June 2006 Archives

The bets are on in Vegas. Will the spectacular debut of Phanton - The Las Vegas Spectacular, premiering Saturday [June 24th] with a gala as only Vegas can stage at the Venetian Hotel, Casino and Resort change Broadway¥s luck on the Strip?

Broadway hunk Brent Barrett [Annie Get Your Gun, Kiss Me, Kate, Chicago] and Tony Award-winner Anthony Crivello [Kiss of the Spider Woman, Les MisÈrables] will alternate running amok through "The Music of the Night" as the Phantom on the sometimes two-a-night schedule. Each performance boasts a cast of 40+.

Many question if there¥ll be an audience for the Olivier, Tony and Drama Desk-winning musical in that Nevada oasis of overkill in the sands? And if the spectacle and operatic arias of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricists Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe a bit too high-faluting for the hoards who invade that sandpit, praying for luck to be their lady.

Can a sumptuously staged and costumed musical spectacular entice those players rolling craps or pumping dollars, quarters and nickels into the Blazing 777s and Wheel of Fortune slots? Have no doubt, for as crowded as the gambling floors of the casinos are so, too, are the showrooms.

There¥s a firm hope that what¥s said in Vegas about P-TLVS won¥t stay in Vegas.

The star-studded, red-carpet gala as the City of Lights [the one in the Nevada desert] officially debuts David Rockwell¥s spectacular $40-million opera house, modeled on the one from that other City of Lights [the one in Paree]. P-TLVS is estimated to cost a mind-boggling $35 million. Feature films have been made for less [well, a couple, anyway].

SEEING DOUBLE: Alternating Phantoms BARRETT and CRIVELLO on Venetian stage

Barrett, one of theater¥s most easy-going and affable talents, says, "It¥s quite exciting to be part of this amazing project and to perform in the theater, which is unbelievable. Our preview audiences have been absolutely fabulous."

Not a gambling man, he plans to stay away from the table games and slots and take advantage of as many of Vegas¥ scenic wonders as his schedule permits [both on the Strip and those nearby, such as Mount Charleston, a 45-minute drive away, where in a matter of minutes you ascend from the desert heat to a world of snow and Swiss chalets].

P-TLVS reunites ALW with multiple award-winning director Hal Prince, the recipient of a 2006 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement, from the original West End and Broadway stagings. They also worked together with lyricist Tim Rice on Tony-winner Evita.

[Trivia: Prince was ALW and Rice¥s choice to direct their Broadway debut, Jesus Christ Superstar; but through a massive screw-up of mail and messages it was not to be.]

Due to the challenging vocal score and schedule [and the dreaded fear of Vegas entertainers: dry throat], in addition to the alternate Phantoms, Prince has double-cast some lead roles.

Christine is portrayed by Sierra Boggess [regionally: Les MisÈrables, West Side Story] and Elizabeth Loyacano [The Woman in White, Oklahoma!]. The Carlottas are Elena Jeanne Batman, who played the part on Broadway, and Geena Jeffries, who played the role in San Francisco. Tim Martin Gleason, a recent Broadway Raoul, repeats his role.

Original choreographer Gillian Lynne, who also handles the musical staging, orchestrator David Cullen, musical supervisor David Caddick and others from the show's original creative team are onboard in Sin City. Cullen says he¥s delighted to be working with a 19-piece orchestra. Prince's associate director is Arthur Masella and Jack Gaughan is musical director.

POTO, which continues to break Broadway and West End records and is Broadway¥s long-run champ [now in its 19th year], is a world-wide household name - 65,000+ performances in 20 countries and 110 cities. There¥ve been tours on top of tours and sit-downs on top of sit-downs. It gets more repeat attendance than probably any other show in history; so a fair question is, since they¥ve built it, who will come?

ALW¥s Really Useful Company, a winner when it comes to savvy marketing of his musicals, and co-presenters Theatre for Live Nation, BASE Entertainment and the Venetian, not one to hedge its bets, are banking that Prince¥s 95-minute reconception, with not a single musical number deleted, will break the bank.

The first performance was a good omen. "When the house lights dimed," Prince reported, "the capacity audience automatically started to applaud, before the show even started! And from there it just kept going. Very electric! Then came the thunderous standing ovation."

P-TLVS, he says, "is a chance to revisit a work of art years after it was created and with a splendor and special effects that weren't even dreamed of twenty years ago, when the show debuted."

David Ian, global chairman of Live Nation, whom you might think would be a bit nervous with so much on the line, says, "We¥re excited to be staging this truly unique production, which will exceed everyone's expectations. Our desire was to produce a show with world class content in one of the greatest markets in the world. We feel it¥s a perfect fit with Las Vegas."

HIGH ROLLERS: Making their Vegas debuts, ALW and legendary director HAL PRINCE

Scott Zeiger, a veteran theatrical producer and presenter and executive producer, BASE Entertainment, says, "The extraordinary talent we¥ve assembled truly complements the once-in-a-lifetime setting. The Venetian, the physical production and our amazing cast combine to create a show that will be unrivaled on the Strip, or anywhere else."

