A Year with the Producers: One Actor's Exhausting (But Worth It) Journey from Cats to Mel Brooks' Mega-Hit

Buffalo-born Jeffry Denman, currently in The Producers, has also appeared in the Broadway revival of How to Succeed, the Johnny Mercer musical Dream, as Munkustrap in Cats, and on PBS's Great Performances My Favorite Broadway. He has also choreographed Naked Boys Singing! and is developing his own show, Dancing in the Dark, for New York.

"Here, Denman offers a candid one-year diary of his experiences as singer, dancer and understudy in the production. His style is breezy and refreshingly honest, charting each step from audition to opening night. Denman's emotional narrative maintains suspense and sufficiently informs, making this a textbook for anyone seeking a theatrical career and yearning "[t]o change, alter, enhance, deepen, and magnify the hearts of people who sit there watching. Even those lacking in showbiz aspirations will enjoy this book; it has a strong inspirational angle. That, along with the show's blockbuster success, guarantees an instant hit." -Publishers Weekly."
"From the closing night of one smash, "Cats," to the opening night of another, "The Producers," Jeffrey Denman takes us on a delightful and insightful backstage tour of the Great White Way. His portraits of Mel Brooks and Susan Stroman are gems and add much to our understanding of how these towering creative talents work. How lucky for us that Mr. Denman is as fine a writer as he is a performer. Michael Riedel, The New York Post."

Chapter 1 I Have an Audition; Chapter 2 The Callback; Chapter 3 Cats, Backstage; Chapter 4 The Closing; Chapter 5 A Road Not Taken; Chapter 6 Leo Bloom Understudy Audition; Chapter 7 First Costume Fitting; Chapter 8 First Day of Rehearsal; Chapter 9 Satan Enters My Body; Chapter 10 End of the First Week; Chapter 11 First Full Cast Day; Chapter 12 Week Two; Chapter 13 Understudy Assignments; Chapter 14 Week Three; Chapter 15 Trying Things Out; Chapter 16 Reality Sets In; Chapter 17 Producer Run-Thru; Chapter 18 Invited Dress; Chapter 19 Chicago; Chapter 20 Sitzprobe; Chapter 21 First Preview — Chicago; Chapter 22 Opening Night In Chicago; Chapter 23 Final Show In Chicago; Chapter 24 Home Again — New York; Chapter 25 The Cast Recording; Chapter 26 Dress Run; Chapter 27 First Preview — New York; Chapter 28 Opening Night; Chapter 29 Fifteen; Chapter 30 Tony, Tony, Tony, Tonyyyyyy; Chapter 31 Feeling A Little “Bookish”; Chapter 32 The Documentary Screening; Chapter 33 Character Assassinations; Chapter 34 Three Days To Go; Chapter 35 One Day To Go; Chapter 36 The Last Entry;