Martin Richards, who has produced scores of plays and movies in his 40-year career, finally has a starring role in an action drama that has sundered the theater world and is rocking the West Side of Manhattan. Title it "Bullets over Broadway."

Mr. Richards has been recruited by the New York Jets to help win over public opinion for its plan to build a $1.4 billion stadium along the West Side Highway at 34th Street, a proposal strongly opposed by several powerful Broadway theater owners and union leaders. He readily volunteers that he is not a football fan, and that nepotism played a role in his selection; his late wife, Mary Lea Johnson, was related to Woody Johnson, the Jets owner.

But Mr. Richards said he was convinced that a stadium with a retractable roof, next to an expanded convention center and near the waterfront, would be an exciting place that would draw more people to Manhattan and Broadway, his first love.

"Anything that's going to enhance New York City's excitement and bring in more people is a good thing,'' said Mr. Richards, who produced "La Cage aux Folles;'' "Will Rogers Follies;'' and "Chicago," both the original Broadway production and the Oscar-winning movie.

In his efforts to help the Jets, Mr. Richards has been joined by James L. Nederlander Jr. and his father, James Sr., who operate nine Broadway theaters as well as theaters in California, Chicago, Detroit and London. Their roles in the Jets' production puts them sharply at odds with Gerald Schoenfeld and Rocco Landesman, who between them control 22 of the 35 Broadway theaters, as well as Thomas C. Short, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Mr. Schoenfeld and Mr. Landesman have been outspoken business leaders opposing the stadium, which would be an Olympic stadium if the city wins its bid for the 2012 Summer Games.

Rather than attracting people to Manhattan, they say, the 75,000-seat stadium would create traffic jams and discourage many from visiting the theater district, which they say is the city's most important tourist attraction, pulling in 225,000 patrons a week.

The stadium would sit on a $400 million deck over the West Side railyards a dozen blocks southwest of Times Square. The Jets are putting up $800 million for construction, while state and city officials have agreed to provide $600 million.

"I support the Olympics in New York," said Mr. Schoenfeld, chairman of the Schubert Organization, "but not at the expense of the West Side. It's already terribly congested. There is no record of a stadium having a positive economic impact on an urban area."

Mr. Short said he was "philosophically opposed to giving a sports team $600 million when schools are crumbling in front of our eyes," voicing an argument similar to that of economists who question of the wisdom of public investments in stadiums. But Mr. Cross said the Jets stadium would be unlike any other in that it would be designed to be a convention hall, a home to basketball tournaments, circuses and Super Bowls, and a link to the Hudson River waterfront.

The drama has unfolded with a symphony of grinding axes and only a month before a possible strike by union workers could darken Broadway theaters. Off stage, rumors abound. Did Mr. Nederlander endorse the stadium because he is also a minority owner of the Yankees, who want a subsidized stadium of their own? Did Mr. Schoenfeld become a stadium critic after the city turned down his request for development rights to build a theater?

Nonsense, the two men say. "We think it'll be good for New York," Mr. Nederlander said. "The more people who come into the city, the more who'll go to the theater."

The Jets have sought a counterweight to Mr. Schoenfeld and Mr. Landesman since the men went public with their criticism. Unable to quell opposition from community groups and West Side officials, stadium proponents do not want prominent figures adding their voices against the plan.

Mr. Richards said both sides should be able to work out their differences. "There are so many people with so much money involved with the stadium," Mr. Richards said. "I think perhaps that people like Woody, who want to build the stadium, should do something for the theaters."

In the meantime, the battle of Broadway continues. Matthew Higgins, a vice president for the Jets, has been wooing union leaders with promises of jobs.

The American League of American Theaters and Producers decided to stay out of the fray. Alan Eisenberg, executive director of Actors' Equity, acknowledged pressure from both sides, but said the union had not taken a position because "we have really been overwhelmed with negotiations."

Labor officials suggested that the stadium could be used as leverage in the coming contract negotiations with theater owners. If there is a strike, the mayor could side with the unions, positioning himself as a friend of workers, while punishing Mr. Schoenfeld.

"I don't believe they would do that," said Mr. Landesman, president of Jujamcyn Theaters, which operates five Broadway theaters. "Bloomberg hasn't tended to play those games."

But Mr. Landesman is concerned that the combined efforts of the Bloomberg administration, the Olympic bid committee and the Jets have served to dampen public debate. "A lot of people are shy about articulating their concerns, because they don't want to alienate the mayor," Mr. Landesman said. "I love the mayor, but there are real questions about this project."