Night of 60 Stage Stars: Meet the 2006 Tony Presenters
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Tony Awards. To celebrate the momentous occasion, Tony Award Productions announced plans to gather 60 "stars of the stage" to serve as presenters for the June 11 award ceremony at Radio City Music Hall. These people are particularly important because there will be no host this year, it is all about them and the nominees, of course. But who are these luminous presenters? Broadway.com breaks down the announced stars. Not quite sixty, but who's counting?
Lauren Ambrose
Best known for her performance as Claire Fisher on Six Feet Under, Ambrose is currently making her mark on the stage playing the headstrong Hennie Berger in the Broadway revival of Awake and Sing!.
Julie Andrews
An Oscar-winning icon of both stage and screen, Andrews has been nominated for three Tony Awards for her performances in My Fair Lady, Camelot and Victor/Victoria, but has surprisingly never won the coveted statuette. She famously took herself out of contention for Victor/Victoria after the show and her director husband, Blake Edwards, were snubbed by the nominating committee.
Hank Azaria
Star of Showtime's acclaimed series Huff, Azaria recently left the Broadway musical Spamalot. For his work in the stage show, the well-known actor received a Theatre World Award and 2005 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical .
Harry Belafonte
This famous singer, composer and actor won a Tony Award in 1954 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in John Murray Anderson's Almanac. He also starred in the Great White Way in 3 for Tonight and his own special Belafonte at the Palace and produced the plays Moonbirds and Asinamali!.
Kristen Bell
Now best known as the sleuthing teen star of the lauded series Veronica Mars, Bell is a theater veteran. On Broadway, she played Becky Thatcher in the musical The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Susanna Walcott in the 2002 revival of The Crucible.
Norbert Leo Butz
A Best Actor Tony winner last year for his performance as uncouth conman Freddy Benson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Butz was nominated in 2002 for his featured performance in the Harry Connick musical Thou Shalt Not.
Victoria Clark
Clark won the 2005 Best Actress Tony for her memorable performance in The Light in the Piazza, which marked her jump to leading stage roles after an extensive career as a supporting actress Urinetown, Cabaret, Titanic, How to Succeed in Business… and the Encores production of Bye-Bye Birdie. Clark has also been a voice teacher and director of opera productions.
Glenn Close
Winner of three Tony Awards for performances in The Real Thing, Death and the Maiden and Sunset Boulevard, this five-time Oscar nominee is a stage and screen favorite. She has been rumored to return to Broadway in a revival of A Little Night Music for a couple of years, but, until that happens, fans will at least get to see her onstage at Radio City.
Harry Connick, Jr.
An acclaimed singer who moved into acting in the late 1980s, notably as Debra Messing's husband on Will & Grace, Connick is currently wowing theater audiences with his lauded turn in The Pajama Game. He won a Theatre World Award for his performance in the revival and is up for a 2006 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Jim Dale
Already a Tony winner for his memorable work in Barnum, Dale is currently proving he's still got it with an acclaimed performance as Mr. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera at Studio 54. He recently won a Drama Desk Award for the role and is up for a featured actor Tony this year.
Christine Ebersole
Ebersole won wide acclaim this year for her lead performance in the off-Broadway musical Grey Gardens, which will transfer to Broadway in the fall. She won a 2001 Tony for 42nd Street and was nominated in 2003 for the play Dinner at Eight. Her most recent Broadway credit was the revival of Steel Magnolias.
Ralph Fiennes
A Tony winner for his only previous Broadway appearance in Hamlet, Fiennes is a contender again this year for his starring role in the monologue play Faith Healer. Not only is he a stage star, the actor is also a twice-Oscar nominated big screen fixture.
Harvey Fierstein
Fierstein is one of Broadway's beloved talents, and he has four Tony Awards in three categories to prove it. His first two came in 1983 when he wrote and starred in Torch Song Trilogy, which won Best Play and Best Actor. The following year, he picked up a Best Book of a Musical Tony for La Cage aux Folles and, in 2003, returned to the Best Actor winner's circle for Hairspray. Most recently, Fierstein played Teyve in Fiddler on the Roof.
