The Tony Nominees Press Reception was held this past Tuesday morning at The View on the 48th floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel. The annual event allows the New York press the chance to interview the various 2005 Tony Award nominees. I was able to very briefly chat with all of the nominees in the Leading Actress and Featured Actress in a Musical categories. All ten women seemed genuinely excited to have received the honor; those interviews follow.

BEST LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Christina Applegate in Sweet Charity
Question: Where were you when you heard the news about your Tony nomination?
Christina Applegate: I was in bed sleeping.

Q: Did someone call to tell you about the nomination?
Applegate: No, it was really strange. I wasn't going to wake up for the announcements because I figured it wasn't going to happen. But for some reason I woke up at 8:45 and I'm like, "Should I just check?" So, I had my little sidekick next to the bed and I went on-line, and I scrolled down, and luckily my name is with an "A," so it was the top name on the list.

Q: Did you receive a lot of calls yesterday?
Applegate: I did, and you know what, I didn't answer the phone. I took my dog to Central Park and we lay in the grass and slept for two hours. I have a little chihuahua dachshund, and that's what I did.

Q: How does it feel to have finally opened on Broadway? Is the reality of Broadway what you thought it would be?
Applegate: It's so much more because there's so much more to it for this production and this company. For us, it's such a bigger victory, and for [these Tony nominations] to happen, we feel very vindicated actually, we feel really good about it.

Q: Do you feel like it's a real family with this company?
Applegate: Oh, absolutely, that is my family, and I'm going to have a really hard time going back to L.A. [afterwards].

Q: I know on the first night on Broadway, your co-star, Denis O'Hare, gave a really beautiful speech about you . . .
Applegate: Yes, he did, [and] I'm really very, very disappointed and upset that he wasn't acknowledged with a Tony [nomination.] He is unbelievably brilliant. For some reason [he wasn't nominated]. I don't know what happened — there are too many guys around [this season]? I'm very upset about that. He makes me better, so I owe everything that I'm doing on that stage to Denis O'Hare.

Q: Even though it's been an up-and-down experience, does this make you want to do more theatre?
Applegate: One step at a time. [Laughs.] Absolutely, [I want to] do more theatre. I think that doing this is why you become an actor to begin with — to be able to act. And you get to do it every day. . . If we're not creative, we're not okay. Being in the film industry is so difficult because of that — you work for three months and then you don't [work] for a long period of time, and you get so stifled creatively. This is such a wonderful way to keep your spirit going.

Q: How is your foot healing?
Applegate: I'm healing. It's not healed, but I'm healing.

Victoria Clark in The Light in the Piazza
Q: Where were you when you heard the news about the Tony nomination?
Victoria Clark: I was at home watching [TV] live with my ten-year old. He jumped straight up in the air. When I looked down, I was holding him, and his legs were wrapped around my neck. [Laughs.] I have no idea how he got up there because he's tall . . . He hugged me so tight, and I'm bringing him as my escort. What's cuter than a ten-year-old in a tux?

Q: Did you get a lot of calls yesterday?
Clark: Over one-hundred, easily.

Question: Who was the most surprising call?
Clark: Nobody out of the blue, although my high school drama teacher did call me the day the New York Times review came out. That was kind of a surprise. Well, he never cast me in anything. [Laughs.] I was always doing props for him. I was doing the blintzes for You Can't Take it With You. He never really gave me much to do in high school, but he's taking a lot of credit for it now. [Laughs.] I actually learned a lot from him — he was a wonderful teacher.

Erin Dilly in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Question: Where were you when you heard the news of the Tony nomination?
Erin Dilly: My puppy was up sick. My Pomeranian woke me up with a bit of retching at 5 AM, so I was downstairs with him into the morning, and then I sort of dragged my husband out of bed at about 8:15, and we sat in front of our computer, our very small computer, which couldn't download each individual category as it was announced. And then my agent called before it was on screen and [we] erupted in excited screams, and then I went to sleep.

Q: Who was the first person you called when you woke up?
Dilly: My mother. She's in Michigan. I called my mom and then I called my dad, who's a high school teacher. I called the school office and had them patch it through to his classroom. It was really fun.

