Tony Tube 2008

Here's a video round up of the best of Broadway, as seen on the Tony Awards last week:

- Of course, what everyone was talking about the next day: Xanadu's Cheyenne Jackson brings the house down with a fierce rendition of "Don't Walk Away".
- The Cry-Baby boys are "A Little Upset" (especially since their show closed a week later).
- Another show that announced their closing in the past week: A Catered Affair.
- For the wholesome family crowd, Disney was on hand with both The Lion King and The Little Mermaid ...
- ... with Megan Mullally in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein there to scare them off later.
- Grease was the word ...
- ... but not the final word. That honor goes to Rent, reuniting the original cast for one last chorus of "Seasons of Love".

And for a little more Cheyenne, here's "All Over the World", as seen on Live with Regis and Kelly, plus a Tony red carpet interview from Broadway TV.

Bye Bye Baby

Despite a surprise Best Musical nomination from the Tony Awards, Cry-Baby on Broadway will soon be no more. The musical, based on the John Waters cult film favorite, will close after this Sunday's matinee performance.

The good news is the show is promised to tour. The bad news is that a cast album, at least by the original Broadway performers, is now unlikely. And that is enough to make the show's fans a little upset.

Awards Watch: Tony Awards 2008

It was "some enchanted evening" tonight at Radio City Music Hall as South Pacific swept this year's Tony Awards. The acclaimed revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage classic won seven trophies, including Best Musical Revival. In the Heights, the Best Musical winner, won four Tonys, while August: Osage County dominated on the drama side, with five wins, including Best Play. The swinging 60's comedy Boeing-Boeing rounds out the top categories with two wins, including Best Play Revival.

The other big winner was Gypsy, which saw wins for its three main actors, Laura Benanti (the first actually Gypsy to win), Boyd Gaines (his fourth Tony win) and a hilariously outspoken Patti LuPone. And speaking of Gypsy, its lyricist, Stephen Sondheim, was the recipient of the Tony's lifetime achievement award ... but didn't bother to show up.

Perhaps the biggest winner of the night was the viewers, thanks to the hostess with the mostest, Whoopi Goldberg, who was -- in a word -- fabulous. Whether it was appearing onstage as the high-flying Mary Poppins or in pre-taped segments as the high-kicking cast of A Chorus Line (plus Mario Lopez), she kept the show lively and entertaining from curtain to curtain.

Finally, on the From Screen to Stage front, The 39 Steps was the only winner, taking home two technical trophies. And although Cry-Baby and Xanadu went home empty-handed, at least their high-energy production numbers (led by their respective hunks, James Snyder and Cheyenne Jackson) actually made their shows appear, to me at least, as something worth paying Broadway ticket prices to see.

Awards Watch: Time for Tony

The clock is ticking down to the biggest event of the Broadway season, the Tony Awards. The 62nd Annual Antoinette Perry Awards will be telecast live tomorrow night on CBS, with Whoopi Goldberg presiding over the tony (ahem) evening as host.

The general consensus is that the two big awards -- Best Play and Best Musical -- are August: Osage County and In the Heights' to lose. However, the Tonys always have a few surprises waiting in the wings (remember Avenue Q besting Wicked?), so don't count out the underdog, which this year is Xanadu. The best bet for the Fanadu (and Movie Dearest) fave is Douglas Carter Beane's book, while Cry-Baby's exuberant dances should land Rob Ashford his second Tony.

Two revivals of theatrical classics, South Pacific and Gypsy, are expected to dominate the musical acting categories, with the former (the first return to New York of the Rodgers and Hammerstein standard ever) expected to nab Best Revival and Best Director (for Bartlett Sher). On the play front, Patrick Stewart is favored for Best Actor for his Macbeth, while Raúl Esparza may get the Tony this year (for The Homecoming) that many feel he deserved last year (for Company; he lost to surprise winner David Hyde Pierce, for Curtains).

The evening will also honor legendary composer Stephen Sondheim with a lifetime achievement award; fans will want to check out Broadway.com's look at his 50-year history with the Tonys, including his seven previous wins (more then any other composer).

