Tony Admin Committee Says Billy Boys to be Considered Jointly for Best Actor

The Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the third time this season on February 12 to decide the eligibility of nine Broadway productions for the 2009 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards, presented by The Broadway League and The American Theatre Wing. The decisions are as follows:

David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish are eligible to be considered jointly in the Leading Actor in a Musical category for their performances in Billy Elliot.

Dividing the Estate and The American Plan are both eligible in the category of Best Play.

Stephen Bogardus, Jeffry Denman, Kerry O’Malley and Meredith Patterson will be considered in the Leading Actor in a Musical and Leading Actress in Musical categories for their performances in White Christmas.

Liza’s at the Palace, Slava’s Snowshow and Soul of Shaolin will all be considered eligible in the Special Theatrical Event category.

Brian d’Arcy James and Sutton Foster will be considered eligible in the Leading Actor in a Musical and Leading Actress in a Musical categories for their performances in Shrek the Musical.

Danny Troob and John Clancy are eligible in the category of Best Orchestrations for Shrek the Musical.

The new book by Richard Greenberg for Pal Joey will be eligible in the Book of a Musical category.

Martha Plimpton will be considered eligible in the Featured Actress in a Musical category for her performance in Pal Joey.

All other decisions were consistent with the opening night credits.

The Tony Awards Administration Committee will meet two more times to discuss the eligibility of shows opening in the 2008-2009 season. The cut-off date for eligibility is April 30, 2009. The Tony Awards will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from Radio City Music Hall on the CBS television network on June 7.