In a startling example of kiss-and-make-up, Victor/Victoria star Julie Andrews has agreed to appear on the June 1 Tony Awards broadcast, along with a powerhouse lineup of stars, including Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg, Roseanne, Matthew Broderick, Mary Tyler Moore, Christine Baranski and others.
Rosie O'Donnell will host.
Production numbers from the three currently-running, nominated musicals -- Steel Pier, Titanic and The Life will be staged live, though the producers are still unsure whether they'll do anything with Juan Darien, which closed earlier this year. Scenes from all the nominated revival musicals will be staged, including Annie's Brittny Kissinger singing "Tomorrow." But scenes from nominated plays will not. Nor will scenes from Jekyll & Hyde or Dream.
However, there will be an opening number, featuring host O'Donnell, cavorting with members of the long-running Broadway musicals Beauty & The Beast, Rent, Cats, Smokey Joe's Cafe, Grease! and Noise/Funk. Oddly enough, Phantom Of The Opera, The King And I and Miss Saigon have not been mentioned for that segment.
Among the stars chosen to either present awards or introduce segments during the three-hour Tony show will be Andrews (who declined her Best Actress nomination in 1996 and boycotted the Tony ceremony when Victor/Victoria was nominated for no other Tony), Christine Baranski (The House Of Blue Leaves), Matthew Broderick (Master Harold...And The Boys), Glenn Close (Sunset Boulevard), Whoopi Goldberg (Forum), Mary Tyler Moore (Breakfast At Tiffany's), Martin Short (The Goodbye Girl) and Roseanne (The Wizard Of Oz). At a press conference April 4 the American Theatre Wing not only announced that the 1996-97 Tony Awards would be held at Radio City Music Hall and hosted by Rosie O'Donnell, but the awards would have an extra hour, 8-9 PM (EST), to be broadcast on public television. During that extra hour, ten awards will be given out live, with 12 more to follow during the 9-11 PM CBS-TV telecast. Short interviews will also be rolled into the first hour, featuring such notables as actors Christopher Plummer, Bebe Neuwirth, Andrea Martin, Robert Cuccioli, directors Charles Nelson Reilly, Walter Bobbie, Scott Ellis Julie Taymor, choreographers Ann Reinking and Susan Stroman, and designers Ken Billington and William Ivey Long.
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