For all of us outside of the New York area, there are a few ways we can join in on the excitement as it happens: Tony Award winners Julie White and Michael Cerveris will host the first hour of presentations of the "Creative Arts awards" live on the Tony's website, while Playbill.com will live blog from backstage at Radio City Music Hall. And if you are hosting your own Tony viewing party, Broadway.com has ideas for a critically acclaimed menu. A Catered Affair canapés, any one?

Reel Thoughts: The Lady from Shanghai

Neil Cohen concludes his whirlwind visit to New York with a trip out to the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor to take in a performance of the latest from a true gay icon:

Much like the fabulous production of The Lady in Question Bay Street produced last summer, Shanghai Moon promises to be a unique chance to see the sublime Charles Busch and Julie Halston in one of Busch’s best shows. Not only is it beautiful out on the tip of Long Island, but Busch’s take on a 30's melodrama, all about a fallen lady who comes under the spell of the mysterious Orient, is hilarious yet faithful to its cinematic sources. Shanghai Moon also features one of my favorite urban legends come to life about the dangers of ordering food for your dog in a Chinese restaurant.

You’ll have to hurry to catch this summer’s show (now playing through June 29), as Busch will be coming out west to star at the La Jolla Playhouse in the world premiere of his new show, The Third Story, in September.

For more pre-Tony fun, be sure to check out Playbill.com's two-part look at just how the show is put together, plus the two-part finale of the Cubby Bernstein YouTube saga, with special guest stars Patti LuPone and Cynthia Nixon.

Reel Thoughts: Musical Youth

As we continue our countdown to this Sunday's Tony Awards, Neil Cohen takes a look at last year's Best Musical:

Every decade needs its angry youth musical, it seems. Typified by Hair in the 70’s and Rent in the 90’s, the cast is usually made up of fresh young talent who don’t have much Broadway experience, and the music is very pop or rock oriented. Spring Awakening (at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre) is a worthy New Millennium successor, as it tackles themes like sexual awakening, adult oppression and indifference, suicide and peer pressure.

The score by Duncan Sheik is energizing and the cast is uniformly talented. I especially enjoyed seeing Christine Estabrook (Mrs. Huber on Desperate Housewives) playing the numerous adult women -- she is an excellent comedienne who knows how to change moods on a dime. Tony nominee Jonathan Groff will soon be starring in Hair, but owns his role as the sensitive bad boy Melchior. His co-star Blake Bashoff (who inherited the Lyle Lovett hair, seen in the ads, from now departed Tony winner John Gallagher Jr.) shows up the musical’s main shortcoming. Namely, you never quite buy him as a real person, so his fate is strangely unmoving.

Based on the late nineteenth century play by Frank Wedekind, Spring Awakening tells the stories of a number of German students who discover their budding sexuality (and homosexuality in one case), but are destined to have their desires beaten out of them by uncaring adults. Songs like “Mama Who Bore Me”, “The Bitch of Living” and the self-explanatory “Totally F*cked” give voice to the teenagers protesting their unfair world. Is it telling that I much preferred Cry-Baby’s witty lyrics and rockabilly exuberance to Spring Awakening’s non-stop teen angst?

As a Spring treat, here's the original Awakening cast performing on last year's Tony Awards. This year's Tony Awards will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall this Sunday on CBS. Whoopi Goldberg will host, and scheduled presenters include Alec Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Kristin Chenoweth, Glenn Close, Harry Connick Jr., Laurence Fishburne, Richard Griffiths, Laura Linney, John Lithgow, Liza Minnelli, Mary-Louise Parker, Mandy Patinkin, David Hyde Pierce, Daniel Radcliffe, Brooke Shields, Marisa Tomei, Lily Tomlin and John Waters.

Reel Thoughts: Harvey's Affair

Neil Cohen reports on the latest from the Great White Way as we continue our countdown to this Sunday's Tony Awards:

Even factoring in nostalgia for a simpler time, the plot of A Catered Affair (now playing at the Walter Kerr Theatre) doesn’t cry out for a musical version. Eager to impress others, Aggie, an otherwise loving mother (Faith Prince), wants to give her daughter a huge wedding, no matter what the financial and emotional cost. Harvey Fierstein wrote the book and a juicy role for himself as gay Uncle Winston, but his Torch Song Trilogy-worthy reaction to being excluded from the big day is totally anachronistic for a homosexual in the 50’s. Tom Wopat is honest and moving as Aggie’s beaten-down husband; Prince is touching in a rare serious role, making you care about her rather than judge her actions. The music and lyrics flow melodically and smoothly, but are utterly plain and unmemorable. Still, any reason to see Mr. Fierstein should not be missed.

