THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506030025
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 165 lines
WITH THE TONY Awards at center screen on CBS tonight, Broadway takes a bow in the national spotlight.
This is the most entertaining of all the awards shows. For one thing, theater professionals, unlike many of their screen counterparts, know how to get on and off a stage. They are accustomed to performing before live audiences. Unlike the pasted-together Hollywood folks, stage actors don't get a second take.
Besides, they are a flamboyant and larger-than-life group. They give acceptance speeches of grace and eloquence that make the movie stars, not to mention the unwashed Grammy folks, seem like poor, and quite distant, performing relatives.
This year's awards, however, are cause for more alarm than celebration. Take one look at the nominees and you'll realize that Broadway is in bad, bad trouble. Ticket prices have spiraled up to $75 a seat, making going to the theater a special event instead of the habit that former generations cultivated.
Aside from the high ticket prices, the long-running success of super-hits like ``Cats,'' ``Phantom of the Opera,'' ``Miss Saigon,'' and ``Les Miserables'' means that a show has to run for two years to now be a hit, and there is no real room for risk.
Several months ago, I pondered how they would even have a Tony competition this year. There was nothing to nominate. In the ``Best Musical'' category, they have managed to come up with two nominees: ``Sunset Boulevard'' and ``Smokey Joe's Cafe.'' These, mind you, are the ONLY two new musicals of the year - and one of them, ``Smokey Joe's Cafe,'' is a revue of rock music with no plot.
At one point, they considered opening the competition to Off-Broadway. That's where even the most successful playwright of this generation, Neil Simon, has had to retreat to put on his latest comedy, ``London Suite.''
The establishment, however, has held its own and is keeping Off-Broadway off. They have come up with a weird group of nominees that still provides interesting, and sometimes worthy, competition.
Here is the score card for tonight, with our fearless predictions:
Best Musical
The nominees: ``Sunset Boulevard,'' ``Smokey Joe's Cafe''
No race here. ``Sunset Boulevard,'' the musical version of the classic Billy Wilder movie about a silent movie star gone bananas, is the lone original musical event of the year. ``Smokey Joe's Cafe,'' which had a pre-Broadway run in Los Angeles,'' is great fun - a medley of tunes that canvas America's pop music scene from the '50s on. Both are worth seeing, but the sun shines on the dark ``Boulevard.''
Prediction: ``Sunset Boulevard''
Best Revival of a Musical
The nominees: ``Show Boat,'' ``How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying''
The committee members refused to nominate a revival of ``Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,'' proving, at least, that they could have the luxury of turning something down. ``Show Boat'' is a monumental production, with T-shirts and mugs on sale just like with all those British shows, and it's oh-so-American. Lonette McKee, who has the Julie role made famous in the movie by Ava Gardner, is superb - and not nominated. It's a super production against the merely so-so revival of ``How to Succeed.''
Prediction: ``Show Boat''
Best Actress in a Musical
The nominees: Glenn Close in ``Sunset Boulevard,'' Rebecca Luker in ``Show Boat''
Glenn Close, who began her career on the stage in Williamsburg, turned in one of the great musical creations of theater history with her role as Norma Desmond, the wacko ex-movie star who sings of yesteryear. It will be her third Tony, although she has yet to snare an Oscar (out of six times at bat). It would have been embarrassing if they couldn't have come up with at least one other nominee, but Rebecca Luker's Magnolia is a mere token. (She was nominated previously for ``Secret Garden'').
Prediction: Glenn Close in ``Sunset Boulevard''
Best Actor in a Musical
The nominees: Mark Jacoby in ``Show Boat,'' Matthew Broderick in ``How to Succeed. . . ,'' John McMartin in ``Show Boat,'' Alan Campbell in ``Sunset Boulevard''
Alan Campbell, in the William Holden role from the movie, is much too young and too ordinary to suggest a screenwriter down on his luck in ``Sunset.'' Matthew Broderick was awful in ``How to Succeed. . . ,'' missing all the comedy that Robert Morse brought to the original. John McMartin, as Capt. Andy, is more a supporting role. That leaves, in an unimpressive list, Jacoby's outing as Gaylord Ravenal, the riverboat gambler.
Prediction: Mark Jacoby in ``Show Boat''
Best Featured Actor in a Musical
The nominees: George Hearn in ``Sunset Boulevard,'' Michel Bell in ``Show Boat,'' Victor Trent Cook in ``Smokey Joe's Cafe,'' Joel Blum in ``Show Boat.''
