Broadway Remembers: In Memoriam Video Honors Stars Lost This Year

Courtesy deadline.com

Tonys

The 74th annual Tony Awards update

Sept 26, 2021

The Tonys are here! the Tonys are here!

It’s an event so long in coming and subjected to so much conjecture.

For most of us the Tonys will be bittersweet as we think of the shows that we were planning to see and never did, and the shows that we did, never dreaming they would be our last for 18 months.

There was silence after the shut down from the Broadway League and then, as other awards began to emerge regardless of the truncated season, (Drama League and Drama Desk) the League broke its silence and announced their nominees October 15, 2020 without an actual event date ("when the Theater season reopens").

Well, that reopening is now. And each Broadway opening this season has been nothing short of ecstatic, audiences greeting every number with cheers, the joy flowing back-and-forth between audience and performers, happiness and gratitude on each side.

Although there are no weekly show grosses available based on many factors, including both the staggered roll-out of returning and new productions, and anticipated variations in performance schedules, so far it is reassuring that opening nights were "packed".

Of course these Tonys present unique impediments: Tony voters surprised by the sudden closure, had no chance to see shows not yet scheduled in order to fulfill voting requirements of seeing each show nominated in order to vote. The percentage of votes necessary to validate a single nominee in a category. And other technical anomalies.

The show will be very nostalgic no question, and a long awaited dream come true for all of us.

And although the list of nominees will be abbreviated, compared to the total absence we’ve endured, we shall cherish every moment.

An initial list of Tony Awards performers and presenters has been announced.

Annaleigh Ashford, Kerry Butler, Kristin Chenoweth, André De Shields, Jake Gyllenhaal, Christopher Jackson, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, Ruthie Ann Miles, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bebe Neuwirth, Leslie Odom Jr., Kelli O'Hara, Ben Platt, Jeremy Pope, Chita Rivera, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and BD Wong are in this initial announcement; additional names will be confirmed later this week.

The 2020 Tony Award winners will be announced on Sunday, September 26, as part of an ambitious concert airing on CBS, Paramount Plus, and the CBS App. Audra McDonald will host the presentation of the 74th annual Tony Awards, which will air exclusively on the streaming service Paramount Plus at 7pm ET that night. Leslie Odom Jr. will host the Broadway's Back concert at 9pm ET live on CBS, which will feature songs from the nominated shows, as well as the presentation of Best awards.

Tears of joy are permissible ..............

Jeanne Lieberman, publisher

Broadway and Off-Broadway's current Return Dates

June 22, 2021
Enemy of the People — Park Avenue Armory

July 6, 2021
Merry Wives — Free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater

September 2, 2021
Hadestown - Walter Kerr Theatre

Sept. 12, 2021
Pass Over at the August Wilson

September 14, 2021
Chicago - Ambassador Theatre
Hamilton - Richard Rodgers Theatre
Wicked - Gershwin Theatre
The Lion King - Minskoff Theatre
Lackawanna Blues - Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

September 17, 2021
Six - Brooks Atkinson Theatre
David Byrne's American Utopia

September 21, 2021
Come From Away - Schoenfeld Theatre
Little Shop of Horrors - Westside Theatre

September 24, 2021
Moulin Rouge! The Musical - Al Hirschfeld Theatre

September 28, 2021
Aladdin - New Amsterdam Theatre

September 30, 2021
Beyond Babel - Gym at Judson

October 1, 2021
Thoughts of a Colored Man - Golden Theatre

October 8, 2021
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical - Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
Caroline, or Change - Studio 54

October 12, 2021
Morning Sun - New York City Center — Stage I

October 13, 2021
Girl From the North Country - Belasco Theatre

October 16, 2021
Ain't Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations - Imperial Theatre

October 21, 2021
Mrs. Doubtfire - Stephen Sondheim Theatre
Jagged Little Pill - Broadhurst Theatre

October 22, 2021
The Phantom of the Opera - Majestic Theatre

October 29, 2021
Trouble in Mind - American Airlines Theatre

November 2, 2021
Diana: A True Musical Story - Longacre Theatre

November 4, 2021
Flying Over Sunset - Vivian Beaumont Theatre

November 15, 2021
Jersey Boys - New World Stages

December 6, 2021
MJ - Neil Simon Theatre

December 11, 2021
Dear Evan Hansen - Music Box Theatre

December 20, 2021
Company - Jacobs Theatre
The Music Man - Winter Garden Theatre

January 13, 2022
Intimate Apparel — A New Opera - Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater

March 15, 2022
The Minutes

March 18, 2022
Birthday Candles - American Airlines Theatre

Shows That Were Running in 2020 But Have Not Yet Announced Return Dates
The Book of Mormon
Harry Potter and the Cursed Chiild
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Lehman Trilogy
West Side Story

Shows That Were in Rehearsals in 2020 But Have Not Yet Announced Return Dates
American Buffalo
Plaza Suite
Sing Street

