Producers Up for Record 15 Tonys
May 7 -- The Producers, Mel Brooks' zany satire of Broadway, based on his 1968 film, is already the toast of New York; today it was nominated for a record 15 Tony nominations.
The hit show, which has already broken box-office records since it opened in April to ecstatic reviews, scored nominations for best musical and for stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, as well as three for Brooks himself for best score, for best book, and as one of several producers.
The play, like the film, is about a pair of bumbling Broadway producers (Lane and Broderick) who scheme to rig the financing of a surefire flop — a musical about Adolf Hitler that features a kick line of storm troopers singing a tune called "Springtime for Hitler" — only to see it become a colossal hit.
The Producers generated enormous buzz and a $14 million advance before its opening and broke more records after its debut.
A distant second with 10 nominations was The Full Monty, another hit musical based on a film, which might have led the pack in a Producers-free year. Among its nominations are a best actor nod for newcomer Patrick Wilson, who plays an unemployed steelworker who hatches a scheme to put on a male strip show in Buffalo, N.Y. The Oscar-nominated film version was set in economically depressed Scotland.
Best play revival nominees include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which won a nomination for Gary Sinise.
The nominations were announced at a morning news conference at Sardi's by country music superstar Reba McEntire, who received rave reviews when she stepped into Annie Get Your Gun, and Eric McCormack of TV's Will & Grace, who is about to take over the lead in The Music Man.
The Tonys will be presented at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in June in a national telecast on PBS and CBS.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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