And what about the inevitable comparisons to his stage predecessors, Matthew Broderick, Roger Bart, Don Stephenson? How is he filling their shoes? “I’m the wrong person to ask,” replies the right person to ask. And will L.A. theatergoers fork out the big bucks to make Mel Brooks even richer?
“The show’s unstoppable, because of all the creative and visual impact,” says Short, feeling tall. (Of course, that’s what they said about Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which bombed at the Henry Fonda, and The Lion King, whose L.A. run was a mere hiccup compared to its engagements in New York and London.)
Short smiles and shakes hands, before a publicist ushers him out to his dressing room.