The Tony Wrap-Up: Lackluster Was the Name of the Game

How do you solve a problem like the Tonys?

Theater people love them. They live for this one night. But the pool that is "theater people" seems to be shrinking, if the Tony Awards ratings on TV, the fact that they've now cut half the awards and don't show them to us on our screens, and all the hoops they're jumping through to try to make the evening work for the film and TV world are any indications. (The way "Smash" has been treated is also evidence that the people at the top of the TV pyramid do not respect Broadway, but that's a discussion for another day.)

My first problem: They keep giving us Neil Patrick Harris. Lots and lots of Neil Patrick Harris. Don't get me wrong -- I like NPH. I was there with everybody else lauding him in the past for bringing pizzazz, good spirits and what is presumably a high Q score to an event which sometimes plays as too much of an insider game for Middle America.

Still, with Broadway performers like Christian Borle, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Audra McDonald, Matthew Morrison, Cynthia Nixon, Denis O'Hare, Mary Louise Parker, Sara Ramirez  and Vanessa Williams playing high-profile roles on high-profile TV shows, it's not like Broadway isn't already on Middle America's TV sets. (And Sutton Foster, more Broadway royalty, will be joining that group tonight, in her own starring role on TV in ABC Family's "Bunheads." More about "Bunheads" tomorrow...)

Meanwhile, so many TV and film stars have gone the other direction, putting themselves on stage to keep the box office going, that Harry Potter, a kid from "Glee" and a Jonas Brother all played J. Pierrepoint Finch in Broadway's "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" within the space of a month, hitting the film/TV/pop music trifecta.

All of that is my way of saying that Neil Patrick Harris may be charming, but he isn't necessary to bridge the TV/Broadway gap anymore. And what once played as fresh and funny from NPH came off more tired and self-serving for me in this year's Tony broadcast. So the show opened with the fresh-faced Mormon boys from "The Book of Mormon," last year's winner for Best Musical, knocking on stars' doors, only to be followed up by a second opening number with Harris lamenting the fact that life isn't more like a musical. It was okay, but who needs two opening numbers?

Then he had another musical number at the mid-point, and a third to wrap up the show. And he got to hang from the rafters as a scene-stealer while Angela Lansbury and Ted Chapin sped through the American Theatre Wing explanation we hear every year. Angela Lansbury does not need Neil Patrick Harris to steal her focus or spice up her appearance, no matter what she's delivering.

Amanda Seyfried at the Tonys

My second problem: Half the presenters were people with minimal connection to Broadway. Amanda Seyfried, Anne Hathaway, Josh Groban, Tyler Perry, Jessica Chastain, James Marsden, Sheryl Crow, I'm looking at you. If the only people watching are real Broadway enthusiasts, then why not give them presenters like Tommy Tune (who owns the record for most individual Tony awards), Julie Harris (who owns the record for most nominations), Harvey Fierstein, Barbara Cook, Boyd Gaines, Sutton Foster, Bobby Cannavale, Joe Mantello, Kathleen Chalfant, Joel Grey, Donna Murphy, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Victoria Clark, Robert Sean Leonard, Laura Benanti, Howard McGillin... And I could go on all night. Angela Lansbury, Mandy Patinkin, Patti Lupone and Bernadette Peters were a step in the right direction, but... More Broadway stars, please.

My third problem: They didn't give "Follies," my favorite musical ever, the Best Revival of a Musical award, instead handing it over to what is being called "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess," even though it is the least Gershwin (or DuBose and Dorothy Heyward) version of "Porgy and Bess" ever. The orchestrations were changed, the book was diced and spliced, the recitatives were excised in favor of new dialogue from Suzan-Lori Parks, Porgy's goat-cart was taken so he could have a limp and a new, more self-actualized storyline... And no matter whether the Gershwin estate approved it, that's not "Porgy and Bess." Everyone I know who has seen it has said that Audra McDonald, the one-woman Tony machine, was spectacular, and deserved her award for Leading Actress in a Musical. But... That's still not "Porgy and Bess" and it shouldn't be winning awards for being a revival when it's not a revival, it's a whole new show.

Of course there's no way to stop the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League and their voters from giving their awards to whoever they feel like. That's part of the game in any awards show, where disgruntled fans of other shows or other performers swear and throw things at the TV when their faves are bypassed. So you can regard my third problem as my chance to vent about my beloved "Follies" being overlooked again and leave it at that, if you really want to.

