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Last night Father Tony and I attended the 21st annual edition of Broadway Bares, the bawdy and deliciously raunchy fundraiser by Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS in which dozens of buff chorus boys and girls writhe and expose it all to the delight of several thousand gay men. See Tony's possibly NSFW slideshow here. Among last night performers were Tony winner and the evening's emcee, Beth Leavel, as well as David Hyde Pierce and Judith Light. It really is one of the most spectacular events on Broadway.
Watch this now, it'll get yanked from YouTube.
Despite host Neil Patrick Harris' fantastic opening number which promised that "Broadway isn't just for gays anymore," tonight's Tony Awards were extra super gay with lots of gay on the side. Not only did Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart win three awards, the show featured Martha Wash performing It's Raining Men, and there was a lot of thanking of same-sex partners from the stage. Here's the list of winners:
Best Play: "War Horse."
Best Musical: "The Book of Mormon."
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: Mark Rylance, "Jerusalem."
Best Performance by an Actress in Leading Role in a Play: Frances McDormand, "Good People."
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Ellen Barkin, "The Normal Heart."
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: John Benjamin Hickey, "The Normal Heart."
Best Direction of a Musical: Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, "The Book of Mormon."
Best Direction of a Play: Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, "War Horse."
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Norbert Leo Butz "Catch Me If You Can."
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Sutton Foster, "Anything Goes."
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: John Larroquette, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Nikki M. James, "The Book of Mormon."
Best Book of a Musical: "The Book of Mormon."
Best Revival of a Play: "The Normal Heart."
Best Revival of a Musical: "Anything Goes."
JMG reader Evan tips us that NPR is streaming the cast recording of The Book Of Mormon, which garnered 14 Tony nominations last week. Today only, folks.
Openly gay Broadway legend Arthur Laurents has died at the age of 93. Theater Mania reports:
Laurents was best known for his collaborations with Stephen Sondheim, including writing the books for West Side Story and Gypsy (earning Tony nominations for both), Anyone Can Whistle, and Do I Hear a Waltz. Early in his career, Laurents wrote such plays as Home of the Brave and The Time of the Cuckoo. In later years, he wrote and directed the musicals The Madwoman of Central Park West and Nick & Nora. Laurents directed the 1975, 1989, and 2008 revivals of Gypsy, each of which earned Tony Awards for its respective leading ladies, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, and Patti LuPone. He also directed the 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story.Laurents was temporarily blacklisted during the McCarthy era after a review of one of his plays was published in the Communist Party USA newspaper.
NOTE: Laurents asked that his obituaries include this line: "He was predeceased by his partner, Tom Hatcher, with whom he had lived in happiness for more than 50 years."
The Book Of Mormon led this morning's 2011 Tony Awards nominations with 14 nods across all major categories. The musical garnered a dozen Drama Desk nominations last week. Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart won nominations for Best Revival, and for cast members Joe Montello (Best Actor), John Benjamin Hickey (Best Featured Actor), and Ellen Barkin (Best Featured Actress.) Best Play nominees: War Horse, Jerusalem, Good People, The Motherfucker With The Hat. Best Musical nominees: Sister Act, Book Of Mormon, Catch Me If You Can, The Scottsboro Boys.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Brian Bedford, The Importance of Being Earnest
Bobby Cannavale, The Motherfucker with the Hat
Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart
Al Pacino, The Merchant of Venice
Mark Rylance, Jerusalem
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Nina Arianda, Born Yesterday
Frances McDormand, Good People
Lily Rabe, The Merchant of Venice
Vanessa Redgrave, Driving Miss Daisy
Hannah Yelland, Brief Encounter
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can
Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon
Joshua Henry, The Scottsboro Boys
Andrew Rannells, The Book of Mormon
Tony Sheldon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
Beth Leavel, Baby It's You!
Patina Miller, Sister Act
Donna Murphy, The People in the Picture
The Book Of Mormon led this morning's Drama Desk nominations with a dozen nods, including for Outstanding Musical. The show also received nominations for music, lyrics, choreography, and for the show's lead, Andrew Rannels. The revival of Anything Goes followed with ten nominations. Legendary playwright, actor, and drag performer Charles Busch received the Best Actor nomination for his performance in his play, The Divine Sister. Also nominated for Outstanding Musical was Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert.
VIDEO: In the clip below, Broadway Speaks OUT's Marti Gould interviews Drama Desk presenters Audra McDonald and Liev Schreiber, followed by the nomination announcements.
"Please know that AIDS is a worldwide plague. Please know that no country in the world, including this one, especially this one, has ever called it a plague, or dealt with it as a plague. Please know that there is no cure. Please know that after all this time the amount of money being spent to find a cure is still miniscule, still almost invisible, still impossible to locate in any national health budget, and still totally uncoordinated.
