Break Out the Bubbly
by Brantley Bardin with photos by George Lange
originally in Life Magazine Dec 30 2005Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, starring in the latest film version of The Producers, ring in the New Year with their own puzzle (can you find all eight changes?)
Tell us, when you hear "happy New Year," what springs to mind?
Broderick: The spin of it all.
Lane: Champagne and vicodin.
You're currently on Broadway in The Odd Couple. Do showbiz folk party hard on New Year's?
Lane: New Year's Eve is really for amateurs, so most people in the business like it quiet. It's the rest of the time they're getting drunk. [Laughs]
Broderick: But we have lots of mutual friends, so I'm sure Nathan and I will be together at midnight. Sara Jessica [Parker, Broderick's Wife] loves a traditional New Year's - she likes everybody to dress up - so there'll be a party.
What's a favorite New Year's Eve story?
Broderick: I remember walking in Washington Square Park in New York, way after midnight, and there was this incredible fog. With the lights hitting the fog and everybody in tuxes and evening gowns, I felt like I'd gone back in time.
Lane: Once, I'd done a show and was heading to a party and got into a cab with a hibachi in the front seat, Cooking.
Do you watch the ball drop in Times Square?
Broderick: Yeah, we always put on the old TV and watch the ball drop. But I'd never actually go there. They make you stand there all night because of security - you're not even allowed to go pee.
What's the best way to survive the holiday?
Lane: It's bad when you feel pressure for it to be the "craziest thing ever!" That's why some people get depressed - you feel like you have to feel a certain way.
So, taking a cue from a Producers song, how can a party pooper still "Keep it happy, keep it snappy, keep it gay"?
Lane: I think there's medication for that.
ANSWERS: No 1 (B1): The ladder has existed, stage left. No 2 (B3): Who's "HARRY"? No 3 (B6): The red ballons have multiplied. No 4 (C3): Mr. Broderick has changed ties. No 5 (C4): The champagne bottle has titlted in the other direction. No 6 (C5): The colors on Mr. Lane's jacket have reversed. No 7 (D4): The cork is falling! No 8 (E2): That green bottle's been stood up.
ROLL CREDITS: Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, photographed in New York City on December 6 by George Lange. Here and on the cover: Grooming: Berta Camal. Styling: Andrea Menke. Prop styling and set design: Maria Santana. On Lane: H. Herzfeld jacket; Prada shirt; Bergdorf Goodman ascot. On Broderick: Christian Dior Homme tux; Bergdorf Goodman shirt, bow tie, and scarf.
Have you achieved the state of higher laughing?