Rockwell¥s breathtaking 1,800-seat replicia of the 1862 Paris Opera, located not far from the shops along the all-weather Grand Canal and the stunning, huge faux reproductions of Tintorettos and Titians, will be the buzz for years to come. It has the type of state-of-the-art production and special effects capability Broadway can only fantasize over.

You may recall that Rockwell is the architect of Hollywood's glitz and glitter Kodak Theatre and set designer for Hairspray.

The stage, which opens to its very own lake for the gondala rides into the Phantom¥s lair, has depth, height and vast wing space. Then there's the sparkling and humongous one-ton chandelier, which you can expect to do more than just crash! It will have an explosive, fiery descent.

Bway POTO: long-run champ; HOWARD McGILLIN, SANDRA JOSEPH ride the gondala into theater history books

The most successful theatrical endeavor of all time, The Phantom of the Opera has grossed more than $3-billion worldwide since its 1986 London premiere. It swept the 1988 Tony Awards, winning seven, including Best Musical as well as seven Drama Desk Awards.
The film adaptation of POTO was released worldwide in 2004. Though it didn¥t achieve box office blockbuster status here, it¥s been a huge draw overseas and is receiving high ratings in its premium TV debuts and in DVD sales.

Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular performs Wednesday-Monday at 7 P.M. and Friday-Wednesday at 10 P.M. Tickets are sold 90 days prior to the desired performance.

Tickets are priced "slightly" higher than on Broadway. There are 25 orchestra rows, with the "chandelier-friendly" first eight center ones, called the Golden Circle, priced at $157 per seat. Remaining orchestra and the first three rows of the mezz are $132. Balcony seating is $107 and $82. All credit cards accepted.

To order call (866) 641-7469 or (702) 414-7469, or visit http://www.venetian.com/. The official website is http://www.phantomlasvegas.com/.

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK

The NYSF¥s free Shakespeare in the Park performances of Macbeth [through July 9] starring Liev Schreiber are Tuesday - Sunday at 8 P.M. MoisÈs Kaufman [Gross Indency] is directing. Lynn Cohen and Jennifer Ehle are among the cast of 24.

Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis on day of the performance beginning at 1:00 pm ó line forms early ó at the Delacorte Theatre, mid-Park at 80th Street, or from 1 - 3 at the Public. For more information, call (212) 539-8750 or visit www.publictheater.org.

Get ready to stand in line for tickets [remember The Seagull?] for Meryl Streep in the world premiere of Brecht¥s Mother Courage and Her Children, which the NYSF presentS in the Delacorte August 8 to September 3 [no performances August 7, 14, 22, 23 and 28]. Translated by Tony Kushner, George C. Wolfe will direct with music by Jeanine Tesori [Thoroughly Modern Millie].

Mother Courage focuses on a mother who questions the roles of honesty, virtue, and family in a bitter struggle for survival amid war¥s killing fields.

MORE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK

Boomerang Theatre Company is presenting its eighth season of free Shakespeare in NY parks. King Lear willl be presented June 24 and 25 at 2 P.M. in Riverside Park [108th Street and Riverside] and, in Central Park [enter at 69th Street and Central Park West], July 22, 23, 29 and 30. For information on Boomerang¥s free Lear in other boroughs and their Fall season at their West 21st Street Center Stage, visit www.boomerangtheatre.org.

August 1st, 4th and 5th, the Drama Desk and Obie-winning Classical Theatre of Harlem will revive their acclaimed 90-minute production of Macbeth in Harlem¥s Marcus Garvey Park under the sponsorship of City Parks Theater and Time Warner. In addition to lots of severed heads, there¥ll be music, dance and chant. For more information, visit www.cityparksfoundation.org.

MORE PARK HAPPENINGS

Chapters cover Recordings, Film [up to BS¥screen comeback, the tasteless blockbuster Meet the Fockers], Television, Concerts, Theater and Politics. An interesting aspect is how Streisand developed a working relationship with Sondheim. He also takes a looks at her her Dolly Levi in the film adaptation of Hello, Dolly! and recent uninspired albums.

LIVE AND SOON LIVE ON ON CD

Seemingly indestructive and seductive tigresses Eartha Kitt is marking her 12th appearance at the Carlyle. The engagement ends July 1st, but DRG Records is recording the show for an October release CD, which, among numerous other songs, "Come On-A My House," "Hate/Love New York," "Ain't Misbehavin'," "La Vie En Rose," "Darling, Je Vous Aime," "C'est Ci Bon," "September Song" and "It Was A Very Good Year."

For Carlyle reservations, call (212) 744-1600.

