When the London show was first casting, it was reported that Lane and his Broadway co-star Matthew Broderick had priced themselves out of the market (purposely, some commentators said, given the physical toll of both arduous roles). But Lane was coaxed back into Max Bialystock’s crumpled suit after Richard Dreyfuss pulled out.

What’s more, according to the Mail On Sunday newspaper (further reported in The Observer), he’s pocketing £38,000 a week. By the end of his London stint in early January, he will have earned almost half-a-million pounds. That’s reported to be a record, although previous high earners — including Michael Ball in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Elaine Paige in Sunset Boulevard and then The King And I — are widely believed to have run close. Michael Crawford is also believed to be on a high rate in his role as Count Fosco in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Woman in White.

The London company of The Producers also features Lee Evans as Leo Bloom, Leigh Zimmerman as Ulla, Nicolas Colicos as Franz Liebkind, James Dreyfuss as Carmen Ghia and Conleth Hill as Roger De Bris. For more details, call (0)870 890 1109.