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Ragtime challenges Lion King
as musical ruler of the Tonys
By John Crook
©TVData Features Syndicate
Two critically acclaimed theater
pieces - one a sprawling and passion
ate history of race relations, the other a
dazzling retelling of a children’s fable
- are the leading contenders for best
musical in this year’s Tony Award
race.
The announcements of the awards
honoring Broadway’s best can be seen
Sunday, June 7, on CBS. Rosie
O’Donnell returns to host after her rat
ings-boosting turn at the helm last
year.
Ragtime, a musical adaptation of
the novel by E.L. Doctorow, captured
the most nominations (13) of any con
tender this year, while Julie Taymor’s
magical reconception of Disney’s The
Lion King followed with 11. Also
nominated for best musical are Side
Show, which closed earlier this season,
and The Scarlet Pimpernel, a modest
hit at best.
O’Donnell concurs that, barring a
major upset, the Tony for best musical
will go to either Ragtime or The Lion
King, adding that she strongly feels
the latter has the inside track.
“I really think that The Lion King is
groundbreaking American theater,”
she says. “It elevates it to a whole
other level. It is just genius to me. It’s
an astounding achievement. It’s the
kind of thing where I went the first
night and I'm sitting in the audience
thinking, *Oh, it’s like Beauty and the
Beast; let’s see this little show.’
“Then you’re sobbing in the open
ing number, and you’re astounded how
they’re able to think of (doing these
things). Even though you’ll know
what’s coming up next - Mufasa has to
appear in the sky and talk to Simba, for
example - you think, ‘They’ll never be
able to do that,’ or, ‘They’ll never be
able to do a stampede.’ But they do it,
and they do it with an artistry and a
brilliance that you couldn’t even have
imagined. To me, it’s groundbreaking
and deserves every award that it’s up
for.”
As deserving of accolades as the
Lion King is, it could lose out on the
important award for best musical
score. Tony voting rules allow only
music and lyrics composed directly for
the stage to be eligible for the award,
which means that the most memorable
numbers in the Elton John-Tim Rice
Lion King score are out of the running,
almost assuring a win for Ragtime
composer Stephen Flaherty and lyri
cist Lynn Ahrens.
Ragtime, an epic review of tum-of
the-century ethnic tensions in
America, is widely perceived to be
somewhat flawed, but many Tony vot
ers may favor this imperfect but ambi
tious work, winner.of the Drama Desk
Award for best musical over the spec
tacularly rendered children’s story at
the heart of The Lion King.
“Ragtime ... is a ‘legitimate’
Broadway musical, like the standard
epic South Pacific or West Side Story
and, to me, it ranks right up there,”
O’Donnell says. “(The) telling of
American history at the turn of the
(last) century as we are moving into
the next century makes it even more
poignant and prophetic and important
to see. ... I think (both Ragtime and
Lion King) are phenomenal, and it
would be wonderful if they split the
award.”
Certainly Ragtime was thought to
have a lock on one award: best actor in
a musical. Brian Stokes Mitchell’s
towering performance as “Coalhouse”
Walker was considered a shoo-in until
a startling British revival of Cabaret
swept into town just before the Tony
deadline with an electrifying turn by
Alan Cumming in the newly expanded
role of the Emcee. Now Cumming and
Mitchell are considered to be in a vir
tual dead heat for the award.
As for virtual locks, O’Donnell
says she is certain Cabaret will be
named best musical revival, and she
says Natasha Richardson deserves a
Tony for challenging memories of
Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles.
“Cabaret is a phenomenal achieve
ment,” O’Donnell says of the produc
tion, which seats theatergoers in the
seedy Kit Kat Klub where Sally per
forms. “It’s the kind of show that was
so defined by one specific movie that
became a kind of cultural icon. With
Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles, I don’t
think people even realized there was a
separation between the character and
the actress.
“To have Natasha come in and
deliver this kind of very different per
formance, and the way they incorpo
rate the audience into the club, it’s just
a brilliant night of theater. Hey, I think
this is the best season Broadway has
had in 20 years.”
As happened last year, the CBS
telecast is preceded by a one-hour
PBS special, Broadway ’9B:
Launching the Tonys (check local list
ings).
That program features fascinating
backstage glimpses of how Broadway
productions are put together, inter
spersed with live cut-ins of craft
awards presentations in the first hour
of the Tony ceremony.
O’Donnell’s popularity with TV
audiences, coupled with the high
recognition of The Lion King in its
big-screen animated form, is expected
to attract a record-size audience to this
year’s telecast O’Donnell says her 3-
year-old son, Parker, hopes to stay up
long enough to see the Lion King pro
duction number.
“He was 2 1/2 when I took him to
Lion King,” she says. “I said to him at
intermission. ‘Honey. you want to go
home/?' And he said, ‘No, momma, dis -
a BIG showl*’ 4 ,ttiS XfwmuJ vwH)
Will Tony voters agree? Stay tuned.
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TWe Lion King, featuring John Vickery and Scott Irby-Ranniar (from left), is a contender for best musical as The
S2nd Annual Tbhy Awards telecast airir Sunday ddCBS. Sem/ awards will be presented ditring a ftftS special,
Broadway ’9B: Launching the Tonys, which precedes the CBS show (check local listings).
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Entertainment extra • 6/5/98 thru 6/11/98 •
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