Nathan Lane says Jack Black is the actor he would cast if The Producers ever returns to Broadway. Lane made the case on Gold Derby’s Awards Magnet podcast, saying Black is the only performer he can imagine pulling him back to the show that made him a Tony winner.
“Don’t you think if they could get Jack Black—that’s who I would cast,” Lane said, adding that when he sees Black hosting SNL, “he’s the most adorable, brilliantly funny guy.” He called Black a “wonderful actor” with real dynamism, said he “can really sing,” and added, “He has a great singing voice.”
The appeal, for Lane, is not just comic timing. He said Black has “that same kind of Zero Mostel madness,” a reference to the original 1967 film star whose outsized performance helped define the material. Lane also said Black does not need to do a stage run, noting that he is already starring in several franchises, but suggested that “for a lark” he might do it if asked nicely.
Lane’s comments carry extra weight because he helped define the Broadway version of the show itself. He originated the role of Max Bialystock in The Producers, which ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2007, and he later reprised the role opposite Matthew Broderick in the 2005 Susan Stroman-helmed movie musical. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for the stage performance, cementing his place in the production’s history.
The show remains a loaded proposition even a generation later. Based on Mel Brooks’ 1967 film, The Producers has always traded in edgy humor and dark satire, and Lane said that may be part of why another New York revival has not materialized. “I wonder if they’ll ever do another revival in New York,” he said, before adding, “everyone’s become so terribly sensitive now.” His view was blunt: “I think the only way you can do it is just to do it, and don’t apologize for it.”
Lane said the new West End version has been a big success, though he did not see it, and his remarks point to the same obstacle that has dogged revivals for years: the material still has an audience, but mounting it now would require someone who can sell the joke without flattening it. For Lane, that someone is Jack Black, and no other name came close.
