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NEW YORK, Dec 15, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. actor Tony Danza is set to take over the role of Max Bialystock in the Mel Brooks musical, "The Producers," on Broadway.
Danza will mark the eighth actor to star in the part originally played by Tony-winning Nathan Lane, The New York Daily News reported Friday.
"Desperate Housewives" actor Roger Bart is also returning to the show on the same day to play Max's right-hand man Leo Bloom. Max and Leo scheme to get rich by creating a flop, but the plan backfires in the musical.
Danza has done most of his acting on television, but he also has musical experience, the Daily News said.
In 1998, he played the lead role in a revival of Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge," and in 1999 he played entered the world of Eugene O'Neill, playing a tough bartender in a production of "The Iceman Cometh" starring Kevin Spacey.
"I have always wanted to do a Broadway musical and this is one of the greatest lead roles ever in a Broadway musical," Danza said, the Daily News reported. "And I get to work with Roger Bart and a wonderful company. Enough said."
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