Prince and Wopat are both Tony nominated for their performances in Affair, and Prince will perform a song ("Vision") on the Tonycast this Sunday. Usually, only the nominated musicals and revivals get a moment in the nationally televised spotlight, but in a break from tradition, this show and two others (The Little Mermaid and Young Frankenstein) will be featured. Sierra Boggess will perform Mermaid's signature tune, "Part of Your World", while Megan Mullally will sing "Deep Love", her paean to monstrous genitalia from Young Frankenstein.

And speaking of Young Frank, that mostly-Tony-snubbed tuner: Broadway scuttlebutt has it that the show is hurting for cash and, as a cost-cutting measure, is slashing all the lead actors' salaries in half. I guess those $450 seats aren't selling so well, are they Mel?

Reel Thoughts: November Reign

Our Neil Cohen, freshly returned from NYC, continues our countdown to the Tony Awards this Sunday with another review of what's new on Broadway:

Written by David Mamet and starring Nathan Lane, November (currently at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre through July 13) features a lot of creative profanity and a Tony-nominated turn by Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne). Lane plays a lame duck president who has never met a scandal he couldn’t get involved in; it’s almost election time, and he’s also called upon to choose the White House turkey to pardon, when gay marriage rears its timely head.

Absolutely hilarious and utterly forgettable, November is Mamet-lite, and a star turn for master comedian Lane (even if he was rude to my niece when she asked for his autograph!). Metcalf, as Lane’s lesbian speechwriter, also gets to shine, especially in her wedding whites.

In related news: in addition to performances by the nominated musicals and revivals, this Sunday's Tony Awards telecast will also feature special salutes to the long-running musicals Rent and The Lion King; the former honoring its closing this fall, the latter celebrating its tenth year on Broadway. (How is this related to November? Well, you do remember who played the meerkat in the Lion King movie?)

Cinematic Crush: Patrick Stewart

Crush object: Patrick Stewart, actor.

- He beamed into stardom as the down-to-earth starship captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation, "making it so" for seven seasons on television and four theatrical features. Unjustly, he was never nominated for an Emmy for his performance, but he was named "Sexiest Man on Television" by TV Guide in 1992.

- He also led another team of fanboy favorites to the big screen as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men trilogy.

- Other film roles include the flamboyant Sterling in Jeffrey, plus roles in Excalibur, Dune, L.A. Story, Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Conspiracy Theory, plus voices for such animated productions as The Prince of Egypt, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Chicken Little, among many others.

- Also on television, he made memorable guest appearances on The Simpsons, Frasier, American Dad! and Extras, and starred in such TV movies as I, Claudius; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Moby Dick; Mysterious Island and The Lion in Winter.

- But his first love is the theater, as evidenced by his Tony Award nominated Macbeth this past season. Other notable stage performances include his award-winning one-man version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol (he played just Scrooge in a 1999 TV movie adaptation) and such other Shakespearean works as A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra and Twelfth Night.

Reel Thoughts: Broadway Baby

Our Neil Cohen recently paid a visit to the Big Apple, and he naturally took time to take in some theatah ... so, to count down to the Tony Awards next Sunday, here is his first of five reviews of some of the current offerings on the Great White Way and beyond:

Any show that wheels a boy in an iron lung across the stage during “The Anti-Polio Picnic”, waving an American flag and shouting “I sure wish I’d gotten that vaccine!”, has both the earmarks of a John Waters movie and my undying love! Cry-Baby (currently playing at the Marriott Marquis Theatre) may not have Johnny Depp, but it has hands-down the hottest dancers doing the best choreography I can remember. Listen to the Tony voters, who nominated it for Best Musical, and get ready to have a great time.

