Lane and Broderick; "Keep It Gay" and "When You Got It, Flaunt It" with Huffman; "Along Came Bialy," "That Face," "Springtime for Hitler" and "Where Did We Go Right?" with Lane and Broderick; "Betrayed" with Lane; and "'Til Him."

from New York Magazine:
It looks like the East End may get hit with another wave of celebrity homeowners. Although Sarah Jessica Parker's rep denies it, we hear that the "Sex and the City" star and hubby Matthew Broderick are thinking about buying a place in Bridgehampton, a month or so after the twosome signed a lease for a summer rental in Sagaponack.

Jul 15, 2001 from New York Daily News:
It seems that New Yorkers have found an unusual way to deal with summer's threat of energy shortages. Take a look at the swelling populace lining up for their sugar doses at New York City sweet shops like Magnolia Bakery. The West Village cult favorite is seeing a run on its layer cakes and old-fashioned cupcakes every night.

The fact that Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have been spotted on the premises licking cupcakes hasn't hurt, nor has the face that a scene from Parker's "Sex and the City" was filmed there.

Jul 5, 2001 from Pagesix.com:
Sighting: Matthew Broderick testing out bath tubs at the Waterworks store on 57th Street, and liking the new Empire tub built for two.

from Playbill:
Nathan Lane, who missed a couple of performances of "The Producers" at the end of May owing to the need for vocal rest, has missed several more since the end of June. Lane has been out since June 29 with a tracheal infection. He was initially expected back in the show July 3 but also missed that performance. There were no shows on July 4, and the actor is, according to Barlow-Hartman spokespersons, due back tonight, July 5.

Brad Oscar, who usually plays Franz, stepped in as Max Bialystock for the five performances Lane missed. Jim Borstelmann has been the interim Nazi. Audiences members at performances missed by Lane were able to get refunds (if they arrived before the curtain went up). Exchanges were also offered, although orchestra seats for the mega-hot show aren't available until spring 2002.

Jul 4, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
Brooks, Broderick, Close and Kline as matchmakers? Well, kinda, in an indirect sort of way. According to actress Susan Egan, if it weren't for the likes of Mel, Matthew, Glenn and Kevin -- who "were pioneers as actors by working not only on Broadway, but also in TV and movies" -- she would have had to choose between the three media, instead of being able to carve a career working within all three.

Egan, who is a series regular on the WB sitcom "Nikki," will appear in an August 5 stage production of "Show Boat." She got her showbiz start on Broadway as Belle in the Disney production of "Beauty and the Beast." She's also starred in several indie features. "Back when I was just working on the stage, I was doing five shows in a weekend. My social life was virtually nonexistent. But now with the schedule I have with the show, I'm able to go to the movies on Friday nights like normal people, so I'm auditioning for my own leading man," she says.

Jul 1, 2001

At an album-signing at Tower Records June 25, Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, stars of "The Producers," posed with the play's creator, Mel Brooks, who looked like a cardboard cutout. (Photo by DMI/PageSix)

Jun 27, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
NEW YORK, /PRNewswire/ - Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker are expected to join the celebration of Yankee heartthrob Derek Jeter's 27th birthday tonight at New York's nightclub, The World.

"The Producers'" stars Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane were joined by multi-Tony-winning creator of their megahit musical, Mel Brooks, for a session of signing CDs at the Tower Records at Lincoln Center June 25. (Photo by Playbill)

Jun 26, 2001
"You Can Count On Me" is now available on Video and DVD.

Jun 25, 2001

Mel Brooks, left, creator of "The Producers," smiles toward the musical's co-stars, Nathan Lane, center, and Matthew Broderick, as they sign CD copies of the original Broadway cast recording, Monday, June 25, 2001, in New York. The man at left foreground is unidentified. (Photo by AP)

Jun 21, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
Forget reports that Sarah Jessica Parker is poised to play the librarian opposite husband Matthew Broderick when the latter stars in "The Music Man" for ABC. "It would seem to be a perfect fit, but no, that's not going to happen," reveals Neil Meron, who, with partner Craig Zadan, is producing the television "event" presentation. He adds that there's no other casting besides Broderick as yet for the musical, which will start production in January.

The producing team -- which has brought us such exciting high-quality fare as "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella" with Brandy and Whitney Houston, "Gypsy" with Bette Midler, and "Annie" with Kathy Bates -- is likely to get its new production of "The Wiz" before the cameras this fall, says Meron. And following "The Music Man" next year, they'll produce "Mame." Barbra Streisand, whose company at one point planned to coproduce the project with Meron and Zadan's Storyline Entertainment, has opted not to star in the musical. "These are very, very tricky things to put together," observes Meron. There is now a strong potential "for Cher being Mame."

Jun 14, 2001 from E! Online:
By Ted Casablanca - Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker are attached to such outstanding, award-winning projects, more than any other famed duo I can think of. Wonder if it's something in the water...No, seriously. The pair guzzle down Glaceau Vitamin Water, a nutrient-enhanced drink with New Age names like Focus, Revive and Balance. And they ain't the only ones. Nathan Lane slurps the happening H2O, as do stylish sorts including Cher and Elizabeth Hurley and designers Tom Ford and Donna Karan. S.J.P.'s on-and-off "Sex and the City" costar Chris Noth even has crates of the liquid carted to his home. Alas, I don't think there's enough Focus bottles on this planet to telepathically lead you to C.N.'s doorstep.

Jun 13, 2001 from New York Daily News:
Neighbors have been wondering when Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick will move into their West Village pad. The $3 million, three-story townhouse has stood empty since Mr. and Mrs. Broderick bought it last spring, and it'll undergo $275,000 in renovations before they make their grand entrance, says the New York Observer.

Jun 11, 2001 from USA Today:
On June 25 at 6 p.m., Mel Brooks and "The Producers" stars, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, will make a special in-store appearance at Tower Records on 66th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, where they will sign copies of the original cast recording.

Jun 8, 2001 from National Enquirer:
Matthew Broderick reigns as King of Broadway in his smash play "The Producers" -- but he don't get no respect from NooYawk bicycle thieves, ya know what I mean? Matthew pedaled over to pick up wife Sarah Jessica Parker's dress from the cleaners and chained his bike outside. In minutes, he was back -- but bike AND chain were gone! It was the star's 11th Manhattan bike ripoff!

Jun 7, 2001 from Playbill:
Just yesterday, spokespersons for Broadway's "The Producers" confirmed that Roger Bart will move up to the role of Leo Bloom when Matthew Broderick takes a six-week hiatus to play Harold Hill in an ABC television version of "The Music Man," and one of Bart's two understudies - Jamie Laverdiere or Brad Musgrove - would step in as Carmen.

Now the Daily News reports (June 7) that Broderick has asked "Music Man" producer Craig Zadan and his production company, Storyline Entertainment, to postpone the shoot until early 2002, so Broderick could play a full, uninterrupted year on Broadway. Zadan told the News, "We'll rearrange our schedule and shoot another of our films in his place, then work him back in later." A Barlow-Hartman spokesperson for the show told Playbill On-Line (June 7) that the Bart-for-Broderick ruling still stands, albeit without a timeframe. "If and when Matthew leaves," he said, "Roger will do the role. But we don't know when that'll happen. The movie hasn't yet been scheduled."

Jun 6, 2001 from New York Daily News:
By Mitchell Fink - Mel Brooks on Line 2. "I want to correct an impression in your column today," Brooks said yesterday, responding to my item about Martin Short becoming the next Leo Bloom in "The Producers." Brooks laid out the entire plan. "Marty is too big a star to replace anyone [including Matthew Broderick, who plays Bloom now]," said Brooks. "Marty can carry his own company. I'd like him to be Leo Bloom in the Los Angeles production of 'The Producers.'" By the time that happens, Brooks said, "Maybe Marty could convince Nathan [Lane] to do the show with him out there. Or in Vegas. The point is, Marty is big and needs his own company." Then who does Brooks want to sub when Broderick leaves for six weeks in the fall to play in the ABC-TV version of "The Music Man"?

"Roger Bart," he said, referring to the Tony-nominated actor who currently plays Carmen Ghia in the Broadway mega-hit. "Roger is already signed to play Bloom for those six weeks." Bart will also likely tackle Bloom full-time when Broderick leaves the show for good next year. "He should be the guy to play Leo Bloom," said Brooks. "Roger can do anything. He's a genius. In fact, if we were to do a musical version of 'Young Frankenstein,' Roger would be the perfect Eyegor," the doctor's assistant played by Marty Feldman in the 1974 film. As long as I had Brooks on the phone, I asked whether he had come back to earth yet from his Sunday night high, when "The Producers" racked up a record 12 Tony Awards. "Are you kidding? The Tonys was one of the great nights of my life. That and the night I married Anne Bancroft."

from Yahoo! News:
Reuters - On Monday, the Mel Brooks musical "The Producers" booked sales of $1.3 million a day after setting a new record with its 12 Tonys, continuing the trend of award winning plays getting a next day box office bump. Tickets for "The Producers" are now on sale through Christmas 2002, with its producers reporting the availability of good orchestra seats beginning in spring 2002.

from Official Tony Awards:
June 3 - For "The Producers" - and any other hit show - the party at the Bryant Park Grill doesn't really start until after 11 when the big players arrive from the ceremony and post-Tony gala ball. By 11:30, a small crowd gathers at the restaurant entrance to await the stars and be first to offer congratulations, hugs and kisses.

This year, the arrival of Susan Stroman and her assistant Warren Carlisle, brought an onslaught of cheers for the director-choreographer who was doubly honored for her work on Producers. Star couple Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker drifted through the crowd separately and together, accepting congratulations as "Mr. and Mrs. Leo Bloom." Nathan Lane, Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft retired together to an outdoor table on the Grill's top floor, where Stroman and others dropped by for a visit. At 3 AM, in the words of another Tony Award nominee, "The Party's Over."

from New York Post:
Lauren Bacall commented on the Tony Awards in New York, saying, "Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Mel Brooks, Dame Edna - you can hardly get better than that!" Then she closed, "Lifetime Achievement Award has an ominous ring to it. I have no intention of disappearing. As long as there's a stage, I intend to be on it!"

Jun 5, 2001 from E! Online:
Sunday's telecast of the 55th Annual Tony Awards didn't quite generate the attention CBS hoped for, given the record 12 wins for Mel Brooks' wacky Broadway hit, "The Producers." This year's ceremony averaged 8.9 million viewers--up just 4 percent from last year's record-low numbers. But on the bright side, CBS' Tonycast did shoot up a whopping 32 percent among adults 18-49, the demographic craved by advertisers.

from New York Post:
By Liz Smith - I did fall in love all over again with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane as the hosts. Their PBS opening was great, their CBS opening was great and their closing was spectacular! Congratulations to producers Gary Smith and Elizabeth I. McCann. Also kudos to Rick Kirshnerk, Glenn Weiss and the rest. This was the best Tony Awards ever!

Jun 4, 2001 from InStyle:

There was nothing but loyalty, though, from Sarah Jessica Parker who hung off the arm of husband Matthew Broderick, the Tonys co-host. Also the Best Actor in a Musical nominee, Broderick basked in "The Producers'" glow: The musical swept the Tonys with a record-breaking 12 awards.

It was lucky for Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie) that the party for the season premiere of "Sex and the City" on May 30 went as late as it did: Hubby Matthew Broderick was able to join her after his performance in Broadway's hit "The Producers." (Photos by DMI/TimePix)

Matthew Brodrick and wife Sarah Jessica Parker at the Tony awards after party at the Sheraton. (Photo by DMI/PageSix)

from BroadwayOnline.com:
What's next after "The Producers"? Mel Brooks said he is still "toying with the notion" of turning his film "Young Frankenstein" into a musical. "To coalesce the vapors of that would take a year of walking around Frankenstein and asking it, 'Sing to me.' Where does it sing? Where is the emotion? Even though "The Producers" is the funniest show in town, the other shoe that's dropped is emotions, the love story between Matthew and Nathan, between Cady and Matthew. Love counts a great deal. Certainly there's love there between the monster and Dr. Frankenstein."

Nathan Lane, who won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, offered personal testimony for Brooks' collaborative spirit. "It's been great working on the show, but it's harder than you think, those songs" Lane said. "Mel realy writes for actors. He shaped the characters of Bialystock and Bloom around Matthew and myself. During the Chicago run, I said to him that I really need something to do in the second act. After 'Springtime for Hitler,' I didn't really have much left to do. So he wrote the song 'Betrayed.'"

