Producers Transfer Stalled for the Right Venue???

Could The Producers join the ranks of Aida amongst the long-anticipated Broadway-to-London transfers that might never happen? According to today's Daily Mail, the UK production of Mel Brooks' hit musical is in jeopardy for lack of an appropriate venue. When the transfer was first mooted (in summer 2001), David Ian, who heads the UK production team for Clear Channel, predicted that the show would open here at the start of 2003; in May of this year, that was pushed back to autumn 2003 and now, says the newspaper, there simply isn't a fixed arrival date. The team had their eyes on the Adelphi, but Chicago doesn't want to move and there's a fear that venue (at 1,500 seats) is too small. Another possibility is the Drury Lane - which was also earlier earmarked for Aida (See The Goss, 27 Sep 2002) - but the fear there is that it's too large (at 2,230 seats) and My Fair Lady doesn't want to move. Size and sentimentality-wise (choreographer Susan Stroman and her late husband Mike Ockrent once worked on a show together here), apparently, the Prince Edward theatre is a goer - but Mamma Mia!, with the biggest box office advance in the West End, certainly ain't moving!

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