SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS: DAY 16 - Garbo, Jane Krakowski & GRAND HOTEL

As a super-special Spring extension of BroadwayWorld's SOUND OFF column, every day until the Tony Awards on June 12 we will be presenting a spectacular new entry in the SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2011 TONY AWARDS series featuring a particularly entertaining, interesting, relevant and exciting Tony Awards-related clip from the last sixty-three years of the ceremonies and subsequent seasons on Broadway with a rundown and commentary on the sights, sounds and showmanship on display in each carefully chosen selection - all, of course, coming in anticipation of Broadway's biggest night, which will be broadcast on CBS this year, as always. Once again this year, BroadwayWorld is the official home of the 2011 Tony Awards and we will also be featuring exclusive interviews, articles, photos, video content, interactive features and more in the coming days and weeks leading up to the event so be sure to check back daily for your theatre fix!

Today, we are highlighting one of the finest ensemble musicals of the 1980s and one of the most unique and memorable original stagings of all time, thanks to the directional and choreographic genius of Tommy Tune. I am speaking of the musical more than fifty years in the making based on the classic novel and MGM film of the same name: GRAND HOTEL. Nominated for twelve 1990 Tony Awards, the show took home five, including Best Direction and Best Chroeography for the mastermind behind the ever-flowing fountain of a show, the one and only Tommy Tune, who topped even his own near-unbeatable magic-from-mid-air box of tricks on display in the sparse spa of NINE even without the actual water that flooded the stage that David Leveaux used in the revival. First, we are looking back at the stormy history of the show, written in the 1950s and, then, more than forty years later, rewritten with more than half a new score by Tony-winning NINE songwriter Maury Yeston. We have a sumptuous Kathleen Turner-narrated clip - she was that year's host - from the Tony Awards featuring a performance by the entire original Broadway cast with "At The Grand" and "We'll Take A Glass Together" led by that year's Best Featured Actor Tony-winner, Michael Jeter, alongside Brent Barret, who by then had replaced the ailing David Carroll who passed away from AIDS complications shortly thereafter. Maybe a surprise or two is in store, as well!

At The Grand Hotel

Originally written by Robert Wright and George Forrest with a book by Luther Davis in 1958 and titled AT THE GRAND - based in part on Vicki Baum's 1929 novel and the 1932 Best Picture-winning GRAND HOTEL starring Greta Garbo - Tommy Tune first staged the work in 1988 out of town in Boston only to drastically revise the work for months on the road, going so far as to bring in Tony Award-winning NINE composer/lyricist Maury Yeston to supplant and adapt the score with additional songs and replace and rewrite others, contributing more than eight or nine songs himself that fit in seamlessly with the others, in addition to integrating the score with the ultra-complex structure of the musical itself. If anything, Yeston's material is too good compared to the other material, which itself is quite strong. Peter Stone contributed significant rewrites to the book, as well - even though he was not credited in the playbill.

Featuring a truly spellbinding original cast featuring an impossibly young and fresh-faced Jane Krakowski, NINE star and Tony-winner Liliane Montevecchi, the aforementioned leading man David Carroll - all three of whom were nominated in their respective categories - alongside Tony-winning Michael Jeter; GRAND HOTEL was one of those rare experiences in the theatre to truly cherish if you happened to have been a part of it - even just sitting in the back row of the balcony. From the first jarring morphine-induced image and the ominous notes of the prologue through to the elegant ballroom waltz on the chandelier level of the three-story set, GRAND HOTEL was one of those intermission-less shows that moves so seamlessly from book scenes to musical numbers to dance and back again that it appears more a mirage than a musical in the traditional sense of the term. GRAND HOTEL: The Musical simply danced.

Of course, Jane Krakowski would go on to star as Carla in David Leveaux's respected revival of Maury Yeston's NINE and take home a Tony Award for her exceptionally sexy and thrilling performance in the leading-lady-driven fever dream. But, if NINE is a fever dream or a flat-out nightmare, GRAND HOTEL is the dream. And, what a vision!

Here is host Kathleen Turner introducing and narrating the performance of a medley including "At The Grand" and "We'll Take A Glass Together" from the Maury Yeston & Wright/Forrest score for GRAND HOTEL, led by Brent Barrett and Michael Jeter.

Next, we have Ms. Krakowski's reminiscence of her time spent in the original cast of GRAND HOTEL and her recollections of working with Michael Jeter and the rest of the starry company.

Now, check out the flashy and fuzzy - you just gotta love the 80s MOONLIGHTING-esque lenses - TV commercial for GRAND HOTEL on Broadway, directed by Tommy Tune himself.

As a special bonus, here is Jane Krawkoski's positively jaw-dropping "A Call From The Vatican" from the 2002 revival of NINE with Antonio Banderas as Guido and Mary Stuart Masterson as Luisa. It certainly gives you something to think about next time you pick up the phone - and the phone cord; if you are, seemingly, lucky enough to have one! Wow!

Have a truly grand holiday weekend! Stay tuned for our special double-day feature tomorrow on the one and only WEST SIDE STORY, then and now!

That's all for today. Be sure to stay tuned to BroadwayWorld for all things Tony Awards and subscribe to this column to be the very first to check out the clips, commentary and take part in the conversation in our deluxe toast to the one and only Antoinette Perry every day until June 12 - and, especially, on that day! Until then…

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