May Day and May Flowers!

May 01, 2012

May Day and May Flowers!

SOME PEOPLE PAINT, SOME SEW, I MEDDLE

-Dolly Levi (Lyrics: Jerry Herman)

Happy May Day!

Happy May!

The 2012 Nominations are announced today and some people are angry and some people are ecstatic! That's the nature of any awards show.

I cannot believe we are into the fifth month of the year! I know I keep saying it, but it seems like it was just yesterday, on January 1^st, where I set down to write my intentions for the year.

I am proud to say I am following through with everything and I am proud to say I am following through! It IS POSSIBLE if you work at it! This month, ALL of us should be reaping the benefits of seeds sowed this past winter and spring. My most popular blog of April was my blog on Peggy Herman with 550 hits as of this writing! I hope that you will join our celebration of Peggy on Sunday night!.

I am busy working away on my book.

Here are the latest updates on my book! CALL ON DOLLY: A celebration of Hello, Dolly! since I posted last month.

Check out my blog later this month on Jim Brochu and his memories of David Burns.

Sandi Patty as Dolly Levi with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
Credits: Thomas J. Russo

In April, I interviewed Gary Beach who just recently played Horace Vandergelder opposite Sandi Patty with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in a concert version of Dolly! (with a 75 piece orchestra). He just closed earlier last month at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre in Florida opposite Vicki Lewis AND he is about to begin rehearsals any minute to play opposite Lorna Luft at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Massachusetts.
I cannot wait to see this. Read more HERE One highlight of April for me was going to The Actor’s Home in Englewood, New Jersey and interviewing Gordon Connell who played the Judge in the original production and stood by for David Burns (Horace Vandergelder) . Read about his memories HERE.

Keep checking www.CallonDolly.com (It is a work in progress.)
Updated daily.

What is not there that YOU would like to see there?)

We Have a Fan Page On Facebook. Hit the LIKE button and get book updates: https://www.facebook.com/CallOnDollyACelebrationOfHelloDolly

Betsy Palmer as Dolly Levi

Carol with Ron Young

Also, Check out my blog on Ron Young (Original company) :

In addition to and Gary Wright and Ron Young, I have interviewed Mary Ellen Ashley, Gary Beach, Johnny Beecher (Barnaby Tucker in Mary Martin’s international tour), Carol Channing, Wayne Clark, Gordon Connell, Carole Cook, Stephan deGhelder, Marcia Milgrom Dodge (current production of Dolly at Jupiter Dinner Theatre in Florida), Jack Dyville (Yvonne deCarlo company), Charles Karel, Sue Ane Langdon, Sondra Lee (Broadway’s original Minnie Fay), Marilyn Maye, Bruce Morgan (Yvonne deCarlo’s son), Roberta Olden (she was Ginger Rogers’ personal assistant), and Jim Stoker (Marilyn Maye’s Dolly!) , and Gary Wright (Barnaby Tucker, 1988 tour)

I also have interviewed cast and crew of various productions. This book will be a definitive history told from those who LIVED it!

I am including some of these interviews as part of my blog to build up the excitement in anticipation of this book.

Still looking forward to talking with you!

Is there anyone YOU think I should talk to?

I am pursuing an agent this month. Wish me luck!

May is a month of Peggys for me!

VETERAN SINGER PEGGY HERMAN MARRIES JERRY HERMAN… IN NEW ALBUM MUSIC-DIRECTED BY ALEX RYBECK

“HERMAN ON HERMAN” RELEASES MAY 6 AT FEINSTEIN’S IN EVENING PRODUCED BY YOURS TRULY!

They don’t just have a name in common. The symbiosis between the composer Jerry Herman and the actress-singer Peggy Herman runs deep, and in Herman’s new recording of Herman classics, the voice and the songs do form a perfect marriage.

AND I am interviewing Peggy Pope at Barnes and Noble in New York on May 11th to celebrate the release of her memoir, Atta Girl!

I am closing out the month with a concert in Asbury Park as Richard Skipper! Would LOVE to see you there.

The Tony Nominations were announced this morning!

May the 2012 Tony Race Begin!

The Broadway musical "Once" is leading the pack of nominees at this year's Tony Awards.

The nominations were announced at the New York Public Library this morning by actors Kristen Chenoweth and Jim Parsons.

"Once," which tells the love story of a Czech flower seller and an Irish street musician, received 11 nominations.

Close behind with 10 nominations each are the revival of "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess" and "Nice Work if You Can Get It".

Joining "Once" and "Nice Work if You Can Get it" in the best musical category are "Newsies" and "Leap of Faith".

"Peter and the Star Catcher," a play about the origins of Peter Pan earned nine nominations.

The revival of "Follies" and "Newsies" got eight each.

About 40 shows opened this past season.

The Tony Awards will be broadcast live on CBS from the Beacon Theatre on June 10, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.

