When Thesp News IS Dweeb News

EDITOR'S NOTE: AS THEY USED TO SAY ON "THE A-TEAM" (AND YES, WE CAN DEAL LATER WITH THE FACT THAT I CAN QUOTE FROM THE CLASSICS)....I JUST LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER.

IN THIS CASE, MY WORLDS COLLIDE....BUT IN A GOOD WAY.

HERE ARE THIS YEAR'S TONY NOMINATIONS. PLEASE NOTE PART OF THE WAY DOWN HOW DWEEBING AND THESPING BECOME ONE (WITH THE FORCE, AS IT WERE).

Drowsy Chaperone receives leading 13 Tony nominations
By EVERETT EVANS
Houston Chronicle


The Drowsy Chaperone, starring from left, Bob Martin, Sutton Foster, Beth Leavel, Danny Burstein, and Jennifer Smith, leads Tony Award nominees with 13.
TINA FINEBERG: Associated Press

The Drowsy Chaperone, an offbeat yet affectionate tribute to vintage musicals and their diehard fans, nabbed 13 Tony nominations Tuesday, leading the field in the annual competition celebrating Broadway's best.

The Color Purple, the lavish musical of Alice Walker's novel, was right behind with 11 nominations. Despite mixed reviews, the show's visibility has been bolstered by Oprah Winfrey's imprimatur as above-the-title producer.

The sold-out revival of The Pajama Game earned nine nominations, including one for Harry Connick Jr. in his Broadway performing debut.

The critically lauded revival of Clifford Odets' classic family drama Awake and Sing! drew eight nominations, tied with Jersey Boys, the crowd-pleasing jukebox musical built on the life and songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

The History Boys, Alan Bennett's prize-winning London transfer about British schoolboys facing college admissions, fared best among new plays, with seven nominations. It will compete for best play with: The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Martin McDonagh's gory black comedy about an Irish terrorist and his cat; Shining City, Conor McPherson's play about a ghost-haunted man; and Rabbit Hole, David Lindsay-Abaire's tragicomedy about a couple coping with the death of their son.

Joining Drowsy Chaperone, Color Purple and Jersey Boys in the race for best musical is The Wedding Singer, based on the Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore film comedy, which recently received mixed reviews; it drew five nominations.

Pajama Game will compete for best musical revival with two darker shows: Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera; and director John Doyle's minimalist take on Sondheim's masterpiece Sweeney Todd, which drew six nominations, including those for stars Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone.

Awake and Sing! will compete for best play revival against Brian Friel's Faith Healer (whose, star Ralph Fiennes, received a best actor nod), and two productions from the first half of the season that have already closed, W. Somerset Maugham's The Constant Wife and Edward Albee's Seascape.

Julia Roberts, making her Broadway debut in a sold-out but critically roasted revival of Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain, went un-nominated. Past Tony winners Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick likewise failed to tickle Tony's fancy this time, though their revival of Neil Simon's warhorse The Odd Couple has played to capacity crowds all season despite wan reviews.

Also notable in their absence: Gabriel Byrne, in the revival of O'Neill's A Touch of the Poet; and Maria Friedman, the London star who made an acclaimed Broadway debut in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White. (Lloyd Webber's score for that already-closed show, his best in years, did get a nod.)EDITOR'S NOTE: OH NO. WE SAID THE WORDS 'ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER. NOW I HAVE TO BEAT MYSELF WITH STICKS OR HEMP, OR SOMETHING. (LIKE THAT GUY IN "THE DA VINCI CODE).

Disney's Tarzan and Elton John's Lestat, two costly and much anticipated shows that opened recently to dismal reviews, were shut out of major categories. Tarzan drew one nomination for its lighting; Lestat got two, for its costumes and the featured performance of Broadway favorite Carolee Carmello.

The 2006 Tony Awards will be broadcast live from New York's Radio City Music Hall, at 7-10 p.m. June 11 on CBS, airing in Houston on Channel 11.

EDITOR'S NOTE: OK....NOW LOOK DOWN AT THE FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY CATEGORY FOR THE PROMISED DWEEBING MOMENT. (ALTHOUGH, I GUESS RALPH FIENNES...HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED...COUNTS TOO).

A complete list of nominations for the 60th annual Tony Awards:
• Play: The History Boys; The Lieutenant of Inishmore; Rabbit Hole; Shining City.

• Musical: The Color Purple; The Drowsy Chaperone; Jersey Boys; The Wedding Singer.

• Book-Musical: The Color Purple, Marsha Norman; The Drowsy Chaperone, Bob Martin and Don McKellar; Jersey Boys, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice; The Wedding Singer, Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy.

• Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics): 'The Color Purple, Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray; The Drowsy Chaperone, Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison; The Wedding Singer, Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin; The Woman in White, Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Zippel.

• Revival-Play: Awake and Sing!; The Constant Wife; Edward Albee's Seascape; Faith Healer.

• Revival-Musical: The Pajama Game; Sweeney Todd; The Threepenny Opera.

• Actor-Play: Ralph Fiennes, Faith Healer; Richard Griffiths, The History Boys; Zeljko Ivanek, EDITOR'S NOTE: OOOO...I LOVE HIM! The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial; Oliver Platt, Shining City; David Wilmot, The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

• Actress-Play: Kate Burton, The Constant Wife; Judy Kaye, Souvenir; Lisa Kron, Well; Cynthia Nixon, Rabbit Hole; Lynn Redgrave, The Constant Wife.

• Actor-Musical: Michael Cerveris, Sweeney Todd; Harry Connick Jr., The Pajama Game; Stephen Lynch, The Wedding Singer; Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone; John Lloyd Young, Jersey Boys.

• Actress-Musical: Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone; LaChanze, The Color Purple; Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd; Kelli O'Hara, The Pajama Game; Chita Rivera, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life.

EDITOR'S NOTE: DRUM ROLL.....

• Featured Actor-Play: Samuel Barnett, The History Boys; Domhnall Gleeson, The Lieutenant of Inishmore; Ian McDiarmid, Faith Healer; EDITOR'S NOTE: MAKING UP A BIT FOR THAT OSCAR NOM HE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN (IMHO...)Mark Ruffalo, Awake and Sing!; Pablo Schreiber, Awake and Sing!

• Featured Actress-Play: Tyne Daly, Rabbit Hole; Frances de la Tour, The History Boys; Jayne Houdyshell, Well; Alison Pill, The Lieutenant of Inishmore; Zoe Wanamaker, Awake and Sing!

• Featured Actor-Musical: Danny Burstein, The Drowsy Chaperone; Jim Dale, The Threepenny Opera; EDITOR'S NOTE: OO, ANOTHER DWEEB CONNECTION. (HARRY POTTER BOOK READER EXTRAORDINAIRE!) Brandon Victor Dixon, The Color Purple; Manoel Felciano, Sweeney Todd Christian Hoff, Jersey Boys.

• Featured Actress-Musical: Carolee Carmello, Lestat; Felicia P. Fields, The Color Purple; Megan Lawrence, The Pajama Game; Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone; Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, The Color Purple.

• Direction-Play: Nicholas Hytner, The History Boys; Wilson Milam, The Lieutenant of Inishmore; Bartlett Sher, Awake and Sing!; Daniel Sullivan, Rabbit Hole.

• Direction-Musical: John Doyle, Sweeney Todd; Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game; Des McAnuff, Jersey Boys; Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone.

• Choreography: Rob Ashford, The Wedding Singer; Donald Byrd, The Color Purple; Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game; Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone.

• Orchestrations: Larry Blank, The Drowsy Chaperone; Dick Lieb and Danny Troob, The Pajama Game; Steve Orich, Jersey Boys; Sarah Travis, Sweeney Todd.

• Scenic Design-Play: John Lee Beatty, Rabbit Hole; Bob Crowley, The History Boys; Santo Loquasto, Three Days of Rain; Michael Yeargan, Awake and Sing!

• Scenic Design-Musical: John Lee Beatty, The Color Purple; David Gallo, The Drowsy Chaperone; Derek McLane, The Pajama Game; Klara Zieglerova, Jersey Boys.

• Costume Design-Play: Michael Krass, The Constant Wife; Santo Loquasto, A Touch of the Poet; Catherine Zuber, Awake and Sing!; Catherine Zuber, Edward Albee's Seascape.

• Costume Design-Musical: Gregg Barnes, The Drowsy Chaperone; Susan Hilferty, Lestat; Martin Pakledinaz, The Pajama Game; Paul Tazewell, The Color Purple.

• Lighting Design-Play: Christopher Akerlind, Awake and Sing! Paul Gallo, Three Days of Rain; Mark Henderson, Faith Healer; Mark Henderson, The History Boys.

• Lighting Design-Musical: Ken Billington and Brian Monahan, The Drowsy Chaperone; Howell Binkley, Jersey Boys; Natasha Katz, Tarzan; Brian MacDevitt, The Color Purple.

• Regional Theater Tony Award: Intiman Theatre, Seattle.

• Special Tony Award: Sarah Jones, Bridge and Tunnel.

• Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre: Harold Prince