Dolly Awar, er, Tony Awards nominations

Tony nominations came out today, and there are a couple of things that make me happy.

  1. Dolly Parton is a Tony nominee!
  2. [title of show] was not completely shout out!
  3. Some favorite actors – Jessica Hynes, Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury,
    Janet McTeer, Raul Esparza, Harriet Walter, Gavin Creel, Allison Janney, Alice Ripley – were recognized.
  4. Jerry Herman is receiving due recognition for a lifetime’s great work.

The Tony Awards will be handed out June 7 on CBS. Visit http://www.tonyawards.com for information.

Now, here are your nominees:

Best Play
Dividing the Estate, Author: Horton Foote
God of Carnage, Author: Yasmina Reza
Reasons to Be Pretty, Author: Neil LaBute
33 Variations, Author: Moisés Kaufman

Best Musical
Billy Elliot, The Musical       
Next to Normal       
Rock of Ages       
Shrek The Musical
       

Best Book of a Musical
Billy Elliot, The Musical, Lee Hall   
Next to Normal, Brian Yorkey   
Shrek The Musical, David Lindsay-Abaire   
[title of show], Hunter Bell   

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Billy Elliot, The Musical    
Music: Elton John
Lyrics: Lee Hall   

Next to Normal   
Music: Tom Kitt
Lyrics: Brian Yorkey   

9 to 5: The Musical   
Music & Lyrics: Dolly Parton   

Shrek The Musical   
Music: Jeanine Tesori
Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire   

Best Revival of a Play
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone       
Mary Stuart   
The Norman Conquests       
Waiting for Godot       


Best Revival of a Musical

Guys and Dolls       
Hair       
Pal Joey       
West Side Story
       

Best Special Theatrical Event
Liza’s at The Palace       
Slava’s Snowshow       
Soul of Shaolin       
You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush
       

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Jeff Daniels, God of Carnage   
Raúl Esparza, Speed-the-Plow   
James Gandolfini, God of Carnage   
Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King   
Thomas Sadoski, Reasons to Be Pretty   

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Hope Davis, God of Carnage   
Jane Fonda, 33 Variations   

Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage    
Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart   
Harriet Walter, Mary Stuart    

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish, Billy Elliot, The Musical    
Gavin Creel, Hair   
Brian d’Arcy James, Shrek The Musical   
Constantine Maroulis, Rock of Ages   
J. Robert Spencer, Next to Normal    

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Stockard Channing, Pal Joey   
Sutton Foster, Shrek The Musical   

Allison Janney, 9 to 5: The Musical    
Alice Ripley, Next to Normal   
Josefina Scaglione, West Side Story   

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
John Glover, Waiting for Godot   

Zach Grenier, 33 Variations   
Stephen Mangan, The Norman Conquests    
Paul Ritter, The Norman Conquests   
Roger Robinson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone   

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Hallie Foote, Dividing the Estate   
Jessica Hynes, The Norman Conquests   
Marin Ireland, Reasons to Be Pretty   
Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit    
Amanda Root, The Norman Conquests   

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
David Bologna, Billy Elliot, The Musical   
Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot, The Musical    
Marc Kudisch, 9 to 5: The Musical   
Christopher Sieber, Shrek The Musical   
Will Swenson, Hair   

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Jennifer Damiano, Next to Normal   
Haydn Gwynne, Billy Elliot, The Musical   
Karen Olivo, West Side Story   
Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey   
Carole Shelley, Billy Elliot, The Musical    

Best Direction of a Play
Phyllida Lloyd, Mary Stuart   
Bartlett Sher, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone   
Matthew Warchus, God of Carnage    
Matthew Warchus, The Norman Conquests   

Best Direction of a Musical
Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot, The Musical   
Michael Greif, Next to Normal   
Kristin Hanggi, Rock of Ages   
Diane Paulus, Hair   

Best Choreography
Karole Armitage, Hair   
Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 to 5: The Musical   
Peter Darling, Billy Elliot, The Musical   
Randy Skinner, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas   

Best Orchestrations
Larry Blank, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
Martin Koch, Billy Elliot, The Musical   
Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, Next to Normal  
Danny Troob and John Clancy, Shrek The Musical   

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Dale Ferguson, Exit the King   
Rob Howell, The Norman Conquests   
Derek McLane, 33 Variations   
Michael Yeargan, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone   

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Robert Brill, Guys and Dolls 
Ian MacNeil, Billy Elliot, The Musical   
Scott Pask, Pal Joey   
Mark Wendland, Next to Normal  

Best Costume Design of a Play
Dale Ferguson, Exit the King   
Jane Greenwood, Waiting for Godot   
Martin Pakledinaz, Blithe Spirit  
Anthony Ward, Mary Stuart   

