Tag Archives: Radio City Music Hall

NYC, Theatre

Broadway Comes Together for the 2013 Tony Awards

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Every year there is always one night that ensures all the stars and legends of The Great White Way are going to be under one roof.  Last night that roof was Radio City Music Hall as the 2013 Tony Awards aired live on CBS.  The spirit of Bob Fosse was alive and well as the producers of Pippin danced away with the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical; Kinky Boots won for Best Musical and as always Neil Patrick Harris stole the show.

la-courtney-b-vance-took-a-chance-on-lucky-guy-001Veteran actor Courtney B. Vance is unsung no more; he won his first well deserved Tony for Best Featured Actor in Play.  I became a fan of Patina Miller when I saw her in Sister Act.  We can now add Tony Award-winner to her list of growing accolades.  The world always knew that Cyndi Lauper could pen a good tune.  Her efforts for Kinky Boots were well rewarded with a Tony for Best Original Score.

Judith Light is always a delight to watch and the Tony voters agreed.  She won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play.  Tom Hanks lost out to Tracey Letts in the Best Lead Actor in Play category.  But it was Cicely Tyson who showed grace and humility as she accepted the Tony for Best Lead Actress.  Her win proves you are never too old to realize a dream.  Indeed, everyone involved in bringing these shows on stage dream an impossible dream that they make come true eight times a week.  To all the winners and nominees I would like to thank them for giving me something to write about and aspire to.

2.165379For a full list of the winners please check out http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/winners.html.

Arts, Theatre

Tony Season Is Here

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The Emmys and Oscars in L.A have come and gone, but in NYC, we’re just gearing up.  Spring brings with it cherry blossoms in Central Park and a slew of new productions on Broadway that culminates with the Tony Awards.  This year the 67th annual award ceremony will air live on CBS on Sunday June 9 from Radio City Music Hall.  The eligibility cut-off date for 2012-2013 season is April 25 with the nominations to be announced on April 30. 

This month The Tony Awards Administration Committee announced its lifetime achievement recipients, which included Bernard “Bernie” Gersten, Executive Producer of Lincoln Center Theater, Scenic Designer Ming Cho Lee and Paul Libin, Executive Vice President of Jujamcyn Theatres.  In addition, theatergoers can view unique content from and about this season’s musicals and plays eligible to receive Tony Awards by visiting Spotlight On, a program, which includes plot summaries, interesting trivia, cast albums, scripts, links to shows’ social media, production history, downloadable music and more. Spotlight On will be updated throughout the season, currently, users can explore over twenty shows with more being added every day. 

If you are interested in going to the 2013 Tony Awards there will be a limited number of tickets made available to the public starting April 30. The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards are presented each year by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

For more information on the Tony Awards, visit www.tonyawards.com.

Follow the Tony Awards on Facebook and Twitter: Facebook.com/TheTonyAwards, @TheTonyAwards.

For additional information on Spotlight On check out, http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/multimedia/spotlight/index.html.

Photo courtesy of Slate PR

Theater

2010 Tony Awards

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Segregation and rock ‘n’ roll triumphed over corrupt government regimes and Afrobeat, men wearing wigs toppled Sondheim, Denzel Washington and Viola Davis swung and hit a homerun past the fences and Red is the new color of the Great White Way.  If you are confused about what I was just referring to, then you missed the live broadcast of the 2010 Tony Awards on CBS.

Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

The stars of Broadway and Hollywood filled Radio City Music Hall while fans in Manhattan braved a downpour to watch a live simulcast of the event in Times Square.  Sean Hayes did not disappoint, the Promises, Promises star and Tony nominee was just as enjoyable as the host of the Tony’s as he is on stage at the Broadway Theatre.  The show opened with Sean Hayes tickling the ivories singing “Blue Suede Shoes” with Levi Kreis (Tony Award winner for Best Performance by a Featured Actor) and the cast of Million Dollar Quartet; he also accompanied fellow cast mate Kristen Chenoweth as she sang “I Say a Little Prayer.”  The casts of Come Fly With Me, Fela!, La Cage Aux Folles and Everyday Rapture provided audiences at Radio City and at home with a small glimpse of why they were nominated and the opening number closed with the Green Day and the cast of American Idiot having stars like Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas and Will and Jada Smith clapping to their punk rock masterpiece. 

