2011 Tony Awards

What was the most interesting thing about the 2011 Tony Awards ceremony? Perhaps Mark Rylance’s acceptance speech takes the cake. Rylance, who won for best leading actor in a play for his performance in Jerusalem, took to the microphone with a strange dialog about walking through walls. After an evening of heartfelt but long-winded acceptance speeches, Rylance was certainly refreshing albeit confusing. Unlike flying or astral projection, walking through walls is a totally earth-related craft, but a lot more interesting than pot-making or driftwood lamps," he said.

After much “google-ing” it seems this is not the first time Rylance gave an unconventional awards speech. In 2008 he spoke of carrying a fishing pole while accepting his award for Boeing-Boeing. Both time, Rylance was quoting works by Louis Jenkins, an obscure prose poet from Minnesota.

Now the REAL event of the evening was the win of War Horse for best play: A visually stunning piece that brings full scale horse puppets to the stage with life-like movements. With 5 tony wins, it should not be long before this exquisite play begins touring. Keep your fingers crossed!


The Winners:

Best Play
War Horse

Best Musical
The Book of Mormon

Best Book of a Musical
The Book of Mormon

Best Original Score
The Book of Mormon

Best Revival of a Play
The Normal Heart

Best Revival of a Musical
Anything Goes

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Mark Rylance, Jerusalem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Frances McDormand, Good People

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sutton Foster, Anything Goes

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Ellen Barkin, The Normal Heart

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
John Larroquette, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Nikki M. James, The Book of Mormon

Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, War Horse

Best Direction of a Musical
Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon

Best Choreography
Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes

Best Orchestrations
Larry Hochman & Stephen Oremus, The Book of Mormon

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Rae Smith, War Horse

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Scott Pask, The Book of Mormon

Best Costume Design of a Play
Desmond Heeley, The Importance of Being Earnest

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner, Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Also, check out the article "12 things you didn't know about the 2011 Tony Awards".

BRIEFS Closing!

Theatre Out ’s production of BRIEFS: A Festival of Short Plays closed this weekend. Our closing matinee performance was sold out, so I watched my directing piece from the booth. The cast really pulled out all the stops today – ending this high energy show with a bang.

As part of the audience experience we asked our patrons to vote for their favorite play. The playwright will receive a special recognition from Theatre Out. The awards went to:

The Best of the Fest - Audience Favorite was Attack of the Dorothies by J.E. Phelan

The Best of the Fest - Producer's Choice was Shiny Pair of Complications by J. Stephen Brantley

Congratulations to all on a wonderful performance! I sincerely hope that Theatre Out will continue this tradition with another short play festival in 2011. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Where was Broadway in the 2010 Tony Awards?

As I watched the 2010 Tony Awards on CBS, I realized how Hollywood-ized the New York theatre scene has become. While many professional theatre actors cross over into the realms of television and film, (Let’s face it, we are hungry for work and take what we can get), more and more motion picture celebrities are taking the stage for the first time. Maybe this has something to do with the economy, as Americans are turning to digital downloads and rental services as movie ticket prices climb to cover big budget films and dwindling box office numbers.

While I enjoy watching actors return to their theatre roots after starting an accomplished career on the Silver Screen (Thank God for Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz!), in contrast, I detest watching big name celebrities attempt to break behind the Broadway curtain and fail miserably (Julia Roberts in Three Days of Rain anyone? Read the review.). The truth is stage and film are two entirely different beasts and very few actors have the talent and training to make the transition.

For many of the major acting awards, the Tonys this year opened the door to Hollywood, essentially ostracizing the lesser known, but highly acclaimed, traditionally theatrical nominees.

Fences brought home three major awards, beginning with Best Revival of a Play. Denzel Washington was awarded Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play as Troy Maxon. My best advice for Mr. Washington –when you are nominated for an award, please research its history and avoid making puzzling coments during your acceptance speech, like this one; “I’ve been awarded by the Tony Award—what do you call yourselves? The Tony Committee.” What did you mean by that Mr. Washington? Thank goodness for your co-star, Viola Davis who spoke gracefully when accepting her award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play.

