GoldDerby.com Cuts Tony Award Odds for Spamalot

Journalist experts at GoldDerby.com Still Favor the Broadway Hit to Win
the Top Prize, But Cut Its Chances in Many Other Races. "Twelve Angry Men"
and "Doubt's" Brian O'Byrne Surge Ahead for Best Revival and Best Actor.

In terms of momentum, "Spamalot" has lost a lot as the Broadway Mega-Hit
heads into this Sunday's Tony Awards (8 p.m., CBS). Although it's still
favored by experts to win Best Musical, its odds have been cut drastically
to 8 to 5 from the early runaway 9-to-1 odds it received when nominations
were announced several weeks ago. Back then, most GoldDerby.com gurus
believed it would win 8 or more Tonys, but now -- based upon monitoring
industry and voter buzz -- they favor it in merely in several races,
including Best Director (Mike Nichols, 6-to-5 odds) and Best Featured
Actress (Sara Ramirez, 1-to-5 odds), too.

Some awards that usually go to the Best Musical champ are now expected to
split between "The Light in the Piazza" (9-to-5 odds to win Best Musical
Score) and "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" (2-to-1 odds to
win Best Book of a Musical).

The newly revised racetrack odds were drafted by David Scott of America's
Line (Americasline.com) based upon the views of GoldDerby pundits Melissa
Bernardo (Entertainment Weekly), Elysa Gardner (USA Today), Susan Haskins
(host and producer of PBS show Theater Talk), Mike Kuchwara (Associated
Press), Patrick Pacheco (Show People), Michael Riedel (New York Post,
Theater Talk), David Sheward (Backstage) and GoldDerby host Tom O'Neil (In
Touch Weekly). The odds are issued for entertainment purposes only and
should not be used for gambling.

In the contest for Best Play, Pulitzer Prize champ "Doubt" maintains the
same early odds it was given by GoldDerby gurus (3 to 5) to beat "The
Pillowman," which opened recently to rave reviews. However, revised odds
change the leader for Best Revival of a Play, giving the edge to "Twelve
Angry Men" (7 to 5) over "Glengarry Glen Ross" (8 to 5) and "Who's Afraid
of Virginia Woolf?" (9 to 5).

Some of the tightest races pit Hollywood celebrities against beloved
Broadway veterans who aren't widely known by the general public. According
to the newly revised odds, past Tony winner Brian O'Byrne ("Doubt," 3 to 2
odds) has a slight edge over James Earl Jones ("On Golden Pond," 6 to 5)
and Billy Crudup ("The Pillowman," 4 to 1) for Best Actor in a Play.

Veteran stage trouper Victoria Clark ("Light in the Piazza") has a slim
lead (5 to 4 odds) for Best Musical Actress, but needs to be leery of
Christina Applegate ("Sweet Charity," 3 to 2 odds), who famously rallied
from suffering a broken foot to save the multi-million-dollar revival in
the classic Broadway tradition of The Show Must Go On!

Tony fans can see GoldDerby gurus battle over predix in video posted at
the site, which records a recent panel "slugfest" moderated by New York
University professor Michael Zam. Additional video includes Susan Haskins
of "Theater Talk" interviewing American Theatre Wing executive director
Howard Sherman, who explains how Tony voting works.

BEST PLAY
"Doubt" - 3/5
"The Pillowman" - 4/5
"Gem of the Ocean" - 40/1
"Democracy" - 40/1

BEST MUSICAL
"Spamalot!" 8/5
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" 2/1
"The Light in the Piazza" 3/1
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" 4/1

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
"Twelve Angry Men" - 7/5
"Glengarry Glen Ross" - 8/5
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" - 9/5
"On Golden Pond" - 50/1

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
La Cage aux Folles 2/3
Sweet Charity" - 4/5
Pacific Overtures" - 50/1

BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY
Brían F. O'Byrne, "Doubt" - 7/5
James Earl Jones, "On Golden Pond" - 5/2
Bill Irwin, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" - 7/2
Billy Crudup, "The Pillowman" - 4/1
Philip Bosco, "Twelve Angry Men" - 40/1

BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Cherry Jones, "Doubt" - 3/2
Kathleen Turner, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" - 8/5
Phylicia Rashad, "Gem of the Ocean" - 4/1
Laura Linney, "Sight Unseen" - 5/1
Mary-Louise Parker, "Reckless" - 30/1

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Norbert Leo Butz, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" - 6/5
John Lithgow, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" - 5/2
Tim Curry, "Spamalot!" - 3/1
Hank Azaria, "Spamalot! " - 6/1
Gary Beach, "La Cage aux Folles" - 35/1

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Victoria Clark, "The Light in the Piazza" - 5/4
Christina Applegate, "Sweet Charity- 3/2
Sherie Rene Scott, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" - 7/2
Sutton Foster, "Little Women" - 30/1
Erin Dilly, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" - 40/1

BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
Michael Stuhlbarg, "The Pillowman" - 8/5
Liev Schreiber, "Glengarry Glen Ross" - 9/5
Alan Alda, "Glengarry Glen Ross" - 2/1
Gordon Clapp, "Glengarry Glen Ross" - 8/1
David Harbour, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" - 40/1

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Adriane Lennox, "Doubt" - 9/5
Amy Ryan, "A Streetcar Named Desire" - 2/1
Heather Goldenhersh, "Doubt" - 11/5
Mireille Enos, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" - 8/1
Dana Ivey, "The Rivals" - 40/1

BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Dan Fogler, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" - 1/2
Michael McGrath, "Spamalot!" - 3/1
Christopher Sieber, "Spamalot!" - 7/2
Marc Kudisch, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" - 40/1
Matthew Morrison, "The Light in the Piazza" - 50/1

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Sara Ramirez, "Spamalot!" - 1/5
Jan Maxwell, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" - 6/1
Joanna Gleason, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" - 8/1
Kelli O'Hara, "The Light in the Piazza" - 30/1
Celia Keenan-Bolger, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" -
40/1

BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Doug Hughes, "Doubt" - 4/5
John Crowley, "The Pillowman" - 3/1
Joe Mantello, "Glengarry Glen Ross" - 7/2
Scott Ellis, "Twelve Angry Men" - 5/1

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Mike Nichols, "Spamalot!" - 6/5
Bartlett Sher, "The Light in the Piazza" - 2/1
Jack O'Brien, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" - 3/1
James Lapine, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" - 6/1

BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Adam Guettel, "The Light in the Piazza" - 9/5
William Finn, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" - 11/5
David Yazbek, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" - 3/1
John Du Prez, Eric Idle, "Spamalot!" - 7/2

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
Rachel Sheinkin, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" - 2/1
Eric, Idle, "Spamalot!" - 12/5
Craig Lucas, "The Light in the Piazza" - 13/5
Jeffrey Lane, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" - 3/1

GoldDerby.com is a noncommercial Internet racetrack where pros and
amateurs meet to predict who'll win the top showbiz kudos, including the
Oscars, Golden Globes, Grammys, Emmys and Tonys. The site is designed by
Will Ackerman and Mike Medina. Homepage illustration by Ty Wilson. Its
odds are set by David Scott of America's Line (Americasline.com) based
upon the collective opinions of GoldDerby's journalist experts. The odds
are issued for amusement purposes only and should not be used for
gambling.

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