Foster will stick with the show until the bitter end, Jan. 30, when the tour folds in Pittsburgh after more than two years.
Between Syracuse and Pittsburgh, the show plays Cleveland. Foster's colleagues are Lewis J. Stadlen as Max (he launched the tour back in 2002), Charley Izabella King as Ulla, Harry Bouvy as Carmen Ghia, Michael McCormick as Franz and Lee Roy Reams as Roger.
This first national will have played some 28 months, including an eight-month sitdown on Los Angeles. Stadlen and other principals on the tour were bumped out of the company for the L.A. stop and bounced to Broadway. Sexier box office stars Martin Short and Jason Alexander took over as Leo and Max for L.A. for eight months in 2003, and Stadlen later returned to the tour to reign as the "King of Broadway" Max Bialystock.
After his three-city regional run in The Producers, Foster is heading to the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, to play Ensign Pulver in a revival of Mister Roberts this spring.
Alan Ruck left this touring company (dubbed the "Max Tour") as Leo on Dec. 19, 2004, to prepare for playing Leo in the Broadway company (ironically replacing Hunter Foster). Ruck began at Broadway's St. James Theatre Jan. 11, opposite his pal from TV's "Spin City," Richard Kind, as Max.
A second touring company — the "Leo Tour" — continues. Its final U.S. engagement (per the show's website) is June 7-19 for Dallas Summer Musicals at Music Hall at Fair Park in Dallas. It then travels to Japan for three weeks.
The smash Mel Brooks musical (based on his film of the same name) won a record number of Tony Awards in spring 2001.
For more information, visit www.producersontour.com.