"Please know that here in America case numbers continue to rise in every category. In much of the rest of the world — Russia, India, Southeast Asia, Africa — the numbers of the infected and the dying are so grotesquely high they are rarely acknowledged. Please know that all efforts at prevention and educations continue their unending record of abject failure. Please know that there is no one in charge of this plague. This is a war for which there is no general and for which there has never been a general. How can you win a war with no one in charge?" - Larry Kramer, from a letter handed to patrons attending the revival of his landmark play, The Normal Heart.
Read Kramer's entire letter.
The Book Of Mormon is in previews has opened and reviews are coming in.
Andrew Sullivan:
This is an almost classically traditional musical score, each song unique, but united and woven together in show-stopping finales. Their blend is of subversive material filtered through tradition and sincerity. There is no cynicism here. Yes there is General Butt-Fucking Naked. There is an African woman called Neosporin. There is a fantastic send-up of Bono; a lovely dig at Johnnie Cochrane; some rudely sodomized frogs; and a baptism that sounds like sex. But there are also moments of unexpected poignancy, as when an African woman discovers that she has in fact been deceived. It is the best thing they have ever done - musically, theatrically, comicallyNew York Times' Ben Brantley:
This is to all the doubters and deniers out there, the ones who say that heaven on Broadway does not exist, that it’s only some myth our ancestors dreamed up. I am here to report that a newborn, old-fashioned, pleasure-giving musical has arrived at the Eugene O’Neill Theater, the kind our grandparents told us left them walking on air if not on water. So hie thee hence, nonbelievers (and believers too), to “The Book of Mormon,” and feast upon its sweetness.Catholic League's Bill Donohue:
It takes no guts to bash Mormons on Broadway. Real men would rip Muslims. Real men would admit they love bashing Mormons. But the critics are also mere boys. Sullivan praises the musical for its "humaneness." The Los Angeles Times boasts of its "good intentions." AP calls it a "pro-religion musical." Newsday writes that it "seems smitten" to "do good." The reaction of homosexual reviewers is always fun to read. Sullivan justifies the Mormon bashing by saying we should judge "Mormonism by Mormons." Ben Brantley of the New York Times is hot over the scene where there are a "few choice words for the God who let them [AIDS victims] wind up this way." But if we were to judge homosexuals by what they do, we would know who caused them to wind up with AIDS. That would take real guts.
The Ali Forney Center holds its fifth annual Broadway Beauty Pageant this Monday at Manhattan's Symphony Space, where Broadway's hottest and most talented chorus boys compete to win the prized tiara. It's a fun, sweet show hosted by four-time Tony nominee Tovah Feldshuh and the house is always packed with the movers and shakers of musical theater. Highly recommended.
Get tickets here.Judges include Bruce Vilanch (six-time Emmy Award winner/comedy writer, who made his Broadway debut in Hairspray), Rachel Dratch ("Saturday Night Live") and Carson Kressley ("Queer Eye," "How To Look Good Naked," "Carson-Nation"). This year's contestants comprise Matt Anctil, La Cage aux Folles; Mikey Cusamano, Chicago; Ray Lee, Anything Goes; Brandon Rubendall, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark; and James Tabeek, Mary Poppins. Conceived by Jeffery Self and directed by Ryan J. Davis, The Broadway Beauty Pageant is musically directed by Christopher Denny. The evening is produced by Wil Fisher, Ryan J. Davis, Jeffery Self and Matthew Oberstein.
Courtesy of the show's producers, today's Swag Tuesday prize is two tickets to the premiere Broadway musical production of Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert, which begins previews this week.
Get Ready for THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE! PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT: THE MUSICAL is the feel-good theatrical experience of the year! Based on the smash-hit movie, PRISCILLA is the heart-warming, uplifting adventure of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship and end up finding more than they could have ever dreamed of. With a dazzling array of outrageous costumes and a hit parade of dance-floor favorites, this wildly fresh and funny new musical is a journey to the heart of FABULOUS!Tickets for Priscilla are now on sale and you can follow the show and cast on Twitter and Facebook. Enter to win your tickets by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave your email address in the text of your entry. If you cannot be in Manhattan to attend the show, your winning entry is transferable to your favorite show queen. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.
The New York Times reports:
The It Gets Better Project, an online video campaign to cheer up gay teenagers who have been victims of bullies, has joined with the stars of the new Broadway musical “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” to produce the project’s first public service announcement, which will begin airing on Tuesday on the CBS affiliate in the New York region.Priscilla begins previews next Monday.
(Via - Towleroad)
Last night was Douglas Hodge's final night as the lead in the Broadway revival of La Cage Aux Folles. Today he passes the boob-torch to Harvey Fierstein, who won the Tony Award for writing the show's book in 1983.
