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CELEB: Cloris Leachman is Not Afraid of You, and She Will Beat Your Ass.

Now that the Tony-winning juggernaut that was musical version of The Producers has finally bid adieu to Broadway, you can’t really blame Mel Brooks for taking another trip to the well with Young Frankenstein: The Musical.

You also can’t blame Cloris Leachman, one of the surviving cast members of the original 1974 movie, for auditioning to reprise her role as Frau Blücher (insert whinnying horses here).

An audition that, according to Broadway “insiders,” she aced to the point where Mel Brooks was overheard saying, “Cloris is going to steal the show — all she has to do is walk on the stage — she’ll bring the house down”. However, when the role eventually went to Andrea Martin, the reason given by Brooks and others involved was that the 81-year-old Leachman was “too old” to do eight performances a week without risking her health. Or as the 81-year-old Brooks phrased it, “We’re afraid the show might stop her — it could kill her…We don’t want her to die on stage.”

So of course, Cloris did what any seasoned professional actor would do. While her dedicated fans (or at least her dedicated agent) started the ubiquitous online petition, she channeled Uwe Boll and via her agent challenged Mel Brooks to a fight: “Cloris challenges Mel to three rounds in the ring, and we’ll see who’s left standing.”

While more staid musical theatre fans may dislike the idea of casting choices being decided by having two octogenarians enter the Octagon, I think it’s a great idea. As the age of the average theater-goer continues to decline, what would bring in more of that coveted “males aged 18-34” demographic than rebranding The Great White Way as The Great Fight Way? At the very least, think of the ratings bonanza of a TV series combining talent and trial by combat! (Written by: Uncognitive) (via Jason’s shared items in Google Reader)