[P-TLVS and POTO photos: JOAN MARCUS]

[Don't miss tonight's live broadcast from the Vivian Beaumont Theatre of LCT's Adam Guettel/Craig Lucas'The Light In the Piazza on PBS'Live from Lincoln Center. ]

Is there anyone still around who remembers Monday as a dark night in theater? How things have changed. Monday is now the day when you have to carefully choose your options - and they are many, from staged readings and workshops to club acts, concerts and benefits.

This Monday it's going to be very difficult to choose just one.

ROZ RYAN SAYS FAREWELL FOR A WHILE

Soul diva extraordinary Roz Ryan is out of pajamas tonight and into a glamour mode as she entertains in concert at Danny's Skylight Room [346 West 46th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues] at 11 P.M. in One Night Only: An Eternal Love.

"This won't be just another self-indulgent moment in the life of a night club singer," laughs Ryan. "The difference in this show is that it will be a real intimate evening. You remember 'Tonight I gave the greatest performance of my life,' about a performer keeping face and performing in spite of a love lost. As showgirls, we all have to do that sometimes."

Lost love? Ryan's is that she's losing Broadway [for now]. With The Pajama Game wound down for now, she soon heads back to "my other home," the West Coast. You can expect some surprise guests in the audience, so there'll be emotion onstage and off.

Ryan is a former Effie in the original Dreamgirls, and a Mama Morton in Chicago.

In additon to torch renditions of "All Of Me," "Yesterday When I was Young" and "Lush Life," there'll be such Ryan standards as "Hey, Old Friend," "The Best Is Yet To Come" and the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic "Dindi."

The show features one of Ryan's favorite "all-around" musicians, Shelton Becton, who'll also music direct his "Becthoven" Symphony Orchestra with Nikki Parrot on bass and Buddy Williams on drums.

There's a $10 cover and $12 minimum. Reservations are highly recommended. Call (212) 265-8130.

CELEBRATING JAMES JOYCE

Bloomsday On Broadway, the only complete and annual New York reading of James Joyce's Ulysses, which takes places every June 16, will be celebrating its 25th anniversary tomorrow. The 12-hour reading marathon begins at Noon at Symphony Space's Peter J. Sharp Theatre.

Among the 80 Bloomsday readers will be Kathleen Chalfant, Mia Dillon, Keir Dullea, Fionnula Flanagan, Jonathan Hadary, Larry Keith, Stephen Lang, Frank McCourt, Malachy McCourt, David Margulies, Denis O'Haire, Marian Seldes, Steven Spinella and Fritz Weaver. Symphony Space artistic director Isaiah Sheffer is the host.

Mozart will have a place side-by-side Joyce with a rendering of Don Giovanni, sung, of course. Traditional Irish music will be sung as well.

This anniversary will put more focus on Stephen Dedalus, a thinly-disguised Joyce and one of the book's three major characters [along with Leopold Bloom and Molly Bloom].

Sheffer notes there'll be two major readings from Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist: the Christmas dinner scene at the Dedalus household and the ending in which Dedalus declares his spritual independence and defiance.

"This second part gives a picture of the younger, pre-Ulysses Dedalus," he says.

A portion of the marathon will highlight work by Joyce's friend, sometime secretary and disciple, Samuel Beckett, the Nobel Prize-winning Irish playwright whose Centennial is being celebrated. Included will be a portion of Beckett's novel Molloy, text from his Krapp's Last Tape, monologues and poetry.

June 16, 1904 is considered by Joyce devotees as the most famous fictional date in literature, because it's the date when Bloom walked around Dublin - in the pages of Ulysses.

Many Bloomsday events are available on CD, including last year's marathon. This year's is being taped for broadcast on WBAI.

Bloomsday tickets are $20; $14 for SS members; and $17 for students and seniors. To purchase, call (212) 864-5400, or visit www.symphony space.org.

BROADWAY BY THE YEAR SEASON FINALE

The largest, most star-studded cast ever has been assembled for Scott Siegel's season finale Broadway by the Year on Monday, June 19 at 8 P.M. at Town Hall. Broadway shows from 1978 will be brought to vivid life again.

The cast, which Siegel calls "stellar and diversified" [which means not only from Broadway but also the world of cabaret] includes Bryan Batt, who is also directing, Tony Award winner Chuck Cooper, Felicia Finley, Julie Garyne, Cheyenne Jackson, Nancy Lemenager, Nancy Opel, Noah Racey, Christine Pedi and Lennie Watts.

Ross Patterson is music director and arranger, with accompaniment from his Little Big Band.

The cast will render numbers from such shows as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Bob Fosse's Dancin' , On the Twentieth Century and Working.

"One of the advantages of having a large cast," Siegel adds," is that you can more accurately match the song with the singer. And have your leading man, your ingÈnue, belter, blues singer and the perfect singer for that popular 'unplugged'moment."

Tickets in the $45 and $40 range are still available at the Town Hall box office or through TicketMaster at (212) 307-4100 or ticketmaster.com.

SPEAKING OF BROADWAY BY THE YEAR

Bayview Records has just released The Broadway Musicals Of 1949, which was recorded live at Town Hall's April, 2004 Broadway By the Year.

