Nathan Lane played Nathan Detroit in the 1992 Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls. He was nominated for a Tony for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. The title "Good Old Reliable Nathan" refers to a line from a song from the musical.
The title is a line from the song "The Oldest Established (Permanent Floating Crap Game)" from "Guys and Dolls": "Why it's good old reliable Nathan..." The original Broadway production of "Guys and Dolls" opened at the 26th Street Theater on November 24, 1950, ran for 1200 performances and won the 1951 Tony Award (New York City) for the Best Musical.
Nathan Lane and Hank Azaria (Nat) co-starred in The Birdcage with Robin Williams