Tag: Tony Awards

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In Performance, On Location – “Kinky Boots” stars Billy Porter & Stark Sands

The New York Times invited Tony nominees to perform scenes on location in New York.

Billy Porter and Stark Sands sing “Not My Father’s Son” from Kinky Boots in a new series from the New York Times in which Tony nominees perform scenes on location in NYC.

The song, “Not My Father’s Son,” is performed in the musical in a shoe factory.

Cyndi Lauper wrote the music and lyrics to the musical earning her a Tony nomination. Billy Porter is Tony-nominated for “Best Actor in a Musical” having already won this year’s Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards in the same category.

(shot at the shoemaker T.O. Dey)

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Neil Patrick Harris confirmed to host 2013 Tony Awards

Neil Patrick Harris has been officially announced as the host of this year’s Tony Awards on June 9.

Said Harris:

“I’m very excited to be back hosting the Tony Awards at the legendary Radio City Music Hall. It’ll be more impressive than ever – if my math is correct, it will be 267 times bigger than last year,” said Neil Patrick Harris. “Oh, wait. No, that can’t… hold on… carry the one… I’m awful at math. But rest assured, the show will rock!”

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Today on The Candi & Randy Show: Randy Returns!

Listen to internet radio with CandiXRandy on BlogTalkRadio

I’ve been away from my radio show, The Candi & Randy Show, for a couple of weeks as I was busy working in NYC. But today’s show was, as Candi titled “Randy Returns!”

Listen in as Candi and I talk about my recent production of HELLO, DOLLY! for the National Asian Artists Project in NYC, the 2013 Tony Award nominations, Jason Collins “coming out”, and more.

Talk radio is fun, kids.  Hit the play button, or better, call in for the next show 🙂

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Producers of Bette Midler & Alan Cumming’s Broadway plays rescind free Tony voter tickets

Earlier this week, the 2013 Tony nominations caused more vocal outrage than usual over snubbed productions.  Two sets of producers have decided how they are coping with the situation.

Producers of Bette Midler’s often sold-out return to Broadway, I’ll Eat You Last, have decided to rescind free ticket offers for Tony voters after not receiving any nominations this week. The producers for Alan Cumming’s Macbeth, which isn’t sold out,  have decided the same.

From the New York Times:

An 24-person committee decided who would be nominated for Tonys this season. And rescinding free tickets for those who choose the winners has happened before: Producers pulled back tickets for the 2012 revival of “Streetcar Named Desire” after it received only one Tony nomination, for best costume design, and producers of “The Graduate” (which starred Kathleen Turner and Alicia Silverstone) did the same after the play received no Tony nominations in 2002.

A spokesman for the producers of “I’ll Eat You Last” noted on Thursday that some Tony voters had received free tickets to the play before the nominations. “Once they were announced, and given that the show is a limited engagement, the producers elected to follow the precedent of shows from prior seasons and informed voters that tickets would be available at standard box office prices,” the spokesman said.

As for “Macbeth,” the play has been selling well but has had many empty seats in the mezzanine at some performances. The Tony voter tickets would have been for prime seats in the orchestra. The lead producer, Ken Davenport, said on Thursday that he was putting the interests of his investors first in pulling back tickets, as the show tries to recoup its capitalization of $2 million and turn a profit before its scheduled closing date of July 14.

“Because we only have 64 performances left and because of the high demand for prime orchestra seats, every single ticket is extremely important to our business model,” Mr. Davenport said. “To give away over 1600 seats would be to give away more than an entire house. And while I’d love every Tony voter to see the show now more than ever, without a potential for gain, it just doesn’t make fiscal sense.”

(via Instinct)

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2013 Tony Award nominations are out!


The Tony Awards will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from Radio City Music Hall, on the CBS television network, June 9.

Best Play
The Assembled Parties
Author: Richard Greenberg
Lucky Guy
Author: Nora Ephron
The Testament of Mary
Author: Colm Toíbín
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Author: Christopher Durang
 
Best Musical
Bring It On: The Musical
A Christmas Story, The Musical
Kinky Boots
Matilda The Musical

Best Revival of a Play
Golden Boy
Orphans
The Trip to Bountiful
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
 
Best Revival of a Musical
Annie
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Pippin
Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
 
Best Book of a Musical
A Christmas Story, The Musical
Joseph Robinette
Kinky Boots
Harvey Fierstein
Matilda The Musical
Dennis Kelly
Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Douglas Carter Beane
 
