Tony contenders likely bow to tradition

By JOHN FLEMING, Times Performing Arts Critic

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 4, 2000

NEW YORK -- Kiss Me, Kate and The Music Man will probably take home the most prizes in tonight's Tony Awards ceremony. With 12 and eight nominations, respectively, their contest for best revival of a musical is a close call.

One virtually certain winner is Susan Stroman, nominated for best direction of a musical and best choreography for both The Music Man and Contact. Even though Contact is a dance show to recorded existing music, it is favored to win best new musical.

The other four-time nominee is Michael John LaChiusa for the scores and books of Marie Christine and The Wild Party. LaChiusa's best chance for a Tony may be his music and lyrics for The Wild Party, whose chief rival figures to be the Elton John-Tim Rice score for Disney's Aida.

Surprisingly, Aida was not nominated for best new musical, but its star, Heather Headley, is a strong candidate to win performance by a leading actress in a musical. Two other popular new musicals -- Saturday Night Fever and Riverdance -- didn't get any nominations.

Dirty Blonde, Claudia Shear's portrayal of Mae West, and the revival of Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing have the most nominations among straight plays, with five apiece.

For the first time in Tony history, dating to 1947, there are mother and daughter nominees. Rosemary Harris, nominated as best leading actress for her performance in Waiting in the Wings, competes against her daughter, Jennifer Ehle, nominated for her Broadway debut in The Real Thing.

Theater people say winning a Tony can keep a shaky show -- such as The Wild Party -- alive. But in many ways, the awards are secondary to the prime-time TV exposure.

"The great secret about the Tonys is the importance of putting a number on the show that is just fabulous," said composer/lyricist Maury Weston, a two-time Tony winner for Titanic and Nine.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that Kiss Me, Kate may well edge out The Music Man for best revival, but nevertheless, when people turn on the television set and see the spectacular Susan Stroman production number of Seventy-Six Trombones, I guarantee you that The Music Man box office is going to shoot up as a result of it being broadcast to the world."

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