#1
Posted: 5/12/06 at 2:36am
For the full column:
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/68418.htm
"The fourth slot - and the nominators really will be scraping the bottom of the barrel here - is probably going to "The Wedding Singer."
It's crude and stupid, to be sure, but the nominators don't seem to dislike it as much as they do "Tarzan" (which has zero support) and "Lestat" (which only one nominator I spoke to says was "interesting").
Dark-horse candidate: Andrew Lloyd Webber's flop "The Woman in White."
Compared to the others, "it's starting to look better," says a nominator.
As for Roberts, nobody's making the case that she's much of a stage actress, but she's either better than they expected her to be or they feel sorry for her.
"I thought she was game," says a nominator about her performance in "Three Days of Rain."
"But I think it's just hard to say this is one of the best performances on Broadway."
Yesterday, though, Roberts got a little help from the people who determine Tony Award eligibility.
They ruled that Zoe Wanamaker, very fine in "Awake and Sing!," is eligible as Supporting Actress in a Play rather than Best Actress.
A weak field of leading actresses was made even weaker, which probably means Roberts will make the cut, joining Cynthia Nixon ("Rabbit Hole"), Judy Kaye ("Souvenir"), Kate Burton ("The Constant Wife") and Frances Sternhagen ("Seascape").
Two big stars who will not be nominated are longtime Tony favorites - Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick ("The Odd Couple").
The nominators don't seem to like anything about "The Odd Couple," including the direction by Joe Mantello.
Mantello's won Tonys before (for "Assassins" and "Take Me Out"), but this year he's going to be snubbed as punishment for what's considered poor work on both "The Odd Couple" and "Three Days of Rain."
"This is his off-year," says a nominator.
"The History Boys," on the other hand, can expect a shower of Tony nominations.
Almost every nominator I talked to adores this Alan Bennett play.
It'll be nominated for Best Play, and it will win.
Richard Griffiths, the veteran British stage actor and star of "The History Boys," will be nominated, as will that other great stage vet, Frances de la Tour.
Stephen Campbell Moore, who plays Griffiths' adversary, will also get a nod.
Of the boys, expect nominations for Dominic Cooper ("the sexy one," as the nominators call him) and Samuel Barnett ("the gay one") and either Jamie Parker ("the really cute piano player") or Russell Tovey ("the dumb one").
The only reason the entire slate of supporting actors in a play won't be made up of History Boys is that the nominators will save a spot for Ian McDiarmid, of "Faith Healer."
Other performers who can expect nominations Tuesday include Anthony Sher ("Primo"), Patti LuPone ("Sweeney Todd"), Michael Cerveris ("Sweeney Todd"), Edward Hibbert ("The Drowsy Chaperone"), Ralph Fiennes ("Faith Healer"), Brian F. O'Byrne ("Shining City") and Jim Dale ("The Threepenny Opera").
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/68418.htm
"The fourth slot - and the nominators really will be scraping the bottom of the barrel here - is probably going to "The Wedding Singer."
It's crude and stupid, to be sure, but the nominators don't seem to dislike it as much as they do "Tarzan" (which has zero support) and "Lestat" (which only one nominator I spoke to says was "interesting").
Dark-horse candidate: Andrew Lloyd Webber's flop "The Woman in White."
Compared to the others, "it's starting to look better," says a nominator.
As for Roberts, nobody's making the case that she's much of a stage actress, but she's either better than they expected her to be or they feel sorry for her.
"I thought she was game," says a nominator about her performance in "Three Days of Rain."
"But I think it's just hard to say this is one of the best performances on Broadway."
Yesterday, though, Roberts got a little help from the people who determine Tony Award eligibility.
They ruled that Zoe Wanamaker, very fine in "Awake and Sing!," is eligible as Supporting Actress in a Play rather than Best Actress.
A weak field of leading actresses was made even weaker, which probably means Roberts will make the cut, joining Cynthia Nixon ("Rabbit Hole"), Judy Kaye ("Souvenir"), Kate Burton ("The Constant Wife") and Frances Sternhagen ("Seascape").
Two big stars who will not be nominated are longtime Tony favorites - Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick ("The Odd Couple").
The nominators don't seem to like anything about "The Odd Couple," including the direction by Joe Mantello.
Mantello's won Tonys before (for "Assassins" and "Take Me Out"), but this year he's going to be snubbed as punishment for what's considered poor work on both "The Odd Couple" and "Three Days of Rain."
"This is his off-year," says a nominator.
"The History Boys," on the other hand, can expect a shower of Tony nominations.
Almost every nominator I talked to adores this Alan Bennett play.
It'll be nominated for Best Play, and it will win.
Richard Griffiths, the veteran British stage actor and star of "The History Boys," will be nominated, as will that other great stage vet, Frances de la Tour.
Stephen Campbell Moore, who plays Griffiths' adversary, will also get a nod.
Of the boys, expect nominations for Dominic Cooper ("the sexy one," as the nominators call him) and Samuel Barnett ("the gay one") and either Jamie Parker ("the really cute piano player") or Russell Tovey ("the dumb one").
The only reason the entire slate of supporting actors in a play won't be made up of History Boys is that the nominators will save a spot for Ian McDiarmid, of "Faith Healer."
Other performers who can expect nominations Tuesday include Anthony Sher ("Primo"), Patti LuPone ("Sweeney Todd"), Michael Cerveris ("Sweeney Todd"), Edward Hibbert ("The Drowsy Chaperone"), Ralph Fiennes ("Faith Healer"), Brian F. O'Byrne ("Shining City") and Jim Dale ("The Threepenny Opera").
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 5/12/06 at 02:36 AM
