New York City Theater

Just as CIRQUE DREAMS: JUNGLE FANTASY is not a CIRQUE DU SOLEIL production, RADIO HITS OF 1958 is not a BROADWAY BY THE YEAR production. But it sure looks and sounds like one. It's happening at Town Hall, where BBTY is; on a Monday night, when BBTY performances are; it's organized according to year, just like BBTY; and it's using MANY performers who are BBTY regulars like Nancy Anderson and Max von Essen. I also hear that they want to make this into another long-running series, and they hope to do RADIO HITS OF 1969 in August. Raymond Jaramillo McLeod, who played the football player Wreck in WONDERFUL TOWN, is hosting.

Do I think this is unfair to BBTY? Well, other than the fact that this series will focus on pop music instead of Broadway, this does appear to be a direct appropriation of their style - at least on first glance. But on the whole, this might not do any harm to BBTY. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And if this could live up to the excellence of BBTY, it'd be great to have another series around offering great entertainment and jobs for actors.

But if RADIO HITS was inspired by BBTY, I think it is only fair for RADIO HITS to acknowledge that and thank BBTY. I am attending the show tonight and will let you know what I think.

*The critically acclaimed Off Broadway musical ADDING MACHINE will close on Sunday, July 20 at the Minetta Lane Theatre, it was announced today by the show's producers. After having received some of the best reviews of any musical this season (on or Off Broadway), it will have played 149 regular performances.

*The current production contract between Actors' Equity Association and The Broadway League ended Sunday night at midnight, but both the actors and producers have agreed to continue negotiations on a day by day basis - at least for now.Both sides issued a joint press release: "The talks remain productive and both parties are confident a fair and equitable contract will be reached. No specifics on the outstanding issues are available at this time."

Playbill.com reports that a free outdoor production of the 1997 Broadway muscial RAGTIME in Wilmette, IL was cancelled by local officials over concerns about the script's racy language.

"We had grave concerns that people would take the language they heard over the amplified sound system out of context from a performance that was being held in the bowl," officials told the Pioneer Press. "This is something we very honestly should have known about and hopefully we could have acted on this sooner, but we did as soon as we found out what was there."

*GOODTIME CHARLEY, Larry Grossman’s 1975 Broadway musical about the relationship between Joan of Arc and King Charles, makes a short return as part of the York’s Musicals in Mufti staged reading series. “Mufti” means, “in street clothes, without the usual trappings.” The cast includes Jenn Colella, Michael Winther and Nick Wyman. (Also, a shout out to cast member Ana Nogueira, who went to French Woods theater camp with me.) York Theatre Company, 619 Lexington Ave, 212-352-3101. Fri 8pm, Sat 2:30 & 8pm, Sun 2:30 & 7:30pm. Thru Sun.

*Adriane Lenox, Tony winner for DOUBT, will return to the stage In Lynn Nottage's new play RUINED next season at MTC. Four years ago, Nottage made a huge splash with the back to back acclaimed plays INTIMATE APPAREL and FABULATION.

Evening Activity: BASH'D at the Zipper Theatre.

Ashley Spencer and Derek Keeling, the runners-up of last year’s reality show “Grease: You’re the One That I Want,” will finally graduate to the top of the class at Rydell High. They are set to replace Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, who won the television audition contest, as Danny and Sandy on July 22. Over the past year, Derek has appeared in the pre-Broadway tryout of “A Tale of Two Cities” and Ashley played Amber in the Broadway cast of “Hairspray.”

*CIRQUE DREAMS, a short-time kiddie circus tenant for the Broadway Theatre before SHREK moves in, opens tonight. I do wonder whether most of the critics will play nice, or express a bit of anger at being subjected to this stuff.

*Richard Nelson's play SOME AMERICANS ABROAD, his second produced work of the season following CONVERSATIONS IN TUSCULUM at the Public Theater, starts previews tonight at Second Stage. The cast includes RENT favorite Anthony Rapp.

*News spread yesterday that Kate Mulgrew (THE AMERICAN DREAM, IPHIGENIA 2.0) will be part of the EQUUS cast, playing Hesther, the psychiatrist's confidante. I've also read that the amazingly hot Anna Camp, currently in the Broadway revival of THE COUNTRY GIRL, will be in it too, assumedly as the naked stablegirl.

As soon as the closing notice for CRY-BABY was finally revealed, speculation began immediately over whether WHITE CHRISTMAS, which has played holiday runs to great success in many regional markets, would make its Broadway premiere at the newly vacant Marquis Theatre. Two feature articles with producer Kevin McCollum indicate that though he really wants the Broadway production to happen, he wants union concessions in order to make the 7 and a half week run possible financially. McCollum, if you recall, was pretty active on the Broadway producer side during the recent stagehand strike.