The cast includes Scott Coulter, Cady Huffman, Nancy Lemenager, Noah Racey, Marla Schaffel, Martin Vidnovic, Lennie Watts, Robert Westenberg and Karen Ziemba.

In addition to 1949 giving us Rodgers and Hammerstein's legendary South Pacific, there were such shows as Jule Styne's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Kurt Weill's Lost In the Stars, Marc Blitzstein's Regina, Johnny Mercer's Texas Lil'Darlin' and one of the rare times in show business history the words Irving Berlin and flop musical were uttered, but such was the case with Miss Liberty.

Ziemba is a particular delight on "(I'm In Love with) A Wonderful Guy" and her unamplified rendition of "A Cockeyed Optimist." Not to be overlooked, however, is Vidnovic's powerful "off-mike" "Lost In the Stars" and "This Nearly Was Mine."

Ross Patterson and His Little Big Band are featured along with excerpts from Scott Siegel's narration.

1949 is available from Footlight Records, (718) 963-0750 or through www.footlight.com , www.originalcastrecords.com and Tower Records at Lincoln Center.

ACTOR'S FUND BENEFIT

Charles Busch returns as Angela Arden, the reclusive recording diva, for one night only, Monday [June 19], in the film/stage noir thriller Die! Mommie! Die! The performance, a benefit for The Actors Fund of America, is at 7:30 P.M. at the renovated Hudson Theatre [145 West 45th Street].

Tyler Maynard [Altar Boyz], TV hunk Christopher Meloni [Law & Order SVU, Oz] and Drama Desk winner and Tony Award nominee Jayne Houdyshell are among the featured cast.

The lavish costumes for the benefit revival are designed by 2006 Drama Desk-nominees and multi-award-winning Michael Bottari and Ronald Case, who created the 40+ gowns in the style of numerous silver screen goddesses for the original stage production and film adaptation, which, of course, also starred Bush.

They've been designing for Busch for over 12 years. The duo won the 2003 Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk nomination for the Busch wardrobe for Shanghai Moon.

"We're trying to work in as many costumes from the film as possible," says Bottari, "which will mean a lot of quick changes. In the play, we weren't able to use but eight or nine."

Bottari/Case's costumes for Busch, including "a huge pile of Size 10 spiked heels," will be exhibited in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Museum in July, says Case, "right next to Joan Crawford and Bette Davis'!"

For tickets and more information, call (212) 221-7300 Ext. 133 or visit www.actorsfund.org.

SPEAKING OF LA GRAND DIVA DAVIS

There's more Bette to love on DVD. Following the success of Warner Home Video's Volume One of The Bette Davis Collection, there's the just released Volume Two and, again, it's filled with not only Davis goodies in the form of remlasted classics from the Warner Bros. vaults but also new making-of documentaries and bonus material galore [featurettes, musical shorts, vintage cartoons], including a new doc in separate packaging on Davis narrated by Susan Saradon.

The Bette Davis Collection, Volume Two [WHV, SRP $60] recognizes Davis as one of the screen's legendary talents with remastered prints from original camera negatives with sound enhancing. The accompanying docs have seldom-seen footage of La Davis on a number of TV shows, including an appearance on The Andy Williams Show, where, on that rare occasion she appears without a cigarette, she sings and swings to a rock beat. Yes, that has to be seen to be believed.

The best-known contemporary film in the six-DVD package is Robert Aldrich's Grand Guignol Whatever Happened To Baby Jane [1962], co-starring that other screen legend Joan Crawford.

This film, the study of two ex-stars who gloriously terrorize each other is actually a two-disc special edition with commentary by Charles Busch, among others, and on Disc Two four docs on Bette, La Joan and the making of the film. The best of these is All About Bette, hosted by a dour Jodie Foster [in spite of diamond broaches and earrings], but it has excellent material and focus.

An earlier classic, a sort of Davis/Warner Bros. revenge against David O. Selznick when he passed on Davis and Errol Flynn for the roles of Scarlett and Rhett in Gone with the Wind, is also included: Jezebel [1938], directed by the legendary William Wyler in glorious B&W.

There is even a two-degrees connection to GWTW. Remember the Confederate Ball and how Scarlett shocked everyone by dancing, when she was in mourning. In Jezebel, when Davis, a New Orleans beauty smitten to the point of jealous rage with genteel Southern gentleman Pres Dillard, brazenly arrives at the White Ball in a red gown, she shocks and awes the townfolk. It's one time you don't need Technicolor to see color!

Her performance opposite Henry Fonda set off romantic fireworks and earned Davis her second Best Actress Academy Award. The heroic ending is a bit much, but Davis manages to make it work.

Co-star, the always reliable Fay Bainter, won the Supporting Oscar.