Michel Bell got to sing ``Ol' Man River,'' but he didn't erase my memory of the incomparable William Warfield. Hearn has won before, but he is memorable as Norma Desmond's faithful butler.
Prediction: George Hearn in ``Sunset Boulevard''
Best Featured Actress in a Musical
The nominees: Gretha Boston in ``Show Boat,'' DeLee Lively, Brenda Braxton and BJ Crosby in ``Smokey Joe's Cafe''
DeLee Lively will shake up national TV if they allow her to do the shimmy she did on stage - but is a shimmy acting? Hey, allow me to be unprofessional here: I liked the girl who did the shimmy and, besides, any actress who goes under that name has to have guts.
Prediction: DeLee Lively in ``Smokey Joe's Cafe''
Best Play
The nominees: ``Arcadia,'' ``Love! Valor! Compassion!,'' ``Indiscretions,'' ``Having Our Say''
An impressive group. ``Love! Valor! Compassion!'' is the Terence McNally comedy about a group of homosexual men who meet at a beach cottage. It was such a big hit Off-Broadway that it had to be moved to a larger theater. ``Indiscretions,'' a new version of a Jean Cocteau farce, has the most nominations of any play. ``Having Our Say'' is a two-character depiction of the Civil Rights fight. ``Love! Valor! etc.'' could well be the winner, but ``Arcadia,'' the American premiere of Tom Stoppard's 1993 play allows him, yet again, to show off his vocabulary. It has the snob vote because it won the Olivier Award in London, and it will likely prevail.
Prediction: ``Arcadia''
Best Revival of a Play
The nominees: ``The Heiress,'' ``Hamlet,'' ``The Moliere Comedies,'' ``The Rose Tattoo''
William Shakespeare finally gets a Tony nomination. Tennessee Williams, bless his Southern humor, is right in there too, with a superb new version of ``The Rose Tattoo.'' Moliere was a surprise hit, but the bigger surprise is ``The Heiress.''
Prediction: ``The Heiress''
Best Actor in a Play
The nominees: Brian Bedford in ``The Moliere Comedies,'' Ralph Fiennes in ``Hamlet,'' Roger Rees in ``Indiscretions,'' Joe Sears in ``A Tuna Christmas''
The surprise here is that Nathan Lane (robbed when he didn't win for ``Guys and Dolls'') is not even nominated for ``Love! Valor! Compassion!'' He shows his good sportsmanship by hosting the show (with Glenn Close and Gregory Hines). Rees is a former winner for ``Nicholas Nickelby.'' Bedford is a major contender, but Ralph Fiennes has movie fame to aid him. (``Schindler's List,'' ``Quiz Show''). Tony voters love to snub Hollywood stars (such as denying Elizabeth Taylor and not nominating Kathleen Turner this year), but Fiennes didn't win the Oscar. Besides, ``Hamlet'' is a major assignment for any actor.
Prediction: Ralph Fiennes in ``Hamlet''
Best Actress in a Play
The nominees: Cherry Jones in ``The Heiress,'' Eileen Atkins in ``Indiscretions,'' Mary Alice in ``Having Our Say,'' Helen Mirren in ``A Month in the Country''
An impressive group. Mirren just won the Cannes Film Festival ``best actress'' honor for ``The Madness of King George.'' Her performance in ``A Month in the Country,'' though, was disappointing. Atkins is a Broadway veteran and one with many supporters. The likely winner, though, is the surprise hit of the dramatic year, Cherry Jones as the woeful wallflower who so desperately wants love in ``The Heiress.'' She's a direct copy, even down to voice articulation and movement, of Olivia DeHavilland's movie version, but still she has the kind of longing that can break your heart.
Prediction: Cherry Jones in ``The Heiress''
Best Featured Actor in a Play
The nominations: Stephen Bogardus, John Glover and Anthony Heald in ``Love! Valor! Compassion!'' Jude Law in ``Indiscretions''
It was a big year for naked guys on stage. Three of the nominees appeared naked as the day they were born. Is it a trend?
Prediction: Stephen Bogardus in ``Love! Valor! Compassion!''
Best Featured Actress in a Play
The nominees: Mercedes Ruehl in ``The Shadow Box,'' Frances Sternhagen in ``The Heiress,'' Suzanne Bertish in ``The Moliere Comedies,'' Cynthia Nixon in ``Indiscretions''
Ruehl, an Oscar winner for ``The Fisher King'' and a Tony Winner for ``Lost in Yonkers,'' clearly deserves the win here.
Prediction: Mercedes Ruehl in ``The Shadow Box'' by CNB