GRINCH, which may or may not be back again Broadway for the holidays, played 15 performances per week in its attempt to churn a big profit. Frankly, even if WHITE CHRISTMAS does not look destined to make a profit, it's still in the best interest of McCollum and his co-producers to do it on Broadway. With its lavish production values and beloved Irving Berlin tunes, it's bound to be a hit. And it'll make the property more attractive and familiar to regional and international markets.

*While Shakespeare in the Park's critically-maligned HAMLET plays out its final week at the Delacorte Theatre, Sam Shepard's new drama KICKING A DEAD HORSE starring Stephen Rea begins previews tonight at the Public Theater.

*The Roundabout Theatre Company's website suggests that the final slot for Roundabout's 2008-09 Broadway season will probably be filled by a new production of Ibsen's HEDDA GABLER. That's weird, seeing as it was revived only six years ago on Broadway with Kate Burton. Why not do an Ibsen play that needs a new life, like say THE WILD DUCK or AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE?

*The 70s drama FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF will be revived on Broadway starting in August at Circle in the Square, recently home to GLORY DAYS. Grammy winner Indie.arie (who?) will star and Whoopi Goldberg will produce it.

About half of the lineup of the 2008 New York Musical Theatre Festival has previously been announced: About Face, Bedbugs! The Musical, Castronauts, Cyclone and The Pig Faced Lady, Jason and Ben, The Jerusalem Syndrome, Love Jerry, To Paint the Earth, Twilight In Manchego and Wood.

Now the "Next Link" musicals, which are voted on by a jury of musical theater professionals, have been announced. While NYMF has yet to recapture the spirit of its first season, in which TITLE OF SHOW and ALTAR BOYZ premiered, it's still a heavy hive for new musical theater activity and is worth checking out come this September.

*Variety reports that Anthony Hopkins will play King Lear in a new film of Shakespeare's tragedy. Rumor has it that his three daughters will be played by Gweneth Paltrow (Goneril), Naomi Watts (Regan) and Keira Knightly (Cordelia).

*Dylan McDermott has joined the cast of THREE CHANGES at Playwrights Horizons, which begins previews in August.

*Horton Foote's DIVIDING THE ESTATE, which played an acclaimed run at Primary Stages last year and will now be produced on Broadway, will be housed at the Booth Theatre, currently home to THURGOOD.

*Aaron Tveit, who rumor has it will play Tony in the WEST SIDE STORY revival, joins the cast of WICKED tonight as Fiyero.

In spite of its dismal reviews and disappointing attendance, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is going to soldier on - at least for now.

Beth Leavel, Michele Ragusa and Kelly Sullivan will become the new leading ladies of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN this summer, joining original cast members Roger Bart,Shuler Hensley, Fred Applegate and Christopher Fitzgerald.

Kelly Sullivan will assume the role of Inga on Tuesday, July 8th; Tony winner Beth Leavel (Drowsy Chaperone) will become Frau Blucher on Tuesday, July 22nd and Michele Ragusa (Adrift in Macao) takes over the role of Elizabeth on Tuesday, August 5th.

Young Frankenstein's original trio of divas is in their final weeks of performances. Sutton Foster's last performance is Sunday, July 6th; Andrea Martin - Tony-nominated for her performance - completes her run Sunday, July 20th and Megan Mullally will depart after the Sunday, August 3rd performance.

I adore Beth Level, and am also a fan of Michele Ragusa, who was stunning in the Paper Mill Playhouse production of KISS ME KATE earlier this year. But I just can't bring myself to see YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN again.

*Might we soon see a Broadway revival of MY FAIR LADY starring Kelli O'Hara, who played Eliza to great acclaim last year at a semi-staged New York Philharmonic production? O'Hara told Parade magazine that if she were offered the role, she would be willing to postpone starting a family, and also hinted that Broadway producers were looking to build a production around her. Obviously, this will not be the Trevor Nunn-Cameron Macintosh production that toured the US this year.

*In a big blow to the regional theater movement, Minneapolis' Theatre de la Jeune Lune will shutter due to debt. Might a White Knight come and save the day, or is this Tony Award-winning company doomed to history?

*Bill T. Jones, the Tony-winning choreographer of SPRING AWAKENING, will direct and choreograph FELA!, a musical based about Nigerian musician and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti next month at 37 Arts.

Saturday matinee: THE HIRED MAN at 59E59.

