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Today on Broadway: Tuesday, April 29, 2025
00:18:12
Tony Honors Recipients Announced, Final Eligibility Rulings Revealed, Brady and Diggs to Join ‘Moulin Rouge’ Since 2016, “Today on Broadway” has been the first and only daily podcast recapping the top theatre headlines every Monday through Friday.
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Matt Tammanini
On Broadway for Tuesday, April 29th, 2025. I'm Broadway Radio's Matt Tammanini and I'm.
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Grace Aki
Telling on a Sunday Podcast Grace Aki.
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Matt Tammanini
Grace, we are just a handful of days away from the Tony nominations being announced. I wanted to make sure that everyone knew, as we have in the past, we will not have a regular episode of Today on Broadway, although we might have an interview in the slot that would normally be Today on Broadway, both on Patreon and in the regular feed. But as soon as all of the nominations have been announced, I will jump into the podcast feed and run you through all of them. It'll just be me kind of giving you a download on each of the categories, maybe throwing in a little bit of tidbits of news. But it'll be very quickly after they're done. And then Grace, you and I will do kind of our own breakdown and inspection of each of the major categories for the next day's episode of Today on Broadway. So be a little weird on Thursday, May 1, because the announcement starts at 8:30 on CBS and then happens on YouTube at 9. But then you and I will do a deep dive into them for Friday, May 2nd. Today on Broadway. That's right. Right. Like that makes. That makes sense, right?
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Grace Aki
It's clear as mud to me.
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Matt Tammanini
Okay, good. I'll just tell you when to sign on to Zoom and we'll go from there. But we did get some information from the Tony Awards on Monday, and that is who are going to be receiving the special Tony's honors this year. And it is a fantastic group of institutions and individuals. We will start with the PBS Great Performance series, which has brought so many fantastic productions to theater lovers across the country. Just this year, over the next few months, we're going to be able to see yellowface girl from the North Country, Kiss Me Kate, next to Normal, the first two from Broadway, the next two from London. That is a tremendous resource not only for pbs, but for the American theater. Next will be the longtime Goodspeed Musicals artistic director, Michael price, then the New 42 theater, and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. All of those organizations and individuals have done incredible work to support theater across the country. Michael Price has served as the executive director of Goodspeed musicals since 1968, the longest tenure in American theater. Under his leadership, the Connecticut Theater has become renowned for developing new work as well as reinventing older classics, including 19 productions that have transferred to Broadway and that have accumulated 13 different Tony Awards. Absolutely fantastic. New 42 is an organization that focuses on urban redevelopment. It was founded in 1990 to help revitalize 42nd Street. Obviously, so much of what they have done and been a part of has really changed the way that not only the theater district is perceived, but also New York City in general. They also are behind things like the new Victory Theater, which is the children's theater right there on 42nd street, new 42 Studios and stuff like that. So just an absolutely fantastic organization. We all know about the New York Library for the Performing Arts, where you can go and watch archives of musicals and plays that have been on Broadway. So, Grace, this seems to me like the perfect grouping of Tony honorees from all different aspects of theater. Sometimes I think we get a little bit too inside baseball with some of these things. Michael Price probably isn't a name that a ton of people outside of the the community know, but it's good to have someone like him who has been behind the scenes person. But then you throw in things like great performances, you throw in new 42, you throw in the Lincoln Center Public Library. I think this is a really good way to showcase all of the different types of people who can impact the theater community without being the ones who actually make the shows.
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Grace Aki
I agree. And I think it's the moment where you do have an opportunity to actually acknowledge the people that are a part of that fabric of that community. You know, the. The people that are presenting the people that are hosting all those things. You know, you need the starry who' to be watching for who. But with these kind of like, you know, accolades, it's a lifetime achievement in a way. It's a, hey, you're a huge contributor to the overall global and you know, national level preservation of theater. So I think it's great.
