Tony Awards® News
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NOTE: This is an archived version of this newsletter. Not all shows and offers still apply. Some links may no longer be accessible. |
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Whoopi Goldberg will host The American Theatre Wing?s 62nd Annual Tony Awards, which will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall® on CBS on Sunday, June 15 at 8/7c. The Tonys are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. The Nominations Announcement (sponsored by IBM) - Past winners David Hyde Pierce and Sara Ramirez will be on hand at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, May 13 to announce this season’s nominations. Visit TonyAwards.com for more info |
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Sarah Ramirez and David Hyde Pierce |
on the nominations, and to sign up for regular Tony Awards email news updates. Tickets to the Tonys – A limited number of tickets will go on sale at 9:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, May 13. Visit for details.TonyAwards.com |
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| Visa Signature Tony Awards Preview Concert - The stars come out this spring on a TV special that previews the 2008 Tonys. The show includes concert-style numbers from the season’s new musical productions, up-close and personal interviews with some of this year's Tony nominees, and a look at all the shows currently running on Broadway. Tune in to WCBS-TV in New York City at 7:00 p.m. on June 7. Check local listings for broadcast dates on other CBS affiliates across the country. | ||||
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Creative Conversation: |
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Each year during the Broadway League’s Spring Road Conference, we invite creative teams of Broadway shows to speak publicly about their new projects. At the 2008 event in April, we had the privilege of meeting three of the artists involved with the current revival of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Director Debbie Allen, her sister Phylicia Rashad (“Big Mama”), and Anika Noni Rose (“Maggie”) chatted with moderator Howard Sherman about their approaches to this American classic, interpreting Williams in an all-black cast, and what it’s like to perform on stage with James Earl Jones as “Big Daddy.” |
Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad and |
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Debbie Allen: This play’s revisions are as famous as its incarnations. Tennessee wrote it and wrote it and wrote it and rewrote it. We very quietly had to move the play forward from 1955 to around 1984 because in 1955 there were no black people in the Sugar Bowl or the Rose Bowl, and probably not on television as sportscasters. [Phylicia and I] grew up in Texas, and they called my daddy “Big Daddy.” Certain things about this play are very universal to this family, and to any family in the South. It was a wonderful journey for us in rehearsal to rediscover the language and what was happening, and find out our relationships. Why did Big Mama wait so long between the two sons? Why do they prefer Brick to Gooper? Those are wonderful things for an actor to talk about. |
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Anika Noni Rose in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof |
Anika Noni Rose: I don’t think that anybody is sitting in the theatre saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a white mouth saying that.” Ultimately it’s a family going through issues and dealing with dysfunction. If somebody in this room doesn’t have a dysfunctional family, God bless you and tell me later how that worked out. The writing is so phenomenal that you are caught up in the passion of these people dealing with each other, and not dealing with each other. That is the thing that matters. No one is talking about being white. They’re talking about being women and being men and being unloved and wanting to love. If somebody walks out of that theatre still feeling like it’s a white play, then they didn’t watch the play. | ||||
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| Phylicia Rashad: There are rhythms inherent in Tennessee Williams' writing. Yes, he did write this for southern, Caucasian people. Having worked with August Wilson, I’ve become very, very sensitive to rhythmic patterns in speech, and they do differ. The difference might be something as subtle as where you place an emphasis in a sentence and where you don’t. So you just make that subtle adjustment. What Tennessee Williams has captured so brilliantly is the horror and terror in which people live when you do not live truthfully. You create terror for yourself because at any moment, that cover can be blown. And then comes the ultimate cover-blower, mortality. He poses some age-old questions, which I think are the landmarks of great art. |
Phylicia Rashad in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof |
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Allen: We never knew the audience was going to laugh as much as they laugh. Laughter is sometimes a negative, pejorative, but laughter is also recognition. You see something up there that you recognize, it’s familiar to you, you respond. Theatre is a living, breathing thing in the moment. I say to my actors, "You will go to the same river every day, but you will step in new waters. You will be informed by the audience. You will be informed by the energy between you. It will be fresh and new and different every day." People cough, they talk back. When Big Daddy tells Big Mama to blow out the candles on the cake, one day there was a row of women in the back. “Don’t do it, don’t you do it!” They are so in tune with Big Mama, they are rooting for her and they don’t like what’s happening to her. Rashad: That’s what theatre should do. It’s provocative. It should make you want to do something, to look at yourself, at what’s happening around you. Rose: James Earl Jones is a sweetie. He comes into a room and he’s got this twinkle, and he’s looking for something to stir up. That is him and that is Big Daddy. It’s an extraordinary visceral experience, let me tell you. That man’s voice, you feel it. Rashad: He is absolutely masterful. It’s a marvelous presence. He is subtly different every single performance. He finds hills and valleys in different places. Allen: He is in many ways the youngest actor on the stage. He comes to the theatre with questions and discovery, and I delight in that every day. Get Tickets to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Official Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Website Coming next month: a creative conversation with A Catered Affair. |
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| Drum Roll Please - Audience Choice Winner | ||||
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We asked you to vote to select the winner of this year’s Touring Broadway Audience Choice Award, which honors a Broadway play or musical currently on national tour. Thanks to all of you who responded. And the winner of the 2008 Touring Broadway Audience Choice Award is: Wicked.
