Nathan Lane Is Ready to Be Bruce Springsteen’s Understudy

Broadway is back, which means Nathan Lane can crawl out from his bunker underneath the Nederlander and get back to work. And with Stephen Colbert filming The Late Show from the Ed Sullivan Theater once more, it made perfect sense to celebrate the future of Broadway with Lane, who went on a hilarious riff on Thursday night’s episode about how he’s “the standby for Springsteen on Broadway. I’m just one bad seafood dinner away from becoming the Boss!� Lane acknowledged that some people might not want to see him after paying hundreds for Springsteen tickets, but he deserves a shot because he’s been practicing really hard and “I’m putting my own special sauce on these ditties.� That’s the line that makes Colbert break. Lane also gives the single best quote we’ve ever heard about vaccines allowing America to reopen: “It is a thrill to be back. I feel like the mighty and horny cicada who has emerged from quarantine and I’m just lookin’ for a good time.