Q: How's the show going? Are you enjoying it?
Dilly: It's spectacular. It's gotten happier and bigger and better since the opening. We're just having a great time.

Q: How long are you contracted with the show?
Dilly: I'll be in it for a year. I'm flying for the next 12 months! [Laughs.]

Q: Are you working on any other projects while you're doing the show?
Dilly: Right now, it's Chitty Chitty everything all the time. I'm working on a Kander and Ebb piece in July. It's a trunk musical that they hadn't produced yet called Curtains. I'm doing that with [director] Scott Ellis.

Sutton Foster in Little Women
Question: Where were you when you heard the news?
Sutton Foster: I was on the couch half asleep. My boyfriend and I dragged ourselves out of bed and lay on the couch and watched. And, we were like, "Ahhhh," and then we went back to sleep.

Q: Was it exciting?
Foster: It was very exciting. It's the Tony Awards! It's the little girl fantasy. It feels amazing to be recognized in this way.

Q: Did you get a lot of calls?
Foster: We did.

Q: Anyone that was a surprise?
Foster: What's always amazing when these type of things happen [and] it becomes very national, you're entire family, extended family, people from all across the country, finally go, "Oh my gosh, she's really doing well and [is] really successful." You get e-mails and letters and calls from past friends from another lifetime, high school friends. So that's really exciting.

Q: How strenuous is performing Little Women compared to performing in Thoroughly Modern Millie?
Foster: Millie was very difficult, but this is also equally difficult. It's a ten-person cast, it's not a mega-musical, so it's a little bit of a different experience — it's not like that huge musical comedy feel. It's been amazing; it's a beautiful story. I really love the show, and I feel I'm representing the Little Women [today].

Q: How long will you stay with the show?
Foster: I'm contracted through December.

Q: Are you able to do any other workshops or projects during the run? Foster: Not really, it's very hard. I've had to say no to a lot of things. It's been really difficult because I really want to be able to do more, but it's hard when I'm working so hard [in Little Women].

Sherie Rene Scott in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Question: Where were you when you heard the news?
Sherie Rene Scott: It was one of my few mornings to sleep in because my mom came in town to watch my new baby [Eli], so my husband and my mom had woken with my baby, and I was trying to sleep in. I had an eye mask on and earplugs! So they woke me up and said, "Congratulations." And I said, "That's great. Can I sleep in some more?" because it's my only morning to sleep in. [Laughs.] It was kind of anticlimactic — all I was thinking about was what to give the baby for breakfast.

Q: How old is the baby?
Scott: One year.

Q: How has it been combining working and motherhood?
Scott: It's great now. I think I went back to work really early, especially considering I was doing a new musical and singing and dancing, so that was like two months [after he was born]. He was two months old, and we shipped out to San Diego [for the out-of-town tryout]. Once this is over with, I'll just have a normal eight-show-week schedule. I'm looking forward to having this time with him. Luckily, my mom came from Kansas, and she's helping me out with him, so I don't have horrible mommy guilt every time I'm away from him. I love him so so much, and my husband and I are just over the moon. We just miss him when we're not with him. I wish he could be with me everywhere.

Q: How long are you contracted with the show?
Scott: A year.

Q: Are you able to do any other workshops or projects while you're in Scoundrels?
Scott: I hope not. [Laughs.] It's always hard as an actor because when you're working, [that is] when you have to hustle for your next job. Strike while the iron's hot, but I would just like to do this job. I love doing it. I'm just now getting used to doing eight shows a week and learning how to do it. . . . It's singing and running around, but I find being a mom gives me more energy. I actually have more energy now than before I had my son. I'd like to just do [the show] for a few months and not audition and do other things.

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BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Joanna Gleason in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Question: Where were you when you heard the news?
Joanna Gleason: Just standing up in bed. Then they said my name, and I jumped a little.

Q: How is the show going?
Gleason: Beautifully. Audiences are on their feet. They're loving it. They come back and say the most wonderful things, and they come back to see the show again.

Q: How long are you contracted with the show?
Gleason: Through next February. Continued...