Theater News

Tony Awards Administration Committee Rules on Eligibility of Fall Shows

New York City
The Tony Awards administration committee met yesterday to determine the eligibility of fall Broadway productions for the 2005 Tony Awards. The committee decided that all of the one-person shows that opened this fall — Dame Edna: Back With a Vengeance!, Laugh Whore, 700 Sundays, The Good Body, and Whoopi — will be considered for nomination in the Special Theatrical Event category, as will the return engagement of Forever Tango. It was also decided that Reckless and Twelve Angry Men will be considered revivals, though neither production has appeared on Broadway before.

Mary-Louise Parker (Reckless), Boyd Gaines and Philip Bosco (Twelve Angry Men) will be eligible for nomination in the Leading Actress or Actor in a Play categories. Robert Prosky and Michael Cumpsty (Democracy), Ruben Santiago-Hudson and LisaGay Hamilton (Gem of the Ocean), will be eligible for the awards for Best Performance by a Featured Actor or Actress in a Play.

According to the press release announcing the committee’s rulings, “all other eligibility decisions are consistent with the productions’ opening night credits.” The committee is scheduled to meet twice more before the Tony nominees are announced in May. This year’s Tony Awards will be telecast live in a three-hour ceremony to be held at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 5.