Two veteran actors — one with 130 production credits, here and in the Pacific Northwest over two decades; another with 30-plus years of show experience, including a national tour of "Miss Saigon" — wanted the role of Max Bialystock in Mel Brooks' "The Producers," which makes its Honolulu premiere tonight at Diamond Head Theatre.

Dennis Proulx landed the part of the devious Broadway producer, his second role originated by Tony Award-winner Nathan Lane. (The earlier one was Pseudolus in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.")

Don Nahaku, who also tried out for the part, instead plays Leo Bloom, the accountant sidekick originally played by Matthew Broderick. But he's happy with his assignment. Bloom, he concludes, is more vocally suited for him anyway.

Bialystock and Bloom devise a scheme to produce a humongous flop in order to bilk their backers out of millions of dollars. There's one bugaboo, however: The show becomes a smash hit.

We posed Five Questions to each actor:

DENNIS PROULX AS MAX BIALYSTOCK

Q. You've done just about everything, musically speaking — 130 shows and counting, and now you're doing another Nathan Lane role. What gives?

A. Ever since the first movie came out in '68, I've been waiting. ... I was one of the first to get the CD, and I just adore Mel Brooks. This is a big deal at Diamond Head, the first regional theater to stage "The Producers," and it's thrilling to be a part of it.

Q. So what's with the Mel Brooks connection?

A. It started with "Twelve Chairs," his first movie. It was outrageously funny and it almost didn't make it into distribution. It was finally picked up because Peter Sellers (of Inspector Clouseau fame) started showing it to his friends in private screenings at his house. And, well, Mel Brooks remaking musicals ("The Producers," plus "Young Frankenstein") ... it's just wild.

Q. What do you do to pay the bills when you're not acting?

A. I don't clean carpets anymore. I'm working as an account executive for Century Computers. I always need to go out and do something (a play) because it is a passion. My wife sends me out the door, hoping I'd get something small.

But this role and this show — I have to say, it will be one heck of a ride. And (director) John Rampage is an amazing talent, in every aspect, dealing with the overall look and feel of the show.

Q. You have directed as well as acted. Does art imitate life — have you known a producer as maniacal as Bialystock?

A. Yeah, there was one at a small theater in Clackamas, Ore. He kind of looked like Colonel Sanders. He'd say, "We gotta do it this way, that way, over here, over there." I've played producers in shows, too — "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" and "Twentieth Century" — so this must be my destiny.

Q. What is it that keeps you pumping and going?

A. After doing it (acting) so long, you don't do it for the audience, you do it for fun. Some people play basketball, some bowl or golf. I act. And like climbing a mountain, every time you fall, yet get up and go again, and it gets better. And when things are working well, the words and lines just roll off your tongue.

DON NAHAKU AS LEO BLOOM

Q. You toured in "Miss Saigon" and worked on the Mainland. What brought you back home?

A. I left in 1999, toured a couple of years, ended up in New York, where I stayed for four years, starting up theater companies. My father came down with cancer, due to complications from Agent Orange —and we tried to get 100 percent disability for him. The approving letter came the day after he died.

I returned home in December 2004, stayed on to take care of my mom. I had a son (Alika) with me in New York and since returning, I stayed low, spent time with family, went into the real-estate business.

Q. How are you shaping Leo Bloom?

A. I did not get to see ("The Producers") in New York. It was always sold out. But after doing the Engineer (in "Saigon"), I wanted to do Bialystock — my target when I heard the show was going to be done here.

It was Emmett (Yoshioka), the music director, who said I should consider Leo, because of the vocal range, so I decided to (try) singing lyrically. He's eccentric, he's nervous around strong people, he's got issues — but he dances a little, so I get to do some tap.

The thing is, it was a nice challenge. He's not my usual kind of character. But working with Dennis before, there's great rapport. He kinda slapped me around in "Jesus Christ Superstar" and he's doing it again.

Q. You've done "Lost." Any filming secrets you can share?

A. I did one episode in Season 3, where I played a detective in a flashback with Locke, the one about how he ends up in a wheelchair. I haven't done anything this season, but I am up for "The Reef," which is a sequel to "Into the Blue."

Q. What memories — the good and the bad — do you have of New York?

A. New York was awesome. Any actor who wants to truly be an actor should give it a shot. The playing field is leveled nicely — but you have to be on your game, you gotta know your stuff. If you sing your song, have a 16-bar and an 8-bar version ready. They want to see how high you can go, so keep up your chops.

I did an off-Broadway thing with Rising Circle, a theater group of color, which did "Pulling the Lever," about the last election — which I produced and appeared in — and it was nominated for off-Broadway awards.

Q. What's your game plan?

A. My forte is producing, not directing, and I've been writing a hip-hop musical and a potential TV show, "Hawaiians in Harlem," about my experiences in the hip-hop world that collides in the New York environment I lived in — at 148th and Broadway in Harlem. But the world's gotten so much smaller. I'd go anywhere that calls me, even back to New York. I still have that passion.