This production is the big headliner of the 2008 edition of Brits Off-Broadway. It is an English musical from the 1980s that got swept away and forgotten at the time by the wave of Andrew Lloyd Webber mega-musicals. This intimate production features about ten actors and a piano. Its wide-ranging, turn of the century rural England plot follows the plights and tribulations of hired farmhands, who work the land in poverty and eventually fight in World War I. The show has received quite a lot of respectful reviews, especially for its romantic, folksy score. And while I too enjoyed the music, I didn't really fall for the show, which tries to cram far too much plot, nor its amateurish cast.

Entertainment Weekly provides what it believes are the top 50 musicals and plays of modern American theatre:

1. Angels in America (1993-94)

2. Rent (1996)

3. August: Osage County (2007)

4. Doubt (2004)

5. Jersey Boys (2005)

6. Fences (1987)

7. Glengarry Glen Ross (1984)

8. Avenue Q (2003)

9. The Heidi Chronicles (1988)

10. The Producers (2001)

*I am very surprised to hear that A CATERED AFFAIR is closing on July 27. Its weekly grosses have been quite good, around $400,000 a week. With a small cast, how much could its weekly running cost be? But to look on the bright side, this means that another Broadway theater (one large enough for an intimate musical) is open for next season. Are XANADU and PASSING STRANGE next?

*The lead casting of PAL JOEY at Roundabout has been announced. Christian Hoff (Tony winner for JERSEY BOYS) will play Joey, Stockard Channing is sexpot Vera Simpson, and Martha Plimpton is Gladys Bump, though the press release notes that this role has been reinvented.

*The final third of MTC's 08-09 Broadway season has been announced. David Hyde Pierce will headline a revival of the 1934 comedy ACCENT ON YOUTH.

Classic Stage Company has had it rough for the past five years or so under its new artistic director Brian Kulick. It basically faded out of the spotlight. But this year was an exception. Michael Cumpsty's RICHARD III was superior to his performances as Hamlet and Richard II, THE SEAGULL with Alan Cumming and Diane Wiest sold out, and NEW JERUSALEM was one of the smartest new plays around. In fact, it should have gone to Broadway.

And next season now looks just as exciting. It starts off with Mandy Patinkin in THE TEMPEST. (If you noticed at the Tony Awards, he is already growing out his beard.) Also up with be UNCLE VANYA with Denis O'Hare and a new two adaptation of THE ORESTEIA titled AN ORESTEIA, drawing from Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophacles.

Two years ago, the Atlantic Theater Company became the most valuable and prestigious theater company in New York, premiering THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN OF JENNY CHOW (Pulitzer finalist), a Double bill of Pinter one-acts, LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE and SPRING AWAKENING. Last year it also scored with THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE. This season, for the most part, was a letdown.

But this next coming season ought to be exciting. FARRAGUT NORTH, long rumored for Broadway, will make its world premiere instead at Atlantic, directed by Doug Hughes. Martin McDonagh's THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN will be revived. And Ethan Coen's latest play OFFICES will premiere.

According to a column on msnbc.com, the Broadway revival of A CHORUS LINE is closing almost a month before Mario Lopez' contract was set to expire because the producers of ALL MY SONS needed a space as big as the theater where CHORUS LINE now plays. The column states that Katie Holmes would not sign a long-term contract, as is typical of film actors playing Broadway. So in order to potentially turn a profit in such a short time, the show would need to play in a larger theater, allowing it to make a higher weekly gross.

*No word yet on who specifically will appear at today's Chatterbox with Seth Rudetsky at Don't Tell Mama, but his website says it will be cast members from CRY-BABY. As evidenced by the recent episode where the GLORY DAYS cast/creators came, inviting people from a show that just closed or is about to close could be depressing. Let's hope this one isn't.

*Now that AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY has racked up virtually all the awards it can, it's time for a new Tracy Letts play. SUPERIOR DONUTS starts performances tonight at Chicago's Steppenwolfe Theatre Company. You can bet more than one Broadway producer will be eyeing it.

*Rumors are circling that Kathleen Turner has been offered the lead role in Edward Albee's new drama ME, MYSELF & I, which premiered in Princeton this year with Tyne Daly.

It's well known that Manhattan Theater Club has been looking to rename the Biltmore Theatre for quite some time in exchange for a sizable donation. Even Roundabout is ready to rename Studio 54 after a White Knight.

It's been revealed that MTC will rename it the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in exchange for a "gift" from the Gerald and Dorothy Friedman Foundation. WHO HE?