Ana Gasteyer
Best known for her six years of comedic impersonations on Saturday Night Live, Gasteyer has taken recently her act to the stage. She made her debut in 2001 in The Rocky Horror Show, played Elphaba in the Chicago production of Wicked and is back on Broadway as Mrs. Peachum in the revival of The Threepenny Opera.
Joanna Gleason
A 1988 Tony Award winner for her performance in Into the Woods, Gleason recently departed the Broadway production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Her hubby Chris Sarandon continues to appear on the Great White Way in The Light in the Piazza.
Marcia Gay Harden
An Oscar winner for Pollock, Harden received a 1993 Theatre World Award and Tony nomination for her performance in Angels in America: Millennium Approaches. In 2001, she returned to the New York stage in the starry revival of The Seagull in Central Park.
Neil Patrick Harris
Forever identifiable as Doogie Howser, M.D. of the television series of the same name and currently starring on the hit CBS series How I Met Your Mother, Harris has appeared on Broadway in Cabaret, Proof and Assassins. He recently starred onstage in All My Sons at the Geffen Playhouse.
Hal Holbrook
This Emmy-winning actor is a familiar face for his work in television, film and theater. With over a dozen Broadway credits to his name, he is probably best known for playing the title character in the solo show Mark Twain Tonight!. He won a 1966 Tony Award for his performance and reprised the role on the Great White Way at the start of this season.
Bill Irwin
Irwin defeated a strong field of nominees to win the Best Actor Tony in 2005 for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. In 1989 he received nominations for actor, director, writer and choreography for Largely New York and, in 1999, won a Special Tony Award for a Live Theatrical Presentation for Fool Moon.
James Earl Jones
A two-time Best Actor Tony winner for The Great White Hope and Fences with an unmistakably deep voice, Jones returned to Broadway in the 2004-2005 season in On Golden Pond for which he received a Tony nomination. He recently played Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall at the Westport Country Playhouse in Thurgood, which is expected to reach Broadway.
T.R. Knight
Before being cast as lovelorn intern Dr. George O'Malley in Grey's Anatomy, Knight worked steadily in the theater, first at the Guthrie in his native Minneapolis, where he played the title role in Amadeus, and then in New York. Recent theatrical credits include the 2002 Broadway revival of Noises Off, Tartuffe and a Drama Desk-nominated performance in Scattergood.
Josh Lucas
Lucas made his Broadway debut during the 2004-2005 season as the Gentleman Caller in The Glass Menagerie. He left the show early to film the big screen Poseidon remake, which is currently at cinemas nationwide.
Julianna Margulies
An Emmy winner for playing Carol Hathaway on ER, Margulies has a few off-Broadway credits and hit Broadway this year in the short-lived Festen.
Audra McDonald
McDonald is known for winning four Tony Awards for A Raisin in the Sun, Ragtime, Master Class and Carousel and was nominated for Marie Christine. She was recently seen on the WB show The Bedford Diaries and will be reprising her role of Ruth Younger in the upcoming film version of A Raisin in the Sun.
Michael McKean
After a long career on both the big and small screens, McKean has become a stage fixture in recent years. He was the first replacement Edna Turnblad in the Broadway production of Hairspray, appeared off-Broadway in Woody Allen's A Second Hand Memory and is currently playing Hines in the hit revival of The Pajama Game.
S. Epatha Merkerson
Merkerson, who has spent the last 13 seasons as stoic Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on Law & Order, received a Tony nomination in 1990 for her featured role in August Wilson's The Piano Lesson. She recently picked up Golden Globe and Emmy Awards for her performance in the TV version of Ruben Santiago-Hudson's play Lackawanna Blues, directed for HBO by George C. Wolfe.
Brian Stokes Mitchell
One of Broadway's favorite leading men, Mitchell won a Tony for his role in Kiss Me, Kate and has been nominated for two other musicals Ragtime, Man of La Mancha and for August Wilson's play King Hedley II. He served as a member of the 2006 Tony nominating committee and is president of the Actors' Fund of America.
