Tony Performances Announced

The 68th Tony Awards, which will be held on June 8th, 2014, and will be hosted by Hugh Jackman, will begin with a performance from Best Musical nominee After Midnight.  That show's performance will include performances from Fantasia Barrino, Patti LaBelle, k.d. Lang, and Gladys Knight.  Hugh Jackman may even join in the fun.  During the Tony telecast, Sting will perform a number from his upcoming musical, The Last Ship.  There will also be performances by Jessie Mueller of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Neil Patrick Harris of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and the cast of Aladdin performing the showstopper "Friend Like Me".

You Heard it Here First!

There are two news items that I just came across that I wanted to  bring to your attention.  The first of them comes with a prediction about a show that I think will come to Broadway, even if the producers don't know it yet.  The second is about a production whose producers have stated that they are eyeing Broadway.

Playbill.com has reported that the London revival of Miss Saigon, which opened last night, has already recouped its £4.5 million ($7.6 million) initial investment.  Producer Cameron Macintosh said in a press release, "The show's budget was £4.5 million -- which is not a huge amount.  I didn't need to spend more than that and I think it looks every penny.  We have recouped already."  This production set a record for single-day ticket sales, making Broadway and West End history, when tickets went on sale in September.  This makes it all the more likely that the production will transfer to Broadway at some point in 2015.

In other news, Broadway.com has published an article saying that James Corden, who won a Leading Actor in a Play Tony in 2012 for One Man, Two Guvnors, is in talks to return to Broadway.  Corden could return to Broadway in a revival of the Bert Shevelove / Larry Gelbart / Stephen Sondheim musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum under the direction of Tony-nominee Alex Timbers.  The production is hoping to open on the Main Stem in the spring of 2015.

Two Tony-nominated Interviewees

Sophie Okonedo, the British film actress probably best known in this country for her Oscar-nominated turn in Hotel Rwanda in 2004, made her Broadway debut earlier this season in the highly acclaimed revival of A Raisin in the Sun.  Having starred in several theatrical and made-for-TV movies, Playbill.com interviewed Okonedo about her transition to the Broadway stage, revealing a past on the British stage, a love of Broadway, and her reactions to the awards buzz.  Check out the interview here.

Theater Mania posted this interview with Beowulf Boritt, who is Tony nominated this year for his set design of Lincoln Center's production of Act One at the Vivian Beaumont.  He talks about trends in theatrical set design (three of the four Tony nominated scenic designs for plays have turntables) to the sheer magnitude of this set (a 65-foot diameter turntable costing roughly $500,000).  Check it out!

The Realistic Joneses Sets Closing Date

The producers of The Realistic Joneses announced today that the show will be closing on July 6th.  Though never officially planned as a limited run, the show had only been selling tickets through July 6th, and had probably been hoping to extend beyond that date with the help of some Tony momentum. When the Tony nominating committee entirely overlooked the show, which seems to have been selling steadily, I guess they decided not to push their luck.

Installation of Broadway Magic

I just came across a neat video that shows the installation of the Tony-nominated set for the Tony-nominated play Act One.  Check it out and comment below with your thoughts and questions about what goes into such an endeavor.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt20LYv_GrE&feature=youtube_gdata

Patti LuPone to Return to Broadway

Patti LuPone will be returning to the Broadway stage for a one night only concert staging of The Cradle Will Rock.  The production will play the Bernard Jacobs Theatre tonight, May 19th, at 7pm, and will be produced by The Acting Company.  LuPone will be reprising the role that brought her the 1985 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.  LuPone will be joined on stage by Josh Johnston and Johann Carlo, her son and her cousin respectively.  Lonny Price will direct the concert.  For further information, check out this press release from Playbill.com.

2nd Round of Tony Predictions

With the OCC Award winners being announced earlier this week, along with the New York Times' Tony section printed this past Sunday (including Ben Brantley's and Charles Isherwood's respective Tony predictions), I thought it was time to update my set of predictions.  And, with that, here goes nothing.

Best Play
Will Win:  Act One
Should Win: Act One
Dark Horse: All the Way

Best Musical
Will Win:  A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Should Win: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Dark Horse: Beautiful

Best Book of a Musical:
Will Win:  A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Should Win: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Dark Horse: Beautiful

Best Score
Will Win:  Bridges of Madison County
Should Win: Bridges of Madison County
Dark Horse: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

Best Revival of a Play
Will Win: 12th Night
Should Win: Glass Menagerie
Dark Horse: Glass Menagerie

Best Revival of a Musical
Will Win: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Should Win: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Dark Horse: Violet

Best Actor in a Musical
Will Win: Neil Patrick Harris
Should Win: Jefferson Mays
Dark Horse: Jefferson Mays

Best Actress in a Musical
Will Win: Sutton Foster
Should Win: Kelli O'Hara
Dark Horse: Jessie Mueller

Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Will Win: Nick Cordero
Should Win: Nick Cordero
Dark Horse: James Monroe Igilhart

Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Will Win: Linda Emond
Should Win: Anika Larsen
Dark Horse: Lena Hall

Best Actor in a Play
Will Win: Bryan Cranston
Should Win: Bryan Cranston
Dark Horse: Tony Shalhoub

Best Actress in a Play
Will Win: Cherry Jones
Should Win: Cherry Jones
Dark Horse: Audra McDonald

Best Featured Actor in a Play
Will Win: Mark Rylance
Should Win: Mark Rylance
Dark Horse: Reed Birney

Best Featured Actress in a Play
Will Win: Celia Keenan-Bolger
Should Win: Celia Keenan-Bolger
Dark Horse: Mare Winningham

Best Director of a Musical
Will Win: Michael Mayer
Should Win: Darko Tresnjak
Dark Horse: Darko Tresnjak

Best Director of a Play
Will Win: Tim Carroll
Should Win: John Tiffany
Dark Horse: John Tiffany

Best Choreography
Will Win: Warren Carlyle
Should Win: Warren Carlyle
Dark Horse: Casey Nicholaw

Best Orchestrations
Will Win: Jason Robert Brown
Should Win: Jason Robert Brown
Dark Horse: Steve Sidwell

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Will Win: Rocky
Should Win: Rocky
Dark Horse: Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Will Win: Machinal
Should Win: Machinal
Dark Horse: Machinal

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Will Win: Bullets Over Broadway
Should Win: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Dark Horse: Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Best Costume Design of a Play
Will Win: Casa Valentina
Should Win: Casa Valentina
Dark Horse: 12th Night

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Will Win: Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Should Win: Brigdes of Madison County
Dark Horse: Rocky

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Will Win: Machinal
Should Win: Glass Menagerie
Dark Horse: Glass Menagerie

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Will Win: After Midnight
Should Win: Beautiful
Dark Horse: Beautiful

Best Sound Design of a Play
Will Win: Machinal
Should Win: The Cripple of Inishmaan
Dark Horse: The Cripple of Inishmaan

A Delicate Balance to Return to Broadway

Edward Albee's play A Delicate Balance, which won the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, has been announced as Tony-winning director Pam McKinnon's next Broadway-bound project.  The show will star Tony-winners john Lithgow, Glenn Close, and Lindsay Duncan, along with Tony-nominee Martha Plimpton, Bob Balaban, and Olivier winner Clare Higgins.  The show will play an 18-week run at the Golden Theatre starting in October, with a November 20th opening.

The show follows a long-married couple, Tobias and Agnes (Lithgow and Close), who have a whirlwind of a weekend when their 36-year old daughter (Plimpton) comes home after her fourth divorce while they nurse (or tolerate) Agnes' alcoholic sister (Duncan), and shelter their friends (Balaban and Higgins).

Two Production Transfers of Very Different Varieties

The London revival of Cameron Mackentosh's Miss Saigon may or may not transfer to Broadway next year.  The transfer would be dependent, of course, on a few factors -- strong reviews and ticket sales for the current London revival as well as an appropriate theater becoming available in New York.  The London production opens on May 21st.

The other transfer news is a transfer of a different type -- a transfer from stage to screen.  This morning, Playbill.com announced that a film adaptation of Harvey Fierstein's Tony-nominated new play Casa Valentina is under discussion.  Among the things being discussed is whether the film will be made for cable or the big screen has yet to be determined.  The play was written by four-time Tony-winner Harvey Fierstein in a Manhattan Theatre Club production directed by Joe Mantello.

New Production Set for 2014-2015 Season

The Roundabout has set dates for an upcoming revival of the musical On the Twentieth Century.  As previously buzzed about, Tony- and Emmy-winner Kristin Chenoweth will star in the production as Lily Garland -- a role made famous by Carole Lumbard in the 1934 movie.  Co-starring with Chenowith will be Peter Gallagher as Oscar Jaffe.  The musical is based on a 1934 film, The Twentieth Century, which starred John Barrymore and Carole Lombard as Oscar Jaffe and Lily Garland.  The plot revolves around a movie producer (Jaffe) who wants to bring former lover and star Lily Garland back to Hollywood for one last movie, but can't -- she's on the Twentieth Century, a train taking her back to New York to do Broadway.

Previews will begin at the Roundabout's American Airlines Theatre on February 12th in anticipation of a March 12th opening night.  The production will be directed by six-time Tony-nominee Scott Ellis with Choreography by Warren Carlyle, a two-time 2014 Tony nominee for After Midnight.  The production seems to replace a previously announced revival of Michael Frayn's farce Noises Off which was set to play the American Airlines Theatre starting in January 2015.