Lane saves London’s ‘Producers’

Broadway star Nathan Lane is dashing over to Britain to reprise his Tony Award-winning role in the London production of “The Producers” after Richard Dreyfuss pulled out at the last minute.

The musical’s producers at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane said that the Academy Award-winning Dreyfuss was forced to forfeit the plum role of Max Bialystock because of continuing complications from surgery earlier this year.

“Following his surgery for a herniated disc in January and the reoccurrence of a shoulder injury, it has become increasingly difficult for Mr. Dreyfuss to fulfill the rigors of the role, and it is with regret that both parties have had to make this decision,” the producers said Monday in a statement.

Lane, 48, will have little time to brush up on his lines -- producers said the show’s schedule will remain unchanged, with previews beginning Friday and the show opening Nov. 9. Lane, who won the Tony for his role in the Broadway version of the Mel Brooks musical in 2001, will join the show on a temporary basis until Jan. 8.