Leap of Faith Will Perform on Tony Awards

By Andrew Gans
30 May 2012

Raśl Esparza
Raśl Esparza
Photo by Joan Marcus

A number from Leap of Faith, the short-lived Broadway musical about a con-man preacher that received a Tony nomination for Best Musical prior to its final performance May 13, will be seen on the 66th Annual Tony Awards.

The New York Times reports that producers of the musical, which featured a score by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater and libretto by Warren Leight and original screenwriter Janus Cercone, have raised $150,000 in order for the show to perform on the annual broadcast.

The musical's spokesperson, Jackie Green, told the Times, "The show received a Tony nomination for best musical, so it's standard to perform on the Tonys, and the producers love Leap of Faith and wanted to do the number."

Whether four-time Tony Award nominee Raúl Esparza, who played Jonas Nightingale, will perform on the telecast has yet to be announced.

As previously reported, in addition to selections from the Tony-nominated new musicals, including the uplifting Disney musical Newsies, the critically hailed screen-to-stage adaptation of Once and the new Gershwin musical comedy Nice Work If You Can Get It, the 66th Annual Tony Awards will feature performances from a host of this season's musical revivals.

Two-time Tony winner Bernadette Peters, the recipient of the 2012 Isabelle Stevenson Award who created the role of Sally in the Kennedy Center and subsequent Broadway production of Follies, will introduce the segment spotlighting that Tony-nominated Stephen Sondheim-James Goldman musical. Danny Burstein, a Tony nominee for his performance as Buddy Plummer, will perform Sondheim's "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues."

A medley of songs from the Tony-nominated revival of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, featuring 2012 Tony nominees Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis, will be performed. Four-time Tony winner McDonald will kick off the sequence with the classic Gershwin ballad "Summertime," followed by Lewis' rendition of "I Got Plenty of Nothing," the Kittiwah dance sequence, Tony nominee David Alan Grier's "It Ain't Necessarily So" and the McDonald-Lewis duet "I Loves You Porgy."

Ricky Martin
photo by Richard Termine

The Tony-nominated revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita will offer the rousing Act Two number "And The Money Kept Rolling In," which features Grammy winner Ricky Martin and the musical's ensemble as well as leading lady Elena Roger.

Audiences can also expect performances from Tony nominee Josh Young and the cast of the Tony-nominated revival of Jesus Christ Superstar as well as the acclaimed revival of the Stephen Schwartz musical Godspell.

The Tony Awards, celebrating excellence in Broadway theatre in the 2011-12 season, will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from the Beacon Theatre on the CBS television network June 10.

Emmy winner Neil Patrick Harris will again host.