It turns out that the late Mr. Friedman actually was a theater person. He was a mid-20th century Broadway publicist who worked with Shirley Herz, who currently represents the Irish Rep Theater and many Edward Albee projects. Friedman's shows included WAITING FOR GODOT, OH CALCUTTA, A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN, and GOLDEN BOY.

Ana Gasteyer has reportedly sprained her ankle and will unfortunately not be a part of the upcoming DAMN YANKEES at City Center as Gloria, the newspaper reporter who coins the term "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO." In her place will be Megan Lawrence, Tony nominee for THE PAJAMA GAME.

Wonder what this means for HAIR. Lawrence was supposed to play Claude's mother and other ensemble roles in that Shakespeare in the Park production next month. No announcement has been made in that regard.

A new TKTS Discount Ticket Booth located in the MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn will open on Thursday, July 10 at 11am, preceded by a ribbon cutting ceremony. TDF will offer Broadway, Off Broadway, music, dance and Brooklyn performing arts events at discounted prices to Brooklyn residents and visitors. TKTS Downtown Brooklyn will be located on the ground floor of 1 MetroTech Center at the corner of Jay Street and Myrtle Avenue. TKTS offers same-day evening and next-day matinee tickets at discounts of up to 50% off full price.

The Broadway musical “Cry-Baby,” based on John Waters’ 1990 film starring Johnny Depp, will throw in the towel on Sunday, shuttering after 68 performances. Months earlier, it was thought that “Cry-Baby” might follow in the footsteps of “Hairspray,” another musical adapted from a Waters film, and become big hit. The musical received four Tony Award nominations, including one for Best Musical, but received none.

The first new show of the 2008-09 Broadway season, [title of show] - an original musical about the making of an original musical - will introduce the new $2,501.50 "Extrava[tos] VIP Luxury" premium priced ticket, it has been announced by the show's producers.

The $2,501.50 "Extrava[tos] VIP Luxury" premium ticket will include a tiara and scepter, opera glasses, and the unprecedented option to have an NYU student attend [title of show] in your place and then describe the experience to the ticket-buyer. "Our elite ticket package patrons lead a jet-set lifestyle. Their time is precious and we at [title of show] get that. However, they are also the kind of people that need to appear "in the know." Our one of a kind student swap out option, makes the elite ticket package a win/win situation," says [title of show] librettist and star Hunter Bell.

In Today's Michael Riedel column in the New York Post, he mentioned the fact that I received the greatest number of correct predictions according to Tom O'Neil's pundit survey on Gold Derby. It was truly an honor to both be part of O'Neil's excellent Tony Awards coverage, and then have the accomplishment noted by Riedel. In fact, to be mentioned by Riedel in a non-derogatory context is nothing short of amazing.

The bulk of Riedel's column today proposes that Sondheim did not show up to the Tony Awards on Sunday night because he has been traveling throughout Europe. While this may be true, I attended SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE on Wednesday night and Sondheim was there, with current boy-toy. In fact, Sondheim was in my row and VIDEOTAPING the entire performance. (Was this even legal? Either he owns such screen rights, or no one cared.)

Did my eyes deceive me? Hell no. The entire place was abuzz over the fact that Sondheim was there and curious over why he was videotaping it with a handheld video recorder.

But for all we know, Sondheim might have left for Europe after Wednesday night and still been there during the Awards.

*Neil LaBute's REASONS TO BE PRETTY, the final segment of his Beauty trilogy, will make a move to Broadway, though that will not materialize until February 2009. Here's hoping LaBute does a little bit of revising and cleanup work on this otherwise intimate, gripping drama.

*MGM star Cyd Charisse died yesterday at age 87 of a heart attack. Her films include SINGIN IN THE RAIN (Gene Kelly's dream girl in the "Gotta Dance" sequence), BRIGADOON, THE BAND WAGON and SILK STOCKINGS.

*The upcoming Broadway revival of ALL MY SONS with Katie Holmes and John Lithgow has released more details. It will play the Gerard Schoenfeld Theatre, opening October 16 for a limited run through January.

*TITLE OF SHOW's box office opens today with a half-price ticket offer. Word on the street is that a $1,000 premium ticket will be revealed today (from what I hear, with the purchase of such ticket, you can supposedly sleep with the cast member of your choice).

The 8th annual BROADWAY BY THE YEAR series at Town Hall ended last night with THE BROADWAY MUSICALS OF 1979.

This marked the second time that the series has fast-forwarded to the 1970s, following BBTY 1978 two years ago. And guessing to the rather lukewarm response from most of the subscribers last night, I suspect that they would rather remain within the Golden Age timeframe of 1920 to 1969. But can you blame producer Scott Siegel for venturing forward? If he wants his series to not exhaust itself, he will need to find new years to tackle - even the 1980s, or so far backwards at the 1910s.

