Only two days after starting previews, Matthew Broderick had to sit out a performance of The Producers to rest his voice. He missed the March 22 show, with understudy Jamie Laverdiere taking over as Leo Bloom. No word yet on whether Broderick will be in the weekend shows of the Mel Brooks-Thomas Meehan musical; a call the spokespersons for the show was not yet returned at press time. In other Producers news, on March 11, Sony Classical recorded The Producers' original cast CD at Edison Recording Studios, with Hugh Fordin producing. The CD is due in stores April 17, according to Sony VP of publicity Carol Della Penna.

Fordin told Playbill On Line among the items on the disk are an overture that was written for the production but, at present, isn't in the show. Songs in the Mel Brooks-Thomas Meehan tuner include "The King of Broadway," "Der Gutten Tag Hop Clop," "Keep it Gay," "That Face," "`Till Him," "Prisoners of Love" and, of course, "Springtime for Hitler."

By pretty much all accounts, The Producers, Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan's stage adaptation of Brooks' classic film comedy, has reached Broadway in as healthy shape as a new musical could wish for. The show's try-out at Chicago's Cadillac Palace, which ended Feb. 25, was sold out before it even started (on Feb. 1), reviews were "amazing," and the production pulled into the St. James Theatre for previews that began March 21 with "a healthy advance" (the New York Post has previously reported $6 million), a spokesperson for the show told Playbill On-Line.