Lincoln Center Theater's production of Twelfth Night, starring Helen Hunt, Paul Rudd and Kyra Sedgwick, has been nominated for a Tony as best revival of a play.

Though unevenly received by critics, Twelfth Night was such a big audience draw, the show even broadcast its final performance on PBS television. Most reviewers were impressed by the show's design (all three designers are nominees) and by the use of songs and musical underscoring in the piece.

Shakespeare's woodland comedy tells not only of two sets of twins, but of a woman who dresses up as a young man to woo a lady on behalf of the man she loves. Hunt, of TV's "Mad About You," starred as the smitten Viola, Sedgwick as the Countess who liked this page boy a lot more than the boy's master (Rudd). Philip Bosco played the much-abased Malvolio, while Max Wright and Brian Murray offered groundling shenanigans as Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, respectively. David Patrick Kelly also made a mark with his minstrelry, as Feste the jester.

Other plays by William Shakespeare include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night's Dream, the last of which was made into a major Hollywood film this spring.

Twelfth Night was produced at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater under the direction of Andre Bishop and Bernard Gersten. Directed by Nicholas Hytner (Carousel, Miss Saigon), the show opened July 16, 1998.

Other 1999 Twelfth Night nominations:
Set Design: Bob Crowley
Costume Design: Catherine Zuber
Lighting Design: Natasha Katz
Original Score Written for the Theater: Jeanine Tesori.