The highlighted Broadway Musicals of 1979 included SWEENEY TODD, EVITA, SUGAR BABIES, THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG, 1940s RADIO HOUR, THE GRAND TOUR, I REMEMBER MAMA and CARMELINA. Why no GOT TU GO DISCO?

Usually, when Scott Siegel describes the musicals of any given year in his protypical audience exposition address, he talks of them with enthusiasm and wonder. Here, he was just downright pessimistic and gritty. "Attend the tale of 1979," which he reminded us was an awful year for America. "It was the worst of times. Really, it was the worst of times." NY crime was up. Richard Rodgers died. Reagan took the scene. Hostages. Saddam comes to power. Gas shortage. Roller disco on the rise. "Believe me, it's going to get dark," he warned us of the night's material.

Another issue in last night's performance may have been mediocre direction on the part of Emily Skinner, who is otherwise a BBTY regular and an integral part of the series' continued success. There were a lot of awkard song choices last night, especially to open with "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd." No offense, but BBTY concerts ALWAYS open with something light and happy. If you are not about to do SWEENEY TODD in its entirety, DO NOT perform "The Ballad." And speaking of SWEENEY, why no "Little Priest" duet between Emily and Jeff McCarthy? That would have been stunning.

What came off most strongly, but simultaneously felt the most superfluous, were all the EVITA moments. To do the Eva Peron track, Terri Klausner, Patti LuPone's original standby (who performed two performances a week), was recruited. This was surprising to me, especially since Alice Ripley and Julia Murney are BBTY regulars. Max von Essen truly scored with "Oh What a Circus." Too bad he looks too squeaky clean to actually play Che.

The evening did make a strong case for the score of THE GRAND TOUR, the much neglected Jerry Herman musical about an anti-semite officer and Jew during WW2. Jason Graae, who has starred in a revival of the musical, was on-hand.

It also gave vocalist Scott Coulter many opportunities to shine, especially since John Treacy Egan cancelled at the last minute, allowing Coulter to inherit his solos - "On this Night of a Thousand Stars" and "Fallin" from THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG. For "Thousand Stars," which they treated as a comedy number, he wore a toupe and was accosted by Noah Racey, playing a jealous lover.

Another revelation came in the form of the beautiful Melinda Sullivan, who was recently in some professional production of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL. In the title song of SARAVA, singing of the wonders of Brazil, her zestful smile reminded me of Ann Miller's performance of "Too Darn Hot" in the film version of KISS ME KATE. Let's make her a BBTY regular.

Plus, we got to see Jeff McCarthy, currently reduced to playing Billy Flynn in the never-ending revival of CHICAGO, play Sweeney. His off-mic performance of "Epiphany" was somber, fragile and intense.

Come to think of it, the fourth-final BBTY show usually tends to be the weakest of the lot. But whenever this happens, I always think it also stands as a testament to how damn good the other ones were. BBTY 1947 was possibly the best one ever. BBTY 1954 was solid too.

By my count, Scott Siegel's Town Hall stuff provides us with ten nights of musical theater-oriented entertainment per year (4 BBTY concerts, 1 Broadway Unplugged, 3 nights of Broadway Cabaret Festival, 3 nights of Broadway Summer Festival). Has any other theater series taken off like this?

*HAMLET opens the 2008 Shakespeare in the Park season. (I will be going tonight. Was supposed to see it on Saturday night, but it got rained out. That usually happens to me at least once every year.)

*AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY has now won every award possible. Move on. So half of its cast is changing tonight. Goodbye Tony winners Deanna Dunagan and Rondi Reed. Enter Academy Award-winner Estelle Parsons, as well as Robert Foxworth, Tony winner Frank Wood, and Jim True-Frost. Tony nominee Amy Morton remains on ship.

*Marin Mazzie returns to the Broadway cast of SPAMALOT. Anyone care about this show anymore?

*HAIR will receive a two-week extension at the Public Theater in August. I suspect this is due to the fact that BACCHAE was apparently expected to play the Delacorte in September, and has instead been pushed back to next year.

2008 was an extremely predictable year for Broadway’s Tony Awards. “South Pacific,” “In the Heights,” “August: Osage County,” “Boeing-Boeing” and “Gypsy” easily came, saw and conquered every major award. This left acclaimed shows like “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Xanadu,” “Passing Strange” and “Macbeth” in the dust.