Lane, who brought co-star Matthew Broderick on stage when he accepted the best-actor award, later said: "We have a highly unusual relationship. We're very close and we've become friends. Matthew made this one of best experiences in my life, both personally and professionally. We enjoy each other's company. I not only respect him as an actor but he's also a delightful person. I don't know how I can stand there and not have him stand next to me. He's become an integral part of the show, and I'd like to think part of the success of the show has to do with our relationship."

Is it unusual for an award-winning actor to include his co-star, whom he competed with in the same category, so that both of them can appear on television for the acceptance speech? "I don't know," Lane replied. "I haven't exactly tracked this."

For Lane, winning the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical was, in a sense, just all in a day's work. Both he and Broderick rehearsed the script during the morning of the June 3 telecast and then performed a matinee of The Producers before hopping along to Radio City Music Hall to host both the PBS and CBS live telecasts of the awards ceremony. "It's been an extremely long day," Lane said. "We've been rehearsing all day. We did the matinee and I came in for this. We were rehearsing what we were going to do tonight. I wrote the stuff that we did tonight, so we were rewriting and shortening things. It's been an overwhelming experience."

from Yahoo! News:
NEW YORK (Variety) - Mel Brooks was asked if it would be possible to take "The Producers" to London without stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. "You may not need them," he said. "There's Alan Cumming and Alfred Molina and a whole lot of people who can dance and sing."

Natasha Richardson stepped in at the last minute as a presenter on the Tony show, after Sigourney Weaver bowed out because of "family problems." Richardson said she hasn't yet seen "Producers": "I called Sarah Jessica and Matthew's assistants (for tickets), and they haven't called back, so I'm still waiting."

from New York Post:
By Cindy Adams - Yesterday morning, after two shows Saturday and before a matinee yesterday, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, both wearing black and eyeglasses, were rehearsing at Radio City. "Nathan wrote our lines," Matthew told me.

Jun 3, 2001

Actors Nathan Lane (L) and Matthew Broderick perform in the opening stage number at the 2001 Tony Awards at New York's Radio City Music Hall, June 3, 2001.	Actors Nathan Lane, left, hugs Matthew Broderick during the 55th annual Tony Awards Sunday. (Photo by AP)
Stars of the hit musical "The Producers" Nathan Lane (R) and Matthew Broderick (L) perform on stage at the 2001 Tony Awards. The Producers is nominated for 15 Tonys.	Nathan Lane (L) accepts the 2001 Tony award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical as his co-star in "The Producers" and fellow nominee Matthew Broderick applauds (R).
Nathan Lane (right/center) and Matthew Broderick (left/center) perform a number from "The Producers" with the show's cast at the 2001 Tony Awards. "The Producers" won 12 Tony Awards on the night including Best Musical.	Mel Brooks, (L) the main creator of the musical "The Producers" hugs actor Nathan Lane (C) as actor Matthew Broderick looks on at the end of the Tony Awards. (Photos by REUTERS except as indicated)

"The Producers" won every prize it possibly could at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan Sunday night, breaking the Broadway record with 12 Tony Awards, the most any musical has won since "Hello, Dolly!" took 10 in 1964. The show had already broken two Broadway records, selling more than $3 million worth of tickets the day after it opened and drawing 15 Tony nominations, beating the previous record, held by "Company" in 1971.

"The Producers" trophies included: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan), Best Original Score -- Music & Lyrics -- Written for the Theater (Brooks), Best Direction of a Musical (Susan Stroman), Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Nathan Lane), Best Scenic Design (Robin Wagner), Best Costume Design (William Ivey Long), Best Lighting Design (Peter Kaczorowski), Best Choreography (Stroman), Best Orchestrations (Doug Besterman), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Gary Beach) and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Cady Huffman).

Susan Stroman who won for best choreography, making her only the third person in Broadway history - after Bob Fosse and Tommy Tune - to win that award in consecutive years.

"The Producers" hubris continued with the opening of the network section of the broadcast, in which dizzy co-host Matthew Broderick claimed he was "drunk with power." "This is a megahit, this is a juggernaut. I will never be more powerful! I'm the king of the world," he joked. "We are 'The Sopranos' of musical comedy!," and went on saying he feels like "Zeus, Jupiter and Oprah combined," and asserting "I could have people killed...because it amuses me." He also called co-host Nathan Lane a "pipsqueak," an "elf" and "a tiny Virginia baked ham," as Lane did takes.

For his part, Lane said "We feel like the Bush twins at happy hour!" However, the hosts then disappeared for the next hour and 20 minutes. Later, when Lane won the actor award, he dragged Broderick out with him to collect his award. "I can only accept this on behalf of the two of us and not because I worship and adore Matthew, but because we are a team," Lane said, with his arm around his co-star, adding that, "Believe me, without him I'm nothing." He then gave the Tony Award trophy to Broderick and remarked: "Here, hold this. And if you're good, we'll get ice cream later." Broderick quickly and politely backed off, though, allowing Lane to bask in the moment.

Upon winning Best Musical, Mel Brooks said, "I want to thank Hitler for being such a funny guy -- on stage." He said Lane and Broderick were "Better than eating pizza and watching 'Top Hat.'" With his Tony wins, Brooks enters a rarefied circle of people who have won a Tony Award, an Academy Award, a Grammy Award and an Emmy.

The 55th annual Tony Awards ceremony on the PBS telecast, which was officially titled "The First Ten Awards: Tonys 2001," began at 8 PM, with Lane and Broderick on red armchairs, "Masterpiece Theatre" style, spectacles and smoking jackets making fun of PBS' hoity-toityness - albeit with jokes about Pamela Anderson, teamsters and "Survivor."

The CBS hour began with a "42nd Street" subway tap-fest, followed by Broderick and Lane, in tuxedos, kidding about the former getting a swelled head over "The Producers'" mega-power -- until Lane reminded his partner of the two flop films they'd done, "Godzilla" and "Isn't She Great."

Broderick's wife Sarah Jessica Parker, who presented the award for best revival of a play, introduced herself as "Mrs. Leo Bloom."

from Tony Awards:

Nathan Lane (L) and Matthew Broderick rehearsing the openning sequence of the 2001 Tony Awards.	Broderick (left), Lane, Brad Oscar and other cast members of "The Producers" during Sunday's dress rehearsal.
The 55th Annual Tony Awards co-host and one of the stars of "The Producers," Matthew Broderick, during final dress rehearsal.	Broderick and Lane appeal to the audience while rehearsing.
Matthew Broderick takes time out during rehearsal to sign autographs.	The cast of "The Producers," the new Mel Brooks musical at the completion of their production during rehearsal. (Photos by Andrew C. McGibbon)

Jun 1, 2001 from PeopleNews:
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are reported to be expecting their first child. Carrie, Parker's character in "Sex and the City," is about to get pregnant, and rumours are circulating that the plotline has been developed around her own forthcoming baby. When asked at a recent party if this was the case, Parker, 36, just beamed and shrugged. Her fellow cast member Kim Cattrall was more open, saying: 'I think life might be imitating art. We'll just have to shoot her behind a couple of desks.' Other co-star Kristin Davies was more cagey. 'We're all ladies, so sooner or later one of us just might get pregnant,' she said. (Thanks, Marianne!)

from New York Daily News:
It wasn't just die-hard theater lovers who were disappointed that Nathan Lane became ill and missed four performances of "The Producers" this week. Sarah Jessica Parker, wife of Lane's co-star, Matthew Broderick, was none too thrilled, either. Parker's "Sex and the City" co-star, Kristin Davis, told me she had been after Parker for weeks to use her access to get two seats to "The Producers," so she could take her manager, Dave Fleming, on Tuesday.

"Then on Tuesday morning," said Davis, "Sarah Jessica sent me this frantic e-mail saying that Nathan was sick and perhaps I should wait until another time." But she couldn't, because Tuesday was the only night Fleming could go. Parker, who had planned to join them, bailed out. "It's a two-hander," she reasoned, meaning the show works better when Lane and Broderick are working side by side. "They need each other." Nevertheless, Davis, who went anyway, said Fleming was not disappointed by the performance of Lane's understudy, Ray Wills. "He pulled it through," said Davis, who vowed to go back soon to see Lane, who returned to the show last night.

from ABCNEWS.com:
Sarah Jessica Parker admits she won't be watching the Sunday night premiere of "Sex and the City" on HBO. She has a good reason - her husband Matthew Broderick co-hosts the Tony Awards. He's also a nominee for his role in "The Producers."

She says she's not giving him any advice, despite her current spot in the limelight. "He's won two Tony awards already, so, he's such a lovely, decent person, he's so gracious. He doesn't need any tips from me," said Parker.

from Pagesix.com:
Sarah Jessica Parker Broderick, also be on the Tony show, is not presenting to her family member, Matthew co-host Broderick. At HBO's party for "Sex and the City," Sarah said: "I can't believe I'll be there watching my husband possibly getting an award."

"I'm freaking thrilled for him. My fantasy is for someone to open the envelope and announce, 'A tie between Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane.' It would be so terrific. See, the relationship between those two guys is a great love story." Standing in the eye of a hurricane of cameras, she said: "I had a wonderful childhood, but we were so poor. We had nothing. I've been working 30 years. For what I have now, not a day goes by that I'm not grateful."

from New York Times:
Sarah Jessica Parker, attending a party for the new season of HBO's "Sex and the City" at Damrosch Park Wednesday night with husband Matthew Broderick, offered tips for a happy marriage. (Short version: a little absence makes it more interesting.)

May 31, 2001 from Tony Awards:

The company of "The Producers," the new Mel Brooks musical, during Tony Award rehersals at Radio City Music Hall.

The cast of "The Producers" in rehearsal for the 55th Annual Tony Awards ceremony. (Photos by Andrew C. McGibbon)

from BroadwayOnline.com:
Matthew Broderick says he always knew "The Producers" was funny "but, until we opened in Chicago, I didn't know it would be a hit. None of us expected this!"

"The Producers" is not Roger Bart's first time to play opposite Broderick. He was in "How to Succeed in Business..." as Bud Frump.

Being perceived as tall and sexy didn't always make it easy for Cady Huffman to get work or be judged solely on her talent. "Everyone has their genre," says Huffman, "I'm the height of the average American male, which means there're a lot of guys out there that are shorter than I am. Luckily, Matthew (Broderick) and I are close to the same height. He's about an inch shorter than I am, but, then, I wear three-inch heels. Nathan (Lane) is much shorter, but I don't have love scenes with him -- well, not on stage, at least." Hers are with Broderick and she does say that, in person, he's as shy as his Leo Bloom character is onstage.

William Goldman, author of the landmark 1968 study of Broadway, "The Season," used the May 28-June 3 issue of weekly Variety to hold forth on why "The Producers" is as big a hit as "My Fair Lady" or "A Chorus Line" -- and in particular why it shows up most of the musicals of the past two decades: "It is the final nail in the coffin of the s- that has been flooding the theatre for the past 20 years. It is, if you will, finally and blessedly, the death of Andrew Lloyd Webber." Goldman continues, "Lloyd Webber, let it be noted, is still a very young man. And he will make more money next Tuesday than most people earn in a lifetime. His shows still run all over the world, and he has new ones aplenty. But he doesn't matter anymore. And a good thank God for that...." Show Music Magazine publisher John Pike announces that he will devote virtually the entire summer 2001 issue to "The Producers." The magazine will be published June 15.

May 30, 2001 from Playbill:
Nathan Lane will be resting his vocal cords for a little while longer. The Tony-nominated star of "The Producers" has been out of the show since Sunday's matinee "on vocal rest," according to a spokesperson, who added that Lane will miss both of today's performances but is expected to be back in the show on Thursday evening, May 31.

