It's Tony Awards time again. And once more the "fabulous invalid," as Broadway has been called for eons, has mustered the strength to line up an array of performances and shows worthy of a standing ovation.
Next Sunday evening, the Tony medallions will be presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League in a nationally televised ceremony at Radio City Music Hall. This year's host: Broadway alum and "The View" coffee-klatcher Whoopi Goldberg.
Local favorite Bartlett Sher, artistic head of Seattle's Intiman Theatre, will be in the Radio City audience, waiting to hear if he's bagged a Tony for directing an acclaimed revival of "South Pacific." He's had two previous Tony nominations, but no wins, and this one may well be the charm.
Major movie and TV celebs will also be on hand, presenting the awards (which have been bestowedsince 1947) for theatrical excellence. And a generous sprinkling of TV and film stars is in the running to take Tonys home, including nominees Patrick Stewart (for his lead performance in "Macbeth"), Laurence Fishburne ("Thurgood") and S. Epatha Merkerson of TV's "Law & Order" ("Come Back, Little Sheba").
But some of the tightest races involve commanding performers not widely known beyond the New York/London theater axis — such as Ben Daniels, Kelli O'Hara, Eve Best and Lin-Manuel Miranda — and living, breathing playwrights of good repute, including Tom Stoppard, Conor McPherson, Tracy Letts and Patrick Barlow.
Things looked very dicey for the Great White Way last autumn, when a heated labor strike by technicians, carpenters and other backstage hands closed all but a few Broadway productions for nearly three weeks. With Actors Equity and other sister unions honoring the picket lines, the entire season could have been crippled, leaving the Tony pool paltry.
But the strike was settled in late November, and the season resumed, barely missing a beat. And apparently, without suffering much financial damage. During the 2007-08 season, 36 new shows opened on Broadway, according to The Broadway League, a theatrical trade group. Along with the carry-overs from the previous season, those shows sold 12.27 million tickets — down just 0.2 percent from 2006-07 — and grossed more than $900 million.
But Broadway math is never as interesting as the Broadway misfires and magic on the stage. Here's our basic primer on the Tonys, plus a scan of the season, and our picks for who should — and guesses for who will — be trekking up to the Radio City stage to collect those glittering prizes.
Q: Who chooses the nominees for the Antoinette Perry (aka Tony) Awards?
A: A rotating committee of 15 to 30 theater insiders (designers, academics, agents, administrators, playwrights, actors), all of whom pledge to attend every new show in the given season before meeting to decide on the nominations.
Q: Who votes for the final awards?
A: Some 750 people — a varied lot that includes union leaders, press agents, Broadway League board members, etc.
Q: What big, splashy numbers will be on the TV broadcast?
A: One each from the shows nominated for best musical, usually performed live by the original cast members. This year there will also be two added-on numbers from long-running shows: "Rent" and "The Lion King."
Went bust before Broadway
"Lone Star Love," the twangy, ill-fated musical based on Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor." During its premiere at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre last year, a backstage war reportedly broke out between the show's star, Randy Quaid; his wife; and the rest of the company. "Lone Star Love" never recovered, and the Broadway run was canceled.
Most competitive Tony categories
Best performance by a leading actress in a musical: When you have Patti LuPone ("Gypsy") taking on Kelli O'Hara ("South Pacific") and Faith Prince ("A Catered Affair"), there is no shoo-in. And by the way: The other two nominees in the category (Kerry Butler, "Xanadu," and Jenna Russell in "Sunday in the Park With George") ain't chopped liver either, either.
Best revival of a musical: "South Pacific," eloquently staged by Sher, is favored, but "Gypsy" (directed by its 89-year-old librettist, Arthur Laurents) has ardent fans in high places, too.
Biggest snubs of the season
David Mamet, not nominated for his political comedy "November," a hit at the box office but so-so for critics.
Mel Brooks, whose big, honking spectacle "Young Frankenstein" (which had a pre-Broadway debut at Seattle's Paramount Theatre last summer) earned just three nominations — for sets (Robin Wagner), and supporting actor (Christopher Fitzgerald) and supporting actress (Andrea Martin) in a musical.
Kevin Kline, for his well-regarded lead turn in "Cyrano de Bergerac."
Most Tony-hailed Broadway debut
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the under-30 star, writer and composer of the vivacious Latino musical "In the Heights." Loads of talent, charisma to burn — what's not to love?
Darkest horse, but oh, what cheesy fun
"Xanadu," the proudly schlocky, deliciously campy spinoff of a notoriously lame 1980 Olivia Newton-John movie musical about a roller-skating goddess on a mission in Los Angeles. Douglas Carter Beane's Tony-nominated book for the show is hilarious. Too bad Seattle stage alum Cheyenne Jackson didn't get some sugar for his male lead performance as a sweetly dimwitted street-painter-Rollerblade dude.
Picks in the major categories
Best new play: The outrageous dysfunctional-family saga "August: Osage County" by Tracy Letts, the biggest hit play in a season with an unusually healthy crop of new Broadway plays. It's a more dynamic, galvanic production than its closest contender, Tom Stoppard's drugs-politics-rock saga, "Rock 'n' Roll." The category's other nominees are "The 39 Steps," Patrick Barlow's lauded adaptation of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and Conor McPherson's Irish bar drama "The Seafarer," which Seattle Repertory Theatre will stage next season.
Best actor in a play: As mentioned, a really tough race. Playing the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall with fire and dash, Laurence Fishburne is probably the guy to beat. But he's drawing stiff competition from Ben Daniels, the Brit actor praised for nailing the serial-seducer Valmont in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," opposite the (unnominated) Laura Linney.
Best actress in a play: Also a tough contest. But despite going up against her "August: Osage County" co-star Amy Morton, Chicago acting vet Deanna Dunagan will likely be honored for her preternatural comic-grotesque turn as a pill-popping Oklahoma matriarch who rides roughshod over her miserable adult offspring.
Best actor in a musical: Lin-Manuel Miranda has a great shot, but Paulo Szot, the operatic dreamboat in Bartlett Sher's "South Pacific" revival, is plenty deserving, too. In fact, all the nominees are worthy — including Stew, the guitarist-narrator-author of the offbeat bio-musical "Passing Strange"; Tom Wopat as an Everyman cabbie in "A Catered Affair"; and Daniel Evans in a heralded revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park With George."
Best actress in a musical: The sentimental favorite is Patti LuPone, who tears through "Gypsy" like a bat out of vaudeville hell. But nipping at her heels are Faith Prince as the careworn mother of the bride in "A Catered Affair," and Kelli O'Hara as the corny-as-Kansas-in-August Navy nurse Nellie in "South Pacific."
Best musical revival: "South Pacific" should, and may well, nab this prize. Much of the credit for making the first-ever Broadway revival of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic will go to Intiman's Sher, who was also nominated for his direction. (Sher's next Broadway musical gig: developing a musical about martial-arts superstar Bruce Lee.)
Best new musical: Unless there's a major upset, the exhilarating "In the Heights" has it locked. Tony voters will likely find the other contenders too familiar ("Cry-Baby"), too camp ("Xanadu"), or too offbeat ("Passing Strange") to take the grand prize.
Special awards
Pre-decided honors go to the dean of Broadway composers, Stephen Sondheim, for lifetime achievement; Chicago Shakespeare Theater, best regional company; and to the late Robert Russell Bennett, original orchestrator of many Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals.
Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com
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