Last summer he pooh-poohed an early staging of the show at City Center as "enjoyable but unenthralling." Now he's declaring this production at the St. James Theater to be a "wallop-packing revival" of a show that he and his Times predecessor, Frank Rich, have both called the greatest American musical ever, period.
Yes, true, it's the role Patti LuPone was born to play. As Brantley noted last summer, "If any actress of her generation seemed fated to play Momma Rose, the juggernaut of a stage mother in the musical 'Gypsy,' it was Patti LuPone, the juggernaut of a Broadway star.
"After all, Ms. LuPone became famous for her no-holds-barred portrayal of an actress of ravenous and ravening ambition in the title role of 'Evita' three decades ago, and ambition is Momma Rose’s oxygen. What’s more, Ms. LuPone has lungs and larynx of brass to rival those of Ethel Merman, the rafter-shaking star of the original 'Gypsy' in 1959, to whom Ms. LuPone has often been compared."
Sure, everybody's saying that LuPone has the Tony Award for best musical actress in the bag, but does she? It was more than 25 years ago that she won for "Evita." She's lost twice since then: "Anything Goes" (1988) and "Sweeney Todd" (2006).
Every gal who's portrayed Momma Rose on Broadway has, at least, been nominated: Ethel Merman (1960), Angela Lansbury (1975), Tyne Daly (1990) and Bernadette Peters (2003). Lansbury and Daly won. That original iron diva, the Merm, actually, egad, lost to sweet, lil Mary Martin in "The Sound of Music," which beat "Gypsy" for best musical. OK, maybe that's understandable — at least The Greatest Broadway Musical Ever lost to another stage classic, but here's the catch: "Sound of Music" tied "Fiorello!" for the win!
So is this "Gypsy" version really that much of a Tony shoo-in win for best musical revival?
The last production at the Shubert Theatre wasn't, but there was a lynch mob out for it led by New York Post theater reporter Michael Riedel who thought Bernadette Peters was miscast. She lost the best-actress trophy to Marissa Jaret Winokur ("Hairspray," winner of best musical). "Gypsy" lost best musical revival to "Nine."
There was no revival category back in 1975 when Lansbury won the Tony. That changed by 1990, and Tyne Daly's "Gypsy" won, beating a relatively weak field.
Now many Tony pundits are proclaiming that LuPone's "Gypsy" has this year's best-revival Tony in the bag, too.
Of the four eligible shows — "South Pacific," "Grease," "Sunday in the Park with George" and "Gypsy" — New York magazine's Vulture blog declares, "The only real contenders are 'Gypsy' and 'Sunday,' but it seems pretty likely that Patti and the power of 'Gypsy' will blow the well-regarded but not star-studded 'Sunday' revival out of the water." (READ MORE)
Now let me recommend to you Tony Awards Haven (CLICK HERE), a new website just launched by one of our trusty posters here, "RadioTV2," who sizes up this category thus: "At the moment, I think 'Gypsy' will sneak by 'Sunday in the Park with George' and grab the Tony . . . . 'South Pacific' is the wild card in this category because it is sure to be well received and it is the first Broadway revival of the show, but I believe that people just won't find a reason to vote for it over 'Sunday' or 'Gypsy.' "
RadioTV2, your new site is well done, bravo! But your take (and the N.Y. mag's, too) on this category is off. Why is everybody dismissing "South Pacific"? Just because it doesn't open until April 3? As already noted, this is the first revival ever! Back in 1950, it swept 10 categories at the Tonys. By comparison, 10 years later, "Gypsy" lost all eight of its races when a different musical starring Mary Martin hit Broadway like a tsunami.
If this historic revival, staged by Lincoln Center, gets rave reviews and becomes a hit — as widely expected — the fifth staging "Gypsy" on Broadway won't look too special, will it? And if Tony voters feel like they can pay off "Gypsy" with an award for LuPone, they may be strongly tempted to put their vote for best production on a show that's bigger, sprawling, more joyous and splashier, don't you think?