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
A Christmas Story, The Musical
Music and Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Hands on a Hardbody
Music: Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green
Lyrics: Amanda Green
Kinky Boots
Music & Lyrics: Cyndi Lauper
Matilda The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Tim Minchin
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy
Nathan Lane, The Nance
Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tom Sturridge, Orphans
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Amy Morton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Holland Taylor, Ann
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Bertie Carvel, Matilda The Musical
Santino Fontana, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Rob McClure, Chaplin
Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Stark Sands, Kinky Boots
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Stephanie J. Block, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Carolee Carmello, Scandalous
Valisia LeKae, Motown The Musical
Patina Miller, Pippin
Laura Osnes, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Danny Burstein, Golden Boy
Richard Kind, The Big Knife
Billy Magnussen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tony Shalhoub, Golden Boy
Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Carrie Coon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Shalita Grant, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Judith Ivey, The Heiress
Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Condola Rashad, The Trip to Bountiful
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Charl Brown, Motown The Musical
Keith Carradine, Hands on a Hardbody
Will Chase, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Gabriel Ebert, Matilda The Musical
Terrence Mann, Pippin
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Annaleigh Ashford, Kinky Boots
Victoria Clark, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Andrea Martin, Pippin
Keala Settle, Hands on a Hardbody
Lauren Ward, Matilda The Musical
 
Best Scenic Design of a Play
John Lee Beatty, The Nance
Santo Loquasto, The Assembled Parties
David Rockwell, Lucky Guy
Michael Yeargan, Golden Boy
 
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Rob Howell, Matilda The Musical
Anna Louizos, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Scott Pask, Pippin
David Rockwell, Kinky Boots
 
Best Costume Design of a Play
Soutra Gilmour, Cyrano de Bergerac
Ann Roth, The Nance
Albert Wolsky, The Heiress
Catherine Zuber, Golden Boy
 
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Kinky Boots
Rob Howell, Matilda The Musical
Dominique Lemieux, Pippin
William Ivey Long, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
 
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, Lucky Guy
Donald Holder, Golden Boy
Jennifer Tipton, The Testament of Mary
Japhy Weideman, The Nance
 
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kenneth Posner, Kinky Boots
Kenneth Posner, Pippin
Kenneth Posner, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Hugh Vanstone, Matilda The Musical
 
Best Sound Design of a Play
John Gromada, The Trip to Bountiful
Mel Mercier, The Testament of Mary
Leon Rothenberg, The Nance
Peter John Still and Marc Salzberg, Golden Boy
 
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Jonathan Deans and Garth Helm, Pippin
Peter Hylenski, Motown The Musical
John Shivers, Kinky Boots
Nevin Steinberg, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella
 
Best Direction of a Play
Pam MacKinnon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Nicholas Martin, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Bartlett Sher, Golden Boy
George C. Wolfe, Lucky Guy
 
Best Direction of a Musical
Scott Ellis, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Diane Paulus, Pippin
Matthew Warchus, Matilda The Musical
 
Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, Bring It On: The Musical
Peter Darling, Matilda The Musical
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Chet Walker, Pippin
 
Best Orchestrations
Chris Nightingale, Matilda The Musical
Stephen Oremus, Kinky Boots
Ethan Popp and Bryan Crook, Motown The Musical
Danny Troob, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

* * *
Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories
 
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Bernard Gersten
Paul Libin
Ming Cho Lee
 
Regional Theatre Award
Huntington Theatre Company, Boston, MA
 
Isabelle Stevenson Award
Larry Kramer
 
Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre
Career Transition For Dancers
William Craver
Peter Lawrence
The Lost Colony
The four actresses who created the title role of Matilda The Musical on Broadway – Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon and Milly Shapiro

* * *
 
Tony Nominations by Production
Kinky Boots – 13
Matilda The Musical – 12
Pippin – 10
Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella – 9
Golden Boy – 8
Lucky Guy – 6
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike – 6
The Mystery of Edwin Drood – 5
The Nance – 5
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – 5
Motown The Musical – 4
The Trip to Bountiful – 4
The Assembled Parties – 3
A Christmas Story, The Musical – 3
Hands on a Hardbody – 3
The Testament of Mary – 3
Bring It On: The Musical – 2
The Heiress – 2
Orphans – 2
Ann – 1
Annie – 1
The Big Knife – 1
Chaplin – 1
Cyrano de Bergerac – 1
The Other Place – 1
Scandalous – 1

For more information visit TonyAwards.com.

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Opening number from 2004 Tony Awards with Hugh Jackman

Now, you know, THIS is how to open an awards show.

Over the top silliness and fab talent singing a great song from a Broadway musical.

I love Hugh kissing the puppet from AVENUE Q at the 3:09 mark. And coming downstage with the Rockettes is a great visual.