James Naughton
Two-time Tony winner for his roles in City of Angels and Chicago, Naughton has been a part of the Broadway scene since 1977, when he co-starred in Cy Coleman's spouse-swapping musical I Love My Wife. His popular cabaret act recently played Feinstein's at the Regency and he can be seen in the new movie The Devil Wears Prada.
Patricia Neal
This legendary performer won the very first Best Featured Actress Tony Award in 1947 for Another Part of the Forest. Although her most recent Broadway appearance was more than 40 years ago, as Helen Keller's mother in The Miracle Worker, Neal has remained active in the theater community, participating in the 2006 Theatre World Awards ceremony as a presenter.
Bebe Neuwirth
Neuwirth is a two-time Tony winner for Chicago and Sweet Charity. She was featured in the short-lived NBC series Law & Order: Trial by Jury last season and is widely remembered for playing Lilith on Cheers and Frasier.
Cynthia Nixon
Best known for her work on the hugely successful HBO series Sex and the City, Nixon is really a Broadway baby, appearing in ten productions on the Great White Way starting with 1980's The Philadelphia Story revival. After an acclaimed turn in this season's Rabbit Hole, she is nominated for a 2006 Best Actress in a Play Tony.
Janis Paige
An actress with her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Paige is best known for originating the role of Babe Williams in the original Broadway production of The Pajama Game, which opened in 1954. She also appeared on the Great White Way in Remains to Be Seen, Here's Love, Mame and Alone Together.
Mary Louise Parker
An acclaimed stage veteran, Parker took home a Best Actress Tony in 2001 for her work in Proof and was nominated in 2005 for Reckless. She can currently be seen on the small screen headlining the Showtime series Weeds.
Anna Paquin
An Oscar winner who can currently be seen on the silver screen in the big-budget blockbuster X-Men: The Last Stand, Paquin has earned acclaim for performances off-Broadway notably The Glory of Living and After Ashley, but has never appeared on Broadway.
Rosie Perez
The Brooklyn-born actress may be best known for movies such as Do the Right Thing and her Oscar-nominated performance in Fearless, but Perez has been building her theatrical resume in recent years, co-starring in the 2004 Broadway revival of Reckless and replacing Edie Falco in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. She won a Theatre World Award in 2001 for References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot.
Joe Pesci
An Oscar-winning film star, Pesci is actually a character in this year's Tony-nominated musical Jersey Boys. In several scenes, Michael Longaria plays a young Pesci, who introduced Frankie Valli to Tommy DeVito.
Bernadette Peters
Peters is a theater legend with over a dozen Broadway credits to her name. She knows the Tony Awards-not only does she have seven nomination and two awards for Song and Dance and Annie Get Your Gun, she is also a former host of the ceremony.
David Hyde Pierce
A four-time Emmy winner for his supporting work on Frasier, Pierce's Broadway credits include Beyond Therapy, The Heidi Chronicles and Spamalot which he departed in April. This summer he will return to the stage in the world premiere of John Kander and Fred Ebb's Curtains at California's Ahmanson Theatre.
Oliver Platt
A first time Tony nominee for his leading performance in Shining City, Platt is best known for supporting roles in movies Casanova, The Ice Harvest, Kinsey and on TV Huff, The West Wing. He's making his Broadway debut in Conor McPherson's drama but has appeared elsewhere on New York stages over the years, notably as Sir Toby Belch in the 2002 Central Park mounting of Twelfth Night.
Jonathan Pryce
A Tony winner for the play Comedians and the musical Miss Saigon, Pryce is currently conning his way into the hearts of audiences as Lawrence Jameson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It's his first Broadway role in 15 years, but Pryce has remained active in London theater, starring in both musicals My Fair Lady and plays The Goat: or Who is Sylvia?.