Understudy Ray Wills has been appearing in the four performances that Lane will miss. Audience members for those performances can either stay for the show, leave and get their money back at the box office, or leave and book another date to see the show (although The Producers' huge popularity means they'll have to wait weeks or months before seats are available). Lane and co-star Matthew Broderick are expected to be in all the performances (including Sunday's matinee) from now up till their co hosting of the Tony Awards on Sunday night.

from People.com:
Sarah Jessica Parker has gone on record as saying that not even she can get tickets to the Broadway smash "The Producers," even though her husband, Matthew Broderick, stars in it. So The New York Times, armed with the knowledge that emergency pairs of tickets are held for every performance, went looking to see who exactly could get into the sold-out show. "If you're Bill Clinton, we've got tickets," Rocco Landesman, the show's lead producer, told the paper. He'd let in Fidel Castro, too, he said . . . but not George W. Bush. Landesman did not explain why, but he did say that recently he was able to accommodate Yankees manager Joe Torre. Yoko Ono, on the other hand, did not receive similar treatment. (Thanks, Marianne!)

May 29, 2001 from BroadwayOnline.com:
NEW YORK - Gwyneth Paltrow, Reba McEntire, Audra McDonald, and Brian Stokes Mitchell have joined the growing lineup of presenters on tap for the 2001 Tony Awards June 3 at Radio City Music Hall. At least two of the presenters have family connections. Gwyneth Paltrow is the daughter of Blythe Danner, nominated as Best Actress in a Musical. Sarah Jessica Parker is wife to Matthew Broderick, nominated as Best Actor in a Musical. A complete rundown of the musical numbers and scenes to be performed on the air by the Tony-nominated shows also was announced. They are as follows:

Backstage sequences from "The Producers," "42nd Street," "King Hedley II" and "The Full Monty" are also going to be on view.

May 28, 2001 from Theatre.com:
Tina Brown's Talk magazine puts "The Producers" on the cover of its June/July issue, examining how its political incorrectness has led to its success.

May 27, 2001 from Time(June 4 issue):
There's no jealousy like show jealousy, as Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick will no doubt discover Sunday night. Not only is "The Producers" up for 15 Tony Awards, but Lane and Broderick, who star in the musical, are hosts of the ceremony too. "Way back when they asked us to do it, nobody had been nominated yet," says Broderick, "so it wasn't like 'Oh, you've got 15 nominations, why don't you also host it?'" Aware that some may be rooting against "The Producers" juggernaut, Broderick says, "Well, we can't win all of them"--pause--"because we're up against ourselves for a few of them." Broderick and Lane will compete for Best Actor in a Musical ("I'm pretty sure he'll win," says Broderick) and try to be gracious. "Hopefully we'll be amusing and not have people throw vegetables at us."

May 25, 2001 from Theatre.com:
NEW YORK - William Ivey Long, whose costume designs for "The Producers" earned him a Tony nomination, is a two-time past winner ("Nine," "Crazy for You") who currently has five other shows running on Broadway: "The Music Man," "Annie Get Your Gun," "Contact," "Cabaret," and "Chicago."

A very important piece of material in the plot is Leo's "blue blankey," the tattered piece of blanket with which Matthew Broderick is obsessed. "We all worked on that one," recalls Long. "It went through many changes of texture and color. We ended up going with the one that the prop lady, Laura Koch [credited as Head Property Master], brought from home. I think it was an old electric blanket that's she chopped up to use as a rehearsal prop. But Matthew literally got used to his blanket. It's been washed, dry-cleaned..."

May 24, 2001 from Playbill:
In recent weeks, reports have surfaced that producers of shows other than "The Producers" and "42nd Street" are chafing at the face-time that may end up being granted those two shows, since "Producers" stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick are co-hosting the event (and their musical may very possibly take home double-digit Tony wins), and "42nd Street" is seen as benefiting most from a subway opening number.

Several Tony presenters are now officially announced for the June 3 event at Radio City Music Hall. Lily Tomlin, who just finished a Tony-nominated revival run of "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe," will be among the stars presenting that night, as will "The Heidi Chronicles'" Joan Allen and "Sunset Boulevard" Tony winner Glenn Close.

Dame Edna, whose "Royal Tour" earned a special Tony last year, will also be on hand, as will Edie Falco ("Side Man"), Sigourney Weaver ("Sex and Longing"), Jane Krakowski ("Grand Hotel") and Doris Roberts (TV's "Everybody Loves Raymond"). Sarah Jessica Parker, who co starred opposite hubby Matthew Broderick in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," will also present. Her husband will be extra-busy that night, though, since he's co-hosting the Tonys with his Producers co-star, Nathan Lane. Both are Tony Nominees for Best Actor in a Musical.

May 22, 2001 from Theatre.com:
Perhaps it was the driving rain. Perhaps it was the lull before the Tony Awards. But as of 10:45 AM on May 22 a ticket was sold at the box office of the St. James Theatre and no one followed to buy another. That's right: there was no line at "The Producers" for the first time in more than two months. By mid afternoon the rain had abated and the line was back in full force.

May 21, 2001 from Theatre.com:
NEW YORK - Broadway's twin juggernauts, "The Producers" and "Proof," came out on top in yet another theatrical awards ceremony May 20, this time winning Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Play in the 46th annual Drama Desk Awards. "The Producers" won 11 Drama Desk Awards, the most ever, beating previous record-holders "City of Angels" (1990) and "Sweeney Todd," (1979) which won 9 each. In addition to Outstanding Musical, "The Producers" won Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Nathan Lane), Outstanding Featured Actor and Actress in a Musical (Gary Beach and Cady Huffman), Outstanding Book of a Musical (Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan), Outstanding Lyrics (Brooks), and Outstanding Direction and Choreography (Susan Stroman), along with Outstanding Orchestrations (Doug Besterman), Set Design (Robin Wagner) and Costume Design (William Ivey Long).

When Lane won his award, he first commended the other Best Actor nominees. "In spite of all the jokes here tonight, we're all in this together." He went on to praise co-star Matthew Broderick: "We're a team, so this is for both of us." Lane also thanked director Susan Stroman, telling the audience, "Susan Stroman just called from Berkeley. She opened 'The Music Man' there." Finally, Lane paid tribute a man he called his inspiration. "If I share this with Matthew, I also share it with another great actor, Zero Mostel."

Broderick, said, "I was supposed to present with my wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, but she had an opportunity to go to Paris, and she took it. So Nathan is filling in... as he does so many nights."

May 20, 2001

"The Producers" collected multiple Tony nominations over brunch at the Marriott Marquis. An embarrassed Nathan Lane hid behind his, then he and co-star Matthew Broderick shared a laugh. (Photos by DMI/PageSix)

"The Producers'" Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick may not be competitive on stage, but they are facing off against each other at the Tony Awards in the Best Actor in a Musical category. May 16, the American Theatre Wing and League of American Theatres and Producers held the annual Tony Awards Brunch, where the nominees are given their nomination plaques and have a chance to meet and greet the press before facing the Tony Awards ceremony June 3. (Photo by Playbill)

from New York Times:
Many critics have pointed out that underlying Mel Brooks's withering satire is a tenderness for his characters and an unjaded infatuation with the very musical forms he is satirizing. That tenderness is embedded in the music, though the audience might miss it were it not for the performance of Matthew Broderick, whose Leo Bloom has an apt neurotic hysteria, punctuated with bouts of light-on-the-feet bravado.

As he proved in the revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," Mr. Broderick is a lovely and articulate singer. His words are delivered with naturalness and clarity, like a gift to his listeners. He has an actor's voice, but his pitch is unfailing and his sound rich, slightly throbbing and touched with poignancy. So when he sings Mr. Brooks's homage to the soft-shoe song-and-dance number, "I Wanna Be a Producer," the effect is funny yet sweet. And when at Bialystock's trial he begins " 'Til Him," a takeoff on the sentimental Broadway love song, his singing is so unaffected and honest, you darn near get misty- eyed. That is, until the jurors, a chorus of old biddies, break into mock-angelic "ah-ah" refrains.

May 18, 2001

Matthew Broderick and Maximillian Schell at the Drama League 67th Annual Awards Luncheon at the Grand Hyatt last Friday May 11. More than 400 professionals, Drama League members and civilians were present. "The Producers" is the winner for Distinguished Production of a Musical. (Photo by NewYorkSocialDiary) (Thanks, Marianne!)

May 17, 2001 from New York Daily News:
Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick gave a black T-shirt with the words "Bialystock & Bloom" to Cady Huffman as a gift. She wore it yesterday at the 2001 Tony Awards brunch.

from Yahoo! News:
(Variety) - On their night off stage, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Mary-Louise Parker (Tony-nominated for "Proof") and Michele Lee and members of "42nd Street," "Class Act" and "The Rocky Horror Show" performed at the Manhattan Theater Club's annual gala May 14, 2001, which raised $1,300,000. The MTC acquired the Biltmore theater on West 47th St. It will be restored so its future shows -- in a Broadway house -- will be eligible for Tonys without having to move as both "The Tale Of The Allergist's Wife" and "Proof" did to qualify.

May 16, 2001

Nathan Lane, left, and Matthew Broderick, of Broadway's "The Producers," pose with their nomination certificates at the 2001 Tony Awards brunch in New York, Wednesday, May 16, 2001. Lane and Broderick, both nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, will co-host the Tonys this year. (Photo by AP)

Actors Nathan Lane (L), Mary-Louis Parker (C), Matthew Broderick pose with certificates at a nominees brunch for the American Theater Wing's 55th Annual Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards in New York on May 16, 2001. Lane and Broderick were nominated in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical category for "The Producers." Parker was nominated in the Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play category for "Proof." (Photo by Reuters)

from Playbill:
The Mel Brooks-Thomas Meehan-Susan Stroman smash Broadway musical, "The Producers," is hoping to open a London production in early 2003, Playbill On-Line has learned. "It's looks the first three months of 2003," said Steve Baruch, part of the Frankel/Baruch/Viertel/Routh Group, one of the producers behind the monster hit. Baruch spoke to PBOL at the May 16 Tony Nominees Luncheon at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square.

"A lot of that has to do with Susan Stroman's schedule," he continued. "'Contact' is all over the place. And now the Harrick Connick, Jr. Show," "Thou Shalt Not," which will hit Broadway this fall, under Stroman's direction. "The U.S. tour will precede London," Baruch added. Casting for both tour and London has not been addressed. No specific London theatre has been targeted, but Barach said, "SFX is a partner here and they have a great presence in London, including a producing-managing arm there."

from Chicago Sun-Times:
Actor Fisher Stevens, a Chicago native, had his directorial debut last weekend with the airing of his film, "Just a Kiss," at opening night of the Gen Art Film Festival in New York. Proud dad Norm Fisher hit the Big Apple to catch the romantic comedy, which stars Marisa Tomei, Kyra Sedgwick, Zoe Caldwell, Taye Diggs and Ron Eldard. Following the film festival the actor hit Lotus to celebrate and was joined for drinks by good friend Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks and Tomei.

May 15, 2001 from Playbill:

Matthew Broderick, one half of Broadway's "The Producers," saw his show garner distinguished musical honors and his director Susan Stroman awarded an outstanding achievement in musical theatre at the May 11 Drama League Awards. With him is Follies and film star Blythe Danner. (Photo by Aubrey Reuben)

"The Producers'" Matthew Broderick just got a plum role in Kenneth Lonergan's film, "You Can Count On Me," but he still turned up for the May 10 reopening of Lonergan's "Lobby Hero" at the John Houseman Theatre. (Photo by Aubrey Reuben)

May 14, 2001 from People.com:
At the Manhattan Theatre Club's 30th anniversary Spring Gala in New York on Monday night, PEOPLE asked Matthew Broderick, star of the superhit "The Producers," if he identifies with the timid accountant he plays in the show, Leo Bloom (who, like Linus in the "Peanuts" cartoon strip, clings to a security blanket). "Sure I do," said Broderick, "Everybody . . . probably does and wishes they had a security blanket. I never had a security blanket, but if I thought of it I might have. I wasn't a blanket person. I sucked my thumb."

Each spring, Broadway gathers in Central Park to play America's pastime, or at least the softball equivalent. Among the stars up to bat this year are "The Producers'" Matthew Broderick and Cady Huffman. 2001 marks the 47th season of the Broadway Softball League. Each year, currently running Broadway shows are eligible to play every Thursday from 11 AM on at the Heckscher Softball Fields in Central Park. (Photo by Playbill)

May 13, 2001 from New York Times:
During the conversation between Cady Huffman, who plays Ulla, the Swedish secretary slash receptionist slash showgirl in Broadway "The Producers" and Lee Meredith, who created the role of Ulla in the original 1968 movie version:

"Is Matthew shy?" Ms. Meredith asked, referring to Matthew Broderick, who plays Leo Bloom, the accountant who wants to be a Broadway producer and falls in love with Ulla.

