June 6, 2005
The Tony Awards season is an exciting time in the New York theatre community, especially for those who do musicals. Some of the people in our show either have a Tony (like Chuck), know someone nominated or are nominated themselves. Lennon costume designer Jane Greenwood and orchestrator Harold Wheeler were both nominated for their work on previous productions (neither would win).
On Sunday night Will and family hosted a Tonys party in honor of his good friend Norbert Leo Butz, who was favored to win Best Actor in a Musical for his work in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He was up against heavy hitters like Hank Azaria, Tim Curry and his co-star John Lithgow for the award, and to everyone's delight he won it. The place erupted in cheers as his name was announced, while upstairs Norbert's daughters and Will's daughters squealed with excitement. Will wept twice, once watching his old pal perform his big number at the beginning of the show, and again when he gave his acceptance speech near the end. It was the night of Norbert's life, undeniably, and it spilled over into the next day, when he came over to pick up his kids and go for a swim. Will and I missed out because of rehearsal, but we saw the video footage at least. Priceless.
There were some fine productions that were honored this year. Monty Python's Spamalot (Best Musical) and The Light in the Piazza both won multiple awards. Other big winners were Doubt, Glengarry Glen Ross, the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and of course Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays.
What was absent from the nominees list, not surprisingly, were the "jukebox musicals" that opened this year, i.e. All Shook Up, the Elvis musical, and the ill-fated Good Vibrations, based on the songs of Brian Wilson. Shows like these have given a bad name not only to Broadway, but also to the artists they profess to honor, and there are voices in New York calling for the swift death of this genre altogether. I only mention these things to illustrate the uphill battle that Lennon faces over the next few months on account of those liabilities. We know that our project clearly towers above them all and is only getting better. But it makes our job of proving it tougher than it should be.
I dunno, maybe it's a good thing. Keeps us awake.