Also in the Collection, Volume Two and all making their DVD debuts are The Man Who Came To Dinner [1942], based on the George S. Kaufmann/Moss Hart stage triumph and co-starring the Broadway lead Monty Woolley, the delightful Billie Burke, Jimmy Durante in a take off of Harpo Marx, Reginald Gardiner in a spoof of Noel Coward and, as movie star Lorraine Sheridan [a role modeled on Gertrude Lawrence], Ann Sheridan; Marked Woman, [1937], a gritty, almost classic film noir with Davis in her fourth pairing with Humphrey Bogart [in a role that was the total opposite of his screen sterotyping at that time] as a prostitue [or what was alluded to be a prostitue at that time] and gangster moll; and Old Acquaintance [1943], a classic potboiler that is often hilarious as well as poigant.

Old Acquaintance, based on the John Van Druten play, in fact, is having its long-delayed home video debut, and its pleasures are many. The movie's tagline, referring to Davis, was "There are certain things one just doe! But I did!" Actually, and to her credit, she doesn't.

This is a female pix to the helt and extraordinarily well-done. The best is watching two screen divas, pumped with ego - Davis and Miriam Hopkins, who were involved in a long-simmering feud [since sparring in a 1939 film], try to outdo each other. Winner: hands down, Hopkins. Even strong, veteran director Vincent Sherman must have met his match with these two divas.

Hopkins could always be depended upon for over-the-top acting and she was an infamous upstager. Here, the duo eat up so much of the scenery that they must have had the production crew working overtime.

Their dislike was more intense and hateful than the Davis and Crawford feud during the making of and, when it really intensified, following the release of Baby Jane.

Although Davis never missed an opt to badmouth Hopkins, often calling her "a bitch" and "jealous," the latter had reason to be more than a little upset with Davis, who'd had an affair with her husband and also won the plum role of Julie Marsden in Jezebel, which Hopkins fought tooth and nail for after originating it five years earlier in the short-lived Broadway production.

In spitre of the rivalry, poignant and often telling performances emerge in the story of two writers who yearn for what the other has. And co-star John Loder gives an excellent, understated perforomance.

The dashing Loder was the male lead. He had an A List career leading up to his portrayal of Pres Drake [Gentleman Jim, Now, Voyager, How Green Was My Valley, Tin Pan Alley and, all the way back to the 30s, King Solomon's Mines, Hitchcock's Sabotage, Lorna Doone and The Private Life of Henry VIII [not to mention silents]. In spite of his huge list of starring or major featured roles -- not to mention the fact that he was one of the female hearttrobs of the time -- [though seen] he didn't get so much of mention in the trailer and, worse, had to settle for billing under newcomer Gig Young [in a much smaller role], who was billed as a "star of tomorrow." [Funny thing, Young had already appeared in 15 films, though he was most often uncredited.]

The extensive bonus materials include an additional bonus disc containing the exclusive-to-the-Collection Stardust: The Bette Davis Story, the feature length documentary narrated by Sarandon with interviews with James Woods, Gena Rowlands and others who worked with the star, including director Sherman, who was briefly Davis' lover. The doc is produced and directed by Emmy-winner Peter Jones.

Davis made her Broadway debut in 1929 but soon after went West. After a brief tenure and horrible B-pictures at Universal, she signed with Warner Bros., where she made 50 of her 100 plus features. She became one of Hollywood's most highly paid stars and the studio's most bankable asset until, after firings and much drama in her demand for better roles, 1949 when she left to become an independent. She had the last laugh: her next film at Fox was All About Eve.

She received an impressive 10 Oscar nominations, rivaled only by Kate Hepbun [Davis even laid claim to naming the Academy Awards Oscars because she said the nude rear of the statuette reminded her of her Uncle Oscar]. Her breakthrough performance [and first Oscar nomination] was in Of Human Bondage. She went on to garner acclaim in such classics as Dark Victory, The Letter, Now, Voyager, The Little Foxes and All About Eve.

Davis was the first woman president of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences and was the first woman to be honored with the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award.

NEW DAVIS BIO

The perfect companion piece to Volume Two of The Bette Davis Collection is Charlotte Chandlier's The Girl Who Walked Home Alone : Bette Davis, A Personal Biography [Simon & Schuster, SRP $26; 368 pages; 16 pages of B&W photos; thorough Filmography; Index].

Chandler, author of such celebrity bios as Hello, I Must Be Going: Groucho and His Friends [1978]; I, Fellini [1995]); and Nobody's Perfect: Billy Wilder - A Personal Biography [2002], returns to tackle the screen legend. This book, based on extensive interviews conducted shortly before Davis' 1989 death, reads more like a conversation, with the story told mostly in Davis' own words. Davis knew she was good and a major force in films and she had no fear of speaking up for what she felt she deserved.

