John Lithgow News

This Tuesday marked the second most exciting day of any given year for Broadway babies - the Tony Award nominations. The actual awards ceremony on CBS - Broadway's night of nights - is still a few weeks off, but now is certainly an ideal time to size up the competition(s) and see who will most likely walk away with Tony gold come June 10 - and this year's ceremony, more than most before, could very well be as surprising as this season was; or Tuesday's nominations themselves were, for that matter. While the 2011-2012 Broadway season certainly fell far short of the heady promise many ascribed to its prospects way back last Summer, we certainly saw the fulfillment of some big dreams for some notable names if not an all-in-all banner year for Broadway when collectively considered. The highly-praised Off-Broadway critical darling LYSISTRATA JONES landed with a thud early in the season, as did the re-jiggered, gender-bending revival of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER and its star Harry Connick, Jr., and, even the lauded and relatively successful revival of Stephen Sondheim's peerless masterpiece FOLLIES failed to make any money and closed. GODSPELL did not fare much better, though it is still running. The two highly-anticipated revivals of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic early successes JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and EVITA were met with indifferent reviews - with the latter receiving some nasty press for its stars, neither of whom received Tony nominations - but receptive audiences so far. THE GERSHWINS' PORGY & BESS could take Best Revival, after all - but will NICE WORK's Kelli O'Hara edge out four-time Tony recipient Audra McDonald? New plays did not fare much better than the measly crop of musicals, but OTHER DESERT CITIES and VENUS IN FUR seemed to hit their target demographics squarely, but CLYBOURNE PARK looks to be the frontrunner for Best Play despite all that. We shall see. Mike Nichols may take home another Best Director for his sensitive, if workmanlike revival of Arthur Miller's DEATH OF A SALESMAN, as conceivably could Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield. John Lithgow is offering up some fierce competition in THE COLUMNIST, though. The acting races are tight, for sure, in both plays and musicals, with more newcomers and first-time nominees than any season this century.

Stay tuned for exclusive BWW interviews leading up to the big night and in the meantime, check out behind the scenes photos from today's event!

'I'm so excited for the show! 10 nominations is a really nice round number. My husband and I were watching NY1 this morning and simultaneously trying to get our twins out the door to go to music class. So, we were wrangling them and watching the nominations at the same time. My husband Scott Landis is a producer for NICE WORK and for VENUS IN FUR so we were especially thrilled. We're a quadruple nomination household! The cast is performing on David Letterman on Thursday so we have a rehearsal for that. I'm thrilled that i'll get to see them!'

'I'm feeling pretty high right now- it's wonderful! I'm so happy for the production and all of the people in the cast even though they weren't recognized. I feel like the play is getting some important recognition because of this. My publicist Mandy called me on the phone to give me the news this morning. I chose not watch the TV. I've done that before and it makes me a nervous wreck- it seems that 'L' comes too late in the alphabet for that. I have to do the show tonight and then I'm taking the cast out for drinks- and trust me, they're big drinkers!'

Nominations in 26 competitive categories for THE 66th ANNUAL TONY AWARDS® were announced today by Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Jim Parsons and Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth at the Tony Award Nominations Announcement.

'I feel pretty damn good! I'm exhausted because it's six in the morning here in LA, but it still feels pretty damn good! My phone started buzzing and I ran to my computer because I wasn't sure. People were texting me and saying 'I'm crossing my fingers to you' and stuff like that. So, I ran to my computer and because we're in this housing, first you have to enter your log in information and I couldn't get it to work. I'm like 'Why now?!' I finally got it to work and it was only after a friend sent me a text saying 'CONGRATULATIONS' that I thought 'Thank God!' I'm in tech right now so I'll spend the rest of the day in tech until midnight, but for this I'll do it!'

Esta mañana se han presentado las Nominaciones a los Tony Awards 2012 por Kristin Chenoweth y el televisivo Jim Parsons. La ceremonia de los Premios más importantes del teatro en Broadway se celebrará en el Beacon Theatre, y seretransmitirán a través de la CBS el próximo domingo 10 de junio de 2012.

We'll be talking to nominees all day for their reactions!

The 2012 Tony Awards Nominations Announcement was co-hosted this morning by Tony winning actress Kristin Chenoweth and Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Jim Parsons. The Tony Awards will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from the Beacon Theatre, on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 10, 2012.

Stage and screen stars Kristin Chenoweth & Jim Parsons will announce this year's Tony nominees tomorrow morning, May 1, 8:30am EST at New York Public Library. The Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards, which are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from the Beacon Theatre, on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 10, 2012. In preparation for the big announcement, TonyAwards.com has released a Cheat Sheet that reminds you of the eligible shows/people of this season. The full Cheat Sheet is as follows:

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, led by Staff Conductor Jere Flint, will join forces with the Alliance Theatre to perform a semi-staged production of "The Remarkable Farkle McBride" tonight, April 29, 2012, at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. in Atlanta Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center.

Looking for a quick roundup of this week's events in the theatre world? Look no further - here are some of the best articles the week had to offer!

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: Easter Bonnet earns big money, FOLLIES preps for LA, six shows open, and so much more!

The 18 productions discussed include: Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman; Once; Jesus Christ Superstar; Newsies; Gore Vidal's The Best Man; End of the Rainbow; Evita; Magic/Bird; Peter and the Starcatcher; One Man, Two Guvnors; Clybourne Park; A Streetcar Named Desire; Ghost the Musical; The Lyons; Nice Work If You Can Get It; The Columnist; Don't Dress for Dinner and Leap of Faith.

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere production of THE COLUMNIST by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan currently opened last night, April 25, at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The production, which recently announced an extension, is scheduled to run though June 24, 2012. BroadwayWorld was inside the after party and takes you onto the red carpet with all of the stars below!

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere production of THE COLUMNIST by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan currently opened last night, April 25, at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Leading man John Lithgow just visited 'CBS THis Morning' where he chatted about playing Alsop, as well as his previous career dreams, and more! Check out the full interview below!

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere production of THE COLUMNIST by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan currently opened last night, April 25, at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The production, which recently announced an extension, is scheduled to run though June 24, 2012. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you photo coverage from the opening night pre-show and post-show red carpets below!

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere production of THE COLUMNIST by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan opened tonight, April 25th on Broadway...Let's see what the critics had to say!

Emmy Award winning actress Jane Lynch will host this year's Backstage at the Geffen fundraiser, which recognizes leadership in the theater community while raising support for the theater's artistic and outreach initiatives, honoring Hollywood legend Carol Burnett and Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment Jim Gianopulos. Ms. Burnett will receive the Distinction in Theater Award and Mr. Gianopulos will be presented with the Distinction in Service Award by entertainment icon and longtime colleague Warren Beatty. The star-studded event will be co-chaired by Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company Robert A. Iger and his wife, journalist Willow Bay. This irreverent evening of laughter, music and stories, which is sponsored by City National Bank, will be held on Monday June 4, 2012 at the Geffen Playhouse.

The 78th Annual Drama League Awards will be held at the Marriott Marquis Times Square on Friday, May 18, 2012 at noon. Check out the 2012 Drama League Nominees for Distinguished Production of a Play, Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Revival of a Musical, and the much coveted Distinguished Performance Award.