In spite of some last minute enthusiasm for the autobiographical rock concert “Passing Strange,” the hip-hop musical “In the Heights” won four awards including Best New Musical.

The sold-out Lincoln Center revival of “South Pacific” received seven awards, the most of any production, including Best Musical Revival. As of press time, it appeared as if “South Pacific” had won the most Tonys of any revival in Broadway history.

In order to break the boredom, ancient shows like “The Lion King” and “Rent” received feature-length segments. Even musicals that were not nominated for Best New Musical received live segments including “Little Mermaid,” “A Catered Affair” and “Young Frankenstein.”

The only real surprise occurred when Stew, the creator and narrator of “Passing Strange,” beat out Douglas Carter Beane of “Xanadu” for Best Book of the Musical. Unfortunately, that award was not even televised.

Let’s go over some of our own “awards.”

Our award for Best Acceptance Speech is a tie between Patti LuPone (Best Actress in a Musical for “Gypsy”), who refused to stop speaking even as the orchestra attempted to drown her voice out, and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Best Score or “In the Heights”), who rapped his entire thank you list.

Weirdest Acceptance Speech goes to Mark Rylance (Best Actor for “Boeing-Boeing”), who whose to read the prose of a Minnesota poet named Lewis Jenkins. “It is a good idea to wear orange and carry a gun, or, depending on the season, carry a fishing pole, or a camera with a big lens,” Rylance told a confused audience.

Most Emotional Acceptance Speech goes to Laura Benanti (Best Featured Actress for “Gypsy”), a three-time nominee who broke down when she saw her 90-year-old director Arthur Laurents give her a standing ovation.

Worst Acceptance Speech goes to Stephen Sondheim, who did not even bother to show up to accept his Lifetime Achievement Award, leaving Mandy Patinkin to read a pre-written statement. Rumor has it that Sondheim, who has a habit of not showing up to the Tony Awards, was upset that “Sunday in the Park with George” had received less attention than “South Pacific.” What a waste. A Total embarrassment.

Best Tony Performance goes to “Rent,” where current and original cast members reunited to pay tribute to the musical before it meets its demise in three months. Worst Tony Performance goes to “Passing Strange,” whose intimacy got lost in the huge space.

Whoopi Goldberg, the first celebrity to host the Tony Awards in three years, provided unprecedented enthusiasm for Broadway. In pre-taped comedy bits modeled after Billy Crystal’s Oscar skits, Goldberg joined the casts and donned the costumes of “The Lion King,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “A Chorus Line,” “Spamalot” and “Spring Awakening.” She even flew from the top of the stage as Mary Poppins. We’d be lucky to have her host again.

10:25pm: I've been informed that Lin-Manuel's vocal performance was unexpectedly strained. This is how it was described on All That Chat by our favorite user Reed23: "Into the heights, the songs are rap, the rap is crap, so what's the wrap? Into the heights, I'd take the train, avoid the pain, the ear-and-eye-strain, Into The Heights!"

10:29pm: SOUTH PACIFIC wins Best Musical Revival. No surprise.

10:36pm: AUGUST playwright Tracy Letts enters the room. "It's absolutely surreal. A year ago, I'm with actors I know in my hometown. A year later, holding this, after the exhilarating, upsetting year we've had... This is like a cubist nightmare, staring at all of you on computers. In my speech, I got a little mad. That's something I need to look at in myself."

"Early on, Anna (D. Shapiro) and I looked at ourselves and felt like we were serving a need of the audience."

I ask producer Jeffrey Richards, who produced AUGUST, NOVEMBER and HOMECOMING, what's the theme or common thread between all these shows. "In addition to AUGUST, We also did another play about a dysfunctional play called HOMECOMING. NOVEMBER was also dysfunctional. Maybe we're just the dysfunctional producers. But we do look for quality. Steve and Jerry and I went to see AUGUST, and we realized it was an extraordinary play. And we feel very fortunate that Steppenwolf allowed us to bring it to New York."

10:44pm: Mary Rylance enters. Will he explain his acceptance speech?

"I've been thinking about it for a few weeks. It's prose by a wonderful poet. I did it at the Drama Desk Awards, and it seemed to have some kind of meaning, so I decided to do it again."

10:50pm: Best Actress in a Musical: Patti LuPone!

10:55pm: IN THE HEIGHTS. THANK GOD IT WASN'T PASSING STRANGE. Seriously, I would have vomited.

11pm. Well, the awards are over. No surprises. And there's no one in the press room.

I've brought up the question of whether SOUTH PACIFIC won the most Tonys of any revival in Tony history. No one can think of anything that beat it, but it's early yet.

