Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman are coming to Broadway this fall in Keith Huff's award-winning play "A Steady Rain." While the limited run of this acting showcase is sure to sell out, will this two-hander win over the notoriously feisty Gotham critics? For its original 2007 run in Chicago, the production won Joseph Jefferson Awards (the second city's equivalent of the Tony Awards) for best play at a midsize theater, best new work and best lead actor.

It is easy to understand why "A Steady Rain" would appeal to Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig. The two characters in the play are one-time best friends who served together on the Chicago police force. Over the course of 90 minutes, they relive the police call that tore them apart — a domestic dispute that culminated in the death of a young boy. For the Aussie and the Brit, it will be a chance to prove they can play Americans.

The only other time Hugh Jackman headlined on Broadway, he won a Tony for his efforts. In the 2004 tuner "The Boy From Oz," he played camp Aussie singer-songwriter Peter Allen. Onstage for almost the entire show, Jackman was a force of nature. Offstage he charmed the theater community and hosted the Tony Awards for three years running, even winning a 2005 Emmy Awardfor his 2004 appearance. He was nominated again in 2006 for emceeing the 2005 Tonycast, but lost the prize for best individual performance in a variety, musical or comedy program to Barry Manilow.

Since finishing up that year-long run on the rialto, Jackman has enjoyed only mixed success in movies. While his work as comic book character come to life Wolverine still wows audiences, his more mainstream leading-man roles have missed the mark. Last year, he starred in the barely released "Deception" and the disappointing epic "Australia." Success on stage this fall could get him seen in a new light by movie producers.

The only other time Alice Ripley was nominated for a Tony Award she had to share a lead actress nod with her co-star Emily Skinner. That seemed to make sense as the pair played conjoined twins in the 1998 tuner "Side Show." They lost to Natasha Richardson for her much-lauded performance in a revival of "Cabaret." Now as a woman suffering from bipolar disorder in the critically acclaimed "Next to Normal," Ripley is the front-runner to win the lead actress award according to the predictions of all the pundits piping in at Gold Derby.

In our interview, Alice Ripley is joined by her on-stage daughter Jennifer Damiano, who contends in the featured (supporting) actress race. The teenager faces stiff competition from Haydn Gwynne ("Billy Elliot") and Karen Olivo ("West Side Story") on June 7.

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Among the list of 28 celebrities announced today as presenters at the June 7 Tony Awards are the usual assortment of talented thespians, including six Oscar winners. However, the names that stand out are a pair of Emmy champs — Edie Falco and James Gandolfini. Each won three of TV's top honor over the seven-year run of "The Sopranos." Two years ago, the much-hyped series finale of that mob crime drama whacked the competition in the ratings. Among the shows it trounced — that year's Tonycast.

Both Edie Falco and James Gandolfini were relatively unknown actors before "The Sopranos" made them household names after it debuted on HBO in 1999. Each had worked extensively in the theater when they were cast in these life-changing roles. Falco had made her Broadway debut earlier that year in the Tony-winning play "Side Man." And Gandolfini had been on Broadway twice — in the hit 1992 revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire" and the  flop 1995 adaptation of the Oscar-winning "On the Waterfront."

While Falco has returned to the rialto twice since becoming a star, neither of her efforts met with much success. She headlined poorly received revivals of "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" in 2002 and "'night Mother" in 2004. On the other hand, Gandolfini is a frontrunner this year in the lead actor race for his performance in best play contender "God of Carnage." And as his three co-stars from that dark comedy — Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden — are also presenting, we may not see Tony and Carmela together onstage at Radio City Music Hall.

One of Harden's chief rivals in the lead actress race is also presenting — two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda, who returned to Broadway after a 46-year absence to rave reviews for "33 Variations." Less welcomed was Oscar champ Susan Sarandon, who was snubbed for "Exit the King." But good sport that she is, Sarandon will be on hand to present and no doubt cheer on her current co-star Geoffrey Rush, who is another strong contender in the lead actor category.

Jessica Lange, another two-time Oscar winner, was also snubbed for her two appearances on Broadway but returns to present as does Nicole Kidman, who was slighted a decade ago for her Broadway debut in "The Blue Room." Kevin Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner and a Tony champ as well, leaves his post as head of the renowned Old Vic theater in London to appear here.

