2005 Tony Nominees React to the Big News
Norbert Leo Butz
Best Leading Actor in a Musical Nominee for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
"I feel great…and a little tired. I have two small kids so I was up very early in the morning with them. I was literally dropping them off at school when I found out from my manager. She always insists that she gets to call with good news 'cause she usually has to call with bad news! I've been just trying to stay employed and to do the best material. I've gotten really lucky, but you never know. The work chooses you. It's just a big dumb-luck game. But I'm thrilled to be in the company that I'm in. You just gotta enjoy it graciously. I'm so happy that [John Lithgow] was nominated. That was one I was keeping my fingers crossed on. I was gonna have to pull a Julie Andrews if he didn't make it. 'I will not appear! They neglected my friend and I decline your nomination!' I didn't tell my kids yet. They don't give a crap about any of this. They want their Trix, and they want it now! I'm sitting here spreading peanut butter on apples for lunch. My five year old has a friend over, and they're making wooden pizza for me, which I'm about to sit down and enjoy. All my kids care about is Wicked. They're still mad at me for leaving that show. They thought it was my job forever and that I'd be 70 years old wearing those tight white pants, singing 'Dancing Through Life.' They could care less about this."
Dan Fogler
Best Featured Actor in a Musical Nominee for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
"I was sleeping and my girlfriend ran in and started smacking me on my tushy and screaming that I got nominated. There's been more phone ringing today than ever before in my life. My dad got me this cell phone as a present so he's paying the bill for the time being. He's about to hand over the bill to me, so I'm trying to eke out the last that I can eke out while he's still paying. Never before—not even on my birthday—have this many people called me. This is any actor's dream. I'm in a surreal, stupefied daze. I go from moments of sitting in my corner slowly weeping to running around doing cartwheels in my apartment with only my boxers on to moments of crazy contemplation of the world in general. It's that kind of day. It's nuts over here!"
Adriane Lenox
Best Featured Actress in a Play Nominee for Doubt
"I tell you—I hate to say it like this—but I was asleep. I did a benefit last night. So I was asleep, and my agent called me and he said, ‘Adriane, don't pretend you're not watching!' I said, ‘No man, I'm asleep.' I think it;s fantastic that the whole cast was nominated. It's something, isn't it? Not one person left out. I tell you, it's just beautiful. I wish they had a category for ensemble. And I'm sure our people will be walking away with statues. I'm sure it's going to do very well. I can think of many people who are so supportive of me and have been calling. Anika [Noni Rose], who I did Caroline or Change with, called me this morning. She said, ‘Girlfriend, you're just doing it. You're doing it quietly. You're just taking care of your business. You ain't makin' no fuss; you're just doing your job.'"
Mario Cantone
Best Special Theatrical Event Nominee for Laugh Whore
"I'm very happy to be nominated with those heavyweights [Cantone is up against one-person shows by Billy Crystal, Dame Edna and Whoopi Goldberg]. I'm there with the best company a comic could be mentioned in the same breath with. I'm gonna lose and that's OK, I don't care. I was in bed and was planning on getting up to hear the nominations even though I don't usually get up before 1pm. So I set an alarm and kept looking at the clock—7:30am, 7:45, 8:00—and I thought, 'Just sleep through it! It's probably not gonna happen.' And then I couldn't, curiosity got the best of me. So I turned it on and they said my name. I didn't even react when I heard. When I'm in bed and tired, I don't react. 'The end of the world is here.' 'OK, wake me up when it happens.' And then it finally hit me, after I wiped the allergy shit out of my eyes. Now I guess I can take the ride and relax and have a good time."
Broadway.com congratulates all of this year's nominees—see you on the big night! For a complete list of 2005 Tony Award nominees, click here.
