As has been announced, Joel begins the telecast from Times Square, singing "New York State of Mind." Smith notes, "We try to do something exciting for people around the country. You can get hooked on a show by a good opening."

***

Several good openings enriched the 2002-03 season, which went from the ridiculous (The Play What I Wrote with the star what I saw) to the sublime (Long Day's Journey into Night with a sterling performance by Vanessa Redgrave). Highlights included Movin' Out, Take Me Out, Dinner at Eight and Nine.

At the Theatre World Awards last Monday, I had the opportunity to tell Bernadette Peters that I thought her performance in Gypsy was one of the best I've ever seen, and that I look forward to her singing "Rose's Turn" on the Tony telecast. It's unfortunate that a backlash exists. When did missing shows due to illness become a crime? It's not as if Peters were indicted for insider trading, or caught using a cork-filled bat. (In baseball, I thought it was the bases, not the bats, that were supposed to be loaded.)

The Tonys are about comparisons, however odious that may be. While I consider Marissa Jaret Winokur a very talented newcomer, I do not believe that the part of Tracy Turnblad compares with Madame Rose, nor do the performances of Winokur and Peters. Standout differs from outstanding.

It wasn't the best year for musicals about dancing with vampires, riding mechanical bulls and walking through walls. A play about George Burns and Gracie Allen succeeded; one about Carol Burnett and family did not. And back where she belongs—lookin' swell, fellas, still goin' strong—was Chita Rivera. That's Chita, with a capital C, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for Perfect!

Besides marking Rivera's return, Nine introduced a very welcome Antonio Banderas to Broadway, and brought us a most memorable telephone call from Jane Krakowski. (If she descended from the flies every time a cell phone rang in a theatre, complaints would vanish instantly.)

***

Some complaints will be heard due to the presentations of five Tonys prior to the telecast. Speaking last Friday, Smith told me that he couldn't divulge which categories were involved. Imagine my surprise the next morning when I read in the New York Times Arts & Leisure (which prints on Wednesday) that Smith "confirmed that five awards, including orchestration, the three design awards (sets, costumes, lights) and the special award for regional theatre, will be announced in advance of the live broadcast." Maybe the pressures of producing affect Smith's memory; perhaps he assumes that no one reads Arts & Leisure. Having interviewed him on previous occasions, I was disappointed not to be able to take the gentleman at his word.

Concerning the five awards, Smith explains clips of the winners "will be seen on the show. But instead of using up approximately 17/18 minutes, they'll be shown in a package that will take only a couple of minutes. CBS wouldn't have given us the extra hour just to do the same thing that was done on PBS [which, for the past five years, telecast the first hour]."

This marks Smith's eighth turn in charge. "What I'm doing a little differently this year is having the performer talk about the context of the number that the audience is about to see. Before he does 'Impossible Dream,' Brian Stokes [Mitchell] tells what it means in the show. Same with Bernadette and 'Rose's Turn.' We feel [the number] will work [outside Gypsy], because Bernadette will talk about its relevance." It takes "at least four minutes [each]," Smith believes, "to do 'The Impossible Dream' and 'Rose's Turn'—even though there will be brief cuts in them." (Cue more complaints.)

For the taped scenes from nominated plays, there exist "two or three versions," says Smith. "You don't know until you get into the show if you need the long, medium or short version. Time is always the issue.

"We're doing eight production numbers, including something from Def Poetry Jam, even though it has closed. It's so contemporary, and shows off a part of the theatre that's new and fresh. Other than Amour, all the [nominated] musicals are represented." (Maybe Michel Legrand should have written hip-hop.)

***

The Peters-Winokur competition is not the only two-way race. Will it be Antonio Banderas or Harvey Fierstein? Brian Dennehy or Eddie Izzard? In retrospect, the original Rose, Ethel Merman, lost (to pal Mary Martin for The Sound of Music), but both Angela Lansbury and Tyne Daly won as Rose in revivals. Raul Julia was nominated for originating the role of Guido Contini, but didn't take the prize; if Fierstein does, it will be his fourth Tony—and, matching Tommy Tune, each in a different category. (In 1983, Torch Song Trilogy won Fierstein awards for Best Play and Best Actor; in 1984, he won for writing the book of La Cage aux Folles.) Of the actors nominated as James Tyrone, Fredric March won and Jack Lemmon lost. Both of Izzard's Joe Egg predecessors—Albert Finney and Jim Dale—were nominated; neither won.

It's doubtful that first-time nominee Vanessa Redgrave can lose, though neither of the previously nominated Mary Tyrones won: Florence Eldridge (Mrs. Fredric March) and Bethel Leslie (in the Featured category). Two of Redgrave's competitors are up for roles that have a history of success. All Fiona Shaw's Broadway predecessors as Medea were winners: Judith Anderson, Zoe Caldwell and Diana Rigg, as were the actresses who played Victoria Hamilton's Joe Egg character: Zena Walker (in the Featured category) and Stockard Channing. Continued...