"Yeah," Ms. Huffman said. "He is shy."

"Oh, how cute!" Ms. Meredith exclaimed, and the two women laughed.

May 12, 2001 from New York Daily News:
If Matthew Broderick had it to do over, he might not have agreed to star in an upcoming ABC movie version of "The Music Man." As I (Mitchell Fink) reported earlier in the week, Broderick may have to leave "The Producers" for six weeks this fall to honor his ABC commitment. "If I could, I'd push it back," Broderick told me at yesterday's Drama League luncheon at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

"I know I shouldn't be telling this to you," he said, "but I'm not looking forward to going to Los Angeles to do the movie. I'll do it because I made a commitment. But I'm having too much fun doing 'The Producers' to think about doing anything else." Broderick, who plays accountant Leo Bloom to Nathan Lane's larcenous impresario Max Bialystock, had no idea the show would take off the way it has. He and Lane signed one-year contracts, but I get the feeling they could wind up staying much longer, or perhaps return years from now to reprise the roles they have made so famous.

"I've been in successful movies," said Broderick, "but you're always removed [from the audience] with movies. Here, I get to the theater every night and I have to cut through a line of people waiting to buy tickets just to get to the stage door."

from Theatre.com:
NEW YORK - "The Producers" was recognized as Distinguished Production of a Musical at the 67th annual Drama League Awards Luncheon, which was held Friday, May 11 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. It has now won every "Best Musical" award for which it has competed. Meanwhile, Susan Stroman received the award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre. She was cited for her work as both director and choreographer for "The Producers," "The Music Man" and "Contact." Andre Bishop, artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater, accepted the award in Stroman's absence. (Photos by Randy Gener)

Matthew Broderick and Blythe Danner

Matthew Broderick, Blythe Danner and Treat Williams

May 11, 2001 from New York Times:
But Can He Produce a Ticket?: Matthew Broderick is tired of being asked by strangers if he can get them tickets to "The Producers."

"Policemen stop me - policemen ask me for tickets," he said on Wednesday at a party for a play not his own ("Lobby Hero," by a high school buddy, Kenneth Lonergan). "People, when I buy something in a store, they say, 'Is there any chance I can get a ticket?' " But he's a star. Can't he do something? "Not very often," he said. After all, his own friends and relatives want tickets, too. And the producers of "The Producers" have limited the number of tickets cast members can get. "When I give two house seats away for a night, that means I don't have any extra," he said, "There's no leeway. There's no flexibility."

from New York Post:
Many theater people are grumbling that, with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, as co-hosts, the Tonys are simply going to be a celebration of "The Producers," a show that hardly needs any more exposure. But Gary Smith, executive producer of the Tony Awards, said Broderick and Lane will not dominate the Tonys.

"They are not going to be running throughout the show," he said. "They are doing the intro, performing their number and saying goodnight." But, he added, "If 'The Producers' has a big presence on the Tonys, that, in my opinion, is due to the fact that it may win a lot of awards. And that is up to the Broadway community, not me."

from Theatre.com:
NEW YORK - Kenneth Lonergan's "Lobby Hero", an Off-Broadway which re-opened its commercial run May 9, had an opening night party at Chelsea nightclub Suite 16. Matthew Broderick showed up, straight from that night's performance of "The Producers." He was accompanied by Cady Hoffman, his leggy co-star. Friends, photographers and media types mobbed the two Tony nominees as soon as they passed through the red cordon ropes, and while Broderick was very friendly indeed, he often motioned with his fingers that with the volume of the music in the club, he wanted to preserve his voice. (Photos by Randy Gener)

Matthew Broderick with Kenneth Lonergan at Chelsea's Suite 16

You can count on Broderick to show up at Lonergan's party

Broderick with Cady Huffman of "The Producers"

Broderick and Huffman

More Broderick

May 10, 2001

L-R Matthew Broderick star of "The Producers" Henry Winkler, Len Cariou, Cady Huffman, Conrad John Schuck, Stephanie Michels, Treat Williams and John Ritter throw the first pitch at the opening of the 47th Season of the Broadway Softball League. (Photo by FWD)

from Theatre.com:
NEW YORK - It was a sunny and mild day in Manhattan as the participants of the Broadway Show League gathered in Central Park's Hecksher softball fields to open their 47th season of competition between teams fielded by casts and crews of the various Broadway shows.

Opening-day ceremonies involved a check presentation from sponsor Michelob, a rendition of the national anthem by "The Music Man" barbershop quartet, and simultaneous first pitches by Broadway celebrities. Cady Huffman, John Ritter, Matthew Broderick, Treat Williams and Henry Winkler were among the ceremonial hurlers.

And then it was time to play. The teams scattered to their various ballfields and started warming up. "The Producers" star Matthew Broderick tossed the ball with a teammate as he fielded questions about the disappointing Mets, among other things. "They're not playing very well," said Broderick. "I think they'll get it together. They just need new pitching."

After a few weeks of practice, Broderick still had no preference as to what position he plays. "I just play wherever they want me to play," he shrugged. "I think I'm playing second base today." At his first at-bat, Broderick grounded out to first. (Photos by Elaina Fusco)

The Broadway Softball League

Broadway stars throw out the first pitch.

Matthew Broderick throws out the first pitch.

Matthew Broderick warms up.

Matthew Broderick grounds out to first.

May 9, 2001 from New York Daily News:
Broderick May Not Bloom This Fall: Memo to everyone standing on line to buy tickets to "The Producers": If you're seeking a pair for a performance this autumn, there's a chance someone other than Matthew Broderick will play the role of Leo Bloom. Broderick and Nathan Lane were signed to the show for a year. But Broderick's contract allows him to bail out for six weeks to star in ABC's TV-movie version of "The Music Man."

Sources tell me Broderick's handlers are working with the network to lock in that six-week window, and fall appears the most likely time. "The dates are not set in stone yet," said Broderick's PR rep, Simon Halls, "but whenever he does leave to do 'The Music Man,' the important thing is that he's definitely coming back to 'The Producers.' "

from Theatre.com:
NEW YORK - A limited number of tickets to the annual Drama Desk Awards are being sold to the general public. For the first time ever, the awards show -- which will be held 9 PM Sunday, May 20 at the F.H. LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center -- is opening its usually exclusive doors to theatregoers who are eagerto see the annual ceremony live.

The tickets, which cost $150 and $200, include a pre-performance reception at the theater, to which Broadway stars like Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Reba McEntire, Sarah Jessica Parker, Camryn Manheim, and Faith Prince are invited. Call Smarttix at (212) 206-1515. Or visit www.smarttix.com.

May 8, 2001 from Playbill:
It's getting to be a familiar refrain around New York City theatre awards circles: "The Producers" and "Proof" are 2001's best musical and play. The New York Drama Critics Circle certainly concurs, naming the two alongside the British play, "The Invention of Love," as the best of the year. The Circle voted May 8 at the Conde Nast offices in Manhattan, according to Awards spokesperson Richard Kornberg. The Awards ceremony will be held May 22 at the Palm West restaurant, 250 West 50th St.

from Theatre.com:
NEW YORK - Play ball! The Broadway Softball League opens its 47th season Thursday May 10. The casts and crews of Broadway shows will compete in the three-month championship series on the fields of Manhattan's Central Park, just blocks north of Times Square. The public is welcome to attend the games free at the Heckscher Softball Fields in Central Park. The game will begin at 1 PM with the national anthem sung by the barbershop quartet from "The Music Man."

Teams from "Aida," "Kiss Me Kate," "The Lion King," "Rent," and "Bells are Ringing" will be playing this week. And celebrities such as Matthew Broderick, Rebecca Luker, Deborah Yates, John Ritter and Michele Lee are expected to attend. The games, played every Thursday afternoon, will be sponsored by Michelob Light, which will also present a $50,000 check to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids at the opening ceremony.

May 7, 2001 from New York Daily News:

From inside the hit Broadway show "The Producers" comes word of a furor over the Fuhrer. While fans were lining up on W. 44th St. last week trying to buy tickets to the sold-out show, a different kind of jockeying for position went on behind the scenes. The object of desire was the original artwork for last week's cover of The New Yorker. The cover, drawn by Barry Blitt, shows an audience hysterically laughing and applauding while watching "The Producers." In the middle of it all sits Adolf Hitler. His arms are crossed, and there's a scowl on his face. The title of the artwork is "Furor on Broadway." As soon as the issue appeared last Monday, the bidding war began. First to call was Anne Bancroft, who asked to buy the original art for her husband, "Producers" creator Mel Brooks. Bancroft didn't know it, but a second call came in from the office of Susan Stroman, who directed "The Producers." She wanted the art, too. If that wasn't enough, Sarah Jessica Parker called New Yorker editor David Remnick to see if she could nab the cover for her husband, "Producers" co-star Matthew Broderick. The prize went to Bancroft. Asked why, Remnick said, "I guess the race is to the quick, and as Dustin Hoffman knows, Anne Bancroft, God bless her, is very fast."

from Yahoo! News:
NEW YORK, /PRNewswire/ - Thanks to Champagne Taittinger, the official sponsor of the Tony Awards, the biggest and brightest of Broadway's stars including Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Juliet Binoche, Gary Sinese, Blythe Danner and Mary Louise Parker will be receiving the red carpet treatment at this year's 55th Annual Tony Awards. The nominees for best actor and best actress are being showered with a Taittinger Tony Awards gift basket filled with some of the world's finest products, from bubbly to barware, paper to perfume. This year's Taittinger Tony Awards basket is valued at over $3000.

The new Mel Brooks musical, "The Producers," was nominated for 15 Tony awards May 7, 2001, a new record for the theater world's top honors. Brooks, pictured on opening night April 19 at the St. James Theater in New York, earned three nominations himself for best score, best book and as one of the producers of the hit show. (Photo by Reuters)

The record for Tony wins has stood since 1964 when "Hello, Dolly!" took home 10 prizes. "The Producers" could eclipse the Carol Channing musical even though it got multiple nominations in two categories. Its two stars, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, were nominated. So were three of its supporting performers - Roger Bart, Gary Beach and Brad Oscar - in the featured-actor musical category. The musical also received nods for book, score, direction-musical, featured-actress musical, choreography, sets, costumes, lighting and orchestrations.

There was some confusion involving the previous record holder for most Tony nominations. For 30 years, it was thought that "Company," the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical, had received 15 nominations. "'Company,' in fact, had 14 nominations," said Keith Sherman, a spokesman for the Tonys. "In all the record books, Hal Prince was listed twice, for best production and best producer. In fact, 'Company' only won for best production. We went back to the actual ballot from the '70s and noticed the truth." A copy of the 1971 Tony ballot shows it received 14 nominations and there was no separate category for producer.

May 4, 2001 from Theatre.com:
New York media published predictions about the May 7 Tony nominations, with the only quandary being whether or not "The Producers" would get a record number (15) of nominations, and how strong a lock on the Best Musical award the show already has. The normally staid New York Times said Nathan Lane is "the absolute, prohibitive, bet-the-house, bet-the-car, bet-the-kid favorite to win leading actor in a musical."

May 3, 2001 from E! Online:
Matthew Broderick, greeting the assembled enthusiasts with "mucho gusto." Casually clad in jeans, a pink polo and New York Mets baseball cap, with behemoth bodyguard in full Mets attire. What a gracious gent: Matt spent more than half an hour signing Playbills and posing for photos before ambling to an adjacent eatery.

May 2, 2001 from Theatre.com and Playbill:
NEW YORK - It's confirmed by Tony officials that "The Producers" stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick will host the 2001 Tony Awards. Since both hosts will be men, the Tony producers decided that all the presenters will be women. Glenn Close, Sigourney Weaver and Edie Falco have already signed up as presenters.

"The first three times I hosted were just a warm-up to this year," Nathan Lane said in a statement. "The fourth time is the dream. I'm thrilled to be asked back." Added Matthew Broderick: "Hosting the Tony Awards is a true honor. Knowing that Nathan and I will be up there together should also make it a great deal of fun."

