Two years after the triumphant 2001 Broadway opening of "The Producers," an L.A. company opened, starring Jason Alexander and Martin Short. Two numbers from the second act: "Where Did We Go Right?" and "Leo and Max."
I worked as an usher at the Pantages for the entirety of this run and saw nearly every single performance. These two cracked each other up every night - I never got bored of the show!
I saw this production!! I'll never forget, the night I went, Martin Short flubbed his line in this song and started to say: "Broadway came early to Christmas this year..." and he then turned the newspaper he was holding upside down and corrected himself, saying: "...rather, Christmas came early to Broadway this year..." I remember being thrilled I saw him sort of break character during the show. It was a great cast.
lol In the production I saw, he goofed up by saying he was gonna play ball with the IRS, and hopefully they'll give him "good time off for good behavior." "...GOOD time off?" Jason Alexander quipped, "I think you mean just TIME off for GOOD behavior."
I love this cast, and they work perfectly together: Jason with Matthew would have been too low-energy, as both play the sad-sack side of the characters; Nathan and Marty would have been the opposite, as the two have a close comic style. But there's such a genuine joy and bonhomie in Martin Short, even when he's playing his sleaziest, skeeziest characters, that does so much more than Matthew Broderick's milquetoast nerd persona did.
No telling how many starving, better for that particular Role (Leo Bloom) Actors, there are, on this particular Planet ant they (whom the hell ever does the Bloomin' Casting) went with Bueller. At least they did not hire Steve Martin, as "Max Biallyjacques." The Pink Producers or some such nonsense.
I saw it on Broadway, and the laughs weren't like this. They seem to have more chemistry with the audience. I love Martin Short. Never thought of him as a Leo type, but he can do almost anything, such a comic genius. Jason Alexander as Bialy is a given.
Instead of Matthew Broderick, Martin Short had been originally offered the role as Leo for the original broadway cast with Nathan Lane. Short turned it down because his family needed him during that time.
I saw The Rink on Broadway with Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli and a young (around twenty-five, he's about 8 years younger than I am) Jason Alexander, somewhere around 1984. Honestly, I didn't even know his name at that time, it wasn't until years later (well after Seinfeld) that I looked through the music of the Rink and realized exactly who I saw on stage that night. Was not aware of this footage, thanks for sharing.
I caught a performance back in 2003 and I can't recall having ever laughed harder. Always hoped they'd do a cast recording for the west coast company, but no luck. Thank you for bringing back the memories!
I remember thinking how good of a Leo Marty would make. Whoda thunk it actually already happened? And it's better than I imagined. I'd kill to have more footage of this.
Saw this damn show 3 times but never ONCE got to see it w Martin ughhh. Would’ve given anything for that. Wish I could find more than one clip on YT ☺️✌️
Me toooo! I saw these two at the Pantages and when he yelled "INTERMISSION" during the recap part of the song and everything stopped, he slayed me by projecting what he thought the audience might be saying during intermission. Something like "Whattaya think so far? Eh, it's pretty good, alright...I mean, he's no Nathan Lane, but...." & then jumped back into the song. It killed. 😊❤
Hard to tell from these clips, but I don't feel the same chemistry as Nathan/Matthew. There was just something about the combination that worked. There was a spontaneity and freshness. They seemed to enjoy each other and have fun trying to crack each other up. Most other pairings have not worked.
Martin Short was originally supposed to play Leo Bloom in the original Broadway cast, but turned it down because his family couldn't do without him for a year during the time.
Originally Martin Short was supposed to be the original Bloom alongside Nathan Lane, however, he was over exhausted from doing a broadway run so he turned down which led Mel Brooks to go with Matthew Broderick. Although Nathan and Matthew are eternal, I have to say that Jason and Martian are really fricking good.
Wow! I must admit I've never really liked Martin Short's acting growing up, just something about him made me think he was trying too hard or maybe I just wasnt the target demograohic for his movies back in the 80s/early 90s - despite loving comedy movies and film in general. I will forever be a Seinfeld freak, so I looked this up purely for Jason, and I was concerned Marty might overplay the character when I first saw him writhing on the floor. I kept going, though, and when Jason came in and they started trading their bad headlines back and forth and Martin's version of the character started coming through - I saw more of an excited naivete in him that REALLY suits Leo - eapecially by this stage of the play when he IS cheating the system so he has essentially "grown" as a character and shouldn't react the same way as the first time we see him I the play. Then when I heard then start singing together I was sold... they match each other's energy in different ways but somehow the duo is stronger than either performer individually. In the final song "Leo and Max" (that I wish was its own fully fledged song and NEVER FAILS to gladly get stuck in my head for weeks after any Producers rabbit hole I go down)... has beautiful timing between Jason & Martin including the synchronised flourish tip of the cap hand sweep and their harmonies somehow keep the intent of their character - no one outsings the other and they both bring their own energy foenthe other to feed off. I would KILL to have a recording of the soundtrack at least!! Also a bluray. Open Broadway up to the world like Hamilton did through a recording and soundtrack
Martin Short was the first actor offered the role of Leo Bloom in the Broadway show, but he turned it down because it would have meant uprooting his family for almost two years, or being away from them for two years and having them commute to see him. He said his kids were teenagers---his daughter was in high school---and that they needed their dad in their lives, and it wasn't like when he did Broadway shows before when they were babies. Of course he joked and said that had he realized it was going to be the biggest Broadway hit in years he would have said, "to hell with my family!!" His family always came first, which is rare in his business. He seems to be a really nice guy.