2012 Tony Nominations

Clybourne Park. Photo: Joan Marcus: Playbill.com

Best Play
Clybourne Park
Author: Bruce Norris
Producers: Jujamcyn Theaters, Jane Bergère, Roger Berlind/Quintet Productions, Eric Falkenstein/Dan Frishwasser, Ruth Hendel/Harris Karma Productions, JTG Theatricals, Daryl Roth, Jon B. Platt, Center Theatre Group, Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons
Other Desert Cities
Author: Jon Robin Baitz
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten, Bob Boyett
Peter and the Starcatcher
Author: Rick Elice
Producers: Nancy Nagel Gibbs, Greg Schaffert, Eva Price, Tom Smedes, Disney Theatrical Productions, Suzan and Ken Wirth/DeBartolo Miggs, Catherine Schreiber/Daveed Frazier and Mark Thompson, Jack Lane, Jane Dubin, Allan S. Gordon/Adam S. Gordon, Baer and Casserly/Nathan Vernon, Rich Affanato/Peter Stern, Brunish and Trinchero/Laura Little Productions, Larry Hirschhorn/Hummel and Greene, Jamie deRoy and Probo Prods./Radio Mouse Ent., Hugh Hysell/Freedberg and Dale, New York Theatre Workshop

Venus in Fur
Author: David Ives
Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove, Jon B. Platt, Scott Landis, Classic Stage Company
Best Musical
Leap of Faith
Producers: Michael Manheim, James D. Stern, Douglas L. Meyer, Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch, Annette Niemtzow, Daryl Roth, Robert G. Bartner, Steven and Shanna Silva, Endgame Entertainment, Patricia Monaco, Debi Coleman, Dancap Productions, Inc., Steve Kaplan, Relativity Media, LLC, Rich/Caudwell, Center Theatre Group, Michael Palitz, Richard J. Stern, Melissa Pinsly/Celine Rosenthal, Independent Presenters Network, Diana Buckhantz, Pamela Cooper, Vera Guerin, Leading Investment Co., Ltd., Christina Papagjika, Victor Syrmis, Semlitz/Glaser Productions, Jujamcyn Theaters

Newsies

Newsies

Producers: Disney Theatrical Productions, Thomas Schumacher
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Producers: Scott Landis, Roger Berlind, Sonia Friedman Productions, Roy Furman, Standing CO Vation, Candy Spelling, Freddy DeMann, Ronald Frankel, Harold Newman, Jon B. Platt, Raise the Roof 8, Takonkiet Viravan, William Berlind/Ed Burke, Carole L. Haber/Susan Carusi, Buddy and Barbara Freitag/Sanford Robertson, Jim Herbert/Under the Wire, Emanuel Azenberg, The Shubert Organization
Once
Producers: Barbara Broccoli, John N. Hart, Jr., Patrick Milling Smith, Frederick Zollo, Brian Carmody, Michael G. Wilson, Orin Wolf, The Shubert Organization, Robert Cole, New York Theatre Workshop

Best Revival of a Play

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Producers: Scott Rudin, Stuart Thompson, Jon B. Platt, Columbia Pictures, Jean Doumanian, Merritt Forrest Baer, Roger Berlind, Scott M. Delman, Sonia Friedman Productions, Ruth Hendel, Carl Moellenberg, Scott and Brian Zeilinger, Eli Bush

Gore Vidal’s The Best Man
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, INFINITY Stages, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Barbara Manocherian/ Michael Palitz, Kathleen K. Johnson, Andy Sandberg, Ken Mahoney/The Broadway Consortium, Fifty Church Street Productions, Larry Hirschhorn/Bennu Productions, Patty Baker, Paul Boskind and Martian Entertainment, Wendy Federman, Mark S. Golub and David S. Golub, Cricket Hooper Jiranek, Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley, Carl Moellenberg, Harold Thau, Will Trice

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Master Class, a revival of the Terrence McNally play with Tyne Daly as Maria Callas, is at the Friedman Theater.

Master Class
Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove, Max Cooper, Maberry Theatricals, Marks-Moore-Turnbull Group, Ted Snowdon
Wit
Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove
Best Revival of a Musical
Evita
Producers: Hal Luftig, Scott Sanders Productions, Roy Furman, Yasuhiro Kawana, Allan S. Gordon/Adam S. Gordon, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Gutterman Fuld Chernoff/Pittsburgh CLO, Thousand Stars Productions, Adam Blanshay, Adam Zotovich, Robert Ahrens, Stephanie P. McClelland, Carole L. Haber, Richardo Hornos, Carol Fineman, Brian Smith, Warren & Jâlé Trepp
Follies
Producers: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, David M. Rubenstein, Michael A. Kaiser, Max A. Woodward, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Adrienne Arsht, HRH Foundation, Allan Williams

The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Rebecca Gold, Howard Kagan, Cheryl Wiesenfeld/Brunish Trinchero/Lucio Simons TBC, Joseph & Matthew Deitch, Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub, Terry Schnuck, Freitag Productions/Koenigsberg Filerman, The Leonore S. Gershwin 1987 Trust, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Ken Mahoney, Judith Resnick, Tulchin/Bartner/ATG, Paper Boy Productions, Christopher Hart, Alden Badway, Broadway Across America, Irene Gandy, Will Trice, American Repertory Theater

Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar

Producers: The Dodgers and The Really Useful Group, Latitude Link, Tamara and Kevin Kinsella, Pelican Group, Waxman-Dokton, Joe Corcoran, Detsky/Sokolowski/Kassie, Florin-Blanshay-Fan/Broadway Across America, Rich/Caudwell, Shin/Coleman, TheatreDreams North America, LLC, Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Best Book of a Musical
Lysistrata Jones
Douglas Carter Beane
Newsies
Harvey Fierstein
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Joe DiPietro
Once
Enda Walsh
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Bonnie and Clyde
Music: Frank Wildhorn
Lyrics: Don Black
Newsies
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Jack Feldman
One Man, Two Guvnors
Music and Lyrics: Grant Olding
Peter and the Starcatcher
Music: Wayne Barker
Lyrics: Rick Elice
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

James Corden, One Man, Two Guvnors
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
James Earl Jones, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man
Frank Langella, Man and Boy
John Lithgow, The Columnist

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Nina Arianda, Venus in Fur
Tracie Bennett, End of the Rainbow

Tracie Bennett, End of the Rainbow

Stockard Channing, Other Desert Cities
Linda Lavin, The Lyons
Cynthia Nixon, Wit
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Danny Burstein, Follies
Jeremy Jordan, Newsies
Steve Kazee, Once
Norm Lewis, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Ron Raines, Follies
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Jan Maxwell, Follies
Audra McDonald, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Cristin Milioti, Once
Kelli O’Hara, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Laura Osnes, Bonnie & Clyde
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Christian Borle, Peter and the Starcatcher
Michael Cumpsty, End of the Rainbow
Tom Edden, One Man, Two Guvnors
Andrew Garfield, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Jeremy Shamos, Clybourne Park
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Linda Emond, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Photo by Joan Marcus

From l.-r., Jennifer Tilly, Ben Daniels and Spencer Kayden play farce and loose in ‘Don’t Dress for Dinner.’

Spencer Kayden, Don’t Dress for Dinner

Celia Keenan-Bolger, Peter and the Starcatcher
Judith Light, Other Desert Cities
Condola Rashad, Stick Fly
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Phillip Boykin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Michael Cerveris, Evita
David Alan Grier, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess

NaTasha Yvette Williams, left, and David Alan Grier are shown in a scene from "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess" in New York. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Richards Associates, Michael J. Lutch)

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ghost the Musical

Michael McGrath, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Josh Young, Jesus Christ Superstar
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Elizabeth A. Davis, Once
Jayne Houdyshell, Follies
Judy Kaye, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Jessie Mueller, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ghost the Musical
Best Scenic Design of a Play
John Lee Beatty, Other Desert Cities
Daniel Ostling, Clybourne Park
Mark Thompson, One Man, Two Guvnors
Donyale Werle, Peter and the Starcatcher
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Bob Crowley, Once
Rob Howell and Jon Driscoll, Ghost the Musical
Tobin Ost and Sven Ortel, Newsies
George Tsypin, Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark
Best Costume Design of a Play
William Ivey Long, Don’t Dress for Dinner
Paul Tazewell, A Streetcar Named Desire

Cast of A Streetcar Named Desire

Mark Thompson, One Man, Two Guvnors
Paloma Young, Peter and the Starcatcher
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Follies
ESosa, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Eiko Ishioka, Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark
Martin Pakledinaz, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Best Lighting Design of a Play

Jeff Croiter, Peter and the Starcatcher
Peter Kaczorowski, The Road to Mecca
Brian MacDevitt, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Kenneth Posner, Other Desert Cities
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Christopher Akerlind, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Natasha Katz, Follies
Natasha Katz, Once
Hugh Vanstone, Ghost the Musical

Death of A Salesman

Best Sound Design of a Play
Paul Arditti, One Man, Two Guvnors
Scott Lehrer, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Gareth Owen, End of the Rainbow
Darron L. West, Peter and the Starcatcher
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Acme Sound Partners, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Clive Goodwin, Once
Kai Harada, Follies
Brian Ronan, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, Evita
Christopher Gattelli, Newsies
Steven Hoggett, Once
Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Best Direction of a Play
Nicholas Hytner, One Man, Two Guvnors
Pam MacKinnon, Clybourne Park
Mike Nichols, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, Peter and the Starcatcher
Best Direction of a Musical
Jeff Calhoun, Newsies
Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Diane Paulus, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
John Tiffany, Once
Best Orchestrations
William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Bill Elliott, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Martin Lowe, Once
Danny Troob, Newsies
Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Emanuel Azenberg
Regional Theatre Award
The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, D.C.
Isabelle Stevenson Award

Bernadette Peters
Special Tony Award
Actors’ Equity Association
Hugh Jackman
Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre
Freddie Gershon
Artie Siccardi
TDF Open Doors

Thank you, to ALL of the artists of Broadway both on and off stage past, present, and future, for the gifts you have given and continue to give to the world!

Your devoted fan,