Also, the official website for the 2001 Tony Awards is being launched on May 2. The Tony nominations press conference will be held on May 7 at Sardi's theatrical restaurant on West 44th Street at 8:30 AM (EST), and will be covered by Theatre.com. Log in that morning for the complete list of nominees. The nominees' brunch, at a venue TBA, will be May 16. The 55th annual event will again be broadcast on PBS (the first 10 awards, 8-9 PM EST) and CBS (9-11 PM EST) on June 3 from Radio City Music Hall. A limited number of tickets to the ceremony will be made available to the general public at $100 and $250, beginning May 7 at 10 AM EST. Tickets can be purchased through the Ticketmaster Tony Hotline by calling (212) 307-4544.

from Yahoo! News:
NEW YORK (The Hollywood Reporter) - "The Producers" continued its winning streak Tuesday with 14 nominations as the Drama Desk announced contenders for its 46th annual awards. "Producers" Drama Desk noms included outstanding musical, two best actor nominations (Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick), two featured actor nominations (Gary Beach and Roger Bart), featured actress (Cady Huffman), set design (Robin Wagner), orchestration (Doug Besterman), costume design (William Ivey Long) and lighting (Peter Kaczorowski). The show's Susan Stroman won two nominations as best director and choreographer, and Mel Brooks took two more noms for best lyrics and book.

The 2001 Drama Desk awards ceremony will be broadcast in its entirety on May 25 at 9 PM on Channel 13/WNET. This airing will be in addition to the live coverage by NY1 of the May 20 event. The additional coverage is expected to markedly increase the exposure the Drama Desk Awards typically receive. NY1 will also repeat its broadcast on May 26, giving local television viewers a total of three opportunities to see the show. A cocktail party for the nominees will be held May 3, and the winners will be announced at the awards ceremony, set for May 20 at the F.H. LaGuardia High School Concert Hall at Lincoln Center, with Lily Tomlin hosting.

May 1, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
NEW YORK (The Hollywood Reporter) - "The Producers" led the pack Monday when the Outer Critics Circle doled out its annual awards for Broadway and off-Broadway fare, nabbing eight wins from 10 nominations, including Outstanding Broadway musical, best actor in a musical (Nathan Lane), featured actor (Gary Beach tied with "The Full Monty's" Andre De Shields), featured actress (Cady Hufman), Scenic Design (Robin Wagner), Costume Design (William Ivey Long) and two wins for Susan Stroman as the show's director and choreographer.

Lane accepted the award from his "Producers" co-star and fellow nominee Matthew Broderick. The OCC 51st annual awards ceremony will be held May 24 at the Eugenia Room of Broadway haunt Sardi's restaurant, 4-7:30 PM.

Among celebs in to see "The Producers" were Julia Roberts and Benjamin Bratt. Carl Reiner will see the show May 28, and Brooks says, "I want to sit next to him."

Apr 27, 2001 from Theatre.com:
"The Producers" Phenomenon:

Apr 25, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
Other notable Billboard album chart debuts in a relatively quiet week included rapper Angie Martinez at 32 with "Up Close and Personal," English acoustic popster David Gray at 153 with "Lost Songs" and the Broadway cast album to Mel Brooks' musical version of "The Producers" at 159. The critically adored stage production featuring Mathew Broderick and Nathan Lane.

Apr 23, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
Thanks to the incredible demand and the steep ticket prices for "The Producers," which was nominated for 10 Outer Critics Circle Awards earlier this month and seems a lock to clean up at the Tonys, it could gross as much as $1.1 million a week. If the production keeps going strong, its group of small-time backers should get their original investments returned by Thanksgiving. Broadway sources say Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick will likely pull in over $1 million each during the show's first year.

from Playbill:
On Sunday evening's performance of "The Producers," April 22, star Nathan Lane sprained his right ankle coming off the newspapers in the opening number, "The King of Broadway." The injured foot was taped up during Matthew Broderick's "I Wanna Be A Producer" sequence, and Lane "went back onstage and completed the show." The actor saw a doctor today (April 23) - and the producers of "The Producers" can laugh again: Lane is fine. He won't miss any performances and will be in the show Tuesday night, April 24. It also doesn't appear that he'll require any kind of limited movement or redesigned choreography, according to a Barlow-Hartman press rep.

She gets "Sex and the City;" he gets "The Producers." TV's Sarah Jessica Parker celebrated husband Matthew Broderick's opening in "The Producers" April 19.	Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick star as Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom in "The Producers," which opened at Broadway's St. James Theatre.
The cast of "The Producers," starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick (center), takes their opening night bow.	Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick take their opening night bows in "The Producers."

from InStyle:

Though no dancing Hitler was in sight, the post-show bash riffed on the show's setting: Broadway 1959. Coordinated by Tobak-Dantchik Events and Promotions, Manhattan's Roseland would be a paradise for Max Bialystock-the producer played by Nathan Lane. Amid the vintage theater posters were buffets: deli food, beef stroganoff and a hot dog cart on the ground floor; Chinese upstairs. And playing in front of bubbling six-foot-tall champagne glasses, a big-band orchestra. Matthew Broderick has had Broadway opening nights before. But this one ... "It's a little bigger," the actor said, modestly. Actually, "The Producers"-to invoke the name of another one of Broderick's credits-has stormed Broadway like "Godzilla." (Photos by DMI/TimePix) (Thanks, Marianne!)

Apr 21, 2001 from New York Daily News:
The party following Thursday's Broadway opening of "The Producers" was almost as wild as the show itself. Everywhere you turned, you'd see another boldface name. Demi Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox and Tracey Pollan, Harry Connick Jr. and Jill Goodacre, Kenneth Lonergan, Mike Wallace, Vernon Jordan, Lauren Hutton, Alec Baldwin, Barbara Walters, Joan Allen and Joan Collins were just some of the celebs topping the list.

In the middle of it all was the show's creator, Mel Brooks, who sat in the Roseland chaos eating a bagel with lox and cream cheese as a horde of well-wishers came to his table to shake his hand. Brooks, whose lifelong dream has been to have a show on Broadway, seemed to take all the attention in stride. "I'm 72 years old," he said, "I think I can handle it." Hey, I thought Brooks was turning 75 in June - in fact, he blanched at that number when Wallace brought it up to him during a "60 Minutes" piece last week. But whatever age he chooses to be, Brooks made it easier for himself by avoiding the crush of press at Roseland and slipping in the back door with his wife, Anne Bancroft.

Across the room, clusters formed around the show's stars, Nathan Lane (who also entered through the back) and Matthew Broderick, who spoke of Brooks' words of wisdom during rehearsals. "He gives a lot of advice, good notes, and is very loving. And every now and then," Broderick said, giving himself a thumbs-up, "he goes like this - 'Stinks.'"

At Roseland, thumbs were up everywhere. "In all of the opening nights I've ever seen," said Hutton, "I have never seen people so happy and clapping at the end of the show. Not ever, in my 30 years in New York."

"It feels kind of like that old Broadway traditional thing," said Connick, who is working on a Broadway show with "Producers" director Susan Stroman. "I saw the show last week and I saw [Brooks] afterward and I asked him who wrote the songs, and he said he did, and I said, 'No, no, who wrote the songs?' He said, 'I wrote the songs.' I couldn't believe it. I thought they were great."

"It's able to be an old Broadway musical and make fun of one at the same time," added Fox. "It's the best of both worlds." Baldwin predicted a long run, which is hardly going out on a limb. "It was as tasteless and vulgar as I had fully expected it to be, and it will run for five years," he said. "Brooks has that career where he does things other people couldn't do and get away with, and he gets away with it."

Apr 20, 2001 from Journal News:
One ticket broker's Web site offered tickets to Broadway's "The Producers" for $375 apiece. That price didn't even guarantee a spot in one of the St. James Theatre's first 15 rows. That's just fine with some folks, though, said John Marc Hopkins, head concierge at the Hotel Plaza AthEnEe on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Guests have recently paid more than $300 apiece for tickets, mainly because they want to see the show before Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick give their final curtain call, he said. The two stars are currently under contract to appear through March 18, 2002.

from New York Daily News:
It was like a scene from "The Producers" at the opening of "The Producers" last night. Just like in the musical, a slew of celebs walked the red carpet in front of the St. James Theater - including Sarah Jessica Parker (wife of star Matthew Broderick), Alec Baldwin, Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford, Larry King, Mary Tyler Moore, Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan, Harry Connick Jr. and Paul Simon. Most people knew better than to say "break a leg" to "Producers" co-star Cady Huffman. As one of Broadway's Most dervish-y dancers, she's broken one foot five times and the other twice.

The luscious leading lady handily fills out the expanded role of Ulla, the Swedish receptionist, who was just a sight gag in Mel Brooks' film. So, Huffman tells us, when she kept up her opening-night custom of giving gifts to the cast, including the nonpareil Broderick and Nathan Lane, she drove all the way to IKEA Wednesday to grab a raft of Swedish gifts.

from Yahoo! News:
NEW YORK (AP) - It's springtime for Mel Brooks. "The Producers" a $10 million stage version of his classic film comedy, is Broadway's biggest hit since "The Lion King" with the highest ticket price on Broadway - $100 - and rhapsodic reviews Friday from critics.

"The real thing," proclaimed The New York Times, "a big Broadway book musical that is so ecstatically drunk on its powers to entertain that it leaves you delirious." "The first Broadway smash of the new century," burbled Variety, the show-biz weekly.

The musical is basically sold out into November. It opened Thursday at the St. James Theatre with an advance of $17 million. Tickets through April 2002 went on sale Friday, not only at the St. James, but across 44th Street at the Majestic and Broadhurst theaters, where "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Fosse" are playing. It is an unusual move because the St. James is owned by Jujamcyn Theaters and the other two by the rival Shubert Organization. The extra box-office windows were needed to handle the crowds, said John Barlow, a spokesman for "The Producers." Those potential theatergoers were greeted with more than long lines.

The top ticket price was hiked overnight, from $91 to $100 - a $99 top price plus $1 for theater restoration. "The Producers" is the first open-ended engagement to charge that much for a majority of its seats. At the 1,623-seat St. James, the new ticket pricing could mean a weekly gross of $1.1 million, the highest on Broadway.

Nathan Lane (L) and Matthew Broderick, stars of Mel Brooks new musical "The Producers," acknowledge the crowd during the curtain call of the opening night show April 19, 2001 at St. James Theater in New York City. The play opened on Broadway to rave reviews. (Photo by Reuters)

"'The Producers is a cast-iron, copper-bottomed, super-duper, mammoth old-time Broadway hit," veteran theater critic Clive Barnes wrote in an almost breathless review in the New York Post. The New York Times' Ben Brantley was nearly as ecstatic: "Everybody who sees 'The Producers' -- and that should be as close to everybody as the St. James Theater allows -- is going to be hard-pressed to choose one favorite bit from the sublimely ridiculous spectacle that opened last night," Brantley wrote. In his review, Barnes said Brooks' Broadway adaptation is "even more persuasive and funnier than the original movie."

Its opening at the St. James Theater Thursday night drew such luminaries as Matthew Broderick's wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, Barbara Walters, Larry King, Mary Tyler Moore, Kathleen Turner and Michael J. Fox.

from Theatre.com:
NEW YORK -- The opening night of "The Producers" on Broadway eerily mirrored the opening night scene of "Springtime for Hitler" in the film on which the new musical is based. Celebrities emerging from cars onto red carpet, flashbulbs popping, etc., the whole scene out of Broadway legend.

Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker at his opening night.

Sarah Jessica Parker signs a magazine for a a fan with husband Matthew Broderick.

Broadway's cutest couple, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.

Apr 19, 2001

Mel Brooks, left, and Matthew Broderick react to a standing ovation at opening night of "The Producers" at the St. James Theatre in New York Thursday, April 19, 2001. "The Producers" is Brooks' new Broadway musical, based on his 30-year-old campy movie. Broderick plays the part of Leo Bloom.

Nathan Lane, left, and Matthew Broderick take a curtain call at opening night of "The Producers" at the St. James Theatre in New York Thursday, April 19, 2001. The musical is based on the campy Mel Brooks movie. Lane plays the role of Max Bialystock and Broderick is Leo Bloom. (Photos by AP)

Apr 18, 2001

Actors Nathan Lane (L) and Matthew Broderick are shown in a publicity photo from "The Producers," a musical by Mel Brooks opening on Broadway on April 19, 2001. Boasting leading men popular with both theater and film fans, a classic comedy as its source, a score by veteran funnyman Brooks and a team of Broadway veterans behind the scenes, "The Producers" is about the closest thing Broadway ever sees to a sure bet.