 

Photo: J. Countess/WireImage.com

Although Fela! and La Cage Aux Folles accumulated 11 nominations, each only walked away with three awards.  Bill T. Jones won for Best Choreography for Fela! and the musical centering on the Afrobeat pioneer/activist also won Best Sound Design of a Musical and Best Costume Design of a Musical.   La Cage Aux Folles won Best Direction of a Musical, Best Revival of a Musical and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for Douglas Hodge.  Catherine Zeta-Jones won Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for A Little Night Music and Katie Finneran won Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of the hysterical Marge MacDougall in Promises, Promises.  American Idiot won for Best Scenic Design of a Musical and Best Lighting Design of a Musical, but it was Memphis that took home the Tony for Best Musical as well as Best Book of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre.

 

Photo: J. Countess/WireImage.com

The Tony Awards were seeing Red literally; the play won the most awards of the evening including Best Play, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for Eddie Redmayne, Best Direction of a Play, Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Play.  The revival of August Wilson’s Fences won the Tony for Best Revival of a Play, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for Denzel Washington and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for Viola Davis.  The beauty and talent of Scarlett Johansson lent itself well to the stage and garnered her Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play Tony for her performance in A View from the Bridge. 

 

Photo: J. Countess/WireImage.com

The main feature of any award show is the performances and the Tony Awards provide the best of any award show.  Audiences were wowed by performances casts of Memphis, Million Dollar Quartet, American Idiot and Fela!  Catherine Zeta-Jones delivered a powerful performance of the Sondheim standard “Send in the Clowns” and brought her husband, Michael Douglas, to tears.  This year marked the 64th anniversary of the Tony Awards and with it being a year away from the age of retirement I can confidently say that I see no departure any time soon.  Exciting and provocative shows like Next Fall, American Idiot and Fela! are breathing new life into Broadway and changing the ideas of what a production can do, and revivals like Fences, La Cage Aux Folles and A View from the Bridge show why a classic stage production has staying power.  Although Manhattan is battling through one of the worst global economic periods on record, Broadway proves why humans will always crave drama and a little night (or matinee) music. 

Top Photo:  Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com

Entertainment, FAME

Sex and the City Mania Begins At Midnight

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FAMERS it is time to break out your most fierce pair of stilettos, create your best ensemble and get ready to sip on a few cosmos.  Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda are back!  Sex and the City 2 opens nationwide in theaters at midnight.  But Manhattan has already gotten carried away.  The New York City premiere was held at Radio City Music Hall on Monday May 24.  Legions of screaming fans showed their support as the cast and other celebs such as Brooke Shields, Liza Minnelli, Ashanti, Whitney Port and Vanessa Williams made their way into the legendary theater.  There was even a special Sex and the City bus.  The countdown is almost over.  Stay tuned for F.A.M.E NYC’S special Sex and the City feature story.

Photo courtesy of Corkery/Daily News

FAME, Theater

The Black President Leads Tony Nominations

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F.A.M.E NYC told you that Fela! was the best production for 2009, and The American Theatre Wing agrees.  Fela! nabbed 11 Tony nominations including Best Musical, Bill T. Jones for Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography, Sahr Ngaujah for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and Lillias White for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical.    The revival of La Cage aux Folles also grabbed 11 Tony nominations with Kelsey Grammer also vying for the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical award. 

The revival August Wilson’s Fences garnered 10 nominations including Denzel Washington for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, Viola Davis for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, Kenny Leon for Best Directions of a Play and Branford Marsalis for Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre. 

 

 

 

Broadway goes to Radio City Music Hall as the Tony Awards air live Sunday June 13 on CBS.  To view a list of all the nominees please visit www.tonyawards.com.  Good luck to all the nominees and we at F.A.M.E NYC will have our fingers crossed for Fela!