There are countless anecdotes as Davis discusses everything from her father's early abandonment of the family, desire to become an actress and her mother's sacrifices to make that dream happen to her infatuation with several of her leading men, her four marriages and two abortions, her pain and outrage over her daughter's portrayal of her in a tell-all book, her blatant opinions of other actors and actresses and her troublesome reputation, which she claims was much undeserved [she says she would never have been branded "difficult" had she a male star]. [Having worked with and interviewed Miss Davis twice, and approaching those occasions with some trepidation, I can report she laughed as hard as she drank and smoked and was always captivating.]

The experince of being married to and working with Davis comes over vividly, and with some new details, as Chandler interviewed directors, actors and friends who reveal the strong, stubborn woman behind the star.

This year's Tony Awards not only celebrate Broadway excellence but 60 years of saluting it. And the show is so big that instead of one host there will be 60 stars from stage, screen and TV - one for each year! - to do the honors.

CBS is the loyal network hosting the awards, from 8 to 11 P.M., at Radio City Music Hall.

Hank Azaria, Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes, Eric McCormack, Cynthia Nixon, Oprah Winfrey, Anna Paquin, Bernadette Peters, Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Kyra Sedgwick, Martin Short, Alfre Woodward will be among those presenting.

These stars plus the nominees will create a Sixth Avenue and 50s traffic jam the likes Julia and David never saw.

The Tonys are giving the stars the red carpet treatment, beginning at 6:30. You can watch the glamour coverage as the celebs arrive at Radio City at TonyAwards.com [courtesy of IBM] or on NY 1.

TonyAwards.com will also carry the pre-telecast segment, from 7:15. - 8:00 p.m.

The Tonys are presented by the American Theatre Wing and the League of American Theatres and Producers. Sondra Gilman is Wing chair with Douglas Leeds as president. Shubert head Gerald Schoenfeld is League chair with Jed Bernstein as president.

Elizabeth I. McCann is managing producer and Joey Parnes coordinating producer for Tony Award Productions.

Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss/White Cherry Entertainment are executive producers of the telecast, with Weiss once again as director.

At the Tony nominees' brunch, the elegantly-dressed Kate Burton was meeting every nominee she could.

"It's so hard to believe this year," she says. "Maybe because it went by so fast, I haven't had time to think about it. It was so thrilling to be back on Broadway in The Constant Wife, following the realization of my dream to do Hedda Gabler."

Richard Griffiths was saying that cell phones should be confiscated when patrons enter theatres [a prospect that check room attendants would at $3 a pop] when he wasn't
admiring the view from the eagle's nest of the Marriott Marquis' The View. "Isn't it marvelous!" he said. He noted that he and his wife hadn't had time to do any sightseeing, "what with my History Boys schedule. But this is marvelous! I've never known a place as exciting!"

Color Purple's Felicia P. Fields, who plays Sofia, said, "It has been several years of blessings. And a long road from Chicago [where she's been nominated for, among other roles, her Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! and Effie in Dreamgirls] to Atlanta [where the show premiered] to Broadway. And to think, in my Broadway debut, to be nominated for a Tony. Never in my wildest dreams!"

She added that the cast is thrilled to be Tony-nominated after "being terribly bruised by the fact that the Drama Desk nominators completely overlooked us. We didn't get a single nomination. How can that be?"

Pajama Game's Connick and O'Hara, a winning onstage combo if ever there was one, displayed as much chemistry offstage as they do onstage as they made the media and photo opt rounds.

That chemistry wasn't just left to the gods. Says O'Hara, "Kathleen [Marshall] was a very shrewd director. Early on in the casting decisions, she had Harry and I meet and just sit and talk while she and who knows who else observed us. We clicked. And it was obvious to everyone. When that happens, it's great because it makes what you experience in the theater all the more real."

Jim Dale was abuzz with excitement and his ever-ready sense of humor. He, too, was having "a helluva year" what with his Tony nod for The Threepenny Opera being the icing on his cake, after winning Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. "It can't get better than this!"

Jersey Boys nominees were as wide-eyed at all the hoopla as The Lieutenant of Inishmore nominees were not.

John Lloyd Young, who was in tears walking off the stage after his Drama Desk Award win, recounted his amazing path to Broadway and his daily rountines to keep his voice in tip-top Frankie Valli condition.

He and Featured nominee Christian Hoff, who plays Tommy DeVito, still can't get over how audiences respond to their show.

"In Act One," pointed out Young, "at the end of a concert sequence when we do 'Walk Like A Man," it still startles us, but in the most pleasant of ways, when the audience en masse gives us a standing ovation. The music gets 'em."

Hoff, not bragging, also noted that there are usually another two standing ovations in Act Two, "and that's before we take bows!"

HAVE YOU VOTED?

The nominations for the 2006 American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards are:

Highlights ~

For Best Play: The History Boys, Alan Bennett; The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Martin McDonagh; Rabbit Hole, David Lindsay-Abaire; and Shining City, Conor McPherson.

Are the bets still on The History Boys?