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| Touring Broadway Awards | ||||
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The 8th annual Touring Broadway Awards ceremony was held April 15 in New York. Presented by The Broadway League, these are the only awards to recognize Touring Broadway. League presenters representing over 240 markets act as a blue-ribbon panel to select award recipients from their Broadway series. In addition to the audience choice award, this year's winners included: Best New Touring Musical: Monty Python’s Spamalot For a complete list of winners please visit www.touringbroadwayawards.com |
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| The Shows on the Road: Mamma Mia! | |
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With the much-anticipated film version of Mamma Mia! set to open in July, these are heady days for the ABBA-inspired musical. This long-running hit show is now playing in both New York and on national tour. Looking over the tour schedule for the next few months, we noticed that Mamma Mia! is playing the home towns of several cast members. We decided to ask them what they thought about the idea of performing at the same theatres they grew up seeing Broadway tours in. |
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Susie McMonagle |
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What's the scariest/favorite part of playing your home town? Wearing white spandex in front of people I went to high school with. But I'm still looking forward to being home with my family. How will this stop on the Mamma Mia! tour be different for you? I will sleep in my old bed!!! What touring Broadway shows do you remember seeing in your home town? I remember seeing Annie, Evita, and Chess. I used to imitate Andrea McArdle for my dad at a restaurant bar called McFanns.Are you planning to do anything special with your fellow company members once you are on your home turf? I will take them out for the best Mexican food EVER. |
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Michael Aaron Lindner |
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What's the scariest/favorite part of playing your home town? What if I got booed... that would be terrible! I've seen many shows in many different theaters, but none compare to the Fabulous Fox. It has always been my dream to play that theatre. How will this stop on the Mamma Mia! tour be different for you? I will be staying with my parents for the week. I travel the show with my wife and 3-month-old son. While in St. Louis, my folks will be able to see Clark for the first time in about two months. The sweetest part is that they will be so busy spoiling my son, that they won't have time to bug me. Also, being able to stay in an actual home for a week will be bliss. Maybe Mom will cook! What touring Broadway shows do you remember seeing in your home town? My mother and father took me to see just about every show that toured to the Fox. I grew a deep appreciation for professional union touring companies after seeing so many quality productions there. A few that stick out in my memory are City of Angels, The Secret Garden, Evita, Tommy, and The King and I starring Yul Brynner.Are you planning to do anything special with your fellow company members once you are on your home turf? As much as I would love to take them all to Mississippi Nights or Blueberry Hill after the show some evening, I will probably be home changing a poopy diaper! |
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| Rose Sezniak Role: Sophie Sheridan Home Town: Philadelphia, PA Dates Mamma Mia! Plays There: July 15 - 27, 2008 Theatre: Academy of Music |
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What's the scariest/favorite part of playing your home town? Playing for my family and friends. They are so proud and excited (I think they reserved something like 80 tickets for opening night!). There is a lot of expectation to fulfill!! How will this stop on the Mamma Mia! tour be different for you? I haven't played a theatre in Philadelphia since high school, and never the Academy of Music, so it is obviously a huge thrill to play my home town for the first time in years as a leading role in a Broadway National Tour. Also, it is the week Mamma Mia! the movie comes out! What touring Broadway shows do you remember seeing in your home town? I saw Les Mis at The Forrest Theatre when I was around 12 years old. I remember being on the edge of my seat the whole time, and I got to meet Andrea McArdle, who was playing Eponine, afterward. I was thrilled.Are you planning to do anything special with your fellow company members once you are on your home turf? I love Philly because there is so much culture, and each area of town has its own unique feel. I want to make sure that everyone gets to experience it all. And of course they all have to have a cheesesteak. |