Actor Matthew Broderick(C) is shown in a publicity photo from the "The Producers," a musical by Mel Brooks opening on Broadway on April 19, 2001. Roaring in with a colossal $14 million box office advance, the $10-million-plus musical based on the 1968 Mel Brooks film is about the closest Broadway ever gets to a sure bet. (Photos by Reuters)

Apr 17, 2001 from Playbill:
On March 11, Sony Classical recorded "The Producers"' original cast CD at Edison Recording Studios, with Hugh Fordin producing. The CD is due in stores April 17, according to Sony VP of publicity Carol Della Penna (reached April 12).

Fordin told Playbill On Line among the items on the disk are an overture that was written for the production but, at present, isn't in the show. Songs in the Mel Brooks-Thomas Meehan tuner include "The King of Broadway," "Der Gutten Tag Hop Clop," "Keep it Gay," "That Face," "`Till Him," "Prisoners of Love" and, of course, "Springtime for Hitler."

Apr 16, 2001 from Playbill:
"42nd Street" and "The Producers," two Broadway shows that have not yet officially opened, lead the 2000-01 Outer Critics Circle Awards nominations. "42nd Street," which still has a couple weeks of previews to go, netted 11 nods, with "The Producers" only slightly behind with 10.

"The Producers" was nominated for Outstanding Broadway Musical, Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane), Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Gary Beach), Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Cady Huffman), Outstanding Director of a Musical (Susan Stroman), Outstanding Choreography (Susan Stroman), Outstanding Scenic Design (Robin Wagner), Outstanding Costume Design (William Ivey Long) and Outstanding Lighting Design (Peter Kaczorowski).

The Outer Critics Circle is made up of out-of-town reporters and critics who cover the New York theatre. The winners of this year's awards will be announced on April 30 and an award ceremony will be held on May 24.

Apr 12, 2001 from Theater Mania.com:
Matthew Broderick, the Tony-winning star of "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and the revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," is thrilled to be involved in "The Producers." "It's really fun to come to work," he says simply. "Mel Brooks is an idol of mine, so just to get to meet him was fun. He's very creative, very smart, and very helpful."

The actor notes that his role of Leo Bloom is somewhat different than the character played by Gene Wilder in the film version of "The Producers": "In the movie, he's an accountant, a boring guy. In the show, he secretly has this desire to be a producer; it's sort of his dream, and he comes up with the scheme of how to make money off this flop show. So he has a little more ambition from the start than he had in the movie." Broderick says that the show is definitely keeping him on his toes, in more ways than one. "It's been a lot of steps to learn," he laughs. "Susan is very step-happy, which is great. I had a lot of dancing in How To Succeed, but that was more athletic. This is a little more tippy-tappy."

Apr 10, 2001 from Playbill:
Matthew Broderick will introduce playwright Kenneth Lonergan, who will deliver the keynote address at this year's "Curtain Call," the Alliance of Resident Theaters/New York's annual celebration of Off-Broadway. Broderick is currently starring in "The Producers" on Broadway, while Lonergan's "Lobby Hero" proved a hit at Playwrights Horizons. The two artists have been friends since childhood.

Six "Local Hero Awards" will be presented at the April 23 event, which will be held at the American Airlines Theatre, located at 227 W. 42nd St. A.R.T./NY provides a wide variety of financial and practical assistance to the hundreds of small theatre companies which make up its membership. For more information about A.R.T./NY, call (212) 244-6667.

Apr 8, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
NEW YORK (AP) - It's springtime for Mel Brooks. The writer and director of the classic Hollywood comedy "The Producers" says he's delighted the show is on Broadway, and theatergoers appear to share in his pleasure. "I haven't been this happy since I did my first sketch on (television's) 'Your Show of Shows' with Sid Caesar. I'm back doing what I was born to do. And I love it," Brooks tells Time magazine in editions appearing on newsstands Monday. Brooks is producing the musical stage version of "The Producers," a comedy about a group of people who put on a musical called "Springtime for Hitler." The show sold $13 million worth of tickets even before it opened.

Star Matthew Broderick says Brooks has been very hands-on during the project. "He's totally attentive, watching like a hawk," says Broderick. "And he picks up even the subtlest things." The cast got used to the occasional Brooksian outburst--"No, no, you're ruining my masterpiece!" he yelled on arriving at one rehearsal--and to his barrage of (sometimes bad) ideas. In one scene Brooks urged Lane and Broderick to try a bit of physical shtick when they exit the door at the same time. They tried it, then turned around to see what the master thought. "Stinks!" he shouted. They moved on.

Apr 5, 2001 from New York Daily News:
Gene Wilder, who co-starred with Zero Mostel in Mel Brooks' 1968 film "The Producers," checked out Brooks' new Broadway incarnation of the musical at a Sunday matinee. Wilder stopped backstage to tell Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane and the rest of cast he loved the the show.

Apr 3, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)-- This May, for the second year in a row, television's longest-running, single-topic documentary series will show its versatility and depth -- by premiering a new Biography almost every day for the entire month! That's 26 brand-new Biography programs, from May 1 through May 31, all at 8pm ET.

Each Monday through Friday and on select Saturdays, viewers will have the chance to immerse themselves in the fascinating life stories of personalities from Matthew Broderick (May 1) and Martha Stewart (May 4) to Charlie Sheen (May 7), James Caan (May 21) and Academy Award-winner Al Pacino (May 14) as well as a two-hour Special on Dizzy Gillespie (May 22), the groundbreaking jazz musician. In addition, the month will include profiles of Erin Brockovich-precursor Karen Silkwood (May 8), the audacious, brilliant and tragic Oscar Wilde (May 23), entertainers Tim McGraw (May 29) and Sean "Puffy" Combs (May 28), and First Mother Barbara bush (May 9). To top that off, Biography will follow up this premiere month with a gorgeous, 4-hour special on The Impressionists (June 3-4).

Apr 2, 2001 from Chicago Sun-Times:
Cubs stretch list of stars to sing in seventh inning: The Cubs' hard-hitting lineup for this season's seventh-inning stretch is star-studded with first-time singers:

Ann-Margret. Mary Wilson of the Supremes. Mickey Rooney. Susan Hawke of "Survivor." Auto racing's Kyle Petty. Political pundit George Will. Illinois basketball coach Bill Self. Bruce Sutter. Northwestern football coach Randy Walker. Ken Holtzman. Matthew "Ferris Bueller" Broderick.

And throwing out the first notes of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at today's Cubs-Expos' season opener will be Steve Stone, making his first TV-booth appearance since health reasons forced him to surrender his analyst job after 17 years.

Mar 29, 2001 from Theatre.com:
Theatre.com readers have written to ask when else the forthcoming Broadway musical "The Producers" will be featured on TV in the weeks to come. Here are the plans:

Mar 27, 2001 from Playbill:
Only two days after starting previews, Matthew Broderick had to sit out a weekend's worth of performances of The Producers to rest his voice. He missed shows March 22-25, with understudy Jamie Laverdiere taking over as Leo Bloom.

A production spokesperson at Barlow-Hartman told Playbill On-Line (March 26) Broderick was on "vocal rest" but is ready to return to the show Tuesday, March 27. (And Broderick gets a lucky break in that The Producers currently has no Wednesday matinee, sparing the actor a grueling double-header on what would be his second day back.)

Mar 24, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
"You Can Count on Me" won best first feature and best screenplay (Kenneth Lonergan) on Saturday at the Independent Spirit Awards, the leading showcase for arthouse movies.

Mar 23, 2001 from Playbill:
Only two days after starting previews, Matthew Broderick had to sit out a performance of "The Producers" to rest his voice. He missed the March 22 show, with understudy Jamie Laverdiere taking over as Leo Bloom. No word yet on whether Broderick will be in the weekend shows of the Mel Brooks-Thomas Meehan musical; a call the spokespersons for the show was not yet returned at press time.

Mar 21, 2001

"The Producers" begins its previews today at the St. James Theatre.

Mar 19, 2001 from New York Magazine:
An Oscar nomination and a new play opening this week haven't exactly cheered up crabby writer-director Kenneth Lonergan. For one thing, he doesn't have time for Ping-Pong anymore.

For starters, there's the poor-me act. "What? He was at the beach all summer playing Ping-Pong!" Matthew Broderick yells, laughing. "That's a downright lie! All summer! In a big house! Playing Ping-Pong! On a big table that I and my brother-in-law strapped to a car and delivered to him!"

Lonergan and Broderick have been ribbing each other since the age of 15, when they met in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" theater auditions at the Walden School on the Upper West Side. Lonergan got Demetrius. Broderick played "The Wall" but, a couple years later, found his first leading role in a play that Lonergan co-wrote their junior year.

"They're a couple of sarcastic, worldly-wise old men," says actress J. Smith-Cameron, Lonergan's wife (she played Broderick's surly employee in You Can Count On Me). "I think they've been like that since high school. It's a particular jaded New York humor that you only develop if you grow up here."

"Kenny's a great whiner," agrees Broderick. "That's where we really connect."

The two friends came of age, as Lonergan says, "smoking pot and making fun of people." Lonergan, Broderick, and pals would sit on Central Park benches, roll joints, and nerd out -- singing Fats Waller tunes and debating the merits of old Honeymooners episodes.

"We were brought up by these classic bleeding-heart liberals, and then graduated the same year Reagan was elected," says Lonergan. "The whole country turned around, and we felt just like we were all grown up with no place to go."

His negative experience pushed him to fight for control over the development of "You Can Count On Me," a subtle tale about a rambling, misguided stoner, his uptight sister, and how differently the two face the world after their parents' deaths. With Broderick's bankable name attached and his "new friend Marty Scorsese" signed up to executive-produce, Lonergan was able to direct and write the film virtually free of any studio meddling -- he even acted in it, fittingly, as a depressed and fatalistic priest. (Thanks, Ann!)

Mar 12, 2001 from Theatre.com:
NEW YORK--Sony Classical is releasing the Broadway cast recording of "The Producers," starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. The recording is scheduled to arrive in stores April 17. Lane and Broderick are recording the original cast album for the Broadway show on March 11.

Opening April 19 at New York's St. James Theatre, "The Producers" features music and lyrics by Mel Brooks, who has written a full score of songs to go with the half dozen used in the film. Riding strongly positive reviews in its Chicago tryout, the musical has daily lines at the St. James Theatre box office.

Composer/lyricist/co-librettist Brooks had been advertising the show with a tongue-in-cheek radio spot saying "the producers will not allow me to reveal the name of the show" and "the producers will have a surprise" for Broadway audiences when tickets went on sale.

Mar 11, 2001 from New York Post:
In an emergency, it's every pet owner's responsibility to take a sick or hurt animal to the vet as quickly as possible. But what happens if a dog or cat's guardian can't afford the treatment necessary to save its life? Too often, when vet bills loom prohibitively steep, animals wind up euthanized - even if there's a chance they can be saved. Now, a new non-profit organization offers hope for low-income animal lovers.

It's called New York Save Animals in Veterinary Emergency (NYSAVE for short) and it's a cause celebre of Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, George Plimpton, Bobby Short, Paul Taylor and The Post's own Cindy Adams.

In cases in which pet owners are unable to pay for emergency treatment, NYSAVE provides funds for veterinary medical care, reimbursing participating vets 50 percent of their regular fees. To contact NYSAVE or to make a donation, write the group at 331 W. 57th St., Suite 293, New York, N.Y. 10019-3101.

Mar 8, 2001 from ABCNEWS.com:
Oscar's Little Movies Good News And Good News: Here are six films that earned nine Oscar nominations. And, though it would be a surprise if any of them took home a statue, the good news is the nominations have convinced the studios to run these films outside the New York-L.A. indy movie ghetto into what Hollywood calls "flyover."

"You Can Count On Me" was one of my (Joel Siegel's) 10 best last year. A serious film (which doesn't mean it isn't entertaining, it is, especially the scenes with Matthew Broderick), if Julia Roberts didn't have a lock on the Best Actress Oscar, Laura Linney would be the dead on favorite. Also nominated for Best Original Screenplay, it won the Writers' Guild Award in that category. B+

Mar 7, 2001 from Cinema.com:
"Godzilla" star Matthew Broderick has dismissed reports there will be a sequel to hit eighties classic "Ferris Bueller's day Off".

