It’s good to be a “Tony”

I’ve been saying it for years, but now several of my fellow TPAC’ers are thinking of legally changing their names before June. (I’m looking at you, “Antoinette” Schork.)

That’s because Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris, producers of SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark, have announced a special “Tony” performance on Sunday, June 10^th at 3:00 p.m., in which anyone with the names Tony, Anthony, Antoinette, Toni, or Antonio is eligible for a pair of free tickets.

According to BroadwayWorld.com, the “stunt” is a snarky response to the fact that the production received only two Tony Award nominations since it is scheduling the promotion on the same night as the Tony Awards (June 10th, 7:00 p.m. CST).

“It has been brought to our attention that the Tony’s have been honoring Broadway for years, and we thought it was about time to repay the favor,” Cohl and Harris said in a joint statement. They added, “Nothing would make us prouder than to have more Tony’s than any other show on Broadway on Sunday, June 10.”

So all you other Tony’s out there (at least the ones planning to be in New York in June) can visit the Foxwoods Theatre Box Office (213 W. 42nd Street) at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, June 4, and if you’re lucky to be one of the first 100 attendees, you could get a coupon good for a pair of tickets to the June 10^th matinee.

-Tony

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Practice. Or, get invited. Or, in the case of the Nashville Symphony, both.

In case you missed Jessica Bliss’ post for The Tennessean, our friends over at the Nashville Symphony have been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York on Saturday, the closing night of the Spring for Music festival.

Bliss:

Nashville is one of only six symphonies to be selected for this year’s festival, and this concert — with its 121 musicians, multi-conductor pieces and program as brilliant as it is rare — will showcase the dynamic and diverse musical offerings of Music City.

 ...And Nashville’s participation in this event is a tangible representation of how much musical art matters in this city. It is a chance to create an institutional identity and bring worldwide attention to Nashville, a city that strives to position itself as the country’s music capital.

According to the post, this will be the Symphony’s first appearance at Carnegie Hall since its booster-filled fundraiser for the $123.5 million Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which was completed in 2006. HISTORIC NOTE: Did you know the Nashville Symphony used both the historic War Memorial Auditorium and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall as its home? 

If you're like us and want to give a warm send off to another great Music City ambassador you may want to attend the free and open dress rehearsal tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Schermerhorn. First come, first served.

You can also follow Bliss' coverage of the Symphony's trip to the Big Apple in her online diary at Tennessean.com/Music and at @TNMusicNews.

PHOTO: A public rehearsal by the Nashville Symphony served as a send-off to Carnegie Hall and the group’s May 12 performance at the famous concert hall. It will be the second time the performance group has played at Carnegie. (Photo: Larry McCormack/The Tennessean)

-Tony

Tony Award Nominees Announced

  Jim Parsons and Kristin Chenoweth announce Tony Award nominationsKristin Chenoweth and Jim Parsons teamed up this morning to announce this year’s Tony Award nominees and seeing as how this is akin to the NFL draft for me, I’ve definitely got a few things to say about it.

This year, three of the four nominees for Best Musical are based on films: two are based on movies that came out almost 20 years ago (Leap of Faith and Newsies) while the other is based on a critically acclaimed indie flick (Once). Normally, I would accuse the producers of betting on sure things by bringing well-known properties to the stage, but I have to tip my hat to them this time. All of those films, in my opinion, are great and no one can say that any of them made any money, but someone saw their potential and, obviously, it paid off. The fourth nominee (Nice Work If You Can Get It) is a new show that feels like a revival . As a matter of fact, I actually thought it was a revival until a few days ago. Words and music by George and Ira Gershwin, Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara as the leads…what else was I supposed to think? Considering that the Gershwin brothers have been dead for a collective 104 years, being nominated in the new musical category is pretty impressive. The nominations for Best Revival of a Musical are Follies, The Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess, and two Andrew Lloyd Webber shows: Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar (what, no Starlight Express?). Once leads the pack with a total of 11 nominations, with 10 each going to Porgy & Bess and Nice Work If You Can Get It, and eight for both Follies and Newsies.

Best Play nominees include Other Desert Cities, Peter and the Starcatcher, Venus in Fur and Clybourne Park (make sure you catch Tennessee Rep’s upcoming production!). The nominations for Best Revival of a Play are Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Master Class and Wit. Peter and the Starcatcher, based on the children’s book of the same name, snagged the most nominees for a play this year with a total of nine nominations followed by Death of a Salesman and One Man, Two Guv’nors with seven a piece.

For a complete list of this year’s Tony Award nominees and more information about these and other shows currently on Broadway, visit tonywards.com.

-Akil

Fear Not!

"CATS: Behind the Curtain" featuring Rain (and Biscuits the cat)

Fear not!  No Blue Meanies will attack you during Rain - A Tribute to The Beatles.  
However, if they do, just remind them that "all you need is love."  See you at the show!

Rain is playing May 1-6 in TPAC's Jackson Hall.  Visit tpac.org/rain for details and tickets.

What's a Blue Meanie? Click here to find out.

– Jennifer

Nutty Professor musical puts Nashville in national spotlight

News of our hosting the world premiere of The Nutty Professor musical directed by Jerry Lewis garnered some great press hits for TPAC and Nashvillle.  Check it out:

New York Times

Variety

Playbill

Los Angeles Times