11:10pm. Stew just entered the room. "It's incredibly insane to be up here. Nothing registers anymore. Stuff that has nothing to do with what I wanted to do with my life. Maybe I'm in a Zen state. I was talking to Duncan Sheik about how maybe I should become a Buddhist. He'll help me with that."

Was it your intent to change Broadway? "I wanted to write a good show. A show people listen to. Our goal was to put music onstage that people are listening to on their IPODS, or on the sidewalk, on subways, when they're at home onstage, at a party. Not da-da-da-da-da."

Where is Heidi? "She's somewhere. She's not always a big fan of talking to the press."

How did the show change in development? "We wanted to make the message sharper. The show is much edgier now, more feminist, more gay, more noisy than when it was downtown. Our feeling was we had this chance,

I ask him whether anyone else can play his role in a future production. "Cory Glover from In Living Color. Anybody who can convincingly be a rock and roll person. He is one. Maybe not hundreds. Tens of people who can do it. They can do it better than me. They'd be laying a version of myself. If you saw me at a club show, it's the same thing. It's not acting. It's just being a rock and roll performer."

He notes that he and Heidi working on another theater piece!

11:15pm. Patti LuPone enters the room.

"I did have a prepared acceptance speech. It's been 29 years. In that course of time, I've worked with incredible companies and people. If I did get up there, I had to thank them. It was a joke I was using, an old one. Or 28 years. One of the two."

"It is a huge part. It encompasses everything. Comedy, tragedy, singing, shouting, movement. It's a range of emotions. It's not that it's any better... I wasn't disappointing when I lost the others. But when you lose this, it's like you didn't do a good job." (Note to self: Is that diss to Bernadette Peters???)

"I wish producers would celebrate the 5 best musicals, the 5 best plays, cause you can't compare one part to another. We don't have 5 people playing Rose. You can't compare Rose to Dot. It'd be great if it was a celebration of the season and not a competition. It'd be fun to see all 5 men or women up there."

How does it feel to hold a Tony again? "It's been a long time. Weeeeeee!!!"

"I am built for the theater. Yeah, I bitch about 8 shows a week. I don't see my husband and son. There is something to be said for honoring a contract that requires 8 shows a week. It's muscle."

"I'm hoping I'm not gonna screw up my kid. I don't think she's a monster. She wants the best for her children. What she wants is misguided."

I ask her: HOW DOES IT FEEL NOW, KNOWING THAT ONLY A FEW YEARS AGO IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WOULD NEVER PLAY THIS ROLE? "It's been the most bizarre odyssey. Laura says it's fated. And I suppose it is fated. It's a show biz story. I wasn't supposed to play the role. Arthur was mad at me. I was told by my quote people that I would never be in an Arthur Laurents play. So I said there ya go. And as my husband has said to me, aren't you glad you called Arthur. The only thing that turned this around was I called him after Ravinia and we talked and it happened. It's a long convoluted story and no one knows what the truth is anymore."

"I told my agent, I don't want to leave without knowing when I'm going to come back. I'm older. I want to be onstage and take advantage of these vocal chords while they are still supple and alive."

What's it like to be the 10th most powerful women in NYC? "YESSSSSS! It's a riot. What, are you kidding? I'm trying to figure out how to wield that power."

11:30pm: Paulo Szot enters. "The first day, I wanted to take a plane home back to Brazil I was so scared. But Bartlett took care of me and taught me everything I do onstage. I have such wonderful people at the theater. They helped me a lot. Otherwise, I'd be back in Brazil."

11:35pm: Lin-Manuel Miranda takes the podium.

I ASK: HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT RAPPING ACCEPTANCE SPEECH? "To be honest, I didn't write it down. I had several couplets in my head. I was too superstitious to write it down. Then they went out of my head. It started mentally unraveling for me. Thank goodness for this hip-hop group I'm in. I've had four years of experience with making stuff up off the top of my head."

"I can't tell you how crazy it is to have Duncan Sheik say your name in any context, let alone the Tony Awards. When I did the first draft of this, another guy wanted to direct this. He was a Senior. But he was doing his thesis. But I couldn't wait. I never felt so close to possession as writing that first draft of IN THE HEIGHTS over winter break. I decided to direct it myself. I wasn't in it at the time. I wasn't that crazy yet. I just had to write it. It has changed a lot over the years. I am only up here because Tommy Kail came up with deadline after deadline. When we were working in the basement of Drama Book Shop. We did that for eight years."