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Matt Tammanini
And I will mention that that is not the only decisions that have been made by the Tony Administration committee, although they are the only ones that are public as of this recording time. I have heard from some inside sources that individual productions from the last quarter of the year or last quarter of the season have been inform about their Tony status for different categories. Whether they're going to be new or revival, whether somebody is going to be considered lead or featured, who's going to be considered for different design awards and things like that. Those have not yet been made public, but they probably will be on Tuesday. They just wanted to spread those things out. But the individual productions have been informed of those ruling so that they can start focusing on campaigns and marketing for that. One of the ones that I'm really the most interested in, Grace, is what they are going going to do with two actors. David Hyde Pierce from Pyrus the Penzance Musical and Sadie Sink from John Proctor is the villain. I have not seen either of these shows, so I'm just kind of basing this off of what I have heard for both of them. They are both above the title in their respective shows, so by virtue of that they would automatically be slotted into the lead best performance categories. However, from what I understand, both of those actors are in a substantially less amount of their respective shows than you would normally consider for a lead and both of them are giving potential award winning performances. So I'm interested to see if their individual productions have kind of let them go as leads or if they have potentially petitioned to have them in featured. Because as of now I have my predictions ready to go once we have these for who I think is going to be nominated in each category. But if Sadie or David is bumped down too featured, that would change a lot of things. And I imagine that there are a lot of shows kind of waiting to see what those determinations are because it will impact a lot of people.
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Grace Aki
I agree. I mean it's a massive like shift around depending on what that looks like. So I'm, I am also eagerly awaiting with beta breath on what those eligibilities actually will will come out too. So you and me both, I think everybody else is, is also on pins and needles.
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Matt Tammanini
So you saw John Proctor. Have you seen Pirates?
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Grace Aki
No, I've not gotten to see it, unfortunately yet. But hey, listen, good for them, selling very well. So I'm excited for them. But no, I haven't seen it.
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Matt Tammanini
So from your perspective, just on like a, an impact to the show or stage time, do you think Sadie should be lead or do you think she should be featured based off of what you saw in the show?
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Grace Aki
I think it's a, it's a considerably ensemble piece and she doesn't come out, start a spoiler for a while in the show, but then once she is there, she has a very strong impact. I actually think it's a generally ensemble. Like, I think that any one of those performers, especially the school girls, they are. I would consider all of them eligible for either supporting or lead because there's a lot of people that carry so much of that show that are not Sadie. But she also is kind of like the crux of the kind of the whole thing. So it really depends. And because the show has never been on Broadway before, this will be the time to determine it.
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Matt Tammanini
Yeah, you're right. There is no precedent to base it off of. And although I will say the producers behind the show really tried to get this into the revival category, from what I understand, I think that was kind of a cynical effort of category dodging there. I don't believe that actually is going to end up happening. But we will see whatever the determinations are when they are announced probably later today on Tuesday. All right, coming in here with some breaking news because literally, like the minute Grace and I hung up on our zoom, I got the information on the last meeting from the Tony Awards administration committee that ruled on the status of the remaining 12 Broadway productions from the 2024, 2025 season. And we got the answers to the questions I was asking. But real quick, the productions that were discussed include Goodnight, Good Luck, Boop, the Last Five Years, Old Friends, Smash, John Proctor is the Villain, Floyd Collins, Stranger Things, the First Shadow Pirates, the Penzance Musical, Just In Time, Real Women have Curves and Dead Outlaw. The rulings of note should be Jasmine. Amy Rogers is, unsurprisingly going to be considered in the best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical the last five years will be considered eligible in the best revival of a musical category, even though it has never been on Broadway before. That means that Jason Robert Brown will be considered jointly eligible if that show were to win best revival. He