Can Tony nominations give "The Life" and "Steel Pier" a bounce in business?
Producers of both musicals, which opened to mixed reviews and so-so ticket sales, are counting on a boost after the two shows received the largest share of the 1997 Tony Award nominations this week."We got exactly what we needed," exulted Marty Richards, one of the producers of "The Life." "There is a line right now at the box office."
Exact ticket sales figures won't be available for a day or two.
"The Life," composer Cy Coleman's take on the down-and-dirty denizens of Times Square before the arrival of Disney gentrification, grabbed 12 nominations. "Steel Pier," a Kander and Ebb musical depicting the dance marathons of the 1930s, was close behind with 11.
Both shows were nominated for best musical, along with "Titanic," the 1912 ocean liner disaster told in song, and the already closed "Juan Darien," a South American Mass.
With seven musicals opening in the last two months, a lot of shows were competing for the attention of theatergoers. The Tony nominations were one way to get it.
"Jekyll & Hyde," the pop-anthem musical, was shut out of the best-musical category, but it did receive a best actor-musical nomination for its star, Robert Cuccioli. He plays both title roles. The show, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson tale of good and evil, picked up three other nominations, including best book of a musical.
Less fortunate were "Play On!" which brings Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" to Duke Ellington's Harlem, and "Dream," a celebration of lyricist Johnny Mercer. They, too, were snubbed for the coveted best-musical spot and don't have best-selling compact discs like "Jekyll & Hyde" to help sell the show.
Nominations could benefit two of the four best-play candidates. Until now, "The Young Man From Atlanta," Horton Foote's tale of a family's secrets, and "The Last Night of Ballyhoo," Alfred Uhry's look at Jewish life in Atlanta in 1939, have not done strong business. The other nominees, David Hare's "Skylight" and "Stanley" by Pam Gems, already have closed.
The revival of "Chicago," the season's biggest musical hit, could get even bigger at the box office. It is the heavy favorite to win the musical-revival award. Two of its stars, Bebe Neuwirth and James Naughton, received musical performance nominations, and a third, Ann Reinking, who also created the dances, was nominated for choreography.
Foreign-born performers - Michael Gambon, Brian Bedford, Antony Sher and Christopher Plummer - swept the actor nominations, with Plummer the likely winner for his work in "Barrymore," a look at the great stage performer during the last days of his life.
"A Doll's House" will benefit from the nomination of its star, Janet McTeer, for the best-actress prize. The Ibsen play was also nominated for best revival. Both star and play are considered favorites.
The Tony Awards will be broadcast Sunday, June 1, with the first hour shown by PBS and the second two, with Rosie O'Donnell as host, by CBS. Public television will broadcast the technical awards, while best play and musical awards, plus all the acting prizes, will be shown on CBS.
A committee of 26 theater people picked the nominees.
Tony ballots will be mailed this week to 763 journalists and people who work in the theater. The awards will be presented at Radio City Music Hall, where a special Tony will be given to the Berkeley Repertory Theater of Berkeley, Calif.
The ceremony will be dedicated to Bernard B. Jacobs, the former president of the Shubert Organization, who died this year. He will be honored with a special Tony for lifetime achievement.