Broadway hit searching for stars for West End run

Robert Lindsay and Lee Evans have emerged as the leading candidates to star in the London production of the hit Broadway musical The Producers when it opens next autumn at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, reports Daily Variety.

British talent will be used for the roles of Bialystock and Bloom because the original Broadway stars, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick will not be coming to England, said producer David Ian.

“We are convinced we can get two good people from Britain who are known and have marquee value and would be good in it,” says Ian, whose Clear Channel Theatrical in Europe has a 20% stake in what will be the first production of The Producers outside North America.

“We’ve been working on casting the show with UK actors.”

He told Variety he expected a full announcement to be made by the end of the year so tickets could go on sale before Christmas.

Lindsay previously starred in the West End and on Broadway in the 1980s musical Me And My Girl and Evans is the comic star of such films as Funny Bones and Mouse Hunt.