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Dream Casting |
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Last month we asked you to tell us about your favorite Broadway stars and the role you believe they were born to play. Thanks to all who sent in responses. Here are two of our favorites. Hugh Jackman for Pal Joey. He's sexy, has the talent to pull it off, and can play the bad guy you love to hate (see the upcoming movie Deception, as well as The Prestige). Actually, Hugh Jackman in almost anything -- let's get him back to Broadway! - Roberta I’ve been waiting to see Pippin for years, and I completely see Norbert Leo Butz in the title role, with Harvey Fierstein as Charlemange and Sherie Rene Scott as Catherine. Of course, John Gallagher, Jr. in Rent would be pretty great, too. I'd also like to see anyone who could be justifiably classified as a “diva” or “Broadway legend” or whatnot in Avenue Q! - Allison |
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| Broadway News Wire | |
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Broadway Stars at Feinstein's - An unprecendented roster of Broadway talent will perform this spring at Feinstein's at Loews Regency, the nightclub proclaimed "Best of New York" by New York Magazine. The club will feature such luminaries as Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago, Damn Yankees), Tony Danza (The Producers, The Iceman Cometh), Lea Michele (Spring Awakening), Alexander Gemignani (Sunday in the Park with George, Assassins), Emily Skinner (Side Show, The Full Monty), Orfeh (Legally Blonde the Musical, Saturday Night Fever) and Adam Pascal (Rent, Aida). The series runs through June 30. Call (212) 339 -4095 or visit Feinsteins for specific performance dates and more information. | |
Bebe Neuwirth |
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Kelli O'Hara |
Enchanted Evenings - South Pacific, originally set to close June 22, is now playing an open-ended run at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre. Tickets are currently on sale through January 4, 2009. | |
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| A Winning Family - Congratulations to August: Osage County and its author, Tracy Letts, for being awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama last month. This Broadway hit has moved to the Music Box Theatre, with tickets now on sale through September 7, 2008. |  |
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Daytime Emmys Go Blonde? - The 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Award nominations were announced on April 30. MTV’s broadcast of Legally Blonde The Musical earned nominations for Outstanding Special Class Directing and Outstanding Special Class Special. Additionally, John Tartaglia (a 2004 Tony-nominee for Avenue Q) earned a nomination for Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Series for “Johnny and the Sprites.” Tartaglia will soon be back on Broadway as Pinocchio in the upcoming Shrek the Musical. The Daytime Emmy Awards will air on June 20 on ABC. | |||
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| "One for the Road" - The national tour of A Chorus Line kicked off on May 3 at Colorado's Denver Center for the Performing Arts/Buell Theatre. | ||||
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The Cast of Rent Presents their Easter Bonnett, a Rent Tombstone |
A Big Thank-You - The 22nd annual Easter Bonnet Competition was the culmination of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’s spring fundraising campaign, which netted $3.7 million, mostly from audience contributions during curtain-call appeals. Thank you to all who donated. | |||
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| President Mamet? - David Mamet, author of the current Broadway hit November, is blogging on the Huffington Post website in the guise of President Charles H. P. Smith, the leading character in his political comedy. Nathan Lane portrays President Smith on stage at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. |
Nathan Lane in November |
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| Pamela’s First Musical – Donna Murphy stars in a May 18 concert version of Pamela’s First Musical, based on the children’s book by Wendy Wassertsein, which will benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The show features music by Cy Colman, lyrics by David Zippel, and a book by Wasserstein. Click for more info. | ||||
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The Broadwday Forecast |
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