Interviews by Beth Stevens and Paul Wontorek
Sutton Foster
Best Leading Actress in a Musical Nominee for Little Women
"My boyfriend [Spamalot star Christian Borle] and I woke up at 8:27 or so and crawled into the living room to watch it. Of course, it took forever to get to my category but it was so exciting and a bit of a relief to hear my name. Then we went back to sleep and woke up to about 15 messages on the phone. I'm disappointed that the show and its creators didn't get recognized in the way that I think they should, but it's an unbelievable season and it's a thrill to be part of such an exciting time on Broadway. I love Little Women so much. But I'm excited to get dressed up and wear something pretty on Tony night."
Christina Applegate
Best Leading Actress in a Musical Nominee for Sweet Charity
"I feel great. I'm kind of settling into all of this. I woke up at 8:45am. Something just woke me up at the right time and then my phone started ringing off the hook. This is all incredible. I always dreamt of doing a Broadway show and I got to do that and I thought that was it—I thought it was the capper. And, of course, having this acknowledgement is so much bigger because of everything that happened. It means so much more because we almost didn't have a show at all. I love being here and getting to hear an audience every night. You don't get to do that in L.A. You work for three months and then sit on your butt and try to get a job. That's just not as much fun. Here, I get to go out every night and I just love it. It's a thrill. Anyone who gets to do it understands that feeling. It's gonna be hard to go back to L.A. when this is done!"
Michael McGrath
Best Featured Actor in a Musical Nominee for Spamalot
"I tried to find announcements on television, but I couldn't come up with anything. Around 8:35, my best friend for like 22 years called me and was screaming in the phone that I had gotten the nomination. It's been an exciting morning in the McGrath household, that's for sure! My wife was taking my daughter to school, by the time she came back I had pulled up the list online. She walked into the office, and I said, ‘Well, the bad news is they didn't announce the featured category on television, but the good news is… I did get one!' She went crazy. So that was fun. I used to watch the Tony Awards when I was in high school and sort of always dreamed that I would be there, but later on it sort of all became more about getting work and keeping food on the table and everything else. My daughter does not know yet. She'll be 10 in July. I'm going to pick her up and see if I can plan some sort of weird way to tell her. She'll be very excited."
Jack O'Brien
Best Direction of a Musical Nominee for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
"I'm thrilled that the show had such a strong showing all the way across the board. I'm particularly thrilled for [choreographer] Jerry Mitchell. He's been overlooked a lot, so the fact that he got back-to-back nominations is wonderful. I'm also thrilled for John [Lithgow, who received a Tony nomination after failing to be nominated for the Outer Critics Circle or Drama Desk Awards]. His contribution to the show has been undervalued. It's interesting about these things—the people who do the most elegant work sometimes aren't appreciated as readily as someone with two firecrackers in their hands. We built our strength on his professionalism and brilliant timing, so you can't undervalue that. The other contribution that is wildly undervalued is [set designer] David Rockwell [who wasn't nominated]. His work lacks moving wheels, if you know what I mean. It's so deft and light and witty and understated. Maybe it's too tasteful? But he's like Jerry Mitchell—an inevitability. It's gonna happen for him…and frequently. So I don't worry for him."
Cherry Jones
Best Performance for a Leading Actress in a Play Nominee for Doubt
"Well, I actually watched, which I've never done before. It's such a tight year. It really is like rooting for the home team, and I just wanted to see how the gang did. They all did great! I'll tell you what, 48th Street is looking good, isn't it? You know, a four-character play like ours and Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf?—that those would get all four nominees. It's just wonderful. I slept as late as I could because I was at the MTC Gala last night, and I have to record books this morning, so I haven't gotten to call my family yet. But I'll call them as soon as I get through with my job today. My day job! Ha! This is just like a little miracle because you rehearse something in a small rehearsal space and you just have no idea. We had no idea how it was going to capture the imagination of our audiences, and so it's just been this unfolding wonder to all of us."