The actor, who is married to "Sex and the City" stunner Sarah Jessica Parker, admits a sequel was discussed shortly after making the original - but he has no plans to reprise his role as troubled teenager Ferris. He says, "Nobody was all that enthusiastic - I mean, the studio was. But it seems a little bit of a one-time event to me - it's about a particular day."

The New Yorker added he could not imagine what the character would be like in his thirties. He adds, "In a way I can't imagine him - I don't quite think he's real, he's the age that he was, you know?" (ES/E/RP)

Mar 5, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
The Writers Guild of America gave Kenneth Lonergan its best original screenplay prize for "You Can Count on Me," while Stephen Gaghan won the best adaptation award for "Traffic." The guild's East and West units announced winners of the screen, television and radio awards at simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles Sunday evening.

The film prizes are a significant indicator of prospects in the Oscar race. In the past 10 years, adapted screenplay guild winners went on to Oscar gold 70 percent of the time, while original screenplay winners had a 60 percent success rate at the Academy Awards.

Mar 2, 2001 from Chicago Sun-Times:
The cast of Mel Brooks' "The Producers," including Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Cady Huffman and Roger Bart, headed to Joe's Seafood Prime Steak and Stone Crab for dinner Monday night a day after their boffo play closed at the Cadillac Palace Theatre.

Mar 1, 2001 from New York Daily News:
Sarah Jessica Parker has been making so many trips to Chicago to visit hubby Matthew Broderick, who's starring on-stage in "The Producers," that they've moved their border collie, Sally, in with dog trainer Bash Dibra. Asked by pals at Nirvana if his home is open to other pooches, Bash said: "Only if they're the dogs of celebrities."

Feb 28, 2001 from Playbill:
As previously reported, due to his knee was injured in rehearsal, Ron Orbach, who played German Nazi deifier Franz Liebkind in "The Producers," missed the previews and opening night (he was replaced by Brad Oscar) but returned to the production Feb. 20. His spirit was willing but the body wasn't ready, and Orbach left again before the end of the Chicago run. As reported by the New York Post and confirmed by the Barlow Hartman press office (Feb. 28), Orbach's now been officially replaced by Oscar, whose New York credits have included "Aspects of Love," "Jekyll & Hyde" and "Forbidden Broadway."

Feb 27, 2001 from Playbill:
You know you're a big musical when...New York/New Jersey's UPN/WWOR Channel 9 does a two-hour TV special of interviews and backstage footage. It's been three years since the station has done a theater-related special (they were seemingly ubiquitous for a couple of years before that), but on April 22, "The Producers" will get the big TV treatment.

As reported by the Daily News and confirmed by a Barlow-Hartman spokesperson, Pat Collins will host the pre-recorded special, which has been taping segments since mid-December 2000. Already in the can are interviews with all the major creatives, as well as footage of rehearsals and the show's open press rehearsal.

The television special is to air three days after the Mel Brooks-Thomas Meehan tuner opens at the St. James Theatre. The last WOR theatre special was for 1998's High Society. Barlow-Hartman spokesperson Bill Coyle told Playbill On-Line, "They resurrected the format just for this show."

from New York Daily News:
Matthew Broderick joined 1,600 people at the Broadhurst Theater yesterday for a "Celebration of the Life" of Jason Robards, who died the day after Christmas, age 78.

Mourners at the memorial service for Jason Robards were agog when eulogists recalled the joy the great actor took in flatulence.

Teary-eyed Matthew Broderick remembered how Robards loudly (and proudly) punctuated a large meal he'd eaten when they were shooting "Max Dugan Returns."

Friends, who included Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Demme, Hume Cronyn and Rosemary Harris, might have thought Broderick's story would give offense to Robards' loved ones. Not so. Sam Robards later described at length how his dad tried to emulate the turn-of-the-century French "fartiste" Le Petomane, who could musically break wind. Ah, if only they'd had a Tony Award for that.

Feb 26, 2001 from Chicago Sun-Times:
Mad About Maddux: Before leaving town, "The Producers" star Matthew Broderick, wife Sarah Jessica Parker and "City Slickers" star Bruno Kirby were spied by former Cubs pitcher Steve Trout having dinner at Petterino's. When Trout told the eatery's owner Rich Melman that Broderick "would look just like Greg Maddux if he was wearing a certain kind of glasses," Melman told that to Broderick. Turns out, both Parker and Broderick are huge baseball fans and loved the comment--plus the chance to meet Trout.

Feb 25, 2001 from Chicago Sun-Times:
Sneeze 'em: Actors Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, stars of "The Producers," dined at Gibsons Thursday night for a Gilda's Club Chicago benefit dinner. Broderick, who had a slight cold, exited the restaurant after maitre d' Kathy O'Malley-Piccone zipped up his sweater and suggested he take a hot shower.

Feb 23, 2001 from Playbill:
By pretty much all accounts, "The Producers," Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan's stage adaptation of Brooks' classic film comedy, is coming to Broadway in as healthy shape as a new musical could wish for. The show's try-out at Chicago's Cadillac Palace, ending Feb. 25, was sold out before it even started (Feb. 1), reviews were "amazing," and the production pulls into the St. James Theatre with "a healthy advance" (the New York Post has reported $6 million), a spokesperson for the show told Playbill On Line.

"It's doing nicely on all counts," a Barlow-Hartman spokesperson told Playbill On-Line (Feb. 23). "I was in Chicago yesterday, and the cancellation line was in the lobby in the middle of the day."

Director-choreographer Susan Stroman has been making nips and tucks throughout the run, including the publicized removal of a Gypsy song parody that Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim objected to, but otherwise the only other major glitch seems to have been in Ron Orbach's knee, which was injured in rehearsal. Orbach, who plays German Nazi deifier Franz Liebkind, missed the previews and opening night (he was replaced by Brad Oscar) but returned to the production Feb. 20 and will be with the show in New York.

Feb 22, 2001 from Chicago Sun-Times:
Zoom room: Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, stars of the boffo Mel Brooks musical "The Producers," have been spotted relaxing at the hip Gold Coast cafeteria Zoom Kitchen on Rush Street. While lunching, women spotting the duo hit their cell phones as the actors sauntered upstairs with trays in hand to eat.

Feb 21, 2001 from Chicago Sun-Times:
'Producers' a hit hit with the Mrs.: Sarah Jessica Parker could hardly contain herself Sunday night--literally bouncing up and down at the cast party at McCormick & Schmick's following the official opening of the Broadway-bound "The Producers." Beaming at husband Matthew Broderick, Parker joked about being in the audience, watching her spouse kissing the sexy, towering blonde beauty Cady Huffman.

"God, if I were him, I'd love kissing her too. She's gorgeous!" quipped Parker, who told me she's been "commuting every weekend" from New York where her own award-winning hit series "Sex and the City" is in pre-production for its next season. "We're going to take everyone and everything in several very different directions," Parker said with a sly grin.

When complimented on the show by Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, Broderick maintained a straight face while telling Ebert, "And I'll bet you saw the movie [version of "The Producers"] too."

"Saw it? I went to the premiere!" laughed Ebert, saying he liked creator Mel Brooks' new stage version just as much as the Academy Award winning film.

Parker is "so excited that the show is clearly a hit. ... It means I'll have my Matthew home with me [in New York] for a good long while. I think this show will run for ages. ... I think it will be great we'll spend more time together. ..t. In show business, when both partners are actors, all those separations that can come can lead to a big strain on any marriage--no matter how good it is."

Looking at the glass-paneled sliding doors that separated "The Producers" cast members, family and friends (including Brooks and wife Anne Bancroft) from the other rubber-necking party guests, peering in, Broderick wistfully said, "This reminds me of 'Titanic.' We're trapped in here and everyone else is out there in steerage."

I think I out-roared two guys sitting near me with the greatest laughs on earth: Roger Ebert and Tim Weigel.

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker, who sat two rows in front of me at the Cadillac Palace Theatre Sunday night, was beaming . . . and laughing . . . and smiling so hard her face must have hurt . . . as she watched hubby, Broderick, match wits with Lane, who is a jewel in the crown of a sensational cast.

It takes a lot to blast me out of my nest on the North Shore after commuting all week. Thanks, Mel. What a tremendous compliment you paid Chicago by having the play previewed in our city.

Feb 16, 2001 from Chicago Sun-Times:
Mel Brooks, who is producing "The Producers" at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, was visited by Mike Wallace of "60 Minutes" to get the 60 minutes treatment in an upcoming program. So far, Brooks has been too busy producing to take time out for an on-camera interview. He promised to do the interview when the show comes to New York. In Chicago, Wallace ran into Playboy's Christie Hefner and the New York Times' Frank Rich at the play. The show stars Matthew Broderick and actor Nathan Lane in a musical version of Brooks' Academy Award-winning comedy. Sight Seen: Brooks and wife, Anne Bancroft, reminiscing about the good ol' days while dining at Petterino's.

Feb 15, 2001 from Chicago Sun-Times:
Curtain calls: Funnyman extraordinaire Mel Brooks, who is producing Chicago's hit play "The Producers" and won an Academy Award for his movie screenplay by the same name, told his audience Tuesday night: "I called Gene (Wilder, who starred in the 1968 movie) a while ago and he sends his love to all of you. Enjoy the show."

* The kicker: The boffo sold-out show, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, was a benefit for Gilda's Club Chicago, a cancer support organization founded in honor of Wilder's late wife, comedian and Second City alum Gilda Radner.

* Celeb spots: Brooks' wife, magnificent actress Anne "Mrs. Robinson" Bancroft, and Broderick's wife, Sarah Jessica "Sex and the City" Parker, caught the show last week and whupped it up. "I'll die Mrs. Robinson," chirped Bancroft, who starred with Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate." "My tombstone will read, `Here Lies Mrs. Robinson.' "

* Hot spots: Also in the audience were "60 Minutes' " Mike Wallace, who is doing a piece tracking the musical from conception through opening night on Broadway, and Christie Hefner and hubby, Bill Marovitz.

from Star Magazine:
Matthew Broderick is in Chicago starring in the stage production of "The Producers," and he's become chummy with his co-star Nathan Lane. When they're not performing, the guys like to see the city's sights and shop. During one excursion Matthew asked Nathan to help him select a few souvenirs for his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker. Nathan convinced Matthew to buy a $3,000 Prada outfit and a $2,000 Fendi handbag. Sarah was so happy with the haul that she asked Matthew to take Nathan along whenever he goes shopping.

Feb 13, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
"You Can Count On Me" was nominated in the categories of best actress (Laura Linney) and original screenplay (Kenneth Lonergan) in the 73rd annual Academy Awards. The Oscars will be presented March 25 in a live broadcast on ABC-TV from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and Steve Martin will host the ceremony.

from TheaterMania:
Theatergoers usually play it close to the vest there, ambling rather than stampeding to the box office, but "The Producers" has already gone clean. It made $797,436 in its opening week at the Cadillac Palace. One source who has seen the show there says that, in addition to being an assured hit, It'll put Nathan Lane back on top. Also, Matthew Broderick is in fine form and carries all the romance in the story. Do you have your tickets yet??? This is your last warning!

Feb 12, 2001 from Chicago Sun-Times:
Seen On Scene: "The Producers" stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick charmed oglers over dinner at Ben Pao.

Feb 8, 2001 from E! Online:
Nathan Lane was hanging with Matthew Broderick, dining at 312 Chicago, the trendy Windy City place next to the Cadillac Palace Theater. The Broadway buddies took a breather from the set of their new show, "The Producers," which opened February 1.

Feb 7, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Oscar competition for best screenplays narrowed sharply as the popular legal drama "Erin Brockovich," Cameron Crowe's coming-of-age story "Almost Famous" and Kenneth Lonergan's acclaimed feature debut "You Can Count On Me" were nominated Wednesday for Writers Guild Awards.

Lonergan's nomination for his story about an estranged brother and sister renewing their relationship establishes the little-seen festival favorite "You Can Count On Me" as a leading contender for best original screenplay in the Oscar nominations next week.

"You Can Count On Me" already has earned Lonergan screenplay awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics. Lonergan is one of two writer-directors named as a WGA candidate Wednesday.