Shows Announced to Open During the 2021-22 Season, But Without Dates
Clyde's - Hayes Theater
Between Riverside and Crazy - Hayes Theater
How I Learned to Drive - Friedman Theatre
Skeleton Crew - Friedman Theatre
Take Me Out - Hayes Theater

Shows That Will Not Reopen
Frozen
Hangmen
Mean Girls
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Tony Awards Set For Broadway’s Reopening; Voting Begins In March

Tony Awards

CBS

Click to see more including list of nominees

Tony Awards Set For Broadway’s Reopening; Voting Begins In March

By Greg Evans

Greg Evans Associate Editor/Broadway Critic
@GregEvans5

The curtain’s inching up on the Tony Awards: A ceremony will be held on an as-yet-undetermined date in coordination with Broadway’s eventual reopening, but voters will finally be able to make their selections beginning March 1

Nominees for the 74th Annual Tony Awards were announced last October, with the 18 eligible productions reflecting the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season (the count usually numbers in the 30s). The 2020 Tony ceremony and CBS broadcast had originally been set for June 7 at New York’s Radio City Musical Hall, but of course was scuttled due to the Covid shutdown.

The voting period will run from March 1 to March 15. Although Broadway remains officially closed until June, most insiders don’t expect any stagings before fall at the earliest, with timing contingent on widespread Covid-19 vaccinations.

The March 12 theater closure preceded the official end of the Broadway season and the traditional late-April/early-May announcement of nominees, leaving open the question of whether the 18 productions that opened pre-pandemic would get their own awards ceremony or be melded into the following season’s nominations. In October, the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing announced the standalone roster of 2019-20 nominations (see the complete list below).

Nominated for Best Play are Slave Play, Sea Wall/A Life, Grand Horizons, The Inheritance and The Sound Inside, with Moulin Rouge!, Jagged Little Pill and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical up for Best Musical. In the Best Revival of a Play category, Betrayal will compete with Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and A Soldier’s Play.

The abbreviated season also resulted in one of the odder nominations in Tony history: Aaron Tveit of Moulin Rouge! The Musical is the sole entry in the Leading Actor in a Musical category.

When theaters went dark, three productions – the musicals Six, West Side Story and Girl from the North Country – had already begun performances but were not around long enough to accommodate the required number of Tony voters.

Among the scheduled productions that had not officially opened prior to the shutdown, and so are not eligible this year, were Tracy Letts’ The Minutes; the musical adaptation of Mrs. Doubtfire; director Sam Mendes’ The Lehman Trilogy; the Princess Di musical Diana; Company, the gender-switched revival of the classic Sondheim musical starring Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone; Plaza Suite starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker; How I Learned To Drive, the Paula Vogel play starring Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse; David Mamet’s American Buffalo starring Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell and Darren Criss; the Off Broadway transfer of New York Theatre Workshop’s musical Sing Street; the revival of Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jesse Williams and Patrick J. Adams; the revival of the Jeanine Tesori-Tony Kushner musical Caroline, or Change; Birthday Candles, the Noah Haidle play starring Debra Messing; Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starring Laurie Metcalf and Rupert Everett.

Some of the scuttled shows were subsequently postponed, some canceled and some remain up in the air.

Two of the season’s most popular productions, Freestyle Love Supreme and David Byrne’s American Utopia, chose not to invite Tony voters, though both could be eligible for special awards.

The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

Nominations for the 2020 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards:

Best Play

Grand Horizons
Author: Bess Wohl
Producers: Second Stage Theater, Carole Rothman, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Mandy Greenfield

The Inheritance
Author: Matthew López

Sea Wall/A Life
Author: Simon Stephens & Nick Payne

Slave Play
Author: Jeremy O. Harris

The Sound Inside
Author: Adam Rapp

Best Musical

Jagged Little Pill

Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Revival of a Play

Betrayal

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Author: Terrence McNally

A Soldier’s Play
Author: Charles Fuller

Best Book of a Musical

Jagged Little Pill
Diablo Cody

Moulin Rouge! The Musical
John Logan

Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

A Christmas Carol
Music: Christopher Nightingale

The Inheritance
Music: Paul Englishby

The Rose Tattoo
Music: Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb

Slave Play
Music: Lindsay Jones

The Sound Inside
Music: Daniel Kluger

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Ian Barford, Linda Vista
Andrew Burnap, The Inheritance
Jake Gyllenhaal, Sea Wall/A Life
Tom Hiddleston, Betrayal
Tom Sturridge, Sea Wall/A Life
Blair Underwood, A Soldier’s Play

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Joaquina Kalukango, Slave Play
Laura Linney, My Name is Lucy Barton
Audra McDonald, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Mary-Louise Parker, The Sound Inside

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Aaron Tveit, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Karen Olivo, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill
Adrienne Warren, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Ato Blankson-Wood, Slave Play
James Cusati-Moyer, Slave Play
David Alan Grier, A Soldier’s Play
John Benjamin Hickey, The Inheritance
Paul Hilton, The Inheritance

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Jane Alexander, Grand Horizons
Chalia La Tour, Slave Play
Annie McNamara, Slave Play
Lois Smith, The Inheritance
Cora Vander Broek, Linda Vista

