Amaral, joining the company for its last week in Chicago, takes over for Brad Oscar, who created the role for this touring starting in June. The company moves on to Detroit's Masonic Temple Theatre Dec. 2-Jan. 11, 2004.

Oscar, who was originator Nathan Lane's replacement after the star left the show, now heads back to New York, where he will be the standby for Nathan Lane Dec. 30-April 4, 2004.

The second national tour, with Oscar, launched June 17, 2003, in Boston. The first company on the road started in September 2002 and is currently in Los Angeles, where an eight-month run winds up in January.

Amaral has appeared in Broadway and national touring productions. Guys and Dolls, Annie Get Your Gun and Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? are among past credits.

Oscar's partner is crime, playing nebbish accountant Leo Bloom, who blossoms as a producer, is Andy Taylor. The Amaral company includes Rich Affannato as Carmen Ghia, Reneé Klapmeyer as Ulla, Peter Samuel as Franz Liebkind and Stuart Marland as Roger DeBris.

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The Producers swept the 2001 Tony Awards, receiving the most awards in Broadway history, including Best Musical , Best Book of a Musical (Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan), Best Original Score (Mel Brooks), Best Scenic Design (Robin Wagner), Best Costume Design (William Ivey Long), Best Lighting Design (Peter Kaczorowski), Best Orchestrations (Doug Besterman), Best Choreography and Best Direction of a Musical (Susan Stroman).

For more information, visit www.producersontour.com.