A pair of four-time Tony winners will also be on hand to present. Angela Lansbury —  who earned two of her 18 Emmy nods for hosting the Tonycast in the 1980s — could tie with Julie Harris if she wins a fifth Tony this year for her featured work in the revival of the Noel Coward play "Blithe Spirit." Private Practice" star and presenter Audra McDonald has won four featured Tonys, two for musicals and two for plays. Three-time Tony champ Frank Langella will appear as will single winners Kristen Chenoweth and David Hyde Pierce.

Imagine how jittery the cast of "God of Carnage" must have been just before the Tony Award nominations were announced on May 5. Sure, even back then the megahit was widely considered to be the front-runner to win best play on June 7, so that nomination was guaranteed. But what about the actors? The Tonys administration committee had decreed all four roles to be lead. Could they all get in to the race? Never before had such a thing happened.

Cut to a far happier ending than the one in the play: Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden pulled it off for portraying suburban couples who become more vicious than their children when they hook up to discuss how to resolve a fight between their boys. Gold Derby caught up with the cast and asked for their Tonys reax.

HARDEN: It's what you always hope for — the whole cast to be nominated — but you think, "Ah, that'll never happen, that'll never happen." I believe this is the first time that a show's whole cast has been nominated in the lead categories, so the odds were against us. But when we pulled it off, we all felt tighter as a unit. It's amazing that there was no moment when the unit got split up.

DAVIS: That night I acted up a storm, trying to justify the choice the voters made. Ha! It was such a crazy night for us.

GOLD DERBY: You can't all get so lucky on Tonys night. How are you going to handle it if this one wins, that one doesn't?

GANDOLFINI: We'll be fine. We feel like we've already won.

DANIELS: We crossed the finish line when we all got nominated. At a time when Broadway is supposed to be dying — think about all those closings back in January — it's amazing that this show has become so successful. It's like a rebirth and we are part of it. That's the big victory. Geoffrey Rush is on stage every single second of "Exit the King," so I look forward to celebrating his great work.

The 54th annual Obie Awards, which honor off- and off-off-Broadway, named "Ruined" by Lynn Nottage as the best new play, following the lead set by the Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle Award. And three of the cast members — Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Quincy Tyler Bernstine and Russell Gebert Jones — picked up performance awards at these kudos sponsored by the Village Voice.

Unlike the Drama Desk Awards, which has abandoned its original mission to salute theater in New York beyond Broadway, the Obies have stayed true to their origins. As with the first awards bestowed in 1956, there are still no fixed categories.

Among the other winners announced Monday night at Webster Hall were Stephen Sondheim for his music and lyrics for "Road Show" which ran at the Public Theatre this season, as well as one-time Tony nominee Jonathan Groff ("Spring Awakening") for his work in off-Broadway productions of "Prayer for My Enemy" and "The Singing Forest."

The Drama Desk Awards were bestowed, as usual, to Broadway shows over off-Broadway alternatives. "Billy Elliot" danced off with 11 prizes, including best musical.

The only major upset occurred in the race for best actress in a play with Janet McTeer ("Mary Stuart") prevailing over two stars considered to be the front-runners at the upcoming Tony Awards: Marcia Gay Harden ("God of Carnage") and Jane Fonda ("33 Variations").

Otherwise, Tony faves prevailed, including Geoffrey Rush ("Exit the King") as best actor, Angela Lansbury ("Blithe Spirit") in the supporting race and "Hair" and "The Norman Conquests" as best revivals.

"Shrek" star Brian d'Arcy James triumphed in the race for best musical actor without facing the triple threat awaiting him at the Tonys: the three lead stars of "Billy Elliot," who share one nomination. They were snubbed by Drama Desk voters when "Billy Elliot" producers refused to give members of the nominating committee tickets to see all three boys perform on different nights.

As usual, the ongoing unfairness of the Drama Desk Awards is painfully apparent in the results. Even though the small group of members who belong to the nominating committee give bids to many worthy non-Broadway productions, those contenders lose after not being seen by the vast majority of members who vote for the Broadway shows they bother to attend.

When non-Broadway nominees do win, they tend to have prestigious reputations, as is the case of the winner of best play: "Ruined," which recently won the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. Among the few other non-Broadway winners was "Road Show," which won best lyrics for New York theater legend Stephen Sondheim.

There are two obvious solutions to this problem. Either the Drama Desk should create separate categories for Broadway and non-Broadway productions or else permit members to vote only for productions they've seen, but the group's leadership stubbornly resists making such a change that could help to boost the award's sagging reputation.