Erin Dilly
Best Leading Actress in a Musical Nominee for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
"I woke up at 5:30am with a sick Pomeranian—my puppy Ozzie was barfing and retching in the bed. I'm maniacally maternal, so I took him down and held his hair back while he barfed. And then I stayed up with him because I was wired. My husband got up and we were sitting in front of the computer at 8:25am, trying to download the nominees, completely unaware that it was being broadcast on CBS. My agent finally called at about 8:45am and we just screamed our throats out. Then I called my mom and went back to bed. It's such a tremendous honor for me. It's nothing that I ever aspired to have happen to me in this business, but I am awfully excited that it did. And I love the women that I'm nominated with. When I had my first audition with my agent when I first arrived in New York in 1994, he said to me, 'You remind us of one of our other clients, Vicki Clark.' And Sutton Foster and I grew up together. And I love Sherie [Rene Scott] and I love her husband. And Kelli O'Hara got a nomination, and she's one of my dearest friends. So it's gonna be a fun, wonderful couple of weeks getting to see everyone."
Philip Bosco
Best Performance for a Leading Actor in a Play Nominee for Twelve Angry Men
"I'm very happily surprised. I got a call from my daughters. My daughters are very quick on that. They are fervent fans of their daddy's career, and they listen and watch for everything. As a matter of fact, the very first call was from a friend of my daughter Jennifer, a lady named Marilyn. As soon as she hung up, my daughter Syria called, who's the one who checks Broadway.com and everything on the Internet. She's an attorney. She stayed away from work. She said ‘I'm late for work now, but I had to call you!' We have a large family, and they're very quite closely tied and communicate with each other on just about everything. I think I represent all the guys [the cast of Twelve Angry Men] with this nomination. It is absolutely a total ensemble show, and if I'm lucky enough to win—and I don't think I will, but if I did—that would be the very first thing out of my mouth. This really doesn't belong to one individual. It truly belongs to the whole group because the group functioned as one, and I really do feel very strongly about that. I mean, I'm pleased for myself, of course, it would be foolish not to say that, but I really do think that I represent the guys, as it were. I was told that it's also been nominated for one of the best revivals and that's kind of justification. That really speaks to all of us."
Victoria Clark
Best Actress in a Musical Nominee, The Light in the Piazza
"My son usually has to be at school at 8:30, but he wasn't going to let me take him to school without watching the Tony nominations on TV. So we ate breakfast, I packed his lunch, we put everything by the door, so we could go right afterwards, and we sat on the couch and watched it. My category was one of the last ones they announced. It's like the third from the end. So, we were waiting and waiting and a lot of my colleagues and friends were nominated, so every time we got one that we liked, we would scream and the dog would bark really loud and jump up and down and then when they finally announced my name—I don't even remember exactly what happened, but the next time I regained consciousness—we were both standing up. My son had jumped up in the air so high, and I had caught him and he was around my shoulders. I didn't even know that he could jump that high. He's 10 years old. And then we went to school. He said when he got to school—he literally went over to his teachers and said, ‘I'd like to make an announcement.' And so he announced it for his class and the whole class clapped and roared. It was so sweet. He's going to be my escort to the Tonys. It's all so cute. I spoke to Kelli O'Hara and Matt Morrison, and I need to call Celia Keenan-Bolger because she's a very, very close friend of mine. Michael Stuhlbarg is also a very good friend. This is going to be a lot of fun. I've been a working actor for 20 years, so this is sort of like the culmination of a lot of hard work and a lot of dreams. It's thrilling! I'm so excited!"
Casey Nicholaw
Best Choreography Nominee for Spamalot
"I knew to turn the TV on. I couldn't wait. Just to see all of it. I will totally admit it. I was just really excited. I felt like it was like waiting to see if I'm going to Disneyland or something. I was just so excited. I just kept thinking about it because Brian Stokes Mitchell and I have known each other since I was 15 years old. We did shows together in San Diego, and so that he was part of this morning was just the coolest thing ever to me. It just totally brought me full circle. I saw him this morning and we both were just smiling like you wouldn't believe. So it was cool, really cool. It's my first Broadway show as a choreographer, so it means the world to me. Just to look at where I was just a year and a half ago and what I'm doing now—it just blows me away. I kind of have to pinch myself."
