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  • and ANTOINNETTE PERRY SALUTE
    in honor of the
    58th Annual TONY AWARDS
    June 6, 2004
    Photos from the Collection of Ellis Nassour

    ~ Everything Old Is New Again ~

    1965, Featured Actress Maria Karnilova with Best Actor Zero Mostel, Fiddler On the Roof
    1961, Featured Actress nominee Chita Rivera with Best Featured Actor Dick Van Dyke, Bye, Bye, Birdie
    1953, Best Actress Rosalind Russell with Wonderful Town co-star Sydney Chaplin
    1996: Angela Lansbury promoting the 50th Anniversary Tony Awards
    Miss Lansbury has hosted or co-hosted the Awards five times. [Credit: Al Hirschfeld, Where Magazine]
    1972: April 23, Theatrical legends are honored
    Richard Rodgers and Ethel Merman received special Tony Awards after showstopping performances at the Broadway Theatre. [ABC-TV]
    1969: April 20, The Tonys go hippie
    Cohen, sporting a flat top and beads, joins Hair cast members [clockwise, from upper right] Erroll Booker, Melba Moore, Paul Jabara [a future Academy Award winner], and Martha Velez. [Credit: NBC-TV]
    1967: March 26, 21st Annual Tony Awards
    The first Tony Awards national network telecast. Alexander H. Cohen, telecast [and Broadway] producer][left], [his wife] Awards writer Hildy Parks, director Clark Jones and engineer Tom Farmer in ABC's mobile studio outside Shubert Theatre in Shubert Alley. [Credit: ABC-TV, Christopher Lukas]
    1967: Barbra Steisand, John Kander [left] and Fred Ebb
    The trio pose in the Sardi's press room. Streisand presented Tonys to the composers for Cabaret. [Credit: The New York Times]
    1952: March 30, Judy, Judy, Judy, Phil and Gertie
    Judy Garland, after receiving a special Tony Award, with Gertrude Lawrence and Phil Silvers in the Waldorf-Astoria Grand Ballroom. [Credit: University of Texas at Austin Archives]
    The Tony Awards honor Antoinnette Perry: Actress, producer and director
    [Courtesy of Margaret Perry]

    Toni was the nickname of beautiful Denver actress Antoinette Perry, who, after several years playing ingÈnues on Broadway, turned to producing and directing in an era when women in the theater were relegated to acting, costume design, or choreography. The success of the same named home permanent product that was the subject of a huge media blitz caused her to change the i to a y.

    When she decided to move from acting and become a producer and director, she became a theatrical trailblazer for women. Amazingly, well into the 70s, Miss Perry was the only woman director with a track record of hits. Today, she's, sadly, all but forgotten.

    In her prime, she showed innovative theatrical instincts and scored an enviable roster of hits -- producing and often directing 17 plays in 13 years. In one month in 1937, according to her daughter Margaret, Miss Perry directed and produced three productions, "once rehearsing in our Fifth Avenue living room while peeling peaches for preserves."

    Among her impressive hits were Personal Appearance [1934] and Claire Boothe's Kiss the Boys Goodbye [1938], a spoof of the search for Scarlett O'Hara for the film adaptation of Gone with the Wind. The latter had a stellar cast, including Benay Venuta, a perennial star of stage and screen [who died in 1995].

    "Tony was rather a theatrical pioneer," said Miss Venuta, "in that she made a huge impact as a producer and director in an era of male theatrical powerbrokers. She was successful and success either earns you envy or respect. In Tony's case, it was both, but I never heard her criticized on the basis of being a woman."

    TONY AWARDS TRIVIA

    TONY WINNING LADIES
    Who are they and what year did they win?

    THE AWARD:
    Early awards to honor Antoinette Perry by making her the namesake of best in theater awards were engraved ladies' compact and cigarette cases. In 1949 a contest was held to select a special design. Herman Rosse won with a silver medallion that, on one side, features the masks of comedy and tragedy and, on the other, a profile of Miss Perry. Initially, they were presented in felt cases. Later, they were mounted on a swivel stand.

    DO YOU KNOW:

    1. Who is the only Tony to have hosted the Tonys since the first national telecast in 1967?
    A. Tony Danza
    B. Tony Soprano
    C. Tony Randall
    D. Tony Bennett

    2. What is the shortest title of a Tony-winning play?
    A. Duh
    B. Wee!
    C. Da
    D. Yah


    3. In 2003, Vanessa Redgrave in Long Day's Journey Into Night became one of a handful of actresses to have won a Tony, an Emmy and an Oscar. Who else can boast membership in this Award Trifecta Club?
    A. Joanne Woodward
    B. Rita Moreno
    C. Suzanne Somers
    D. Patty Duke

    MORE BROADWAYSTAR.COM 2004 TONY AWARDS FEATURES:

    Sunday, June 6 --
    GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: TONY MEMORIES AND TRIBUTES
    Looking back on three show business legends and the woman long, long associated with the American Theatre Wing and the Tonys: Dorothy Loudon,Ann Miller,Larry Kert and Isabelle Stevenson.

    Friday, June 4 --
    DONNA MURPHY: TWO-TIME TONY WINNER AND BEST ACTRESS NOMINEE FOR THE NEW YORK MUSICAL, WONDERFUL TOWN
    Just named one of New York theater's "Living Legends," Donna Murphy's dream always was to make it in theater. Her journey has been filled with happiness, frustration, self-doubt and personal tragedy.

    Thursday, June 3 --
    AND THIS YEAR'S ANTOINNETTE PERRY AWARD GOES TOÖ
    Meet Some of the 2004 Nominees: Karen Ziemba, Hunter Foster, Tovah Feldshuh and a director who wasn't nominated.

    Also, visit TONYAWARDS.COM

    ======================================

    Answers:
    Tony Winning Ladies:
    Clockwise from Upper Right: Lauren Bacall,1970, Best Actress, Musical, Applause; Julie Harris, 1952, Best Actress, Play, I Am A Camera, 1956, Best Actress, Play, The Lark, 1969, Best Actress, Play, Forty Carats, 1973, Best Actress, Play, The Last of Mrs. Lincoln and 1977, Best Actress, Play, The Belle of Amherst; Donna McKechnie, 1976, Best Actress, Musical, A Chorus Line; and Diahann Carroll, 1962, Best Actress [tie with Anna Maria Alberghetti], Musical, No Strings.

    1. C; 2. C; 3. B
    --------

    Ellis Nassour is an international media journalist, and author of Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline, which he has adapted into a musical for the stage. Visit www.patsyclinehta.com.

    He can be reached at [email protected]





    Why are you looking all the way down here?
    For more articles by Ellis Nassour, click the links below!

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    Next: GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: TONY MEMORIES AND TRIBUTES

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