ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9605310012
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: MICHAEL KUCHWARA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Did anybody notice that the Tony Awards are approaching 50?
What with Julie Andrews' crisis of conscience, David Merrick's lawsuit and George C. Scott's alleged sexual shenanigans, the Tony's half-century celebration has been lost in a series of newspaper headlines and television sound bites over several Broadway brouhahas.
The annual Tony Awards telecast, which will be shown tonight on CBS ( WDBJ-Channel 7), has never received this much publicity. It's the kind of publicity, though, that the people who hand out the prizes would rather do without, especially in a season that has been one of the most satisfying and successful in recent memory.
The juiciest unscripted dramas in a nutshell:
nAn anguished Andrews publicly rejected a best-actress nomination after her musical, ``Victor/Victoria,'' was snubbed in every other category. Yet her name remains on the ballot - and she could still win.
nMerrick, producer of ``State Fair,'' sued the Tonys after only four of the show's songs by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were nominated for best score. Other old scores have been nominated, and one - ``Gigi''- even won. The man has a point.
nScott, claiming medical problems, fled to California after he was hit with a sexual harassment suit by his personal assistant. His departure doomed the critically acclaimed revival of ``Inherit the Wind,'' which quickly folded. Yet Scott, too, could walk off with a Tony, even if he does not show at the ceremony.
Differences over just what the Tonys mean to Broadway never have been deeper. It depends on who you ask, but the arguments boil down to the old battle between art and commerce.
The telecast is a joint production of two distinct bodies with varying agendas: the American Theater Wing, which owns the copyright on the Tony, and the League of American Theaters and Producers. Each has its own ideas about the prize, considered to be Broadway's highest honor.
``The American Theater Wing over the years has stated and stood by the original concept of the Wing - and that was honoring excellence in the theater,'' said Isabelle Stevenson, the head of the service and educational institution. ``We are delighted that the prize is an economic boon to the theater, although that was not the purpose of the award.''
Yet when producers look at winning Tonys, they see dollars and cents in selling Broadway to a national audience during two hours of prime-time television.
Sniffed Rocco Landesman, one of Broadway's big-gun producers, recently in The New York Times about the Wing members: ``They don't have any idea that the industry regards it [the Tony] as a marketing tool. If the American Theater Wing really cared about the theater they would simply go out of business and leave it to the people who create the shows.''
Art and commerce have been reflected in the awards' 50-year history. Looking back on the best-play winners, the Tonys have honored its share of classics - such as ``Death of a Salesman'' (1948), ``Long Day's Journey Into Night'' (1957) and ``Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1963) - as well as more obviously commercial choices like ``The Teahouse of the August Moon'' (1954), ``Children of a Lesser God'' (1980) and ``I'm Not Rappaport'' (1986).
Yet the Tonys have ignored major shows and memorable performances, too, especially in seasons where there were plenty of potential winners. Although nominated for both ``My Fair Lady'' and ``Camelot,'' Andrews has never won a Tony. Best-musical honors eluded such great musicals as ``The Most Happy Fella,'' ``West Side Story,'' ``Gypsy'' and ``Sunday in the Park With George.'' Among the best-play also-rans were ``Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,'' ``Bus Stop'' and ``A Raisin in the Sun.''
The Tonys were created by the Wing to honor Antoinette Perry, an actress, a director and a producer, who died in 1946. Perry was a woman who worked in what was, at that time, still a man's game.
``She was everything anyone should be if they are in the theater,'' Stevenson said. ``She believed in preparation. She believed in quality.''
The first Tony Awards ceremony was held April 6, 1947 at the Waldorf Astoria after a formal dinner. Winners received scrolls and compacts for the women or money clips for the men. The Tony medallion, with its masks of comedy and tragedy, did not appear until three years later.
The awards part of the evening was broadcast on radio. The Tonys gained a national television audience in 1967 when Alexander Cohen produced the show for ABC. The jump to national television changed the way producers began to open and market their shows.
Now each year, there is a dash to the Tony nomination deadline, which usually occurs during the first week of May. Plays and musicals open during the last days of the season in an effort to be remembered by the panel of Tony nominators.
Does it work? Well, the favorite to take best-play honors this season is ``Master Class,'' Terrence McNally's look at opera diva Maria Callas. It opened way back in November. And its star, Zoe Caldwell, would appear to be a shoo-in for the best actress prize.
``Rent,'' the megapublicized production that transplants Puccini's ``La Boheme'' to New York's East Village, most likely will walk off with the best-musical prize. Other predictions: ``The King and I'' for best revival-musical, and Edward Albee's ``A Delicate Balance'' for best revival-play.
Yet the 1995-96 Broadway season was more than these probable Tony winners. It also brought fine new plays such as August Wilson's ``Seven Guitars'' and David Hare's ``Racing Demon.'' The parade of revivals included sterling productions of ``An Ideal Husband'' by Oscar Wilde as well as remountings of two Stephen Sondheim musicals, ``A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' and ``Company.''
Still, fans likely will remember the season for its contrariness - for long-shuttered shows like ``Swinging on a Star'' and ``Chronicle of a Death Foretold'' that were nominated for best musical, and lavish productions such as ``Victor/Victoria'' and ``Big'' that weren't.
The squawks have led to cries for the heads of the Tony nominating committee, which is made up of theater professionals.
``There have always been problems,'' said Cy Feuer, president of the League of American Theaters and Producers. ``We have always attempted to pick people for the nominating committee who are knowledgeable about theater, but there is no accounting for taste.
``And when some of these astonishing nominations are made, we have to stand by them. All award shows are imperfect in one way or another. In the end, you just do the best you can.''
LENGTH: Long : 125 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. The logo (top) for the 50th anniversary of theby CNBAmerican Theatre Wing's Tony Awards, honoring excellence in New
York's Broadway theater. 2. Julie Andrews (above), the 60-year-old
star of Broadway's "Victor/Victoria," rejected the best-actress Tony
nomination to protest that she was the only one in the hit show
tapped for an award.