Tony Interview Special: Fran Weissler on SCOTTSBORO, ZORBA and More!

Yesterday morning, past Tony winners Anika Noni Rose and Matthew Broderick announced the 2011 Tony Awards nominees live from the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City. Today, BroadwayWorld talked to this year's nominees to hear the exciting stories of their reactions to the news. THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS producer Fran Weissler went on the record about her shock about the nominations, and the many projects that she and husband Barry have up their sleeves!

I'd imagine that the past 24 hours have been quite a whirlwind for you, especially after receiving so many nominations yesterday. Tell me about what's been going through your head since then.

All I know is I was in my room and I heard the nominations from NY1. And I almost died- I ended up having tears in my eyes!  And I ran in and Barry was on the phone- it was about 9:00, and he said "Oh honey, this is an important call" and I said "I think this is important! We were nominated for 12 Tonys for SCOTTSBORO BOYS!" and he said, "No!" We're beside ourselves. And it's such a validation of a show that we so loved. And ultimately it broke our hearts to close.  We've produced a lot of shows, and as a producer it's like giving birth almost. It's a wonderful thing to produce on Broadway but this was very special.

Yes, it really was a beautiful piece of theatre, and it was heartbreaking to see it close!

And it was a true piece. It really happened! And that's what really kills you; watching it and knowing that these men are real people.

We all know that you'll be rooting for SCOTTSBORO BOYS to take the Tony Award this year, but is there anything else that you've seen this season that has really stood out to you?

We saw THE BOOK OF MORMON last night, which I loved! It was wonderful and well produced, and brilliantly acted and directed. We're seeing CATCH ME IF YOU CAN next week, and we're also seeing SISTER ACT next week. So I can't comment on those ones, but I have I feeling that everything is terrific.

And have you gotten a chance to see the revivals?

We're seeing ANYTHING GOES, and we saw HOW TO SUCCEED. Which I know, or at least I've heard that it's got some mixed reviews- but I think that it's wonderful and charming, and very relevant for today. I liked it very much. And I liked Daniel Radcliffe and I'm sad for him that he wasn't nominated. I thought he was delightful. But I am very happy about Joshua [Henry]! What can I say?

What projects coming up can we expect to see your names attached to?

We're in the process of talking about ZORBA, which we produced many years ago with Anthony Quinn.  We're not in a place where we can tell you who may star in it, but we are talking to Walter Bobbie- he directed CHICAGO for us. There's a show that we're planning on opening a year from now called MATILDA, which is based on the Roald Dahl book.  It was at the Stratford Festival in London, and it's extraordinary. Hopefully we'll be able to bring it to the West End and then here- probably within a year.

Wow you've got a lot on your plate!

Yes, and then we have several other things. We got the rights to 'Working Girl' the movie, which we would like very much to become a Broadway musical!

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

 

 

 

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