Applegate to Spell Injured Stadlen in The Producers

Fred Applegate will replace Lewis J. Stadlen as Max Bialystock in the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of The Producers on Tuesday, October 7, according to the show’s publicist.

Stadlen, who had been signed to remain with the show through the end of the year, is withdrawing on doctor’s orders due to a chronic hip problem. Applegate will come to the Broadway company from the Los Angeles production (starring Jason Alexander and Martin Short), in which he has been playing Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind. The actor previously appeared on Broadway as Max Detweiler in the 1998 revival of The Sound of Music and played Cogsworth in the Los Angeles production of Beauty and the Beast.

October 7 is also the day that Gary Beach, who won a 2001 Tony Award for his performance as Roger De Bris in The Producers, will return to the Broadway production; he replaces John Treacy Egan, who will remain with the company in the role of Franz. The other current stars of the show are Don Stephenson as Leo Bloom, Sarah Cornell as Ulla, and Brad Musgrove as Carmen Ghia.