David Yazbek
Best Original Score Nominee for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
"I had a show last night at Feinstein's, so I was too tired to be up to watch the nominations. Had I not done the gig, I may have been up and feeling a little antsy, but I exhaust myself even at a place like Feinstein's. So, I was asleep, but I got a lot of calls. [Librettist] Jeffrey Lane is the person who actually told me. It feels more important to me this time [in comparison to 2001, when Yazbek received his first nomination for The Full Monty]. I had plenty invested in The Full Monty in terms of energy and time, but the idea of being acknowledged for this form means so much more to me now. Last time it was like, 'All right, but where's the Grammy I wanted all my life?' This time it's like, 'Thank you! Thank you for liking the show!"
William Ivey Long
Best Costume Design of a Play Nominee for A Streetcar Named Desire
Best Costume Design of a Musical Nominee for La Cage aux Folles
"It's quite a shock! I was very bleary-eyed this morning for some reason. We went to the Old Homestead Steakhouse last night, and you know that much manly food can knock the stuffing out of you. So I was very bleary, and my assistants were on the computer. They said, ‘Oh look! You're nominated for this!' I said, ‘Oh my goodness! There's a category for that?' Because I had totally forgotten they had added a new category, and then I thought he was kidding. And then the other one said ‘OK, April Fools!' And then they printed it out, and I had to believe it. Then I called my dressmaker, who had made all the clothes for [Natasha Richardson], and congratulated him. And then I called my [other] assistant who's bungee jumping in the Grand Canyon, and congratulated her. So I did my congratulations to everybody who worked with me on it. This new way of doing it [the Tonys have split the design awards into categories for both plays and musicals], doubles the field. I'm calling it the Jane Greenwood Award because Jane Greenwood, one of our greatest luminaries and one of the most wonderful people in the world, has been nominated a Susan Lucci-number of times, but because big musicals seem to captivate the imagination of voters thank goodness I've been the beneficiary of many of those, more subtle work on plays have often been overlooked. So now, I'm thrilled that [the Tonys] have done this because now it just makes it more equitable because they are very different—often very different worlds—a play and a musical. So it's really great. It's been very exciting, but I do want to go on record by saying I am devastated that the lady for whom I did what I consider some of my best work in my career, was not nominated. It's sort of odd. How do you nominate the dressmaker when the lady [Natasha Richardson] for whom you're making the dresses has not been nominated? I know it's very hard. I'm really quite sad that that didn't happen because no garment is created in a vacuum you know—except for Macys—but these were created with her."
Gary Beach
Best Leading Actor in a Musical Nominee for La Cage aux Folles
"I'm so pleased. I guess you never get used to these things. I went to the Manhattan Theater Club Gala last night. It was so much fun—I got to do 'I Am What I Am' in men's clothing! My partner Jeff and I came home and watched the Carter family special on Channel 13, and I said, 'OK, I'm not getting a nomination, so let's just go to sleep.' This morning, Jeff went out to the park to walk the dog and when he came back our doorman said, 'Hey, congratulations!' So that's how he found out and he came in the room and said, 'Congratulations!' And I must admit I started to cry. This is a hard one. Things that open early in the season always have less of a chance and with some of the stuff that people were writing about backstage problems—that's never good. Most of it wasn't true but it put a sort of strange aura around the whole thing. And I sort of decided, 'Oh well. I'm loving doing the show. Robert Goulet couldn't be nicer and I'm in really good company. So that's my reward—to be able to do the show.' This is like the cherry, it really is. It's nice to be invited to the dance, even if you don't get to kiss the prince. I've been nominated twice—one time I lost, one time I won. The thing is, you never feel like a loser at the Tony Awards. It's such a well-done event. We're celebrating ourselves—it's the one month where everyone comes together to say, 'Aren't we lucky to be here doing this?!' That's what I love about it."
