'Millie' tops nominations for Broadway productions
5/7/2002NEW YORK - Thoroughly Modern Millie, the tale of an ambitious 1920s flapper in search of a wealthy husband, received 11 Tony Awards nominations yesterday, and the fairy tale musical Into the Woods and the provocatively titled Urinetown each got 10.
Morning's at Seven, the gently nostalgic story of family squabbles, received nine nominations, with five of the nine going to either the featured actor or featured actress category.
Edward Albee's The Goat; Fortune's Fool, an adaptation of a comedy by Ivan Turgenev; Metamorphoses, taken from the classic myths of Ovid, and Topdog/Underdog, Suzan-Lori Parks' drama about sibling rivalry, were the nominees for best play.
Nominated as best musical were Urinetown, where people have to pay to go to the bathroom; the ABBA-inspired Mamma Mia!, and two musicals based on movies, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Sweet Smell of Success, the story of a vicious New York gossip columnist.
In the revival-play category, the shows that will vie for the Tony will be Noel Coward's Private Lives, the British farce Noises Off, The Crucible (Arthur Miller's take on the Salem witch trials), and Morning's at Seven.
In the hotly contested best-actor category, the nominees were Alan Bates, Fortune's Fool; Billy Crudup as the physically deformed title character in The Elephant Man; Liam Neeson as a conflicted farmer in The Crucible; Alan Rickman in Private Lives, and Jeffrey Wright in Topdog/Underdog.
Kate Burton received two Tony nominations - one in the actress category and a second in featured-actress slot. She was nominated for playing Hedda Gabler in a r
Burton's competition for best-actress: Lindsay Duncan, Private Lives; Laura Linney, The Crucible; Helen Mirren, Dance of Death, and Mercedes Ruehl, The Goat.
Actor-musical nominations went to Gavin Creel, Thoroughly Modern Millie; the veteran John Cullum, Urinetown; John Lithgow, Sweet Smell of Success; John McMartin, Into the Woods, and Patrick Wilson, Oklahoma!
Two actresses from Urinetown, Nancy Opel and Jennifer Laura Thompson, will compete against each other for the actress-musical prize. They will face Sutton Foster, who plays Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie; Louise Pitre in Mamma Mia!, and Vanessa Williams, who is the witch in Into the Woods.
In 2001, the smash Mel Brooks musical The Producers dominated the nominations and then the ceremony itself. The show received 15 nominations and took home 12 awards last June.
This year, things weren't nearly as clear cut.
Winners will be announced June 2 in a nationally televised broadcast from Radio City Music Hall.
Partial list of the nominees
Nominees in the major categories for the 2002 Tony Awards are:
Play: The Goat, Fortune's Fool, Metamorphoses, Topdog/ Underdog.
Musical: Mamma Mia!, Sweet Smell of Success, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Urinetown The Musical.
Book of a Musical: Catherine Johnson, Mamma Mia!; John Guare, Sweet Smell of Success; Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan, Thoroughly Modern Millie; Greg Kotis, Urinetown The Musical.
Original Score: Sweet Smell of Success, Marvin Hamlisch (music), Craig Carnelia (lyrics); Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jeanine Tesori (music), Dick Scanlan (lyrics); Thou Shalt Not, Harry Connick, Jr. (music and lyrics); Urinetown The Musical, Mark Hollmann (music), Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis (lyrics).
Revival-Play: The Crucible, Morning's at Seven, Noises Off, Private Lives.
Revival-Musical: Into the Woods, Oklahoma!
Actor-Play: Alan Bates, Fortune's Fool; Billy Crudup, The Elephant Man; Liam Neeson, The Crucible; Alan Rickman, Private Lives; Jeffrey Wright, Topdog/Underdog.
Actress-Play: Kate Burton, Hedda Gabler; Lindsay Duncan, Private Lives; Laura Linney, The Crucible; Helen Mirren, Dance of Death; Mercedes Ruehl, The Goat.
Actor-Musical: Gavin Creel, Thoroughly Modern Millie; John Cullum, Urinetown The Musical; John Lithgow, Sweet Smell of Success; John McMartin, Into the Woods; Patrick Wilson, Oklahoma!
Actress-Musical: Sutton Foster, Thoroughly Modern Millie; Nancy Opel, Urinetown The Musical; Louise Pitre, Mamma Mia!; Jennifer Laura Thompson, Urinetown The Musical; Vanessa Williams, Into the Woods.
Featured Actor-Play: Frank Langella, Fortune's Fool; William Biff McGuire and Stephen Tobolowsky, Morning's at Seven; Brian Murray, The Crucible; Sam Robards, The Man Who Had All the Luck.
Featured Actress-Play: Kate Burton, The Elephant Man; Katie Finneran, Noises Off; Elizabeth Franz and Estelle Parsons, and Frances Sternhagen, Morning's at Seven.
Featured Actor-Musical: Norbert Leo Butz, Thou Shalt Not; Gregg Edelman, Into the Woods; Shuler Hensley, Oklahoma!; Brian d'Arcy James, Sweet Smell of Success; Marc Kudisch, Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Featured Actress-Musical: Laura Benanti, Into the Woods; Harriet Harris, Thoroughly Modern Millie; Spencer Kayden, Urinetown The Musical; Judy Kaye, Mamma Mia!; Andrea Martin, Oklahoma!
Scenic Design: John Lee Beatty, Morning's at Seven; Tim Hatley, Private Lives; Daniel Ostling, Metamorphoses; Douglas W. Schmidt, Into the Woods.
Costume Design: Jenny Beavan, Private Lives; Jane Greenwood, Morning's at Seven; Susan Hilferty, Into the Woods; Martin Pakledinaz, Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Choreography: Rob Ashford, Thoroughly Modern Millie; John Carrafa, Into the Woods and Urinetown The Musical; Susan Stroman, Oklahoma!
Direction/Play: Howard Davies, Private Lives; Richard Eyre, The Crucible; Daniel Sullivan, Morning's at Seven, Mary Zimmerman, Metamorphoses.
Direction/ Musical: James Lapine, Into the Woods, Michael Mayer, Thoroughly Modern Millie; Trevor Nunn, Oklahoma!; John Rando, Urinetown The Musical.