TODAY IN THEATRE HISTORY: In 2000, Nathan Lane stars as Sheridan Whiteside and Jean Smart stars as Lorraine Sheldon in the revival of the Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman play, The Man Who Came to Dinner, which opens tonight at the Roundabout Theatre Company's new Broadway house, the American Airlines Theatre. Lane will probably be remembered more for his second starring role of the season, as Max Bialystock in The Producers which won him the Tony for Best Actor. The American Airlines Theatre is the refurbished and rechristened Selwyn Theatre on 42nd Street.
TODAY IN THEATRE HISTORY: In 2001, it's ker-ching time for Hitler — and Mel Brooks and all of Broadway. Legendary opening night of The Producers at the St. James Theatre, as ticket buyers form lines down 44th Street to see Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in the musical adaptation of the 1968 Brooks film. The production will win a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards, and run for 2,502 performances.
TODAY IN THEATRE HISTORY: In 2010, The Addams Family, a musical based on the macabre characters of illustrator Charles Addams, opens on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. With music by Andrew Lippa, and book and lyrics by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, the production stars Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as Gomez and Morticia Addams.
Let's face it: Broadway can be a woman's world. Just like in the opera, which ain't over til the fat lady sings, in musical theatre, the sun often rises and sets on the leading ladies — even if it's the baritone who sings about the beautiful morning. It's difficult to navigate any career in the performing arts, but the Great White Way is particularly perilous for its leading men, as the changing face of new shows offers little in the way of a mold. In a cult of personality, it's a popularity contest with no rules.
Playbill.com correspondent Ben Rimalower offers a look at some of Broadway's current leading men.