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregory Gale, Rock of Ages   
Nicky Gillibrand, Billy Elliot, The Musical 
Tim Hatley, Shrek The Musical 
Michael McDonald, Hair 

Best Lighting Design of a Play
David Hersey, Equus   
David Lander, 33 Variations   
Brian MacDevitt, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone   
Hugh Vanstone, Mary Stuart   

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, Hair   
Kevin Adams, Next to Normal   
Howell Binkley, West Side Story   
Rick Fisher, Billy Elliot, The Musical 

Best Sound Design of a Play
Paul Arditti, Mary Stuart 
Gregory Clarke, Equus  
Russell Goldsmith, Exit the King   
Scott Lehrer and Leon Rothenberg, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone   

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Acme Sound Partners, Hair   
Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot, The Musical   
Peter Hylenski, Rock of Ages   
Brian Ronan, Next to Normal  

Special Tony Award® for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Jerry Herman      

Regional Theatre Tony Award®
Signature Theatre, Arlington, Va.      

Isabelle Stevenson Award
Phyllis Newman      

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
Shirley Herz

In comes ‘Company,’ lots of ‘Company’

Wednesday night (Feb. 20) we’ll experience one of those all-too-rare occasions when we dont’ have to go to Broadway, when Broadway comes to us.

PBS’ “Great Performances” will broadcast the John Doyle-directed Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company on Wednesday night (Bay Area folks, it’s 9 p.m. on KQED-Channel 9). So set those DVRs (or VCRs if you still have them) and revel in the Doyle-ization of Sondheim.

As you may recall Doyle directed Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd to much acclaim, and his gimmick is that he has all his performers play their own instruments. Usually, in my experience, it works one of two ways. If you saw Sweeney first, you thought it was brilliant and though Company was a weak copy-cat effort. But if you saw Company first, as I did, you think that’s where the brilliance lies and Sweeney was sort of a confusing effort to producer a cheaper version of an expensive show.

I loved Raul Esparza as Bobby, the ambivalent protagonist who, on the occasion of his 35th birthday, spends mental energy thinking about all his “good crazy people his friends, his good crazy people his married friends.” In Doyle’s slick, sleek production, everyone who’s partnered plays an instrument, which leaves Bobby, the remote observer, the only one not playing an instrument.

The structure of Company, unlike the more narrative Sweeney, is well-suited to Doyle’s gimmick because the musicianship, combined with the revue-like scenes, provides an arc to the evening that helps pull it all together. It even warms up what is a pretty cold, cynical (not to mention funny) show.

You can watch an excerpt of the opening number here.

Here’s Esparza performing “Being Alive” from last year’s Tony Awards (where Company won a best revival statue):

Show tunes and fireworks

Every year around the Fourth of July, I like to celebrate something entirely American: the musical.

I’m a little late this year, but it’s my patriotic duty. So here, better late than never, are some show tune suggestions to get you through the summer.

Of course the original cast album of the moment is Spring Awakening (Decca Broadway). The Duncan Sheik-Steven Sater score, performed by the most appealing cast on Broadway, calls out for frequent spins and rewards careful listening.

Almost as appealing, but in an entirely different way, is Curtains (Broadway Angel), the John Kander and Fred Ebb (with help from Rupert Holmes) show that has turned into a reliable hit on Broadway. The score by Kander and the late Ebb is pure, old-fashioned Broadway, with a few of the duo’s famed vamps thrown in for good measure.

The emotional highlight is Jason Danieley’s “I Miss the Music,” which is, in some ways, Kander’s musical memorial to his late writing partner.

Stars David Hyde Pierce and Debra Monk are completely charming, and the disc is highly enjoyable — a classic show music experience. And for theater fans, there are abundant inside jokes (especially on Monk’s “It’s a Business) and a new theater anthem, a la “There’s No Business Like Show Business” in the rousing “Show People.”

The CD from the Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of 110 in the Shade (PS Classics) is worth owning for one reason: Audra McDonald. She elevates this 1964 Harvey Schmidt-Tom Jones score to fine art. Just listen to her extraordinary performance — both acting and singing — on “Love, Don’t Turn Away,” “Raunchy” and “Old Maid.”

An unusal occurrence in this day and age, Grey Gardens received cast albums for both its off-Broadway and Broadway incarnations. The Broadway album (distinguished by the green cover with star Christine Ebersole wearing a hat and peering around a hand mirror) from PS Classics is the one to own. It’s a more polished version of the score, and the performances (especially from Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, both Tony winners for this show) are even richer. It’s sad that the musical is closing so soon after winning Tonys, but at least the performances are preserved here.

I’ve reviewed the revival CD of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company in this space before, but I have to amend that review. After seeing the show, I fell in love with the CD, especially the performance by Raul Esparza, which I had disparaged after just listening to the disc.

Esparza was amazing onstage, and the disc from Nonesuch/PS Classics captures every bit of warmth and flawed humanity he displays in person.