Sara Ramirez
A 2005 Best Featured Actress Tony winner for Spamalot, Ramirez got her start in a series of less-than-successful Broadway musicals including The Capeman, Fascinating Rhythm and A Class Act. This season, she assumed the role of orthopedic surgeon Dr. Callie Torres love interest to T.R. Knight's Dr. George O'Malley in the hit ABC drama Grey's Anatomy.
Chita Rivera
Rivera is Broadway royalty, having received two Best Actress Tony Awards for The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman and seven more Tony nominations spanning more than four decades, from Bye Bye Birdie in 1961 to her autobiographical show Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life in 2006.
Julia Roberts
This Oscar-winning pretty woman is the biggest name to hit Broadway in years, lending her tremendous star power to the current revival of Three Days of Rain. She didn't receive a Tony nomination for her work, but will gracefully appear on the telecast regardless.
Paul Rudd
Movie audiences recognize Rudd for his work in big-budget comedies such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Anchorman. But he also boasts an extensive and wide-ranging theatrical background The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Bash, Twelfth Night, The Shape of Things and, in London, Long Day's Journey Into Night. As everyone with even a passing interest in Broadway knows, Rudd is currently co-starring with Julia Roberts in the sold-out revival of Three Days of Rain.
Mark Ruffalo
An acclaimed film actor known to theater audiences for his star-making turn in off-Broadway's This is Our Youth in the late 1990s, Ruffalo is enjoying his Broadway debut this season in Awake and Sing!. His performance as Moe Axelrod in the drama earned him much critical praise and a 2006 Best Featured Actor in a Play Tony nomination.
Liev Schreiber
An acclaimed stage veteran who also frequently works in films, Schreiber received a 2005 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Glengarry Glen Ross. The actor, who will headline Macbeth in Central Park this summer, also happens to be the brother of 2006 Featured Actor nominee Pablo Schreiber.
Kyra Sedgwick
Star of the acclaimed TNT series The Closer, Sedgwick received a Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in the 1998 revival of Ah, Wilderness! and later that same year returned to the Great White Way in Twelfth Night. She also has a few off-Broadway credits, appearing on the New York stage most recently in The Exonerated in 2002.
Paul Shaffer
The world knows Shaffer as the affable bald bandleader on Late Night With David Letterman, but early in his career, he spent time in the Broadway orchestra pit playing keyboards for Godspell and The Magic Show and performing onstage in Gilda Radner: Live From New York. Fun fact: Shaffer co-wrote the ྌs disco hit "It's Raining Men."
Harry Smith
Smith is anchor of The Early Show on CBS the network that broadcasts the Tony Awards and hosts a daily radio news and analysis feature, "Just a Minute," on the CBS News Radio Network. Although he has surely presided over theater segments, he does not have any apparent direct connection to the art form.
Tom Skerritt
Skerritt has had a long career in film and TV, earning an Emmy Award for his role as Sheriff Brock on Picket Fences. In 2004, Skerritt was seen in a production of Our Town at the Intiman Theater in Seattle, the company that picked up the 2006 Tony for Outstanding Regional Theatre.
John Tartaglia
A former Sesame Street puppeteer, Tartaglia hit the theater scene with Avenue Q. For his work in the show, he was honored with a Theatre World Award, Clarence Derwent Award and a 2004 Tony nomination.
Stanley Tucci
Tucci earned a Best Actor Tony nomination in 2003 for the Broadway revival of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. On film, he's known for supporting roles in both comedies and dramas, including the current release The Devil Wears Prada, The Terminal and HBO's The Life and Death of Peter Sellers as Stanley Kubrick.
Oprah Winfrey
Vying for the title of "Most Important Presenter" with Julia Roberts, Winfrey is a media mogul who having appeared in the film The Color Purple made a splash on Broadway this year by producing the musical The Color Purple, which is nominated for 11 Tony Awards.
Alfre Woodard
A four-time Emmy Award winner who was recently seen on Desperate Housewives, Woodard has a long list of regional theater credits. She appeared on Broadway in 2004, headlining the critically-derided Drowning Crow.