Any other projects? "I have a couple of ideas. I haven't secured the rights to them yet. Now I know how long it takes. I want the pre-nup. It's a long process. If you told me it'd take 8 years when I started, I'd be too scared to continue. I am talking to Dreamworks about writing some music for them for animated films. I have some more musicals in me."

"My job is to write the best show I can. At the same time, I'd like to reintroduce theater music and popular music, which used to be best friends long ago. I've written more than 50 songs for IN THE HEIGHTS along the way."

11:40pm: Now the producers of IN THE HEIGHTS join him.

"Jeffrey and I have been working together before RENT. And we are always looking to tell contemporary stories. This is a story about what the face of America is. Lin has combined so much into a new sound, like what Jonathan Larson did. Manhattan is a place with so many neighborhoods. We're all looking for family, all looking for home. That's what I fall in love with. The fact that the community recognized it is very gratifying. We were like in the beginning, let's see where it takes us. Where can we get an audience to pay a few dollars to see it."

9:33pm. This is how Faith Prince's Tony performance is described by All That Chat user Reed23: "Disastrous. Oh my dear Faith Prince. Trapped singing all those meaningless, wandering, Sondheim-wannabe-notes..... and not your best ones." And this is how the user describes Sierra Boggess: "Oh. My. God. Who IS this unfortunate girl."

9:35pm. The American Theater Wing promo airs, which is always the worst moment in ever Tony broadcast. At least this year the old couple that usually does this bit is mostly gone, with nominated actors instead describing the Wing's activities, making this minute a tad less painful.

9:40pm. Whoopi Goldberg introduces the nominees for Best Play. Who knows whether she's seen all of them, but she is describing them with such vivid enthusiasm that it hardly matters.

9:45pm. Gabriel Byrnes presents Best Director of a Play: Anna D. Shaprio for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, as expected.

Boyd Gaines now enters the press room. "I'm gonna sleep tomorrow. No rehearsal tomorrow."

Is it more special to win the 4th time around? "Yeah, sure. You never expect to win one, let alone more than one. I was so not expecting to win. Someone on the subway stopped me and said I'm so sorry about the Tony. It says in the paper you're not gonna win. So I assumed they knew something I didn't."

What's on deck for you? "I'm going to do GYPSY eight times a week as long as we'll go. We're under contract for a year, through March."

I ask him about his impressions of the role. "Herbie had always been described as kind of a weak sister. From other actors I've heard him spoken of as a thankless role. He's neither. He's a man driven by his own desires and his own dreams, as everyone in the play is driven by their dreams. He really falls head over heals in love with this woman and really hopes that she will finally relent and give him a family, settle down and have a family. At some point, he realizes that is impossible. It's great because it's about unrelenting desires as much as the other characters."

9:53pm. Mary Louise Parker presents Best Actor in a Play: Mark Rylance over Patrick Stewart!! No offense to Stewart, who was pretty great, but Rylance's deadpan comedy performance merits comparisons with Buster Keaton and Chaplin. What is he talking about in his speech?? He's talking about armbands and uniforms... What is he reading from? This is brilliant. Bafflingly brilliant. Ends with "thanks very much for this." Why was it brilliant? Cause now people will talk about how weird he was, thereby promoting the show further.

9:58pm. Deanna Dunagan wins Best Actress in a Play. Why not Amy Morton, who also gives a fantastic performance in the same play? Frankly, Dunagan has a flashier, more memorable role as the pill-popping mom. She recognizes her "stage daughter" Amy Morton, who is in tears, "who should be standing up there with me, who can do things onstage that I cannot do."

10pm: Anna D. Shapiro, winner of Best Direction of a Play, enters the press room. What's next? "I am gonna go back home to Lookinglass Theater Company and work on 'Our Town' with David Schwimmer." She mentions she will then work on MAGNOLIA, Regina Taylor's new adaptation of THE CHERRY ORCHARD.

What about the new people coming in? "The last couple of days have been very emotional at the theater. The people who are leaving are really spinal to the heart of the play, to the energy. There's been a lot of crying. And these guys don't cry that easily. A lot of really amazing people wanted to come in for the recasting. They're all irreplaceable. When Estelle Parsons wanted to come in, she said she'd read for me. I think the joke's on me. She wanted to read to see whether she'd do the show with ME."

Will the original cast come to the National Theater in London? "If you heard that rumor, then it's a good rumor. That makes the tears a bit less painful." In other words, I guess it's true.

10:12pm. Deanna Dunagan comes into the press room. She is informed that AUGUST just won Best Play, and then gives a loud shout in enthusiasm.

"In Chicago, I've been recognized maybe once a month. Here, I walk outside and people ask 'can I huge you.' A little