And the Tony hosting job goes to ...

Wow, I was very surprised and very happy when I heard that Neil Patrick Harris had been chosen to host the Tony Awards. He's so cute and funny and charming and he has a great voice and he's had several Broadway roles. (Who knows, maybe this experience will lure him back!)

Still, in the grand scheme of things, I'm not so sure the host is that big a draw. Don't get me wrong - I think it's a great choice for theatre fans. But if I weren't already inclined to watch the show I don't know whether NPH - or anyone else - would make me tune in. Well maybe a few fans of How I Met Your Mother might tune in who wouldn't otherwise. (Also on CBS - what an incredible coincidence!)

I was trying to think about what would make me watch something I have absolutely no interest in watching - say the Indianapolis 500. If the cast of Seinfeld were calling the race I might watch for a few minutes but I'm not sure they'd hold my interest for all 500 laps.

Seriously though, I can't believe the American Theatre Wing approached James Gandolfini, Tony-nominated for God of Carnage, about the hosting duties. According to Michael Riedel in The New York Post, Gandolfini replied that he was flattered but politely declined, saying he isn't a song-and-dance man.

Whew, that was a close one. As much as I loved The Sopranos, I don't think Gandolfini has the kind of vibrant, outgoing personality necessary for a good host. Plus, I think singing and dancing is kind of a requirement.

The 63rd annual Tony Awards air live from Radio City Music Hall at 8 p.m. June 7 on CBS.

A Nine sneak peek

Courtesy of Entertainment Tonight, here's a preview of the musical Nine.

The movie, directed by Rob Marshall and featuring a whole stable of Oscar winners, including Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman and Sophia Loren, opens Nov. 25.

A theatre guy at the NEA

Okay, I'll admit I don't know much about the National Endowment for the Arts or its mandate. And I don't know very much about Rocco Landesman, the Broadway producer who's been tapped to head the organization. But that's never stopped me from having an opinion before! I've never met Landesman, I've only read interviews and watched him on a couple of Broadway-themed documentaries. But he seems like someone who will use the bully pulpit well, as a forceful advocate for the arts. And I'm excited that someone from the theatre will be running the NEA.

As president of Broadway's Jujamcyn Theaters, Landesman obviously comes from the commercial world. But he's got a doctorate in dramatic literature from Yale, so he's certainly been interested in the theatre from an artistic and intellectual standpoint, not just as a profit center.

Obviously, his mandate with the NEA will be much different than that of a commercial producer. And the role of the NEA is not to be a commercial entity. I think he's smart enough to realize the difference.

Here's a little background about the organization from its Web site:

"The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the largest annual national funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases."

A couple of my fellow bloggers, Modern Fabulousity and The Playgoer, who have much more knowledge about the theatre and arts world, have weighed in and they make some excellent points, both pro and con. I wish I were smart enough to have thought of them! Update: the Los Angeles Times offers another perspective, here.

Huntington lines up an all-American season

I've been waiting for Boston's Huntington Theatre Company to complete its schedule for next season and the final two shows have been announced: Craig Lucas' Prelude to a Kiss and Arthur Miller's All My Sons.

They join the previously announced productions of August Wilson's Fences; Maureen McGovern's A Long and Winding Road; Paula Vogel's A Civil War Christmas; Lydia Diamond's Stick Fly; and Gina Gionfriddo's Becky Shaw.

Both All My Sons and Prelude to a Kiss have had recent Broadway revivals. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to see either one, so hopefully I can catch up. (I have seen the movie of Prelude to a Kiss, with Meg Ryan and Alec Baldwin, and I thought it was kind of sweet.)

I know British director Simon McBurney came under some criticism for his interpretation of All My Sons. The Huntington production is being helmed by David Esbjornson, who collaborated with Miller at the end of the playwright's life, so this will probably be a more faithful presentation.

I'm also interested in seeing Fences, because it's a classic. And Becky Shaw, which was directed off Broadway by Peter DuBois, the Huntington's artistic director, garnered rave reviews. It was also a finalist for this year's Pulitzer Prize for Drama, which described it as "A jarring comedy that examines family and romantic relationships with a lacerating wit while eschewing easy answers and pat resolutions."

Apparently, this is the first season in the Huntington's 27-year history to be comprised entirely of American plays. It does seem like a nice mixture of diverse voices and themes and different periods in American history.

