The 65th Tony Awards - Live Blog Song & Dance!

UPDATED WITH VIDEO

6:33 I feel like a 14 year old Michigander again, all excited for the Tony Awards to start despite not having any access to the shows. It's so masochistic, loving the theater! See, this has been my most poverty stricken year yet, so all I've seen is Catch Me If You Can, The Normal Heart, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (which didn't get the main nomination it deserved in Best Actor) and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown which was kinda terrible but still got some nominations.

6:35 Norbert Leo Butz arrives. He's nominated for Catch Me If You Can in the Tom Hanks role. Tom Hanks couldn't catch him if he tried Butz is so great in it. He says he's feeling...

joyous, celebratory, triumphant.

He also reveals that he met his wife while doing Wicked, a "showmance" that lasted and he says he filled out Fiyero's super tight pants better than his current Catch Me co-star Aaron Tveit

I couldn't find good pictures so you'll have to imagine the captain tight pants competition.

Norbert (original cast) & Aaron (one of many replacements)

poll by twiigs.com

6:52 My showmance with the theater, like Butz's, also lasted. Obviously due to my masochism.

6:53 They're talking to John Benjamin Hickey, who is the frontrunner for Featured Actor (i.e. "Best Supporting") for The Normal Heart. He is quite incredible in it -- easily best in show -- but he says he won't be doing much celebrating tonight because he has an early morning call on The Big C. From Tony to Linney... nice work if you can get it !

7:00 Sutton Foster and Bobby Cannavale we're just introduced as 'theater's new "It" Couple' and this was their reaction. Heh. Sutton Foster has been "it" for some time but Bobby is welcome to join.

Bobby & Sutton

The reporter is IN LOVE WITH THEM  even commenting on how "in shape" they are? Lol. (Keep it in your pants, Donna!!!) but that love is going around. It's what happens to it couples, don'cha know.

7:11 Harry Connick Jr has just announced that he is going to star in a revival of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. Good luck finding a Barbra Streisand level co-star, Harry!

7: 15 Victoria Clark from Sister Act says...

God is front and center this season, I'm happy to say.

Huh. I don't remember seeing him in the nominee list. Was he even eligible? 

More after the jump including VIDEO plus Vanessa Redgrave, Hugh Jackman, Neil Patrick Harris. And Frances McDormand is on the way to a triple crown, you betcha!

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Stage Door: Ghost Musical, War Horse, Sandra Bernhard, Tony Predix

Future Live Blog Alert! The Tony Awards are this Sunday evening, June 12th on CBS with Neil Patrick Harris hosting. We'll do a live blog even though we haven't seen most of the productions. It's still the Tonys which means: song, dance, celebrity, weird gaffes that you'd think wouldn't be possible in a show celebrating LIVE performances... i.e. shouldn't they know how to handle live events?

So be here if you're so inclined. Now on to our four theater topics with film tendencies.

1. GHOST THE MUSICAL 
Since all hit films (from 1984 and onwards) are now required to become stage musicals at some point, this had to happen. Should we predict right now that whoever plays Oda Mae Brown wins the Tony when this hits Broadway? 

I was going to write up this "preview" embedded below but sometimes you gotta admit that there's no topping another write up. I challenge anyone to beat Movie|Line's headline... "YOU IN DANGER, LEGIT THEATER"

2. WAR HORSE THE PLAY / MOVIE
I've been a bad Oscar pundit and haven't yet picked up the novel on which this hit play and Steven Spielberg's upcoming movie are based. From what I've gleaned about the show and its competitors, I can see where Michael Muston at ArtsBeat is coming from when he says:

“War Horse” is a children’s story. It’s not a remarkable piece of dramaturgy. It’s all in the staging. People are going to conflate in their heads the play with the staging, and it’s going to win the Tony.

As for Steven Spielberg's film version... there hasn't been all that much news yet but when I saw this tweet from MTV's Josh Horowitz I initially interrupted it as "he's seen the movie!". Overexcitability much, Nathaniel?

One assumes, after smelling salts, that Josh meant the play and has already imagined its suitability for hankies, Oscars, and iconic bearded auteurs.

3. SANDRA BERNHARD
For my birthday celebration my friends took me to see Sandra Bernhard's new show "I Love Being Me, Don't You?" which was indecent with 'look how many famous friends I have!' shenanigans: Justin Bond, Rufus Wainwright and Liza Minnelli came out for duets and Chaddo Ralph Rucci designed her stunning wardrobe.

Though thrilling on paper, the guest appearances were too unrehearsed to be the highlight of the show. The best moments were 100% undiluted Sandy... (More Sandra --with video -- and the Tony Award Predictions)

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Tony Nominees 2011

Matthew Broderick and Anika Noni Rose announce the nominees

Bright and early, that's how all awards nominations are announced. Tony winners Matthew Broderick and Anika Noni Rose, read the names at 8:30 AM. Broderick, who had a very famous run as a movie star in the 80s, actually won his Tony in 1996 for the musical revival of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Sixteen years later, another revival of that same musical opens with another famous young movie actor, the boy wizard himself Daniel Radcliffe. But he wasn't nominated so no history repeating itself this time.

New musicals The Book of Mormon (from the South Park guys), The Scottsboro Boys and the raved revival of Anything Goes with Sutton Foster and Joel Grey (still doing 8 shows a week at 79 years of age) lead the nomination tally with 14, 12 and 9 nominations respectively.

Notable Celebrity Snubs: The Tony nominating committee has gotten a lot of flak over the years for valuing performers with off-stage celebrity over those with impressive Broadway credits. But this year maybe they're slightly working against the FAME trend. Celebrities Robin Williams (Benghal Tiger) and Kathleen Turner (High) were both left off their category's lineups and obviously Harry Potter fans won't be happy to see Radcliffe snubbed. James Earl Jones was also snubbed for his Driving Miss Daisy performance. 

Swenson, Butler and Radcliffe. All snubbed for roles you've seen at the movies!

Stage-Star Snubs: Will Swenson (Priscilla) and Aaron Tveit (Catch Me If You Can) were undone by competing against their co-leads (who were nominated). Future movie star Benjamin Walker, who ruled the nation onstage with huge charisma inBloody Bloody Andrew Jackson should have been recognized. Former Xanadu headliner Kerry Butler, who is always a joy to watch, did not win a nomination for Catch Me If You Can (she was in the Amy Adams role) continuing her rough relationship with Tony. Xanadu aside, she's been snubbed the other three times she's been eligible despite well received work or hit shows. What's that about?

Triple Crown Alerts? None that I see on first run through. Vanessa Redgrave, nominated for Jessica Tandy's Oscar winning Driving Miss Daisy role, already has the Oscar-Emmy-Tony triple. So does Al Pacino who is nominated again for The Merchant of Venice. Frances McDormand, nominated for Good People, only has the Oscar so she'd still need an Emmy if she wins this year's Lead Drama Actress prize.

Sutton Foster Break! I'm sorry but I just l-o-v-e her. Seeing her onstage is always a thrill. Here she is rehearsing with Oscar and Tony winner Joel Grey.

A complete list of nominations is after the jump divvied up into Plays and Musicals.

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