There Goes Bialy

The Producers, the award-winning musical based on the classic Mel Brooks comedy, can't catch a break. Sure, it holds the record for the most Tony Awards ever, but ever since original stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick left it, it has seen hard times. First, it closed on Broadway after six years, earlier then most expected (the London production only played half as long), the film version bombed (even with Lane and Broderick aboard), and now, the Las Vegas version will be shutting down come springtime, after only a roughly year-long run (it will continue through February 9 at the Paris Las Vegas resort).

Of course, The Producers was always a hard sell for Vegas; if the crowd-pleasing Hairspray couldn't survive there, how could a musical about Hitler? Even with the (relative) star power of David Hasselhoff and Tony Danza (who will close out the run as Max Bialystock), the show couldn't lure potential audiences away from the craps tables and slot machines long enough to make a go of it, shortened 90-minute running time or not.

Maybe this will put a final nail in the coffin of these misguided attempts to bring the Great White Way to Sin City, for although the spectacle of The Phantom of the Opera and Monty Python's Spamalot (the musical for straight men) are reportedly doing well, even the long-running, ABBA-centric Mamma Mia! will finally close up shop next year.

Click here to buy The Producerson DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com, Playbill.com and Harrahs.com.