Two new Producers have big shoes to fill

Tuesday night is the first night of the rest of The Producers' life. Since Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick said their tearful goodbyes at Sunday's matinee of Broadway's megahit, the starring roles belong to English actor Henry Goodman (as sleazy producer Max Bialystock) and TV star Steven Weber (as nerdy accountant Leo Bloom). At Lane and Broderick's final performance, the crowd, including Broderick's wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, began standing and cheering even before the final curtain came down, reports Salon.com. After a teary Lane and Broderick took their bows, Brooks and director-choreographer Susan Stroman came onstage and presented their stars with bouquets of red roses. "We wanted to thank you for making us laugh for an entire year," Stroman said as she wished them well "on your new adventures. But when you are done with those film and TV folks," she added, "you need to come back." Both Lane and Broderick have projects coming up. Lane will try TV again with a new CBS series titled Life of the Party. (His last series, Encore! Encore! flopped, with Lane playing a flamboyant opera singer who was written as heterosexual but who set off thunderous gaydar among gay viewers.) Broderick also will segue into television, working for prolific producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron in their ABC adaptation of The Music Man. Broderick will play the con artist Prof. Harold Hill, reportedly opposite Kristin Chenoweth as Marian the librarian.