The Tony nominators gave Harvey Weinstein the hook, the Captain Hook!
Weinstein’s $20 million Peter Pan musical “Finding Neverland” — his first foray onto Broadway — failed to receive a single Tony nomination Tuesday.
Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch!
This is Broadway telling Harvey to go away, to take his bulldozing tactics back to Hollywood and leave the business of theater to theater people.
Well, I exaggerate. That overrated camp fest “Something Rotten!” received 10 nominations, including Best Musical, which means the Tony nominators aren’t immune to a lapse of taste.
For the record, they also ignored Larry David and his “Fish in the Dark,” which can lick its wounds all the way to the bank, since it’s one of the most successful nonmusical shows in history.
But the snubbing of Weinstein and his show is the headline today, and the question is, what’s he going to do about it?
Weinstein responded. “With 27 nominations today for ‘Fun Home,’ ‘The Elephant Man,’ ‘The Audience’ and ‘Wolf Hall,’ shows that we either co-invested or co-produced, we couldn’t be more thrilled. As as for ‘Finding Neverland,’ our passion for it remains unwavering. I could not be more proud of the magic created on our stage by Diane Paulus and the entire Neverland team night after night, which has made this show a smash hit.”
That said, I still think Harvey’s plotting something.
As Captain Hook sings in Mary Martin’s “Peter Pan,” a vastly better musical than “Finding Neverland”: “Me thinks I see a spark a gleam a glimmer of a plan in which perhaps it may redeem me honor as man.”
My hunch is that Harvey will shove his way onto the Tony telecast yet again. Last year, he got Jennifer Hudson on the telecast singing a song from “Neverland” months before it opened on Broadway. This time around, he’ll argue that, of all the new musicals this season, his show is doing the best at the box office, posting $1 million a week grosses. He may also argue that “Fun Home” — the musical about a lesbian and her gay father that received 12 nominations, including Best Musical — won’t be as popular with Middle America as what he can deliver: Peter Pan, Matthew Morrison and Kelsey Grammer.
He has another card to play, as well — the celebrity card. This year’s Tonys are going to be light on star power, starting with the hosts. Everybody in the theater loves Alan Cumming and Kristin Chenoweth, but they’re hardly the kind of ratings draw that Hugh Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris were. Weinstein, the Godfather of Hollywood, can deliver a parade of starry presenters and performers. His price, of course, will be a big presence for “Finding Neverland” on the June 7 telecast.
I think that’s a price Les Moonves, the head of CBS, will be willing to pay.
The nominees for Best Musical, the most important category, are “Fun Home,” “Something Rotten!” “An American in Paris” and “The Visit.”
I’ve said my piece about “Something Rotten!” “The Visit” is there because of sentiment for its three theater legends — John Kander, the late Fred Ebb and Chita Rivera. So the race is between “An American in Paris” and “Fun Home.” At this point, we have to give the upper hand to “An American in Paris.” Like “Fun Home,” it received glowing reviews. It’s also on its way to being a box-office hit, something “Fun Home” is going to struggle to achieve. And it’s going to be popular with tour presenters around the country. They make up 10 percent of the Tony voters, and they’ll be solidly behind “An American in Paris.”
I think the other categories are fairly easy to predict.
The nominees for Best Play are “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” “Disgraced,” “Hand to God,” and “Wolf Hall, Parts One and Two.” I can’t see anything upsetting the path of “Curious Incident” to Tony glory. It’s been the favorite since it opened, and remains so.
Helen Mirren was nominated for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Audience.” The play wasn’t nominated, but that’s because it’s a star vehicle for Mirren. Broadway will not deny her a Tony — the only major award she’s yet to win.
The marvelous revival of David Hare’s “Skylight” is a shoo-in for a Tony, besting “The Elephant Man, “You Can’t Take It With You,” and “This Is Our Youth.”
An interesting race will be between “Skylight” star Bill Nighy and Alex Sharp (“Curious Incident”). Nighy is the vet here, and gives a thrilling performance. But I think Sharp may pull it out. He’s remarkable in a demanding role, and Tony voters will want to applaud a 26-year-old at the beginning of an auspicious career.
As for Best Revival of a Musical — this is where the battle should be. It’s “The King and I” versus “On the Twentieth Century.” Unfortunately, both are produced by nonprofit theaters: Lincoln Center for “King,” the Roundabout for “Twentieth Century.”
Nonprofit theaters love Tony awards, but they’re not skilled in the brass-knuckle tactics of Shubert Alley. They’ll go on their genteel way without shedding any blood.
If only we had Harvey Weinstein in that fight!