LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
CAMP Show Queen |
by Kenn Harris |
And the Tony Goes to...
Note, I will have nothing to say about this year's Tony Awards show except to congratulate Miss Angela Lansbury on winning Tony number five, and thank the producers for the moving Jerry Herman piece. This year's new shows were the biggest pile of...well, drivel that I can remember in my life, and I remember quite a bit since my first show was Hello, Dolly! with Ellen Terry. Oh right, I wasn't going to comment on the current crop of shows. So, hi-ho Silver, it's back to yesteryear when shows were shows! See how much you remember: Questions 1. This pair of ladies received Tony's for best actress and best supporting actress in a musical. The show was based on an odd literary choice, but it worked. Please name the stars, the show, and the literary source. 2. This lady won her second Tony Award walking in the enormous shoes of Ethel Merman. Even if she didn't blow her own horn, she did a very good job. Name the star, the show, and the song. 3. This portly, courtly gentleman won a Tony for his bravura performance in producer David Merrick's first Broadway production. No, he did not sing the show's anatomically ambiguous title song, but he brought the house down with his first act finale. Name the actor, the show, and the song. 4. This Hollywood-bred beauty won Tonys for a pair of simply dreadful but long-running shows, each based on a great film. Who is she? Name the shows and the films on which they were based. 5. A long time Broadway hooferand almost a starthis fabulously talented lady finally won a Tony in a revival of a show written fifty years earlier. Tea for two, anyone? Name the actress and the show? 6. This popular, bespectacled comic was set to do a big Broadway show when fate intervened and he could not honor his contract. He turned up in the film version of the show in a featured role. When the show received its first Broadway revival, our man played the leading role that was originally written for him. He won the Tony that year! Name the actor and the show. 7. She survived Broadway's Titantic and soon found herself starring as the highly over-protective mother of a teenaged daughter, sojourning in an exotic locale. She won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Name the actress and her hit show. 8. Probably the brightest, cutest gal to hit Broadway since Judy Holliday, hers was a meteoric career. Plagued by nerves, she turned to films and TV, but not before winning a Tony for starring in a trio of unrelated one act musicals. Who is she? Name the show's collective title. Who wrote it? Name the lady's other big musical. 9. This popular song and dance man, who lost his life in a house fire, delighted audiences for years. In his first big show, he, with his quintessential preppy good looks, starred as a Jewish medical student. He won his Best Featured Actor Tony for nearly stealing a tuneful, touching show that many still love today. He played a larcenous young clerk. Name the actor and the show in question. 10. Only 20 years ago this actress was the toast of Broadway, winning the Best Actress Tony as leading lady of s smash revival of a British Classic, Where is she now? Who knows? Name the actress and the show. ANSWERS 1. Gwen Verdon and Thelma Ritter, New Girl in Town, based upon O'Neill's stark drama Anna Christie. Go figure! 2. Patti Lupone; Anything Goes; "Blow Gabriel Blow!". 3. Walter Slezak, Fanny, "Panisse and Son." 4. Lauren Bacall won for Applause; the movie was All About Eve; and Woman of the Year; the movie had the same title. Her problem? She can't sing! 5. Helen Gallagher; No, No, Nanette. 6. Phil Silvers; A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. 7. Victoria Clarke; The Light In The Piazza. 8. Barbara Harris (no relation to me); The Apple Tree by Bock and Harnick; On A Clear Day, You Can See Forever. 9. Jack Cassidy; She Loves Me. 10. Maryann Plunkett; Me And My Girl. (Actually, she had a small role in 2008 in A Man for All Seasons, but not much before or since.) That's show biz. Kenn Harris is a NYC theatre critic, and author. Email kharris106@nyc.rr.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 19, No. 07 June 19, 2009 |