The show has changed a little since I saw its debut in La Jolla last year, with the addition of a couple of songs in place of others, but I didn’t really notice. James Snyder is fine in the title role, a rockabilly heartthrob with a soft spot for good girl Allison Vernon-Williams (Elizabeth Stanley). In a town without pity like Baltimore circa 1954, however, this boy getting this girl is going to take a lot of work. The marvelous Harriet Harris (Desperate Housewives) plays Allison’s disapproving grandmother, and she brings down the house with her confessional number “I Did Something Wrong … Once”, while Alli Mauzey, as Cry-Baby’s crazy stalker Lenora, truly owns the show when she lets loose with Waters’ favorite number, “Screw Loose”; it’s like “Patsy Cline Goes Psycho”, and I can’t wait for the cast album to hear it again.

Allison’s “Squeaky Clean” boyfriend Baldwin is played to perfection by blond cutie Christopher J. Hanke. The bravura second act jailhouse number “A Little Upset” is a high-octane, hyper-masculine treat, complete with convicts tap-dancing with license plates for shoes! The rest of the cast, bad girl Mona, Dupree, Hatchet-Face and the Whiffles are perfect, but it is those amazing, often shirtless dancers who’ll make you cry for more! It’s the Drapes versus the Squares ... and we’re the winners with Cry-Baby!

In related news, the Cry-Baby dancers will be on view at the Tony Awards this Sunday doing their show-stopping "A Little Upset" production number, while "Fanadus" everywhere will rejoice as Cheyenne Jackson takes center stage to belt out "Don't Walk Away" from Xanadu.

MD Poll: Believe We Are Magic

In what turned out to be a close race to be named your favorite "screen-to-stage" Broadway show of the season, Xanadu eventually triumphed with roughly one-third of the votes (see the comments section below for the complete rundown). First, the 2007 Dearie, now this, could the 2008 Tony for Best Musical be next?

The answer is "yes!" if pint-sized YouTube sensation Cubby Bernstein has anything to say about it. The super-secret Tony Campaign Manager ("I smell a Tony!") has gone viral, choosing Xanadu as the one the win this year, so be a good "Fanadu" and board the "Cub-oose", buy a "Cub-cake" and watch all his videos, with special guest stars Kerry Butler, Cheyenne Jackson and Nathan Lane and more! Xanadu? Yes, it can!


And in more Xanadu news: London is calling.

Click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.

Awards Watch: Drama League 2008

It may have failed to get a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical, but A Catered Affair was just fine for the Drama League. The new tuner, based on the classic Bette Davis movie The Catered Affair, was named Distinguished Production of a Musical by the group, an association of theatre professionals and patrons dedicated to "encouraging the finest in professional theatre".

Winners, which also included August: Osage County, South Pacific, Macbeth and Gypsy's Patti LuPone (named the winner of the Distinguished Performance Award out of 70 (!) nominees), were announced at a luncheon yesterday, hosted by Affair's co-star/librettist Harvey Fierstein. Broadway.com has a report from the scene, which included an unexpected marriage proposal for one Cheyenne Jackson.

Cheyenne (and his Xanadu - which just announced its first national tour) are also among the nominees for the 9th Annual Broadway.com Audience Awards. Nominations have been announced for "the only theatrical award that honors the best of the season as chosen by regular theatergoers" and voting is currently underway. Other screen-to-stage favorites among the nominees (see the comments section below for a quick look) include A Bronx Tale, A Catered Affair, Grease, Hairspray, The Little Mermaid, Monty Python's Spamalot, Rent, The Ritz, The 39 Steps, Wicked and Young Frankenstein, which leads the pack with 10 nods.

Nobody Puts Cry-Baby in the Corner

The scrappy little musical Cry-Baby has bounced back from mixed reviews and bad pre-opening buzz to become the underdog of this Broadway season. In addition to nabbing four Tony Award nominations earlier this week, including a surprise nod for Best Musical, the new tuner (based on the John Waters cult fave) picked up a few more trophies today, including a Theatre World Award for co-star Alli Mauzey.

Meanwhile, over at the Fred & Adele Astaire Awards, ensemble member Spencer Liff won their Best Male Dancer on Broadway prize (he also danced in the movies Hairspray and Across the Universe) and Rob Ashford picked up another award for Best Broadway Choreography. Step Up 2: The Streets won for Best Choreography in Film.