Feb 5, 2001 from Chicago Sun-Times:
The Lane Line: After Sunday night's preview performance of "The Producers," star Nathan Lane was birthday-feted by Chicago's restaurant kingpin Rich Melman at his new Petterino's in the new Goodman Theatre complex at Dearborn and Randolph. The restaurant is sure to be Chicago's answer to Manhattan's legendary Sardi's theater hangout (complete with cartoons of famous actors and other famous folks). The late night Lane love-in included his co-star Matthew Broderick, fellow cast members and "The Producers" creator Mel Brooks. By the by, Petterino's officially opens to the public Thursday.

* Yes, that was Broderick's wife and "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker in the audience for Friday's preview of "The Producers," happily cheering on her hubby and looking sexy and sassy in sensational tight jeans. The recent Golden Globe winner looked "simply gorgeous," sighed a B.Z. spy sitting right behind her.

Feb 3, 2001 from PageSix.com:
Sightings: Matthew Broderick chowing on roasted free range chicken at Barrio.

from Star Magazine:
"Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker often fantasized about being a frivolous platinum blonde. She's gotten blonde highlights before, but she never had the nerve to go all the way. She finally had an excuse when she landed a role in the movie "Life Without Dick" and they wanted her to go Marilyn Monroe blonde. Sarah decided she looks better with darker hair, but she may keep it light for a while because it's such a turn-on for her husband Matthew Broderick. Sarah says he can't keep his hands off her! (Thanks, Marianne!)

Feb 2, 2001 from Yahoo! News:
Chicago Cues: Chicago has a reputation as a tough and discriminating theatre town, but audiences still melt for Broadway razzle-dazzle. All it takes is five Tony Award winners-Roger Bart, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Thomas Meehan, Susan Stroman-and Mel Brooks to put the public in a ticket-buying frenzy. They don't even care that the design team includes two more Tony Award winners. The Feb. 1-25 pre-Broadway shakedown of "The Producers" nearly sold out the 2,350-seat Cadillac Palace Theatre before the show even opened. And the reviews won't be out until the last week of the run, with press night on Feb. 18.

Feb 2001 from InStyle:
Late-night fun seekers in Gotham are taking their cue from an old game-billiards. At the recently opened Slate, 54 W. 21 St., which offers 34 tournament quality pool tables along with a chic Middle Eastern food menu, Matthew Broderick and model Carmen Kass have been spotted shooting the eight ball.

Jan 26, 2001 from Entertainment Weekly:
The classy class of Broadway 2001 includes productions from Stoppard, Coward...and the man behind the fart scene in Blazing Saddles. Mel Brooks is mounting a musical version of his 1968 comedy "The Producers," with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick leading the swasti-kicklines as a theatrical duo planning a surefire flop (Springtime for Hitler) to bilk investors. Teaming with Contact's Tony award-winning choreographer-director Susan Stroman, Brooks has written 17 new songs and set the play in 1958--nixing Swedish secretary Ulla's go-go-ing. "It was a little '60s," says Broderick, "her dancing and shaking her ass all the time." But a good Luftwaffe joke never gets old. (Opens April 19)

Jan 25, 2001 from E! Online:
Sarah Jessica Parker, after walking off the stage of the Beverly Hilton with her award, when asked if she was having more fun as a blonde: "I could not have any more fun with any hair color!" Speaking of altar records, the "Sex and the City" star chose not to call quietly sexy hubby Matthew Broderick backstage. "He's in Chicago," she said. "He's under a stage right now." S.J.P. looked almost sad as she said it, and seemed very preoccupied for a few seconds.

Jan 23, 2001 from PageSix.com:
Broderick's Apt Pupils: You may have seen actor Matthew Broderick talking with David Letterman about how distrustful - terrified even - they both are of laser eye surgery. Apparently, Broderick has gotten over his squeamishness: I hear he's been getting the treatment at the West 57th Street rooms of prominent vision doctor Mark Speaker.

Jan 22, 2001 from Los Angeles Times:
"This is delicious! I highly recommend winning," a giddy Sarah Jessica Parker said of her win as best actress in a TV series, musical or comedy, for "Sex and the City." When a reporter asked how she felt when she saw her husband, Matthew Broderick, do sex scenes with Laura Linney in "You Can Count on Me," she replied: "That is an actor's job--to be in bed with people on occasion."

from Yahoo! News:
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - HBO's "Sex and the City" and its star Sarah Jessica Parker repeated their wins from 2000 at the 58th annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday night. Parker gasped, "I'm ill-prepared again!" She then cited dozens of people, including HBO execs, agent Kevin Huvane, the crew, the grips, her driver, her co-stars and her husband, Matthew Broderick.

Jan 17, 2001 from IMDb.com:
Parker's Sex Shockers: "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker is urging fans to stop telling her their sexual secrets in front of her husband, actor Matthew Broderick. The actress 35, admits that even she is often taken aback by the openness of some fans, while her husband finds their revelations completely stomach-churning. She says, "They tell me stuff. They come up to me and tell me intimate details - total strangers - or they'll show me stuff they've bought to enhance their sex life. I've become used to it but it's very awkward for someone like Matthew - he's shocked by it."

Jan 15, 2001 from PageSix.com:
Matthew Broderick and Mel Brooks on today's "WB11 Morning News" to hype "The Producers."

Jan 14, 2001 from People.com:
Tom Hanks and Conan O'Brien breathed some much-needed life into Sunday night's lengthy banquet that accompanied the presentation of the 66th annual New York Film Critics Circle awards. Acceptance speeches ran so long (and were so self-indulgent) in some cases that presenter Matthew Broderick satirized what was going on by joking, "I was born in a log cabin . . . " "You Can Count on Me" best actress Laura Linney delivered a gracious -- and brief -- acceptance.

Actors Laura Linney and Mathew Broderick pose for photographers as they arrive at the 2000 New York Film Critics Circle Awards at Windows on the World in New York on January 14, 2001. Linney was designated Best Actress by the Film Critics Circle for her work in the movie "You Can Count On Me". Broderick presented an award at the event. (Photo by Reuters)

Jan 12, 2001 from PageSix.com:
A word to the wise: "The Producers" is already selling like gangbusters (a $5 million advance and counting), and if I were you, I wouldn't wait too much longer to get my tickets.

from Theatre.com:
Inside the Rehearsals for "The Producers":

The company of "The Producers," featuring Cady Huffman (in red) as Ulla, then, left to right in the front row, Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks, Nathan Lane, Ron Orbach, Gary Beach and Roger Bart. (Photos by Robert Viagas)

Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick) and Max react as they get their first look at the "Springtime for Hitler" marquee.	Leo contemplates his grey little life as an accountant.
Broderick and Lane (rear) face the cameras at a press conference.	Leo and Max in the Act I finale.
Leo in...	...the fantasy sequence...
...of the song "I Want...	...To Be a Producer."
Leo in the finale of "I Want To Be a Producer."	The finale of "I Want To Be a Producer."

from Playbill:

"The Producers"' Matthew Broderick as the sheepish accountant Leo Bloom imagines life as a producer in "I Wanna Be a Producer." (Photos by Aubrey Reuben)

Although Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick) first discovers how a producer can make a bundle of cash with a flop, he initially refuses Bialystock's offer to become partners. Returning to his dreary workplace, he starts to dream of his life as a Broadway impresario in "I Wanna Be a Producer." As Bloom drifts deep into his fantasy, chorus girls emerge from filing cabinets, pink champagne runs out of the water cooler and suddenly he's tap-dancing with top hat and cane.

In the Act One Finale of "The Producers," Mathew Broderick and Nathan Lane as Leo Bloom and Max Bialystock are convinced that they are on their way to making millions with their flop, "Springtime for Hitler." They reprise the song "We Can Do It" as the act comes to a close.

The final pose of "The Producers"' Act One Finale. This is the moment when the specially selected flop, "Springtime for Hitler," starts to come together. Bialystock and Bloom have their playwright - unregenerate Nazi and pigeon aficionado, Franz Liebkind (Ron Orbach); their director - the effete Roger DeBries (Gary Beach) and his even-more-effeminate manservant, Carmen Gia (Roger Bart); and their secretary/receptionist with Broadway dreams of her own, the alluring Ulla (Cady Huffman). Finally, the conmen producers have managed to fleece all of "Old Ladyland" and they have their money. Nothing can stop them - or so they think.

The three men at the center of "The Producers": Matthew Broderick, who plays shy accountant Leo Bloom, Mel Brooks, who created the film and has now written the score for the musical and Nathan Lane who stars as Max Bialystock.

Jan 11, 2001 from Playbill:
Producer-ing on Broadway: Lane, Broderick and Brooks Offer Sneak Peek: "I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be a part of this. This is my dream," filmmaker, actor and now composer-lyricist Mel Brooks announced to the press gathered at the New 42nd Street Studios Jan. 11, "My dream - to be with a Broadway show, out of town, with all these girls."

Well, "The Producers" is on its way to an out-of-town tryout in Chicago (where, Brooks hoped, one of the beautiful ladies of the chorus would take pity on him), but first, the highly-anticipated Mel Brooks musical gave a brief preview for the press...Full Story

from Yahoo! News:
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nominated for five awards at the 16th annual Independent Spirit Awards was the touching sibling drama "You Can Count On Me," which has also topped several critics' groups lists and received two Golden Globe nominations. It was cited for first feature, screenplay (Kenneth Lonergan), male lead (Mark Ruffalo), female lead (Laura Linney) and debut performance (Rory Culkin). The films were among the most acclaimed releases of 2000, although they fell rather short of popcorn blockbuster status. "You Can Count On Me" has grossed about $5 million to date.

The winners will be announced March 24, a day before the Academy Awards, at a party under a large tent on Santa Monica Beach. John Waters, veteran director of such cult movies as "Pink Flamingos" and "Hairspray," will host the ceremony.

Jan 10, 2001 from PageSix.com:
"The Producers"' headliners Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick will both get 1 percent of the show's net profits. Each star also has a guaranteed weekly salary said to be in the neighborhood of between $10,000 and $15,000. In addition, they are both entitled to 5 percent of the weekly gross between $650,000 and $800,000, increasing to 7.5 percent over $800,000.

from PlanetHollywood.com:
The series "Sex and the City" has certainly increased Sarah Jessica Parker's starpower, though she and Matthew Broderick remain among the most accessible of celebrities, regularly spotted out and around in New York. Most of the time, she says, people who recognize them are polite and friendly. "People are usually nice and not hostile or aggressive," she says, "unless they're drunk at the ballpark or on the subway."

There have been occasional problems, Parker adds. During a World Series game at Yankee Stadium this past fall, she and Broderick ran into the kind of fan she dislikes the most. "This guy came up and dumped his son on our lap and took photos," she recalls. "But when he discovered Matthew supported the Mets rather than the Yankees, he turned nasty and said he was going to pull the film out of his camera and destroy it. 'Go ahead,' I said. 'You were the one who wanted to take a picture. He can support any team he likes. Last time I looked, this was a free country.'"

"Then he said, 'I'm lucky because my father raised me to be a New York Yankees fan, and his father raised him to be a rich movie star.'" Even in retrospect, the episode clearly raises Parker's hackles. "He didn't know the first thing about Matthew," she says heatedly, "and I yelled at him, 'His father raised him to be a working professional. He's a hardworking actor who happened to have some success!'"

from Cinema.com:
"Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker fears Sean 'Puffy' Combs has fallen out with her because her husband Matthew Broderick isn't a good enough softball player.

The couple were invited to a party at the hip-hop mogul's swanky Hamptons, New York, last year (00) but haven't spoken to him since. Parker admits the party was amazing and she hopes that she'll be invited to others. She says, "He's a GATSBY for the modern times and he couldn't be a more lovely guy. He has a magnificent home, it's clean and pretty and smells good and he has lots of help and food and libations and everyone was very attractive and it was quite fun. "But we haven't heard from him since. My husband says he didn't play well at the softball game the next day. I think that's why. I sent him a thank you. (KL/WNV/PDD)

Jan 9, 2001 from PageSix.com:
Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker are among this year's invitees to Grammy and Broadway producer Pierre Cossette's legendary Super Bowl party at Sardi's.

from Yahoo! News:
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The American Film Institute honored "You Can Count On Me" in its first-ever list of the 10 best movies of the year 2000.