If "South Pacific" becomes a fierce kudos tsunami, it could even sweep aside LuPone. Remember: Mary Martin won best actress for "South Pacific." Now its current star, Kelli O'Hara, is a major force LuPone should be worried about. O'Hara is a hot new Broadway star who many Tony-watchers believe is overdue for a win, having lost in 2006 ("The Pajama Game") and 2005 ("The Light in the Piazza").
Below: LuPone singing "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and "Rose's Turn" at the City Center production of "Gypsy" last summer.
Continuing our podcast series with David Sheward, I had a separate chat with the executive editor of Back Stage about the brightest performances on Broadway that might gain Tony's notice. CLICK HERE to downloaded the MP3 files and listen to podcast.(Note: You may need to hold down your computer's control key while clicking.)
Sheward cites such standouts as Claire Danes ("Pygmalion"), Morgan Freeman ("The Country Girl"), James Earl Jones ("Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"), Andrea Martin ("Young Frankenstein"), S. Epatha Merkerson ("Come Back, Little Sheba"), Ian McShane ("The Homecoming") and Lin-Manuel Miranda ("In the Heights").
Also: Kevin Kline ("Cyrano de Bergerac"), "though the production was not as good as his performance," he adds.
"My personal favorite is Deanna Dunagan, who plays the pill-popping drug addict mother who's crazy" in "August: Osage County," he notes. "I thought it was a fantastic performance. I'm not sure if they submitted her for lead or supporting, but no matter where she's put, she should win. I haven't seen a performance like that in a very long time. However, people don't know who she is. She's not a star. We'll see what her chances are."
"Of course Patti LuPone will definitely get a nomination for 'Gypsy,' " Sheward says. "Whoever gets that role, gets a nomination. Whether they win is a whole other story. Tyne Daly and Angela Lansbury won, but Ethel Merman lost for the original production.
Hmmm. Was this another case of Ms. Spears botching another awards show gig? Based upon scuttlebutt heard last week around L.A. dance studios where Britney's been rehearsing fancy steps, gossipmeisters claimed she would perform at the Kids
Choice kudocast last night, a rumor not denied (or confirmed) by the show's PR reps. Or was the rumor just bogus?
Do we believe host Jack Black when he said that 88 million votes were cast? There aren't that many kids in America, are there? Also suspicious: Let's recall that Jack boasted during the show that he and Orlando Bloom were drenched with "27 million gallons" of green slime.
Ah, well. Apparently, Rihanna and Chris Brown are no longer an item. Forget those photos you saw of them last month frolicking in Jamaica and London. Last night they strolled up the orange carpet separately. When asked about Rihanna, Brown told reporters, "We're not in a relationship or anything."
Hooray for Johnny Depp! After three previous slaps from the kids (Ouch! He lost to "Click's" Adam Sandler last year!) and a bruising snub from Oscar voters, the devilish film imp finally won a blimp! He was voted fave male movie star for "Pirates 3" (nay, not "Sweeney" — that's too bloody for the kiddies).
Jessica Alba finally prevailed, too. She lost the blimp for fave movie actress two years ago for "Fantastic Four," but rebounded last night for the sequel.
Meantime, Drake Bell looks unstoppable in the race for best TV actor. He just won for the third year in a row — even though he's no longer a tween! This "kid" is 21 years old! But is Drake so popular that the Kids Choice chiefs created a new TV category just so "Drake & Josh" could reclaim the award it won two years ago: fave TV show? Last year it lost to "American Idol," but rallied to win again (even beating "Hannah Montana") after "Idol" was shuttled off to its own category this year: best TV reality show.
While "Hannah" lost the TV show trophy again, Miley Ray Cyrus won fave TV actress for a second year in a row.
Read Sheigh Crabtree's report on the kudocast HERE
Check out our photo gallery of TV show highlights, HERE. Also, pix of red carpet arrivals HERE. See list of winnahs HERE
"33 Variations" by Moises Kaufman has been named best new American play yet to be produced in New York by the American Theatre Critics Assn. The award includes a payout of $25,000, which is the largest national cash prize for playwriting.
Runners-up were "End Days" by Deborah Zoe Laufer and "Dead Man's Cell Phone" by Sarah Ruhl. Both reaped prizes of $7,500 each.
