Theatre Lover's Journal for May 12, 2003
Tony Nominations 2003
by John Kenrick
Talk about a shocker! For once, the Tony committee has shown signs of certifiable sanity! By and large, ghastly options have been overlooked and the deserving have received recognition. What a concept!
Of course, there are still a few hints of idiocy. Some sundry observations --
- It won't be able to match the pile of Tonys accumulated by The Producers, but it's a solid bet that Hairspray will get the lion's share of honors on the first Sunday in June. It would have been hard to do less for this new musical comedy classic.
- If Hairspray stars Marissa Jaret Winokur and Harvey Fierstein do not win, there is no justice. . . and in a country that lets O.J. sleep in a mansion instead of a penitentiary, we have cause to worry.
- First Contact, now Movin' Out -- are we so desperate that we have to keep pretending that ballets are musicals?
- The cast of Frog and Toad was crucial to that show's surprising success. Shutting them out of the nominations is regrettable -- if not downright egregious.
- The Best Score nomination for the "various composers" of Urban Cowboy is an insult to every other show on the list. Why didn't they give it a special nod for "Best Hodgepodge"?
- If La Boheme is a "revival", then Webster's needs to re-define the word.
- Delighted to see Sam Mendes' totally uninspired direction of Gypsy did not get a nomination -- its about time the Tony committee stopped nominating every mediocre effort that gets undue praise from Ben Brantley.
- Bernadette Peters has set a new precedent -- it seems you can get nominated even when you do not bother showing up for most performances of a show. . . including performances attended by Tony committee members.
- I was not aware anyone who saw Amour stayed awake long enough earn it so many nominations. Mind you, Amour is infinitely more deserving than Urban Cowboy, so bravo!
- Glad to see Say Goodnight, Gracie up for Best Play -- this delightful show got short shrift from the critics, and has been delighting audiences ever since. Pity there was no nomination for Frank Gorshin's fine performance.
Musicals101.com will post it's second annual Dean's List honors later this month. For "the record," here is the full list of nominees.
BEST PLAY
Enchanted April
Say Goodnight, Gracie
Take Me Out
Vincent in Brixton
BEST MUSICAL
Amour
Hairspray
Movin' Out
A Year With Frog and Toad
BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
Gypsy
La Bohème
Man of La Mancha
Nine
BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Dinner at Eight
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Long Day's Journey Into Night
BEST LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Brian Bedford, Tartuffe
Brian Dennehy, Long Day's Journey Into Night
Eddie Izzard, Joe Egg
Paul Newman, Our Town
Stanley Tucci, Frankie and Johnny
BEST LEADING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Jayne Atkinson, Enchanted April
Victoria Hamilton, Joe Egg
Clare Higgins, Vincent in Brixton
Vanessa Redgrave, Long Day's Journey Into Night
Fiona Shaw, Medea
BEST LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Antonio Banderas, Nine
Harvey Fierstein, Hairspray
Malcolm Gets, Amour
John Selya, Movin' Out
Brian Stokes Mitchell, Man of La Mancha
BEST LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Melissa Errico, Amour
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Man of La Mancha
Elizabeth Parkinson, Movin' Out
Bernadette Peters, Gypsy
Marissa Jaret Winokur, Hairspray
BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Long Day's Journey Into Night
Robert Sean Leonard, Long Day's Journey Into Night
Denis O'Hare, Take Me Out
Daniel Sunjata, Take Me Out
BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Christine Ebersole, Dinner at Eight
Linda Emond, Life x 3
Kathryn Meisle, Tartuffe
Michele Pawk, Hollywood Arms
Marian Seldes, Dinner at Eight
BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Michael Cavanaugh, Movin' Out
John Dossett, Gypsy
Dick Latessa, Hairspray
Corey Reynolds, Hairspray
Keith Roberts, Movin' Out
BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Tammy Blanchard, Gypsy
Jane Krakowski, Nine
Mary Stuart Masterson, Nine
Chita Rivera, Nine
Ashley Tuttle, Movin' Out
BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Laurence Boswell, Joe Egg
Robert Falls, Long Day's Journey
Joe Mantello, Take Me Out
Deborah Warner, Medea
BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
David Leveaux, Nine
Baz Luhrmann, La Bohème
Jack O'Brien, Hairspray
Twyla Tharp, Movin' Out
BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
Jeremy Sams, Amour
Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, Hairspray
Willie Reale, A Year with Frog and Toad
David Henry Hwang, Flower Drum Song
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Michel Legrand, Amour
Willie and Robert Reale, A Year with Frog and Toad
Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Hairspray
Various composers, Urban Cowboy
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Robert Longbottom, Flower Drum Song
Jerry Mitchell, Hairspray
Melinda Roy, Urban Cowboy
Twyla Tharp, Movin' Out
BEST SCENIC DESIGN
John Lee Beatty, Dinner at Eight
Santo Loquasto, Long Day's Journey Into Night
Catherine Martin, La Bohème
David Rockwell, Hairspray
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Gregg Barnes, Flower Drum Song
William Ivey Long, Hairspray
Catherine Martin, Angus Strathie, La Bohème
Catherine Zuber, Dinner at Eight
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Donald Holder, Movin' Out
Nigel Levings, La Bohème
Brian MacDevitt, Nine
Kenneth Posner, Hairspray
BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
Billy Joel and Stuart Malina, Movin' Out
Nicholas Kitsopoulos, La Bohème
Jonathan Tunick, Nine
Harold Wheeler, Hairspray
SPECIAL THEATRICAL EVENT
The Play What I Wrote
Prune Danish
Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam
Bill Maher's Victory Begins at Home
SPECIAL TONY AWARDS
The principal ensemble of La Bohème
Paul Huntley
Johnson-Liff Casting Associates
The Acting Company
Cy Feuer - Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
The Children's Theatre Company (Minneapolis, MN) - Regional Theatre Award