Best Performance, Leading Actor, Play: Ralph Fiennes, Faith Healer; Richard Griffiths, The History Boys, éeljko Ivanek, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Oliver Platt, Shining City; and
David Wilmot, The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

Is the money still on Griffiths? How sweet it would be to see Ivanek win for his devastating turn as Queeg.

Best Performance, Leading Actress, Play [it still boggles my mind that Cherry Jones, spellbinding and delivering an emotional wallop in Faith Healer was amazingly, incredibly not nominted]: Kate Burton, The Constant Wife; Judy Kaye, Souvenir; Lisa Kron, Well; Cynthia Nixon, Rabbit Hole; and Lynn Redgrave, The Constant Wife.

This is a tough one to call because Burton and Redgrave are in the same category. Now, if Jones had been nominated, well...but she wasn't.

Best Performance, Featured Actor, Play: Samuel Barnett, The History Boys; Domhnall Gleeson, The Lieutenant of Inishmore; Ian McDiarmid, Faith Healer; Mark Ruffalo, Awake and Sing!; and Pablo Schreiber, Awake and Sing!

Anything goes here. McDiarmid is a delight, but the money seems to be on Barnett, especially with Ruffalo and Schreiber competing against each other. If the theatrical gods are shining, the Tony will go to Gleeson, who gives one helluva performance and manages to be hilarious without his character coming off as el stupido.

Best Performance, Featured Actress, Play: Tyne Daly, Rabbit Hole; Frances de la Tour, The History Boys; Jayne Houdyshell, Well; Alison Pill, The Lieutenant of Inishmore; and Zo" Wanamaker, Awake and Sing!

Who wants to bet that de la Tour doesn't leave early [as she did at the Drama Desk Awards]? But it could be Houdyshell or Wanamaker's night. But what's Wanamaker doing in the Featured category?

Best Revival, Play: Awake and Sing!, The Constant Wife, Edward Albee's Seascape and Faith Healer.

Best Direction, Play: Nicholas Hytner, The History Boys; Wilson Milam, The Lieutenant of Inishmore; Bartlett Sher, Awake and Sing!; and Daniel Sullivan, Rabbit Hole.


For Best Musical: The Color Purple, The Drowsy Chaperone, Jersey Boys and The Wedding Singer.

Best Original Score: The Color Purple, music/lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray; The Drowsy Chaperone, music/lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison; The Wedding Singer, music/lyrics by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin and The Woman in White, music/lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Zippel.

Does The Woman in White have a chance against out-front fav The Drowsy Chaperone?

Best Revival, Musical: The Pajama Game, Sweeney Todd and The Threepenny Opera.

Best Performance, Leading Actor, Musical: Michael Cerveris, Sweeney Todd; Harry Connick, Jr., The Pajama Game; Stephen Lynch, The Wedding Singer; Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone; and John Lloyd Young, Jersey Boys.

Will Young take the prize or will it go to Connick or Martin, both in their Broadway debuts?

Best Performance, Leading Actress, Musical: Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone; LaChanze, The Color Purple; Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd; Kelli O'Hara, The Pajama Game; and Chita Rivera, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life.

Will it be Broadway darling Foster or Broadway darling LuPone? Could LaChanze pull an upset?

Best Performance, Featured Actor, Musical: Danny Burstein, The Drowsy Chaperone; Jim Dale, The Threepenny Opera; Brandon Victor Dixon, The Color Purple; Manoel Felciano, Sweeney Todd; and Christian Hoff, Jersey Boys.

This is also a tough one. All four are exemplary. Dale, of course, is the sentimental favorite and he works his feet off to give Threepenny audiences something to remember; but, oh, Burstein is outstanding and drop-deal funny as AdolphO!

Best Performance, Featured Actress, Musical: Carolee Carmello, Lestat; Felicia P. Fields, The Color Purple; Megan Lawrence, The Pajama Game; Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone; and Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, The Color Purple.

Carmello should get a medal! Fields and Lawrence are terrivic but, baring a last-minute disaster or fiasco, the Tony's going to Leavel for her showstopping antics.

Best Direction, Musical: John Doyle, Sweeney Todd; Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game; Des McAnuff, Jersey Boys; and Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone.

Will it be Doyle or Nicholaw?

Harold Prince, with no shortage of Tonys on his mantel, will recieve a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Sadly, the cat in Lieutenant wasn't singled out by the nom com for a Special Award.

For a complete roster of the 2006 Tony Award nominations and special awards, go to: www.tonyawards.com/

On the Tony web site, hosted by Tony partner IBM with feature content from Playbill, you can enjoy a video player link for up close and personal encounters with winners; access to their acceptance speeches and their thoughts on the impact of winning a Tony; an archive of nominees and winners in every category from 1947; Tony trivia; and a detailed profile of the fascinating Miss Perry, among other things, a pioneer for women producers on Broadway.

[Photo credits: 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7) JOAN MARCUS; 3) MONIQUE CARONI; 4 and 6) ELLIS NASSOUR]

DOWN TONY MEMORY LANE

Who Was This Tony, Rather Toni,
The Namesake Of The Tony Tony Awards?

by Ellis Nassour

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 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."