"33 Variations" was launched in August at the Arena Stage in Washington D.C., telling the tale of a musicologist who must solve a mystery before she dies of cancer: Why would a genius like Beethoven spend four years writing dozens of variations upon a minor music work by Anton Diabelli — what playwright Kaufman dismisses as "a Britney Spears song."
While most of the play taps fictitious plot and characters, much of it is based upon real people and events, like Kaufman's previous plays "The Laramie Project" and "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde."
"33 Variations" makes its West Coast debut April 8 when it begins preview performances at the La Jolla Playhouse in California.
To read more, check out the report at Playbill.com. See a list of past winners of this award, CLICK HERE. Check out the theater critics' website, HERE
Word comes via the Daily Mail that the third Mrs. Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, is in talks to make her Broadway debut this fall in a prestige production of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons." Two-time Tony winner John Lithgow and two-time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest will play the parents of her World War II pilot boyfriend, who crashed after hearing of his father's imprisonment for war profiteering.
With such star-studded support, all under the sure hand of acclaimed British actor/director Simon McBurney, Holmes, who has not acted on the stage since high school, could do well. In the surprisingly small world of show biz, McBurney's most recent acting job was as one of Nicole Kidman's minions in "The Golden Compass."
Ten years ago, Kidman won a Theater World award for her Broadway debut in "The Blue Room." That sizzling adaptation by David Hare of Arthur Schnitzler's "La Ronde" was a showcase for Kidman and her co-star Iain Glen. Each played five roles in a circular story of love and lust that required them both to strip down. Though they and the play got good reviews, the hoopla turned off Tony voters, who snubbed the show.
Audiences certainly won't see as much of Holmes when she plays the prim and proper Ann Deever. However, as her character is the catalyst for the family feud that has the surviving son challenging his father, she will get a chance to show off her acting chops. And by making her debut in a stage classic, Holmes could have an edge over Kidman when it comes to awards season. Those appearing in revivals of previous Tony winners often nab nominations.
The play was Miller's first success, following the failure three years earlier of the inaptly named "The Man Who Had All the Luck," which ran for a mere four performances. When "All My Sons" debuted on Broadway in 1947, it won Tonys for both the playwright and the director, Elia Kazan, as well as the New York Drama Critics Circle award, edging out Eugene O'Neill's epic, "The Iceman Cometh."
Most Tony pundits usually write off the hopes of a nominee if the show has been closed for a while. But is that really a fair assumption to make?
I'm not referring to productions that closed just weeks before the Tonys. Those were still fresh in the minds of voters — like "The Coast of Uptopia," which won a record tally of seven Tonys last year on June 10, four weeks after shuttering on May 13.
But if you focus just on productions that were closed for a good while prior to Tonys night, yes, it seems like they had little chance of triumphing. Below are a few of the exceptions. Note that the Tonys are usually awarded in the first half of June each year.
BEST MUSICAL OR PLAY WINNERS
"The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby," best play: closed January 3, 1982.
"Travesties," best play: closed March 13, 1976.
"Hallelujah, Baby!," best musical: closed January 13, 1968.
PERFORMANCE WINNERS
Julie White, best actress (play), "The Little Dog Laughed": closed Feb. 18, 2007.
Michele Pawk, best featured actress (play), "Hollywood Arms": closed Jan. 5, 2003.
Patricia Routledge, best actress (musical), "Darling of the Day": closed Feb. 24, 1968.
Dolores Gray, best actress (musical), "Carnival in Flanders":
closed (after six performances) Sept. 12, 1953. (Rumor has it that this was the shortest-lived Tony-winning performance.)
Do you know of more examples? If so, click on the "Comments" link below!
Lindsay Lohan just nabbed the lead role in "Manson's Girls," which will be produced by Brad Wyman and Donald Kushner, who previously produced "Monster," which earned an Oscar for Charlize Theron.
"Manson's Girls" tells the monstrous story of Charles Manson through the eyes of Lohan's character — Nancy Pitman, one of the cult fiend's former girlfriends who remained a fierce disciple throughout his bloody reign. It's unclear to what extent she may have participated in the killings that he inspired, but, after Manson was arrested, she passed out pamphlets, hoisted placards and sang in public of her undying support.
