Replacement for Hasselhoff in ‘The Producers’ named

The name Lee Roy Reams isn’t going to light up billboards along Interstate 15, but David Hasselhoff’s replacement in “The Producers” is a known song-and-dance man in theater circles.

Reams will close the Broadway edition of “The Producers” on April 22, then come to Las Vegas to continue his role as Roger DeBris, a flamboyantly inept stage director. He replaces Hasselhoff on May 7.

Hasselhoff closes out his three-month commitment to the Paris Las Vegas production May 6, citing the travel logistics of doing both “The Producers” and serving as a judge on “America’s Got Talent.” The NBC talent show is now in production for its second season, airing this summer.

Reams, 64, was a 1981 Tony Award nominee for “42nd Street.” In 1995 he directed and choreographed a Broadway revival of “Hello, Dolly!” His Broadway acting credits include “Beauty and the Beast,” “La Cage aux Folles” and “An Evening With Jerry Herman.”

Tony Danza will close the Broadway production in the lead role of Max Bialystock. He visited the Las Vegas company last week. Harrah’s Entertainment officials say no decisions have been made about hiring him as a new marquee name for the show.

The Las Vegas “Producers” also will pick up Broadway performer Bill Nolte as Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind, replacing Fred Appelgate.