The only On-Broadway musical I've ever seen was another Roman-themed musical, Sondheim's Funny Thing Happened on the way to the forum, because that's the only one that wasn't sold out, because Nathan Lane, who basically made the role famous, had passed it to Whoopi Goldberg who passed it to David Allan Grier, who passed it to some unknown understudy for that night's performance. So the show was carried entirely by the star power of none other than TV's Cousin Larry, Mark Linn Baker. Besides 80s Robin Williams I can't think of another actor who put it all out in a performance like Baker did, including a good amount of professional dancers.

It's a tough show. The role of Pseudolus requires a lot from the actor, and there aren't many who can actually pull it off. Its written for Zero Mostel's Borscht Belt shtick, it is hypersexualized and requires a lot of very good timing. Nathan Lane is a good choice because he seems to grasp the importance of going broad, which TV actors don't seem to bring to Broadway as often. Broadway requires playing to the rafters. It's stupid.