The Drama Desk Awards are bestowed by a secret group of journalists who are widely accused of having dubious credentials. That accusation can't be addressed because it's the only media award that refuses to list its members at its website.

Bold = winner

BEST PLAY
"Body Awareness"
"Becky Shaw"
"reasons to be pretty"
"Ruined"
"Fifty Words"
"Lady"

BEST MUSICAL
"9 to 5"
"Billy Elliot"
"Fela!"
"Liza's at the Palace"
"Shrek"
"The Story of My Life"

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
"Blithe Spirit"
"Exit the King"
"Mary Stuart"
"The Cripple of Inishmaan"
"The Norman Conquests"
"Waiting for Godot"

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
"Enter Laughing "
"Hair"
"Pal Joey"
"West Side Story"

BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY
Simon Russell Beale, "The Winter's Tale"
Reed Birney, "Blasted"
Raúl Esparza, "Speed-The-Plow"
Bill Irwin, "Waiting for Godot"
Daniel Radcliffe, "Equus"
Geoffrey Rush, "Exit the King"
Thomas Sadoski, "reasons to be pretty"

Two-time Emmy nominee Neil Patrick Harris has just been tapped to emcee the Tony Awards on June 7.  This is a savvy choice on the part of the show's organizers. Harris has both the TV name that the Tonycast needs to draw casual viewers and the stage credits to satisfy the theater-goers who tune in to these kudos honoring Broadway's best.

While Harris came to fame on TV's "Doogie Howser, M.D." in his teens, he then spent most of his  twenties carving out a niche for himself in the theater. He starred on Broadway and regionally to much success in productions of Tony-winning tuners like "Cabaret" and "Rent." Then four years ago, Harris returned to series TV as the lovable lothario Barney on the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother." For that role, he has contended at the last two Emmy Awards, losing the supporting race both times to Jeremy Piven of "Entourage." (Piven might have been a Tony nominee this year for his acclaimed performance in the revival of "Speed-the-Plow" had he not bowed out of the show early.)

Neil Patrick Harris recently earned good notices as the host of the TV Land Awards, not only impressing  viewers with his performance skills (he did impersonalions of "Happy Days' " Ritchie Cunningham, "Love Boat's" Gopher and "Match Game's" Charles Nelson Reilly), but endurance too. While rehearsing a skit about "Survivor," his back got burned, but he went on with the show.

Long a player on the L.A. theater scene, he hosted the Ovation Awards there several times as well. If Harris is looking for any advice on how to handle this new gig, he could turn to Whoopi Goldberg, his one-time co-star and host of last year's Tonycast. Back in 1988, Harris made his movie debut opposite Goldberg in "Clara's Heart." Goldberg certainly knows about award shows having been on both sides of the podium. The four-time Oscarcast emcee is one of only 10 performers to own the grand slam of awards, winning an Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy.

The administration of the Tony Awards is very different from the other three peer-group showbiz prizes — the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys. Those are bestowed by academies. The Tonys are overseen by two groups. Here's our chitchat with the chief of one of them — Howard Sherman, executive director of the American Theatre Wing — who explains the process to us.

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Camera work: Paul Sheehan

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"West Side Story" holds a few Tony Awards I.O.U.s. Back in 1958, it lost best musical to "The Music Man" and the spitfire role of Anita, played by Chita Rivera, wasn't even nominated! The Oscars got it right three years later, voting "West Side Story" best picture and giving Rita Moreno the Academy Award for best supporting actress for that part. Now there's a bold new staging on Broadway that's nominated for best revival with Anita played by Karen Olivo (Tony nominee, best featured actress), who recently originated the part of Vanessa in "In the Heights," which won best musical at the Tonys last year. 

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If there are felony offenses among the Tony nominations, it's that "9 to 5" didn't receive a bid for best musical and Megan Hilty was snubbed for best actress. Heck, "9 to 5" received 15 Drama Desk nominations — that's the most in the history of that theater contest! But, alas, Allison Janney got a much-deserved Tony bid. Here, below, we not only chat about that, but also about Janney's notorious romp at the Emmys during her "West Wing" days too. Lots of posters here at Gold Derby are still a bit mystified over how she managed to beat Jennifer Garner ("Alias") in 2002. Just wait till you hear Janney's hilarious answer when I ask: How did you pull that off?

Video: Paul Sheehan

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