Finally, we have a disc from one of the season’s major flops. High Fidelity (Ghostlight Records) never should have been a musical, and this disc demonstrates exactly why. Nick Hornby’s story about popular music snobs who work in a record store is full of very strong opinions about what makes music good and what makes it suck. The kind of music delivered here by composer Tom Kitt is exactly the kind of music that the story’s characters would make fun of. Amanda Green’s lyrics are actually pretty clever, but they’re mired in mild-to-murky pop that obscures their charms.

Two more discs to check out: Broadway Scene Stealers: The Women and Broadway Scene Stealers: The Men, both from Playbill Records and Masterworks Broadway. Hardcore show tune enthusiasts will already have most of the cuts on these discs, but they’re excellent surveys of musical theater and don’t have all the usual suspects (for instance, there’s no Andrew Lloyd Webber), and all the cuts are from original cast albums originally released on Columbia or RCA (a benefit of the Sony/BMG merger).

Tony red carpet, etc.

(all photos Associated Press)

“Musical theater rocks,” so said Duncan Sheik with a sly smile and a twinkle in his award-drunk eyes during Sunday’s Tony Awards.

Here’s Sheik on the red carpet before the event.

That’s the smile of someone who knows he’s going to win two Tonys (for best score and orchestration for Spring Awakening.

Another gorgeous red carpet arrival was best actess in a musical nominee Audra McDonald (110 in the Shade), who would not go on to win her fifth Tony.

But she would go on to electrify the audience (in Radio City Music Hall and at home) with the number “Raunchy” alongside co-star (and fellow nominee) John Cullum.

Returning to the red carpet, here’s the lovely Laura Bell Bundy, nominee for best actress in a musical for her role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. To no one’s surprise, Bundy did not win, and Blonde failed to win in any category.

Looking like the Broadway royalty she is, Angela Lansbury, a best actress in a play nominee for Deuce, arrives. That’s Harry Connick Jr.’s daughter in the rear looking at Lansbury adoringly (“Daddy! It’s the voice of Mrs. Potts!). Lansbury lost to an ecstatic Julie White for The Little Dog Laughed, but she was a gracious ad hoc host.

Cutest married couple award on the red carpet goes to Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs. Neither was nominated but they should have received an award for looking so good.

I am thrilled that David Hyde Pierce, by all accounts a marvelous guy, was the surprise winner for best actor in a musical (for Curtains), but I was a little disappointed for Raul Esparza, who is electrifying as Bobby in the John Doyle revival of Company (which won best musical revival). On the red carpet he was clearly amused by the whole shebang.

Esparza’s performance of “Being Alive” during the awards was just a taste of how good he is in this show.

Another cutest couple award goes to a non-couple: presenters Cynthia Nixon and Felicity Huffman, who should definitely find a project to work on together.

Speaking of couples, hard to resist including a snap of Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts. In Hollywood that’s called a baby bump. In New York, it’s called pregnancy.

In the realm of manufactured couples, here are the reality show castees Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, who will be starring on Broadway in the much-needed revival of Grease.

Tony party planning

OK, people, time to start planning those Tony Award viewing parties for Sunday, June 10 on CBS.

We’ve got to get those dismal ratings up, so if you’re having people over, make sure they’re still setting their TiVos (and VCRs if you’re archaic) to record the telecast. If you’re a Nielsen family, do some creative figuring and say you watched the Tonys on all five of your TVs.

The show’s organizers have begun talking about what we’ll be seeing.

Audra McDonald will sing “Raunchy” from 110 in the Shade, for which she is nominated in the best actress in a musical category.

Christine Ebersole will sing “The Revolutionary Costume for Today,” which happens to be the best song in Grey Gardens, for which Ebersole is competing with McDonald in the best actress category.

The cast of Curtains, featuring David Hyde Pearce, will peform “Show People” and the adorable cast of Spring Awakening (so I’m biased — sue me) will perform a medley from the Duncan Sheik-Steven Sater score. The cast of Mary Poppins will perform — probably the TV-ready “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

The revival of A Chorus Line will likely trot out “One” again (we’ve seen that baby everywhere, from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to “The View”), and Raul Esparza will probably sing “Being Alive” from the revival of Company.

Fantasia, a recent replacement in the hit The Color Purple, is also slated to perform.

There won’t be a host (sorry, Nathan Lane) this year, but the list of presenters is impressive and includes Harry Connick Jr., Claire Danes, Neil Patrick Harris, Anne Heche, Marg Helgenberger, Felicity Huffman, Eddie Izzard, Jane Krakowski, Angela Lansbury, Robert Sean Leonard, Cynthia Nixon, Bernadette Peters, Christopher Plummer, Liev Schreiber, John Turturro, Usher, Vanessa Williams, Rainn Wilson and the cast of Jersey Boys.