A TONY AWARDS PHOTO GALLERY
in honor of the 60th Annual TONY AWARDS

Clockwise : 1967: The first Tony Awards national telecast - Alexander H. Cohen, telecast and Broadway producer[left], [his wife] Awards writer Hildy Parks and director Clark Jones in ABC's mobile studio in Shubert Alley; 1967: Barbra Steisand, Joe Masteroff [left], John Kander and Fred Ebb pose in the Sardi's press room. Streisand presented Tonys to the composers for Cabaret; 1972: Richard Rodgers and Ethel Merman are honored with special Tonys after showstopping performances; and 1996, when the hostess with the mostest was Angela Lansbury.

[Photos: Collection of ELLIS NASSOUR; ABC-TV, CHRISTOPHER LUKAS; The New York Times; ABC-TV ~ from the Collection of ELLIS NASSOUR; WHERE magazine]

TRIVIA

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. Which of these one-word play title took Tony Awards?
A. Art
B. Closer
C. Copenhagen
D. Da
E. Equus
F. Lovers

2. Which actresses tied for the coveted Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1968?
A. Angela Lansbury, Dear World; and Dorothy Loudon, The Fig Leaves Are Falling
B. Barbara Harris, The Apple Tree; and Mary Martin, I Do! I Do!
C. Patricia Routledge, Darling of the Day; and Leslie Uggams, Hallelujah, Baby!
D. Julie Harris, Skyscraper; and Angela Lansbury, Mame

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. Patty Duke
B. Rita Moreno
C. Suzanne Somers
D. Joanne Woodward

4. Who is the only Tony to have hosted the Tonys since the first national telecast in 1967?
A. Tony Bennett
B. Tony Curtis
C. Tony Quinn
D. Tony Randall

5. Three sets of family members have been Tony-nominated in the same category in the same year. Which duo below is not correct?
A. Richard Rodgers and daughter Mary Rodgers, 1960
B. Jason Robards and son Sam Robards, 1988
C. Lynn Redgrave and niece Natasha Richardson, 1993
D. Rosemary Harris and daughter Jennifer Ehle, 2000

[ Answers: 1. A, C, DC and E; 2. C; 3. B; 4. D ; 5. B ]

LOST TREASURES FROM BROADWAY

Anyone interested in the archives of great performances from the early Tony Awards produced by Broadway impresario Alexander Cohen [through the 1986 Tonys] will enjoy excerpts from those telecasts presented on Broadway's Lost Treasures.

If somehow you missed Volume 3, after it's PBS broadcast, there's hope. Acorn Productions has issued a boxed set of Volumes 1-3.

Volume 3 is a motherlode of rare Broadway moments: 23 production numbers, including the company of Merrick's 42nd Street ["We're In the Money"], Gwen Verdon performing "Whatever Lola Wants" from Damn Yankees along with, among others, an eight minute tribute to Ethel Merman, a Julie Andrews medley and numbers from Fossee, A Funny Thing..., How Now Dow Jones, Into the Woods, Kiss Me Kate, Peter Pan, Ragtime and West Side Story.

The bonus bonus DVD is a real plus with some rare excerpts from 18 nominated Best Plays featured on Tony telecasts. Performance highlights are by Jane Alexander, Philip Bosco, Art Carney, Charles Dutton, Morgan Freeman, Victor Garber, James Earl Jones, Linda Lavin, John Lithgow, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Gary Sinise and, among others, Maggie Smith.

LIGHT WILL BE LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER

Live from Lincoln Center [PBS] presents the TV premiere of LCT's 2005 Tony-nominated musical, The Light in the Piazza, live in performance from the Vivian Beaumont on Thursday, June 15 at 8 P.M. [check local listings].

LFLC host is Beverly Sills. The telecast will present in-time intermission features, which will include cast interviews and an interview with Guettel. There will also be a segment on behind-the-scenes "magic."

Seven-time Emmy Award winner Kirk Browning is telecast director. Multiple award-winning John Goberman, who's taken home 12 Emmys, is telecast executive producer. Live from Lincoln Center is made possible by a grant from MetLife.

With music and lyrics by Adam Guettel and book by Craig Lucas [based on Elizabeth Spencer's 1960 novel], Light won of six Tonys, including Best Score.

Directed by Bartlett Sher, the lush, poignant musical features Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark as Margaret Johnson, Katie Clarke as Clara, Aaron Lazar as Fabrizio and, from the current cast of 20, Michael Berresse, Sarah Uriarte Berry, Patti Cohenour and Chris Sarandon. An additional co-star are Michael Yeargan's award-winning fluid sets.

Sher, the artistic director of Seattle's Intiman Theatre, is also director of LCT's revival of Clifford Odets' Awake And Sing! at the Belasco.

TLITP, which also won five Drama Desk Awards, ends its 15-month run on July 2 to commence a national tour.

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