would also get a Tony Award for that, since it has never been on Broadway before. JRB will also be eligible for Best Orchestrations. Bernadette Peters will be eligible for best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical, as will Lea Salonga. Robin Herder will be in the lead category for Smash. As I had alluded to, John Proctor is the Villain is not going to be considered a revival. It's only three years old. Even though this production is not related to previous productions, it is a new show considered by the Tonys. Floyd Collins, similarly to the last five years, has never been on Broadway before. But since it is considered a revival because of the length of its existence, Tina Landau and Adam Gettle will also be eligible for Tonys if that show wins. Jeremy Jordan, unsurprisingly, the title role will be eligible in the leading role in a musical category. Rupert Holmes for Pirates of Penzance will be eligible for best Book because of his adaptation. Jinx Monsoon will be eligible for best performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a musical. And what's interesting about that is that Jinx, David Hyde Pierce and Ramin Karimloo were all above the title. That means that Jinx was petitioned down or was just slotted down by the committee and David Hyde Pierce was not because we do not have a reference to David Hyde Pierce. That means that he is going to be considered in the best performance by an actor in a Leading Role in a Musical category, which really shakes things up and could spell some bad things for folks like maybe Tom Francis from Sunset Boulevard. We'll, we'll talk about that later in the week. Similarly, as I mentioned a second ago with Grace, Sadie Sink is not mentioned in here. That means she will continue to be considered in Lead Actress in a Play because she was above the title and was not ruled down. Here. Some other real quick ones. Tatiana Cordoba is eligible for best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Real Women have Curves. And Andrew Durand will be considered in the best performance by an actor in the Leading Role category for Dead Outlaw. All right, now that I've got you that breaking news, I will get you back to the rest of today on Broadway. But Grace, you mentioned the Tony Honors, and these are kind of like lifetime achievement career Appreciation Awards. Well, yesterday we got some information on other awards that are the exact opposite. In fact, they are specifically young people in the beginnings of their careers. These are the Clive Barnes Awards for Dance and Theater, of course, named for the longtime critic for the New York Times and New York Post, Clive Barnes, who covered both theater and dance they go to three performers who have performed in New York in theater and the three performers who performed in New York in dance over the course of the season. There are 11 people on a committee made up of arts journalists and accomplished professionals in each field, and they actually go calendar year. So keep in mind that this is from January through December of 2024 for when shows began performances. So it's a little weird that they're getting announced now while we're, you know, almost four full months in. But keep that in mind. The three theater recipients are Eva Lala Zazarda from English, Tom Francis from Sunset Boulevard, and Helen J. Shen from maybe Happy Ending. The dance recipients are David Gabriel from the New York City Ballet, Isaac K. Harvey from Evidence, and Ken and Sug from Doug Varone and dancers. They will all be recognized when they have the 15th annual Clive Barnes Awards ceremony coming up in May. All right, moving away from awards Grace and into casting. Look, we talk a lot about how shows are able to keep themselves running after the first year. Excitement goes after the second, third, fourth year of excitement goes now into, I believe, getting ready to have its sixth anniversary on Broadway here in a couple months. Moulin Rouge has announced some casting that should be pretty exciting for a lot of folks because starting in the summer, pretty much in line with its sixth anniversary, will be two pretty big stars of both stage and screen, Wayne Brady and Taye Diggs. Wayne Brady will step into the role of Harold Zidler, and Taye Diggs will take over the role of the Duke. They will begin their performances on July 22. Taye Diggs is currently scheduled to run through September 28, and Wayne Brady is going to play through November 9. I would not be surprised if Wayne, based off of his TV shooting schedule for let's Make a Deal, if he continues that into January, which may or may not be the end of this show's run. But if you would have asked me a million years who was going to be the next Ziddler and Duke in Moulin Rouge on Broadway, Grace, I never would have picked Wayne Brady and Taye Diggs individually or separately, but I like it. I think this is a really cool thing to do to throw them in there. As of now, Solea Pfeiffer and Jordan Fisher are scheduled to copy up until July 22nd. I don't know if they're going to continue, if they're going to have new people coming in, but Wayne Brady, Taye Diggs, obviously big names for a good summer rush to hopefully keep people heading over to the Al Hirschfeld Theater.