DuBois said, "Arthur Miller and Craig Lucas felt like the right two voices to complete a season designed to reflect a compelling range of American writing. From classics and contemporary masters to new voices, each play explores diverse viewpoints of the American experience."

Shockheaded Peter and the Addams Family

Add me to the list of bloggers excited about The Addams Family musical, which will have a two-month tryout in Chicago starting in November, before opening on Broadway April 8.

The cast does sound impressive, including Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as Gomez and Morticia Addams.

The score is from Andrew Lippa and the book, based on Charles Addams' ghoulish cartoons, is from Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, of Jersey Boys.

But what's most intriguing to me is that Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch of Improbable, a London-based theatre company, will handle the direction and design duties.

They were part of the team responsible for Shockheaded Peter, a show I'd never heard of before. It's based on a book of children's stories written in Germany in the 19th century that demonstrated, in very extreme ways, the consequences of bad behavior. Shockheaded Peter, with music from the British band Tiger Lillies had an off-Broadway run in 2005.

I found a clip from a British production. Now, I don't normally like scary stories and Shockheaded Peter is bizarre. But it's also visually stunning. And you don't need to watch the whole thing to get a sense of it:



The Addams Family is a very different project. Still, I am curious to see how McDermott and Crouch will put their stamp on it.

Their participation raises an interesting question: How do artists who are known for maybe more experimental, avant-garde work make the transition to mass entertainment? I mean, what's more mainstream than a big-budget Broadway musical?

Whatever they come up with, I'm hoping it'll be fun to watch.

Fun and games on Broadway

In preparation for my upcoming trips to New York I've been scouring Broadway show Web sites:

Coolest download: Virtual Zippo lighter app for your iPhone at Rock of Ages. (Because you can never be too ready for a power ballad.)

Dumbest game: "Shoot your boss," at 9 to 5. I know it fits with the plot and all but isn't it a tad in poor taste?

Best use of video: Vblog entries from the cast of Hair are fun. The Easter Bonnet competition featuring the cast of 33 Variations doesn't tell you much about the show but it's very witty. Shrek's 10-part online video series on bringing the musical to Broadway is the most interesting and provides reasons to keep coming back to the site.

Best marketing slogan playing off a line from a song: Hair - We got merch, brother!

Best e-cards: Shrek, with their funny takeoffs on other Broadway shows.

Most unfortunate video trend: Watching scenes from plays without the sound. You can see a montage from God of Carnage, you just can't hear the actors. Instead, they play some background music. What's the point? At least Exit the King gives you a few lines of dialog before the montage.

Best blog: It's hard to beat Jane Fonda at 33 Variations. Although, strangely, I couldn't find a link to it on the show's site.

But I wish the two queens from Mary Stuart had kept up their blogging. Here's a sample from Mary, Queen of Scots: "I am in rehearsals for my upcoming trial. I am training hard as I suspect it will all be physically hard to endure. I have discovered protein shakes and they are helping me."

The family that writes together

During my trip to Borders today I picked up a copy of Billie Letts' latest novel, Made in the U.S.A., which just came out in paperback.

(I said on Twitter that 90 percent of the cds and dvds are gone. I think it's more like 99 percent. Fewer reasons to keep my Borders Visa. I hope they can hold on because I don't like buying online. I enjoy leaving my apartment and browsing in an actual bricks-and-morter store. Sigh.)

Anyway, this is the book that Letts dedicated to her late husband, Dennis Letts, whom she called "my Broadway star." Dennis Letts played the role of family patriarch Beverly Weston on Broadway in son Tracy's Pulitzer and Tony-winning August: Osage County until shortly before he passed away, in February 2008.

Made in the U.S.A. tells the story of 15-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother in Spearfish, South Dakota, who embark on a journey in search of their father after their guardian falls dead in a Wal-Mart. (Oddly, a Wal-Mart also plays a role in one of Letts' previous novels, Where the Heart Is. Hmmm.)

The paperback edition has an interview with the author and Letts is asked whether there are parallels between her novels and her son's plays. Here's what she had to say:

"Yes, in that we tend to write about nontraditional families. In his first two plays I would tease and tell him that the characters in his work ended up naked or dead. (Not too much of a stretch, really.) But in his last three plays, he's strayed away from violence and carnage. Now it seems I've begun working in a darker vein than he is."