Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
A pair of West Coast transfers will duke it out for Broadway's biggest prize this season. But a certain Hollywood princess will not be among them.
The name of Julia Roberts, who received less than enthusiastic notices for her performance in Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain this spring, was conspicuously missing when nominations for the 60th annual Tony Awards were announced Tuesday morning.
Some had speculated that Roberts' sheer star power would ensure a nomination, but in the end, the category of best actress in a play was dominated by theater veterans, among them Sex and the City alumna Cynthia Nixon for best-play nominee Rabbit Hole.
In contrast, The Drowsy Chaperone, the winking homage to old-fashioned musicals that was developed in Canada and had its U.S. premiere at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre, collected 13 nominations, falling just two short of the record set by The Producers in 2001.
The critically adored Chaperone will face competition from the popular favorite Jersey Boys, which also was produced in California, at the La Jolla Playhouse under Des McAnuff's direction. The latter, a tribute to Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons that also garnered good reviews, collected eight nominations, including musical, director and actor for John Lloyd Young.
Young's acclaimed portrayal of Valli will go up against a pair of other celebrated performances: Harry Connick Jr.'s Broadway acting debut in a buoyant new version of The Pajama Game and Michael Cerveris' seductively sinister take on the title character in a stripped-down Sweeney Todd. Both productions were tapped for best revival.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the 11 nominations handed to The Color Purple despite a mixed reception from critics. Oprah Winfrey is a Purple producer, which makes it possible there will be a celebrity who rivals Roberts' draw at the Tonys ceremony.
In the categories recognizing plays, many theater insiders may have been taken aback by the omission of Shining City's Brian F. O'Byrne and The Faith Healer's Cherry Jones, both of whom were favored Tony nominees for last season's Doubt (though O'Byrne didn't win). O'Byrne's co-star Oliver Platt and Faith's Ralph Fiennes received nominations.
Platt and Fiennes are up against Richard Griffiths, star of The History Boys, this year's most-nominated original play, with seven nods, and a favorite in that category. Both History Boys and Shining City are British imports, as is black comedy The Lieutenant of Inishmore, which will vie with the former two and Rabbit Hole for best play.
The 2006 Tony Awards will air live from New York's Radio City Music Hall on June 11 (CBS, 8 p.m. ET/PT time delay).
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
© Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