My fourth problem: The pieces from nominated shows didn't make me want to hop a plane to Broadway tomorrow. The scenes shown on the Tony Awards show usually get me all fired up to get to New York immediately, before the nominated works close or their stars move on. But the awful, screechy and incomprehensible power trio from "Ghost," the bizarre Matthew Broderick number from "Nice Work If You Can Get It," wherein he looked bloated and uncomfortable as he half-heartedly warbled "Sweet and Lowdown," one of my favorite songs, and flung his hair around with some chorus girls, the muddled bits of "Peter and the Starcatcher," which is from all reports a terrific show but certainly didn't display what's good about it here, the odd choices for numbers from "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Godspell," Ricky Martin and Elena Rogers sounding none-too-good for "Evita," and James Corden, who later won the Best Actor in a Play award for "One Man, Two Guvnors," rolling around on the floor like Mary Lou Retton in the 1984 Olympics... Well, it made me want to stay away, not see those shows.

Unfortunately, there was too little of "Clybourne Park" or the Tony-winning parts of "Nice Work If You Can Get It," (i.e. Michael McGrath and Judy Kaye) to get much idea of whether I want to see them or not. All in all, only Steve Kazee and the "Once" cast, the spiffy dance number from "Newsies" and Nina Arianda's acceptance speech for "Venus in Fur" made Broadway look appealing.

And you wonder why the Tony Awards get so little coverage.

As a side-note, if I were being all Central Illinois-centric, I would've led with the fact that all three of the shows featuring alumni from our area universities had good nights. "Clybourne Park," with U of I's Crystal A. Dickinson and Brandon Dirden in the cast, won Best Play, while "Newsies," featuring IWU's Evan Kasprzak, took home Tonys for its score and choreography. IWU's Bryonha Parham is part of the "Porgy and Bess" I already told you about, and my unhappiness over its award for Best Revival has nothing to do with Parham, who has been singled out for her vocal chops in the role of Serena.

The big winner of the night, however, was "Once," a small, intimate musical about a street performer and a girl he meets one night in Dublin, based on the movie of the same name. "Once" was named Best Musical and took awards for lead actor Steve Kazee and director John Tiffany, as well as for its book, lights, sound, orchestrations, and the warm Irish pub set designed by the fabulous Bob Crowley.

Drama Desk Awards Handed Out to Follies, Once, Salesman and Tribes

The Drama Desk Awards were handed out last night in New York, with revivals of "Follies" and "Death of a Salesman" plus new play "Tribes" and new musical "Once" taking prizes.

The Drama Desk Awards recognize excellence among Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway shows and performers. The organization was formed in 1949 by a group that included New York theater critics, editors, reporters and publishers, banding together to try to educate the general public about "vital issues concerning the theater." And the awards are still nominated and voted on by media people not associated with individual shows.

Seven plays were nominated in the Outstanding Play category, including David Henry Hwang's "Chinglish," Dan LeFranc's "The Big Meal," "Unnatural Acts" from Members of the Plastic Theatre, "Completeness," by Itamar Moses, "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark," by Lynn Nottage, Nicky Silver's "The Lyons," and the winner, "Tribes," by Nina Raine.

"Tribes" is described Ben Brantley for the New York Times as "a smart, lively and beautifully acted new play that asks us to hear how we hear, in silence as well as in speech."

And, yes, the Drama Desk nominators did manage to find seven musicals to nominate for Outstanding Musical. "Bonnie and Clyde," "Death Takes a Holiday," "Leap of Faith," "Newsies," "Nice Work If You Can Get It" and "Queen of the Mist" were all nominated in addition to "Once," which won last night.

"Once" is based on the movie of the same name, about a Dublin street busker and the young Czech woman he meets one night who takes an interest in his music. Enda Walsh wrote the book for the stage musical, which keeps much of the music from the film, composed by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová and also performed by the two of them on screen.

"Once" director John Tiffany also won a Drama Desk Award (Outstanding Director of a Musical), as did the show's orchestrations (by Martin Lowe) and lyrics (Hansard and Irglová).

The award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical went to the production of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" that took New York by storm before transferring to LA and changing leading ladies. (Bernadette Peters was replaced by Victoria Clark.) "Follies" beat out the infamous "Carrie," Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Evita" and "Jesus Christ Superstar," the new version of the Gershwins' "Porgy and Bess" (with the book updated by playwright Suzan-Lori Parks for this production), and Bertolt Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera."

Danny Burstein, who played Buddy in "Follies," won as Outstanding Actor in a Musical with Gregg Barnes (costume design) and Kai Harada (sound design) also winners. Burstein's competitors were Kevin Earley in "Death Takes a Holiday," Raúl Esparza in "Leap of Faith," Jeremy Jordan as the lead Newsie in "Newsies," Norm Lewis as Porgy in "Porgy and Bess" and Ricky Martin as a very different kind of Che in "Evita."