For a peak at the award-winning dancing of Cry-Baby, visit the show's own YouTube collection. And stay tuned for a special Reel Thoughts review of the show from our own Neil Cohen, freshly returned from the Big Apple.

Awards Watch: Tony Nominations

The nominations for the 62nd Annual Tony Awards were announced this morning, with lots of surprises among them. And while our favorites Cry-Baby and Xanadu were both nominated for Best Musical, other front-runners like A Catered Affair and Young Frankenstein were shut out in favor of original works In the Heights (which leads the field with 13 nominations) and Passing Strange. The 39 Steps, based on the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, was nominated for Best Play, where it faces tough competition from August: Osage County, Rock 'n' Roll and The Seafarer.

The 39 Steps leads the screen-to-stage nominees with six, followed by four each for Cry-Baby and Xanadu (including a Best Actress nod for Kerry Butler). A Catered Affair and Young Frankenstein did get three nominations each (including nods for actors Tom Wopat and Faith Prince in the former, and Christopher Fitzgerald and Andrea Martin in the latter), while The Little Mermaid netted only two, including a surprise nomination for Best Original Score.

Stephen Sondheim, currently represented on Broadway with the nominated revivals of Gypsy and Sunday in the Park with George, will receive a special Tony Award for "Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre". The Tony Award telecast, which will be hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, will be broadcast live on CBS from Radio City Music Hall on Sunday June 15. For a quick look at the nominations, see the comments section below.

The Tonys Make Whoopi

Whoopi Goldberg, herself a Tony Award winner (as producer of "the worst Best Musical ever" Thoroughly Modern Millie), has been tapped to host this year's Tony Awards program on June 15. Nominations for this year, the award's 62nd, will be announced this Tuesday, May 13, by Tony winners (and former Spamalotians) David Hyde Pierce and Sara Ramirez.

And speaking of nominations, Broadway.com is asking for yours for this year's Audience Awards. Here's your chance to vote for the best of Broadway both old (Avenue Q, Hairspray, Wicked) and new (A Catered Affair, Cry-Baby, Xanadu), now through May 15. Official nominations will be announced the following day, and then you'll have your chance to pick the winners.

Awards Watch: Drama Desk

The next step on the road to the Tony Awards was taken today, with the announcement of the nominations for the 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards. Leading the pack with 12 nods is A Catered Affair, the new musical based on the classic Bette Davis movie The Catered Affair. In addition to a Best Musical nod, librettist Harvey Fierstein and actors Faith Prince, Tom Wopat and Leslie Kritzer were also nominated.

Other screen-to-stage favorites with multiple nominations include Young Frankenstein with eight, The 39 Steps and The Little Mermaid with three each, and the Dearie Award-winning Xanadu with six, including Best Musical and acting nods for Cheyenne Jackson and Mary Testa. Playwright Edward Albee, celebrating his 80th year, will also be honored with a special lifetime achievement award.

The Drama Desk, an organization of theatre critics, writers and editors that honors excellence in all areas of New York theatre (Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway and not-for-profit), will present their awards May 18 at Lincoln Center. For a quick look at the nominees, see the comments section below.

Awards Watch: Drama League

More theater awards as the Broadway season approaches its end: nominees for the 2007-2008 Drama League Awards were recently announced.

Among the nominations are such screen-to-stage faves as A Bronx Tale, A Catered Affair, Die Mommie Die!, Cry-Baby, The Little Mermaid, The Ritz, The 39 Steps, Xanadu and Young Frankenstein.

The 74th Annual Drama League Awards will be revealed May 16.

Awards Watch: Outer Critics Circle

The stage musical version of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein leads the recently announced Outer Critics Circle Awards nominations with ten nods, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical. Joining it in that category are three other movie-based musicals: A Catered Affair, Cry-Baby and Xanadu. And yet another film-inspired show, The 39 Steps, is up for Outstanding New Broadway Play.

The group, which consists of writers "covering New York theatre for out-of town newspapers, national publications and other media beyond Broadway", will announce the winners May 12, followed by an awards celebration dinner May 22 at the famed Sardi's Restaurant.

For a quick look at the nominees, see the comments section below.