Week in Review 6.5.15

Mark Rylance Heading Back to the New York Stage
The three-time Tony Award winner Mark Rylance (Jerusalem, Twelfth Night) will bring Nice Fish to Brooklyn's St. Ann's Warehouse as part of the company's 2015-2016 season. Rylance co-wrote the play with poet Louis Jenkins, upon whose poems the work is based. (Rylance famously recited Jenkins's poems for two of his Tony acceptance speeches.) Nice Fish will be directed by Rylance's wife, Claire van Kampen, a composer who contributed to the Rylance-led Twelfth Night and Richard III productions. It will run February 14-March 13, 2016. St. Ann's season also includes the Young Vic's production of A Streetcar Named Desire (the Tennessee Williams classic was last seen in New York on Broadway in 2012), starring Gillian Anderson and Ben Foster (Orphans). Theater Mania has more.

Dames at Sea Coming to Broadway
The first Broadway production of the off-Broadway hit Dames at Sea will bow in the 2015-2016 season. Previews will begin September 24, with opening night set for October 22. The musical, written by George Haimsohn (book and lyrics), Robin Miller (book and lyrics) and Jim Wise (music), will dock at the Helen Hayes Theatre, which was recently purchased by Second Stage. Randy Skinner will direct and choreograph the production. He previously led a 2012 production of the show in Annapolis, MD. Casting has not been announced, but Broadway.com has details on the creative team.

Tony Awards
The Tony Awards will be presented this Sunday! There will be a red carpet special you can live stream on TonyAwards.com, and then, beginning at 8pm, tune into CBS for the broadcast, which will be hosted by Alan Cumming (Cabaret) and Kristin Chenoweth (a nominee this year for On the Twentieth Century), and include performances from some of the nominated (and not nominated) shows.

Earlier this week, the Tony Honors cocktail reception was held, and Tony nominees and Special Tony recipients gathered for the gala. Broadway.com and Theater Mania have photos. We also learned this week that Josh Groban, who just released Stages, an album of showtune covers, will perform at the Tonys. (Editorial: I love Groban, but I strongly believe that only shows that are nominated for Best Musical/Revival and Best Score (like The Last Ship) should perform. No performances from non-nominated shows (like Finding Neverland); shows from seasons past or cruise ship casts; and no performances from Groban types, no matter how lovely it is to hear them sing.)

Tony Firsts: Broadway.com gathered six of the men for whom this is their first Tony nomination for a fun photo essay in which the nominees—Robbie Fairchild, Alex Sharp, Steven Boyer, Tony Yazbeck, Matthew Beard and Micah Stock—talk about red carpet style. And Theater Mania asked other first-time nominees, like Elisabeth Moss and director Sam Gold, about other firsts, like their first job and first NY apartment.

Refresh you memory and check out the full list of nominees, tune in on Sunday night and then check back here on Monday for a full recap. Watch below as hosts Cumming and Chenoweth reminisce.


Award Season Updates
Astaire Awards—Christopher Wheeldon and Robbie Fairchild, of An American in Paris, tied with Joshua Bergasse and Tony Yazbeck, of On the Town, for Best Choreographer and Best Male Dancer, respectively. Fairchild's co-star, Leanne Cope, took home the honor of Best Female Dancer. Broadway.com has more about the winners, and Broadwayworld.com has photo coverage.

Theatre World Awards—Recipients of the Theatre World Awards, which honor debut performances, were announced last month, and this week, honorees were presented with their awards. Honorees included siblings Megan Fairchild (On the Town) and Robbie Fairchild (An American in Paris), Benjamin Scheuer (The Lion) and Daveed Diggs (Hamilton). Theater Mania has photos of the celebration.

Drama Desk Awards—Winners were announced and honored on May 31 in a ceremony hosted by Laura Benanti. Drama Desk Awards honor excellence in Broadway and off-Broadway, without separate categories for the two venues, and are awarded by critics. Hamilton made history this year when it became the first off-Broadway musical since 1983's Little Shop of Horrors to win the Outstanding Musical award. That was one of seven awards the show earned. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time won Outstanding Play, and its star, Alex Sharp, won Outstanding Actor in a Play. Robbie Fairchild (An American in Paris) and Kristin Chenoweth (On the Twentieth Century) won Outstanding Actor/Actress in a Musical, respectively, while K. Todd Freeman (Airline Highway) and Annaleigh Ashford (You Can't Take It With You) won Outstanding Featured Actor/Actress in a Play, respectively. Christopher Wheeldon (An American in Paris) took home the honor for Outstanding Choreography. Visit Playbill for the full list of winners, as well as full photo coverage.

'S Wonderful: Backstage at An American in Paris
Tony nominee Max von Essen takes us backstage at An American in Paris in the sixth episode of his Broadway.com vlog, 'S Wonderful. Other An American in Paris goings on:


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