The role penned by writer-director Matthew Bright ("Freeway") has such emotional gravitas it could put her back in the race for serious awards.
Lohan has played such a major role in tabloid headlines over the last year that it's difficult to recall that she had real Oscar buzz for "Bobby" back in January 2007. But the film tanked after being nominated for best picture at the Golden Globes and so did Lohan's showbiz career as she entered rehab three times, served 80 minutes in jail, and swept the Razzie Awards last month, "winning" three for box-office bomb "I Know Who Killed Me."
Lohan had a notable booze relapse during the recent holidays, but has nonetheless managed to secure insurance to star in two films that are fully bonded. One is a comedy, costarring Jack Black, Orlando Bloom and David Arquette, "Ye Olde Times," about two crazed theater troupes battling at a renaissance fair.
The other, "Manson's Girls," begins shooting July 21.
The Tonys race for best play is a real drama. Just based upon the past success of one playwright in the running, Tom Stoppard, it might be assumed that his "Rock 'n' Roll" will surely rock Radio City Music Hall on June 15. After all, Stoppard's won best play more than anyone else — four times: "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" (1968), "Travesties" (1976), "The Real Thing" (1984) and "The Coast of Utopia" (2007). Heck, last year "Utopia" set a new record for most wins in a single year (seven)!
U.S. and U.K. critics raved about "Rock," and, before its move from Britain to Broadway, it won the London Evening Standard and London Critics' Circle Theater Awards for best new play, but it closed in New York on March 9. That's three months before Tonys night. Such a gap usually dooms a show's hopes. The factor didn't hurt "Utopia," though. Technically, it closed before Tony night, but just several weeks earlier, so the show was still fresh and new in voters' minds when they inked their ballots.
Also shuttered is Mark Twain's "Is He Dead?" On March 30, "The Seafarer" shuts down, Conor McPherson's lofty Irish drama.
Among shows currently running, "August: Osage County," seems to be the fave to win the Pulitzer in two weeks, then best play from the New York Drama Critics Circle. However, it doesn't have any celebrities in it and the cast is so huge that it can't tour easily, a drawback to producers who comprise the largest Tony voting bloc.
"November" has the celebrity appeal of Nathan Lane starring as a despised, buffoonish U.S. president running for re-election. Another plus: the literary credentials of its playwright — David Mamet. But it's a largely a comedy, which means it may not be taken too seriously. Ditto for "The 39 Steps," a fun spoof of the Alfred Hitchcock thriller.
Read more about the Tony race for best play CLICK HERE to check out Paul Sheehan's feature overview.
"Glory Days," a hit stage musical launched at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va., will transfer to Broadway so it can enter the Tonys race in the home stretch.
Playbill reports: "The show about four young men reuniting a year after high school will begin previews at Circle in the Square April 22, toward a May 6 opening."
" 'Glory Days' will be ineligible for 2007-08 Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League awards since the April 22 first preview is after the respective organizations' nominating deadlines," the theater new site adds. "The show's May 6 opening night date meets the Tony Award eligibility requirement for this season." READ MORE.
"Glory Days" will be a long shot in the Tonys race for best musical, which tends to favor big, booming productions that can tour the provinces after winning, reaping equally big profits. But it might nab a nomination. It faces tough competition for one of those four category slots from "In the Heights," "Xanadu," "A Catered Affair," "Cry-Baby," "Passing Strange" and "Young Frankenstein."
On April 5, Heritage Auctions will sell a Golden Globe (starting price $2,500) and Oscar (starting at $25,000) at a sale that bidders can join live at EBay.
The Oscar statuette for best documentary short was awarded in 1949 to Richard de Rochemont for a "March of Time" newsreel installment, "A Chance to Live," about a Boys Town in Italy. It's expected to fetch $40,000 to $60,000 (plus the 22.5% buyer's commission). CLICK HERE to see more. Because it was bestowed before 1950, it may be legally sold, according to academy guidelines.
The Golden Globe was presented to Robert Surtees in 1951 for best achievement in cinematography of a color production for "Quo Vadis," which also won a Globe for best supporting actor (Peter Ustinov). Final sale estimate: $4,000 to $6,000. CLICK HERE to see more. CLICK HERE to see more.
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