Short shift on B'way
Clear Channel to produce project, Wittman to helm
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No, he's not reprising his Leo Bloom stint from "The Producers," which he recently concluded at Hollywood's Pantages Theater.
Short has joined with the "Hairspray" team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who will write a musical show for him to topline. Clear Channel will produce, with Wittman directing.
Shaiman called the project "embryonic." There's no title, and it hasn't yet been decided who, if anybody, will share the stage with Short and his many characters, among them Ed Grimly and Jackie Rogers Jr.
"Marty does like playing off people," said Shaiman, who left open the possibility of including some Broadway types as well as the Second City gang. Shaiman will conduct the orchestra, which in the end may turn out to be a small band.
The genesis for the stage project came from Short's annual Christmas party at his Los Angeles home, where he performs for guests. Reportedly, his manager, Bernie Brillstein, always said, "Marty, you ought to do this on Broadway!" So he put the deal together with Stacy Mark and Clint Mitchell of William Morris.
Shaiman and Wittman got in on the act when they wrote lyrics to "Winter Wonderland" for one of Short's holiday perfs.
"They're old-fashioned Hollywood Christmas parties like you used to hear about," Shaiman said. "We either had to get Marty a show or put him in rehab. So we decided to do the former and make a profit."
Short's last Broadway gig was "Little Me," which brought him a Tony in 1999.