The revival of "Death of a Salesman" starring Philip Seymour Hoffman took the Outstanding Revival of a Play award in a category that included Bloomington's own Rachel Crothers and her play "A Little Journey," Edward Albee's "The Lady from Dubuque," Gore Vidal's star-studded "The Best Man," "Lost in Yonkers" by Neil Simon and last winter's BAM production of Shakespeare's "Richard III" starring Kevin Spacey.

Mike Nichols was named Outstanding Director of a Play for that "Salesman," although Hoffman lost out to James Corden in the British import "One Man, Two Guvnors" for Outstanding Actor in a Play. Others in that category included Kevin Spacey for his R III, Hugh Dancy for "Venus in Fur," Claybourne Elder in "One Arm," Santino Fontana for "Sons of the Prophet" and Joseph Francini in "The Navigator."

Outstanding Actress in a Play went to Tracie Bennett for playing Judy Garland in "End of the Rainbow," with Sanaa Lathan nominated for "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark" along with Linda Lavin in "The Lyons," Jennifer Lim in "Chinglish," Kim Martin-Cotten in "A Moon for the Misbegotten," Carey Mulligan in "Through a Glass Darkly" and Joely Richardson in "Side Effects."

The oft-lauded Audra McDonald added another one to her trophy case, winning Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her performance in "Porgy and Bess," in a category that included Jan Maxwell and Bernadette Peters in "Follies," Miche Braden in "The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith,"  Kelli O'Hara in "Nice Work If You Can Get It" and Molly Ranson in "Carrie."

Tom Eddon won Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for "One Man, Two Guvnors," joining Judith Light ("Other Desert Cities"), the Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, in the winners circle along with Michael McGrath, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, and Judy Kaye, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, both for "Nice Work If You Can Get It," the "new" Gershwin musical.

You can see the complete list of nominees and winners here. And now it's on to the Tony Awards next Sunday, when many of these people will once again dress their best to vie for statuettes and some thank you time at the microphone.

Talking Tony!

Nominations for the American Theatre Wing's Antoinette Perry Awards (AKA the Tony Awards) were announced yesterday, with some surprising choices and yes, a few snubs, in the mix.

For local theater fans, three shows with connections to local colleges were nominated. Musicals "Newsies," which features IWU grad Evan Kasprzak, and "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess," with another IWU alum, Bryonha Parham, in the cast, both scored multiple nods, as did "Clybourne Park," the Chicago-based play whose cast includes Crystal A. Dickinson, who earned her MFA at the University of Illinois in Urbana.

"Newsies the Musical" received a total of eight nominations, including nods for Best Musical as well as its score, book, choreography, orchestrations and scenic design. Director Jeff Calhoun also got a nod, as did Jeremy Jordan, who plays the leader of the newsboy revolt, who was nominated for Best Performance in a Leading Role for an Actor in a Musical.

This "Porgy and Bess" was controversial when it started, with protests from Stephen Sondheim, among others, over the changes to the original book to try to make the show more friendly to contemporary audiences. Casting the much-beloved Audra McDonald as Bess probably took out some of the sting, and the Theatre Wing has rewarded the show with ten total nominations. McDonald got a nod, along with Norm Lewis, her Porgy, David Alan Grier and Phillip Boykin, nominated in the Featured category for their roles as Sporting Life and Crown. Diane Paulus, the one who spearheaded the changes to the book, is nominated as Best Director, with the costumes, lights, sound and orchestrations. "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess" is also nominated as Best Revival of a Musical; it will vie against Sondheim's "Follies" revival plus two ALW shows -- "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Evita" -- in that category.

Bruce Norris's "Clybourne Park" has also had a rocky road to the Great White Way, although not because of its content. Instead, the play and its cast faced possible doom when producer Scott Rudin abruptly pulled the rug out from under it because of a squabble with playwright Norris over a different project*. But "Clybourne Park" and its Pulitzer Prize managed to survive without Rudin, opening in previews at the Walter Kerr Theatre March 26, with official opening night on April 19. Now that it's up and running, "Clybourne Park" has snagged four Tony nominations, including Best Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for Jeremy Shamos, Best Direction of a Play for Pam McKinnon and Best Scenic Design of a Play for Daniel Ostling.

Overall, the musical "Once," an adaptation of the indie movie from 2006 about an Irish street musician and a woman he meets and creates music with over the course of one week, led nominations with 11, including nods for Best Musical, leading actors Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti, supporting player Elizabeth A. Davis and director John Tiffany, plus the book, choreography, lighting design, sound design, orchestrations and scenic design (for the always amazing Bob Crowley).

After that, the above-mentioned "Porgy and Bess" and "Nice Work If You Can Get It," a new Gershwin musical weaving together songs from old Gershwin musicals, much like "Crazy For You" and "My One and Only" before it, each received ten nominations, with the Peter Pan prequel "Peter and the Starcatcher" right behind with nine.

