Curtain to fall on Broadway hit The Producers

Last Updated: Friday, February 23, 2007 | 11:38 AM ET

CBC Arts

Hit Broadway musical The Producers, which won a record-breaking dozen Tony Awards after its 2001 debut, is set to close this spring.

Organizers behind the Mel Brooks production announced on Thursday that the show will close April 22 after more than 2,500 performances at Manhattan's St. James Theatre.

Nathan Lane, left, and Matthew Broderick won praise as the original stars of the award-winning musical The Producers.
(Associated Press)

Brooks described the past six years working on the show as "pure joy."

"The sound of laughter is the greatest sound on Earth, and I have been lucky enough to experience that sound every day for the last six years," said director and choreographer Susan Stroman.

Based on Brooks's Oscar-winning 1968 film of the same name, The Producers follows the story of two hucksters who attempt to bilk investors by staging a bizarre musical called Springtime for Hitler, which they believe will be an instant flop. To their shock, the production becomes a hit.

From its debut in 2001, the musical proved a real-life Broadway hit. Critics raved about the show and it became the hottest ticket on the Great White Way, spawning a U.K. run and touring shows around the world.

The Producers went on to nab 12 Tony Awards — including best musical — and vaulted original leads Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick into superstar status. Attendance began to fall, however, after the duo left the show. 

The two reprised their roles in a three-month run in early 2004 and in a subsequent 2005 film based on the Broadway show.

Another of Brooks's film comedies is set for musical adaptation. Young Frankenstein is scheduled to take over the slot The Producers is leaving at the St. James this fall.