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Grace Aki
Oh, I mean, I'm going to be there. One thing about me is I'm not going to miss it. Saw Tay in Hedwig, famously for my birthday, I'm going to say 10 years ago. So this is fascinating, but good for them.
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Matt Tammanini
All right. Last week we talked about the fact that Hannah Corneau and Patty Murin were going to lead the Muni production of Fro Frozen over the summer. Now we have the next group of cast members that are going to be heading down to St. Louis's ginormous outdoor theater. And this is for their latest production of Jersey Boys. It'll be directed by Maggie Burrows and it is going to play from August 18th through the 24th. Leading the cast will be Ryan Vasquez. He hasn't been on Broadway in two months, so he's got to find some big, big high profile gig. He will play Tommy DeVito. Corey Giacomo will play Nick Massey. Pablo David Lau Sierza will play Frankie Valli. Probably screwed up that last name. I apologize. Andrew Poston will play Bob Gaudio and John Leon will play Chip DeCarlo with Shay Kaufman as Bob Crew. The rest of the cast will be announced at a later date. And then I've got some recommendations here, Grace. Lots of performances coming out. We are getting ready for the Broadway week over at the Today Show. We had the first day of that on Monday. We'll get to that here in a second. But in the meantime we have a very cool acoustic performance that is from the band Lawrence, which if you are paying attention to things happening in theater, one of the members of the band Lawrence, Gracie Lawrence, is currently making her Broadway debut in Just In Time opposite Jonathan Groff. Well, they have collaborated on an acoustic version of the song My First Real Love, which was the very first song that their characters in the show, Connie Francis and Bobby Darin, performed together. So they have recorded an acoustic version. We will have that in the show. Notes, kind of a behind the scenes audio of that. And then on the Today show on Monday, the cast of Smash took to the airwaves on NBC. We got two performances. One, Robin Herder leading the cast in Let Me Be youe Star. And then the other, Caroline Bowman leading the cast in National Pastime. This is really the first time I've had an opportunity, Grace, to see full performances from the show because I've kind of avoided anything I've seen on social media or whatever and I didn't see the workshop. So I'm getting ready to see this show coming up next week. And it's exactly what I want. Like, it's fun, it's silly, it's goofy. Who knows what the entire show will be like if I'll take to all those changes. But in terms of doing performances of those songs, that's what I want to see based off of how much I loved the original TV show.
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Grace Aki
Yeah, I love that they're rolling these out. So it's super smart. And I know that, you know, it's. Tis the season, it's the time. So here we are.
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Matt Tammanini
Let me ask you this question. We know that coming up this week on the Today show, we're also going to get. Boop. Death becomes her and maybe happy ending. How important are these things in terms of, like, the marketing for a show, not just in terms of ticket sales, but also awards consideration? This is not a coincidence that the Today show is having these performances this week. So, like, how impactful are these things? How much do these play into what everything that you folks are doing on the marketing side for a show?
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Grace Aki
I mean, they're all. There's, there's so much synergy with all of it. You know what I mean? Like, it's, it's getting that b roll out there. It's. It's a part of the press push. I mean, all of these things are working in sync. Like, it's, it's a big, big puzzle that everyone's trying to build for, I guess, the anticipation not only of Thursday, but beyond that, because regardless of whatever happens there, it's. It's very much like a case of, okay, so from here, what do we have out in the world? What can we amplify? What are people responding to? What are the, you know, tones and nominations that you can encourage that media and content? So it just, it vacillates.
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Matt Tammanini
Of course, we will bring you information on all of the different performances, and we will have links to all of them in the show notes throughout the week. So stay tuned for that. All right, everybody, that's all that we have for today. Thanks for listening to today on Broadway. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram odwayradio. Grace, where can people find you?
- [18:59]
Grace Aki
You can find me at It's Grace Hockey.
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Matt Tammanini
All right, everybody, have a wonderful Tuesday. We'll be back to talk to you tomorrow.
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