Jan Maxwell
Best Featured Actress in a Musical Nominee for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
"My husband and I get up at 7am with our child, so we turned on the TV. Even after I heard it, I had to go online and see it in print to make sure it wasn't a mistake! It's wonderful to be honored. I haven't done that many musicals. Usually I'm opening a vein every night in dramas. It's kind of bizarre—what I do onstage in Chitty is what I do at home with my nine year old. I'm just getting paid for it now. It seems like a crime to be rewarded for having so much fun. The bummer is that I have to go to the dentist today. That's kind of how life is, right? Life goes on."
Christopher Sieber
Best Featured Actor in Musical Nominee for Spamalot
"I was out in my house in New Jersey that doesn't have a television and only has radio, and I don't get any Broadway news, so my agent called me and said, ‘Hey you got nominated!' I was like ‘Yay!' He said, ‘Christopher Sieber, you just got nominated for a Tony. What are you gonna do now?' And I said, ‘Go to Home Depot?' A lot of friends called me, which is very nice. Everyone has nice things to say. It's really cool! I mean, I've been smiling all morning. I'm just thrilled, especially during this season. It's been so busy with great performances and wonderful new shows. I mean this is really a busy, busy Broadway season and to be nominated in this season in particular is the icing on the cake, it really is. I called my mother around 8:45 this morning, and she almost dropped the phone. I grew up in a very small town in Minnesota. My brother has been going around from cubicle to cubicle at work telling people ‘My brother got nominated for a Tony Award! My brother got nominated for a Tony Award!' I am in theater all the time. I guess it was just my time. Very cool. It's very cool!"
Sherie Rene Scott
Best Leading Actress in a Musical Nominee for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
"[My husband] Kurt was watching the nominations on CBS with my parents. They were letting me sleep in since I haven't slept since November basically and today was one of my few days to sleep in. So Kurt woke me up and said, 'Congratulations." And I said, 'I'm trying to sleep in!' Later Kurt said, 'Do you feel any different?' And I said, 'No,' so that's good to know. Nothing really changes. The Tonys are a big overpriced party that you want to be asked to, that's all. It's just an excuse to get to see everyone and get dressed up. And you wish that all your friends could be there. Unfortunately there are people every year who should go and don't. I really wish that Greg Jbara could go this year with us."
Matthew Morrison
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Nominee for The Light in the Piazza
"I got up to watch NY1 because I do it every year. I had a real bad feeling. I didn't think it was going to happen. I thought they were going to Kerry Butler me. My roommate got up—we were both watching it and they said my name, and I just kind of… it still hasn't hit me yet. My phone hasn't really stopped since then. I haven't even started to return calls. Everyone called. Marissa [Jaret Winokur, Morrison's co-star in Hairspray] called me and I just got a phone call from Denis O'Hare. Just, you know, all these people I've worked with. It's just been a great morning and a great day and I even had an audition. At the audition, they all knew. I was there with like the director, casting director and producer and they were like, ‘Congratulations!' And I was like, ‘Hey, thanks.' I haven't gotten a hold of my mom yet but I spoke to my dad and everyone's so excited. It's something that—it just makes you think about where you come from and where you've been. There was a point in my life where I wanted to be a professional soccer player, but then there were people in my life that kind of steered me to go in this direction. I'm just thankful for a lot of people in my life that have kind of helped me get here. It's just really overwhelming."
Joanna Gleason
Best Featured Actress in a Musical Nominee for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
"In preparation for this morning I did this thing yesterday where I said, 'What don't you have in your life right now? What's the big picture?' I was trying to be like those Kabbalah people. And I woke up today and watched the TV with my husband and when I heard I just felt like a five year old. I just jumped up and down and started to cry. And it's not just about the nomination—it's about how long its been since I've been back here on Broadway. It's been a long road. I just kind of let go and I feel really relieved and thrilled now. And I'm thrilled for everyone else at my show that got recognized, and disappointed about Greg Jbara, who is the other part of me up there. And now it's the month of endless lunches—we all just sort of party and I'm just happy to be at the party. My dogs, however, are completely blasé now. They're just like, 'Tell me something I don't know. Is there food involved?' I have New York dogs now!"