Academy Award-winning actress Catherine Zeta-Jones took the prize for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for A Little Night Music. After tripping on her ball-gown on her way to the podium, Zeta-Jones caused controversy during her acceptance speech by pointing to husband Michael Douglas and saying: “See that man there? He’s a movie star and I get to sleep with him every night.” Very classy Catherine! Thanks for continuing the awkwardness of the night, which we all hoped would end with host Sean Hayes lip locking Kristin Chenoweth. I appreciate the statement that was trying to be made (yes, gay actors are more than capable of playing it straight if audiences leave their prejudices and expectations in the theatre lobby), but some things are better to be left alone. Newsweek, we were all disappointed when you called Sean Hayes unconvincing as Chuck Baxter in Promises, Promises, but let’s take the high road on this one.

Hollywood starlet - no pun intended- Scarlett Johansson took home the win for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in A View From the Bridge. Scarlett Johansson thanked her husband Ryan Reynolds for “being a theater widower” for her in her acceptance speech. I am not a big fan of Johansson, except for the occasional Woody Allen film (which I probably like more for Allen’s writing/directing then Johansson’s acting), so I was a little miffed when she won this award over the likes of Rosemary Harris.

The night’s biggest winner was the Mark Rothko homage Red, which took home six awards including Best Play. Memphis, featuring music by Bon Jovi’s David Bryan, won Best Musical.

Glee star, Lea Michele, showed up in true Hollywood style to belt out “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” Granted, her performance was brilliant, but for those of us who watch Glee, it was just a less-campy rerun of her performance of the same song on the series and predictable. Perhaps there should be a revival of Funny Girl. I think she is hoping her character on Glee graduates early so she can grace the Broadway stage. At least she sang in the traditional Broadway style, rather than the Pop and Rock remakes, which seemed to be the staple of the night.

For those of you who watching the True Blood season 3 premier, or game 5 of the NBA finals instead, here is a recap of the main categories:

Best Play- Red

Best Musical- Memphis

Best Book of a Musical- Memphis

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre- Memphis

Best Revival of a Play- Fences

Best Revival of a Musical- La Cage aux Folles

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play- Denzel Washington, Fences

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play- Viola Davis, Fences

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical- Douglas Hodge, La Cage aux Folles

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical- Catherine Zeta-Jones, A Little Night Music

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play- Eddie Redmayne, Red

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play- Scarlett Johansson, A View from the Bridge

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical- Levi Kreis, Million Dollar Quartet

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical- Katie Finneran, Promises, Promises

Best Direction of a Play- Michael Grandage, Red

Best Direction of a Musical- Terry Johnson, La Cage aux Folles

Best Choreography- Bill T. Jones, Fela!

2010 Tony Awards Nominations

The Tony Award nominations have been announced! The New York Times has published very informative and interactive articles at Arts Beat. The full list of nominations, with explanations, reviews, and production photos can be found HERE! I am most interested this year to see if Jude Law will pull in a win for best performance by a leading actor in a play. His Hamlet graced the London and Broadway stage, with rave reviews. I was moments away from stepping on a plane this year to partake in the hype surrounding his performance. Probably the best Hamlet I have ever seen is Ben Whishaw, directed by Trevor Nunn at the Old Vic in London’s West End (2004). He was a young Hamlet at only 23 years old, but his portrayal was haunting and raw. His frail frame and pale complexion shook me to the bone. Next in line is Hamish Linklater, as the title character in South Coast Repertory’s production (2007). I mean, he learned from the best being the son of Kristin Linklater. Mr. Linklater connected to the role internally through his voice and body. There is nothing like sitting in the front row of a production of Hamlet, listening to the perfect articulation of every syllable and watching the spit fly. Yet, here is Jude Law, best known for his film career, vying to legitimize his portrayal of Hamlet on the New York stage. While his performance has been hailed by the New York Times as “a gold medal Hamlet,” the rest of the cast was not fortunate enough to receive approval from critics. Law seemingly carried the show, among a cast who could not reach to his level. Alfred Molina (Red), Liev Schreiber (A View From the Bridge), Christopher Walken (A Behanding in Spokane) and Denzel Washington (Fences), round out the category. It should be an exciting race.