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Danny Burstein, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Derek Klena, Jagged Little Pill
Sean Allan Krill, Jagged Little Pill
Sahr Ngaujah, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Daniel J. Watts, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Kathryn Gallagher, Jagged Little Pill
Celia Rose Gooding, Jagged Little Pill
Robyn Hurder, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill
Myra Lucretia Taylor, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Bob Crowley, The Inheritance
Soutra Gilmour, Betrayal
Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol
Derek McLane, A Soldier’s Play
Clint Ramos, Slave Play

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Riccardo Hernández and Lucy Mackinnon, Jagged Little Pill
Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Costume Design of a Play

Dede Ayite, Slave Play
Dede Ayite, A Soldier’s Play
Bob Crowley, The Inheritance
Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol
Clint Ramos, The Rose Tattoo

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Emily Rebholz, Jagged Little Pill
Mark Thompson, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Jiyoun Chang, Slave Play
Jon Clark, The Inheritance
Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside
Allen Lee Hughes, A Soldier’s Play
Hugh Vanstone, A Christmas Carol

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Bruno Poet, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Justin Townsend, Jagged Little Pill
Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Best Sound Design of a Play

Paul Arditti & Christopher Reid, The Inheritance
Simon Baker, A Christmas Carol
Lindsay Jones, Slave Play
Daniel Kluger, Sea Wall/A Life
Daniel Kluger, The Sound Inside

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Jonathan Deans, Jagged Little Pill
Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Nevin Steinberg, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Direction of a Play

David Cromer, The Sound Inside
Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
Kenny Leon, A Soldier’s Play
Jamie Lloyd, Betrayal
Robert O’Hara, Slave Play

Best Direction of a Musical

Phyllida Lloyd, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
Diane Paulus, Jagged Little Pill
Alex Timbers, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Best Choreography

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Jagged Little Pill
Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Anthony Van Laast, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Orchestrations

Tom Kitt, Jagged Little Pill
Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Ethan Popp, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Cultural critic Terry Teachout is remembered as 'unafraid of being human in public'

by Nela Ulaby for NPR's Arts Desk

Critic Terry Teachout in 2014 in New York.

Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage/Getty Images

One of the great cultural critics of the past half-century has died. Terry Teachout was an acclaimed author, a jazz connoisseur, a dance scholar and a drama critic for theWall Street Journal. The paper reported that Teachout died on Thursday at a friend's home in Smithtown, N.Y. He was 65 years old.

A genial, cosmopolitan writer with a learned but accessible style, Teachout was born and raised near Missouri's bootheel, in the southeast part of the state. He remembered growing up as the musical-theater-loving son of a hardware salesman in his 1991 memoir, City Limits: Memories of a Small-Town Boy.

Sailing off to the East Coast to begin his liberal arts education, Teachout soon found undergraduate life at St. John's College in Annapolis, Md., too stressful and himself, in his own words, too immature. He returned "to do the rest of my growing up under the watchful gaze of comforting, certain, all-knowing midwestern eyes," he wrote. He graduated from William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., in 1970, and scraped together a living as a bank teller in Kansas City, gigging as a jazz bassist and beginning to write jazz reviews.

Once Teachout finally made it to Manhattan, he enjoyed the status of both an insider and an outsider. He was both an editor at Harper'smagazine and the founder of a salon for New York conservatives called Vile Body. And he steadily begin accruing bylines in the New York Daily News,Commentary and The Washington Post and NPR,and writing acclaimed biographies of H.L. Mencken, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and George Balanchine.

Nate Chinen, who writes about jazz for NPR, says he was dazzled by Teachout's breadth. "So many critics are specialists, and that's where they get their authority," he told NPR. "[Teachout] was able to write with authority, insight and perceptiveness about so many art styles, forms and disciplines. And he did so with a real clarity of opinion."

"There was nobody around who also covered jazz, rock, pop, classical music, dance, ballet, film, books and any other medium that came along the way Terry did," Washington Post music critic Tim Page added in an email to NPR. "His tastes tended conservative but he could often be convinced and nobody was more cheerful about changing his mind. Above all, he was the sort of friend with whom you could have an argument that remained always within the bounds of love."

Teachout's more conservative opinions were not always popular among his fellow arts critics. "But he brought a real palpable genuine enthusiasm," Chinen recalls with affection. "And when you did disagree with Terry Teachout, he welcomed the exchange, the dialogue. Especially in our social media age, disagreement feels like combat, but Terry kept alive the spirit of critical discourse in an old Algonquin Round Table way. He really thrived on an exchange of ideas."

In his blog, About Last Night, on the website ArtsJournal.com, and on his lively Twitter feed, Teachout kept that exchange going. Not only did Teachout write about literature, opera, politics and his unexpected fandom of Steely Dan and avant-garde composer John Cage, he chronicled his pain over the 2020 death of his wife Hilary, and his shouting joy in a new relationship. Arts Twitter erupted in mourning upon news of his death.

He was "unafraid of being human in public," Chinen said. "That's why so many people are responding to his loss."