Great White plays

Battle is staged among Tony Award nominees

In this story: 'Kiss Me,' 'Music Man' And the acting ... RELATED STORIES, SITES

May 8, 2000
Web posted at: 2:15 p.m. EST (1815 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- "The Ride Down Mt. Morgan" turned rocky for Patrick Stewart after he recently chastized producers for allegedly not doing enough to promote the show.

But a new Tony nomination may give Stewart -- and the production -- the publicity he craves.

"Mt. Morgan" received two Tony nods Monday, one for for best play and another for best supporting actress in a play (Frances Conroy).

Bebe Neuwirth and Kelsey Grammer, the actors best known to TV audiences as the repressed psychiatrists of TV's "Cheers" and "Frasier" announced the nominations at Sardi's restaurant in New York. The winners are to be announced June 4 at Radio City Music Hall.

Neuwirth and Grammer are no strangers to the stage, either. She currently appears in "Chicago," and he has appeared in "Macbeth" and "Sunday in the Park With George," among others.

Competing against "Mt. Morgan" for best play is "Copenhagen," Michael Frayn's drama about a friendship between a Danish physicist and his German counterpart during World War II; "Dirty Blonde," Claudia Shear's biography of Mae West; and "True West," Sam Shepard's savage comedy about battling brothers.

Best musical nods went to "Contact," three stories told through dance; "James Joyce's The Dead," from the Irish author's collection "The Dubliners"; "Swing!," a dance revue that captures the swing revival; and "The Wild Party," a night in the life of some fading vaudeville performers in 1920s Manhattan.

	ALSO
List: Nominations for the 54th annual Tony Awards
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'Kiss Me,' 'Music Man'

The most nominations -- 12 -- went to "Kiss Me, Kate," a modern take on Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew." "Meredith Willson's The Music Man" came in second with eight nominations. "Music Man" tells the story of a traveling salesman who visits a small Iowa town in 1912 and convinces residents to adopt his revolutionary music program, "The Think System."

Those two productions earned nominations for best revival of a musical, along with the Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Tango Argentino," a revue of tango dances and music.

"Amadeus," about Mozart's life in 18th-century Vienna, snagged a nomination for best revival of a play. The competition includes "A Moon for the Misbegotten," based on the Eugene O'Neill's novel about a tormented alcoholic who seeks solace in the arms of a shy farm girl; "The Price," Arthur Miller's story of two brothers whose father's death reunites them after 16 years; and "The Real Thing," which centers on a successful writer trying to balance his professional and personal life.

Tim Rice, top right, and Elton John, bottom, are sharing the nomination for best original score for "Aida."

And the acting ...

Five of the best-acting nods went to familiar faces on TV and in the movies this year.

They include "Wild Party" cast members Toni Collette ("Sixth Sense") and Mandy Patinkin ("Chicago Hope"); Christopher Walken ("Legend of Sleepy Hollow"), "The Dead"; "True West"'s Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Magnolia," "Flawless"); "Music Man" Craig Bierko ("The Thirteenth Floor"); and Gabriel Byrne ("End of Days"), "A Moon for the Misbegotten."

Hoffman and Byrne are competing for the best lead actor in a play against John C. Reilly, "True West"; Stephen Dillane, "The Real Thing"; and David Suchet, "Amadeus."

Among the contenders for best leading actress in a play: Jayne Atkinson, "The Rainmaker"; Jennifer Ehle, "The Real Thing"; Rosemary Harris, "Waiting In The Wings"; Cherry Jones, "A Moon For The Misbegotten"; and Claudia Shear, "Dirty Blonde."

Their musical counterparts include Collette; Heather Headley, "Aida"; Rebecca Luker, "Music Man"; Marin Mazzie, "Kiss Me, Kate"; and Audra McDonald, "Marie Christine."

If McDonald wins this year, she'll take home her fourth Tony. She earned honors in 1998 for "Ragtime," 1996 for "Master Class" and 1994 for "Carousel."

In addition to Bierko, Pantinkin and Walken, nods for best lead actor in a musical went to George Hearn ("Putting It Together") and Brian Stokes Mitchell ("Kiss Me, Kate").

Elton John and Tim Rice are sharing the nomination for best original score for "Aida." Other contenders are Michael John LaChiusa for both "Marie Christine" and "Wild Party," and Shaun Davey and Richard Nelson for "The Dead."

Rosie O'Donnell is slated to emceee next month's awards ceremony, but the talk-show host may do more than just talk: She's been known to break into Broadway song.

Play's producers report Stewart to union
May 3, 2000
Stewart lambastes 'Mt. Morgan' producers
May 1, 2000
Broadway's second coming: 'Jesus Christ Superstar' is back
April 19, 2000
From Broadway to Hollywood, Tim Rice is back in tune
April 4, 2000
Elton John's 'Aida': 'It's very camp'
October 13, 1998

2000 Tony Awards
'Aida'
'Kiss Me, Kate'

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