From the YouTube description:

Hugh Jackman performs “One Night Only”, the opening number from The 58th Annual Tony Awards with the “Dynamites” from Hairspray, the “Radio” from Caroline, or Change, and the “Urchins” from Little Shop of Horrors, along with members of the casts of Avenue Q, The Boy from Oz, Fiddler on the Roof, Wonderful Town, and Wicked, and the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes.

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Marvin Hamlisch, composer of “A Chorus Line,” dead at 68

Playbill is reporting that Marvin Hamlisch, who achieved theatre immortality as the composer of the iconic musical A Chorus Line, died Aug. 7 following a brief illness. He was 68.

Mr. Hamlisch’s other theatre works included They’re Playing Our Song, Jean Seberg, Smile, The Goodbye Girl and Sweet Smell of Success. His latest musical, The Nutty Professor, recently opened in Tennessee.

But it was with the groundbreaking A Chorus Line, which told of the frustrations and worries of a group of anonymous dancers trying out for a Broadway musical, that he made his mark as a theatre figure.

He was already famous as an all-around wunderkind when he began work on A Chorus Line. A child prodigy, he was accepted into Juilliard before he was seven. Before he was 30, he had received Oscars for his score and song to “The Way We Were” and his adaptations of Scott Joplin ragtime tunes in “The Sting,” which helped usher in a Joplin revival.

Mr. Hamlisch is one of only 11 people to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. On top of this, he also won the Pulitzer Prize for A Chorus Line.

I did 2 National Touring companies of A Chorus Line and due to that, I was fortunate to perform with Marvin a few times at benefit galas when the cast would be invited to perform the finale “One” and the most famous song from the show “What I Did For Love.” Marvin was always very easy to be around, but it was clear that he was a genius. And not in a cranky or showy kind of way. He was just brilliant at what he did and made things look easy – even when you knew they were not.

In an interview in July, Mr. Hamlisch talked about the emotional investment he put into each piece of music he composed.

“I’m not one of those people who says, ‘I never read reviews,’ because I don’t believe those people,” Mr. Hamlisch said. “I think they read ‘em. These songs are my babies. And I always say, it’s like having a baby in a hospital, taking a Polaroid and going up to someone and saying, ‘What do you think?’ And he goes, ‘I give you a 3.’ That’s what criticism is like. You’ve worked on this thing forever – ‘I give you a 3.’ And it’s part of you. That’s the bargain you’ve made.”

For years we’ve all seen Marvin do “celebrity music director” duty on major television specials and galas. And there was good reason for that. He really was “one singular sensation.”

Rest in peace Marvin Hamlisch.

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Recap of the 2012 Tony Awards

There was no clean sweep at this year’s ceremony, and very little drama to divide theaterfolk about the winners. Once won Best Musical; Clybourne Park won Best Play.

From his snazzy opening number, “What If Life Were More Like Theater” (with Patti LuPone pushing a lawnmower in an evening gown like a lesbian version of Audrey’s “Somewhere That’s Green” fantasy), to his written-in-the-wings closer, “There’s No Time,” host Neil Patrick Harris crooned, hoofed, cracked jokes, and even hung upside-down in what seemed like forever in a riff on Spider-man‘s dangling acrobats.

I was thilled to see Newsies choreographer Chris Gattelli win his first Tony Award; and also the luminous Judith Light’s win for her amazing performance in Other Desert Cities. Both were guests on my radio show, The Candi and Randy Show last week. Click here to listen to their journeys from rehearsals to Tony Award winners.

Full list of winners:

Play: Clybourne Park, Bruce Norris

Musical: Once

Revival of a play: Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Revival of a musical: The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess

Book of a musical: Once, Enda Walsh

Original score (music and/or lyrics): Newsies, music: Alan Menken; lyrics: Jack Feldman

Performance by an actor in a leading role in a play: James Corden, One Man, Two Guvnors

Performance by an actress in a leading role in a play: Nina Arianda, Venus in Fur

Performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical: Steve Kazee, Once

Performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical: Audra McDonald, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess

Performance by an actor in a featured role in a play: Christian Borle, Peter and the Starcatcher

Performance by an actress in a featured role in a play: Judith Light, Other Desert Cities

Performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical: Michael McGrath, Nice Work If You Can Get It

Performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical: Judy Kaye, “Nice Work If You Can Get It

Scenic design of a play: Donyale Werle, Peter and the Starcatcher

Scenic design of a musical: Bob Crowley, Once

Costume design of a play: Paloma Young, Peter and the Starcatcher

Costume design of a musical: Gregg Barnes, Follies

Lighting design of a play: Jeff Croiter, Peter and the Starcatcher

Lighting design of a musical: Natasha Katz, Once