"Peter and the Starcatcher" is a bit of an oddity, a straight play (nominated for Best Play) with enough music to also earn a nomination in the Best Original Score category. Christian Borle, who stars in "Smash" on NBC, is nominated for his featured role in "Starcatcher," and one of my favorite actors, Roger Rees, is nominated as one of two directors for the piece.

Three of the four major players in the recent "Follies" revival -- Jan Maxwell, Danny Burstein and Ron Raines -- were nominated, leaving out only Bernadette Peters. No worries -- Ms. Peters is getting this year's Isabelle Stevenson Award for humanitarian and charitable contributions. And veteran Jayne Houdyshell, who belted out "Broadway Baby" in the revival, is nominated in the Featured Actress category.

For the complete list of Tony nominees, click here. If you'd like just the highlights, here are a few of the major categories for your perusal:

Best Play
"Clybourne Park," by Bruce Norris
"Other Desert Cities," by Jon Robin Baitz
"Peter and the Starcatcher," by Rick Elice
"Venus in Fur," by David Ives

Best Musical
"Leap of Faith," with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater, and book by Janus Cercone and Warren Leight
"Newsies," with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, and book by Harvey Fierstein
"Nice Work If You Can Get It," with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and book by Joe DiPietro
"Once," with music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová and book by Enda Walsh

Best Revival of a Play
"Death of a Salesman," by Arthur Miller
"The Best Man," by Gore Vidal
"Master Class," by Terrence McNally
"Wit," by Margaret Edson

Best Revival of a Musical
"Evita," with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and book and lyrics by Tim Rice
"Follies," with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Goldman
"The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess," with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by DuBose Heyward, Dorothy Heyward and Ira Gershwin, and book adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre Murray
"Jesus Christ Superstar," with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Nina Arianda in "Venus in Fur"
Tracie Bennett in "End of the Rainbow"
Stockard Channing in "Other Desert Cities"
Linda Lavin in "The Lyons"
Cynthia Nixon in "Wit"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
James Corden in "One Man, Two Guvnors"
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Death of a Salesman"
James Earl Jones in "The Best Man"
Frank Langella in "Man and Boy"
John Lithgow in "The Columnist"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Jan Maxwell in "Follies"
Audra McDonald in "Porgy and Bess"
Cristin Milioti in "Once"
Kelli O’Hara in "Nice Work If You Can Get It"
Laura Osnes in "Bonnie & Clyde"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Danny Burstein in "Follies"
Jeremy Jordan in "Newsies"
Steve Kazee in "Once"
Norm Lewis in "Porgy and Bess"
Ron Raines in "Follies"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Linda Emond in "Death of a Salesman"
Spencer Kayden in "Don’t Dress for Dinner"
Cella Keenan-Bolger in "Peter and the Starcatcher"
Judith Light in "Other Desert Cities"
Condola Rashad in "Stick Fly"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Christian Borle in "Peter and the Starcatcher"
Michael Cumpsty in "End of the Rainbow"
Tom Edden in "One Man, Two Guvnors"
Andrew Garfield in "Death of a Salesman"
Jeremy Shamos in "Clybourne Park"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Elizabeth A. Davis in "Once"
Jayne Houdyshell in "Follies"
Judy Kaye in "Nice Work If You Can Get It"
Jesse Mueller in "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever"
Da’Vine Joy Randolph in "Ghost"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Phillip Boykin in "Porgy and Bess"
Michael Cerveris in "Evita"
David Allen Grier in "Porgy and Bess"
Michael McGrath in "Nice Work If You Can Get It"
Josh Young in "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Best Direction of a Play
Nicholas Hytner for "One Man, Two Guvnors"
Pam MacKinnon for "Clybourne Park"
Mike Nichols for "Death of a Salesman"
Roger Rees and Alex Timbers for "Peter and the Starcatcher"

Best Direction of a Musical
Jeff Calhoun for "Newsies"
Kathleen Marshall for "Nice Work If You Can Get It"
Diane Paulus for "Porgy and Bess"
John Tiffany for "Once"

The so-called "Regional Tony," awarded annually to a non-profit, professional theater outside New York City, will go to Washington DC's Shakespeare Theatre Company. Every year, the American Theatre Critics Association, of which I am a member, recommends a recipient, and the award is then presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing as part of the Tony ceremonies.

And speaking of ceremonies... This year's Tony Awards will be broadcast on CBS on Sunday, June 10, with Neil Patrick Harris once again hosting.

*That project was a TV version of Jonathan Frantzen's "The Corrections," which went ahead with a pilot, but was recently passed over by HBO. So there you have it. No love for Scott Rudin. Although there has been speculation that "Clybourne Park" would've received more than just the four nominations if not for the Rudin kerfuffle, given its Pulitzer, Olivier and general critical acclaim.