海角大神

Sunday nights鈥櫬�67th Annual Tony Awards may provide a toe-tappin鈥� evening, but聽that won鈥檛 necessarily be thanks to聽any show nominated for Broadway鈥檚 top honor.

In a break with the awards-show tradition of showcasing聽nominated material, tunes from past hits such as 鈥淧hantom of the Opera,鈥� and the current box-office darling 鈥淢otown鈥� 鈥� not up for best musical 鈥� are set to deliver some of the broadcast鈥檚 big musical numbers.

There鈥檚 a reason.

鈥淭his just illustrates how bad the split between commercial and critical hits has become,鈥� says playwright聽Charles Evered.

Of course, ever since the founding days of Broadway, playwrights have bemoaned聽producer鈥檚 demands to sell tickets. Nonetheless,聽says Mr. Evered, 鈥渢here are many good examples from the past聽鈥� even more recent past such as 鈥楾he Lion King,鈥� that show it possible to be great art and a big hit.鈥�

But this year, the broadcast鈥檚 producers are聽facing a mandate to lift the CBS聽event from last year, when only six million viewers tuned in and the show scored its lowest ratings in two decades.

This refrain is familiar, too.聽The Tonys have routinely scored behind other awards shows such as the Oscars and the Grammys, says Anthony Chase, theater critic and assistant dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Buffalo State University in New York.

The standard line on this audience lag, he says, goes something like this: 鈥淭here will be 6,000 people watching聽from the audience in Radio City Music Hall Sunday night, and maybe that many will be聽watching on TV,鈥� he says, somewhat ruefully.

Producers acknowledge this year鈥檚 approach is a departure. 鈥淭his year is a bit different for us because we鈥檒l be putting on a show about iconic Broadway,鈥� producer Glenn Weiss told the Los Angeles Times. 鈥淲e felt that that was important for [viewers] who didn鈥檛 make it for the first month of opening. They need material they know and love.鈥�

Frontrunners such as 鈥淢atilda The Musical鈥� and 鈥淜inky Boots鈥� are not exactly household names and tell relatively unfamiliar tales.

The first聽is based on a dark Roald Dahl story about a lonely girl mistreated by a vengeful headmistress. 鈥淜inky,鈥� with songs by pop diva Cyndi Lauper, is based on a聽story about a languishing British shoe factory that gets back on its feet after discovering a niche market in fetish footwear.

Some of the nominated shows are not even running on Theatre Row anymore. 鈥淭he Testament of Mary,鈥� a one-woman show starring Fiona Shaw, closed only a few weeks after the Tony nominations were announced at the聽 end of April.

While Tom Hanks is up for his turn in the also-nominated Nora Ephron play, 鈥淟ucky guy,鈥� Tony voters looked past some other big Hollywood names currently on聽Broadway. The list includes Bette Midler, holding down an 80-minute, one-woman show, 鈥淚鈥檒l Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers,鈥� and Sigourney Weaver, starring in Christopher Durang鈥檚 鈥淰anya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,鈥澛爓hich is nominated for Best Play.

Broadway is a very small universe, points out Professor Chase. Indeed, the 26 Tonys are decided by 868 voters from the awards鈥� co-sponsor, the American Theatre Wing,聽Broadway鈥檚 unions and craft guilds, the New York Drama Critics Circle, and the Broadway League.

But live theater is something every small and large city in the nation should care about, he points out.

鈥淭hese are the shows that will eventually land in your local community theater, be performed by your high schools and college students,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hese are the shows that will give life to the most primal art form we have, the art of live storytelling.鈥�

If that is not reason enough, consider the numbers, says Chase.聽The big Broadway musicals that eventually spawn touring companies are 鈥渢he economic life聽blood of many downtowns where the big touring shows play in those big local theaters,鈥� he adds.