Mireille Enos
Best Featured Actress in a Play Nominee for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
[Publicist] Sam Rudy called early this morning. My sister grabbed the phone and kind of stumbled in my bedroom and handed it to me. I heard a voice I thought I recognized, but I couldn't make out any of the words he was saying. I was like,‘I'm sorry. Who are you? What is this?' And finally it became clear, and I heard Sam saying, ‘All four of you got nominated!' It was just thrilling! I started calling my family and my closest friends and it kind of hasn't stopped. I talked to [co-star] David [Harbour]. We actually spoke to each other and screamed and jumped around. I got a message from Kathleen [Turner]. I haven't talked to her in person yet. It's so wonderful because we all love each other so much and this way we don't have to hold back our joy. We can just fully embrace it. It's really lovely. The past few weeks, I've done a pretty good job convincing myself that I would not be nominated and that would be fine, and it didn't diminish anything. I was really convinced that what was going to happen—that Bill [Irwin] and Kathleen [Turner] were going to get it, and hopefully David [Harbour], and I would not get nominated. So it was this kind of an amazing turnaround for my brain."
Marc Kudisch
Best Featured Actor in a Musical Nominee for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
"I'm down in D.C. for last night's Helen Hayes Awards, but I got a message on my phone telling me. It was a nice little welcoming wakeup. I'm happy to be nominated but then also mad at myself for being happy in some ways. Putting a mathematic value on something that is so subjective is tough, especially since I've got brilliant friends who were not nominated, which of course happens every year. Every year there's someone left off the list, and this year I fully expected it to be me. So I have happy feelings mixed with not happy feelings. I'm very pleased to be acknowledged for my work and to be given a specific kind of honorarium. I'm grateful for that. Who wouldn't be? At the same time, it's tough. There's so much wonderful talent out there that doesn't get recognition. The ultimate reward for me is doing the job. That's why I'm in the business. Two years from now, nobody's going to remember who got nominated. What they will remember are the performances that everyone puts out. That's what it's truly about."
Kelli O'Hara
Best Featured Actress in a Musical Nominee for The Light in the Piazza
"I couldn't sleep. Finally, at around 8:35, I turned on the computer and looked there. I read my name over and over again about seven times. I couldn't believe it. And, of course, I got many, many calls and talked to lots of people. I think the most meaningful conversation was with my voice teacher, who is back in Oklahoma. You know, she was Kristin Chenoweth's teacher as well. And I remember how much it meant to her when Kristin started having so much success, and I have been dreaming of calling her since I was 18 and telling her this. I may start crying right now. It was also wonderful to speak with Matt [Morrison] and Vicki [Clark] today. She's so supportive. After a while, I put down the phone and went for a run. I needed to be unreachable for just a little while and clear my head. I am so unbelievably thrilled."
Jerry Mitchell
Best Choreography Nominee for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Best Choreography Nominee for La Cage aux Folles
"I was doing the exact same thing I was doing last year! I was at the gym, working out and I came home for an egg white omelette and to watch it on TV with [my boyfriend] Eric. It's interesting—both [shows I was nominated for] take place on the French Riviera. One has real women, one has fake women. One is all about show, and the other is all about subtlety. I'm honored that I was recognized for both those extremes. La Cage is all about throwing people into splits. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is about elegance and beauty. It's hard to be elegant and have class and not just be wild and crazy. I felt like, 'Wow. People really saw how we made the show move.' And I was happy to see John [Lithgow] recognized. And Matt Morrison—my Link Larsen! I was very excited for him. I'm really looking forward to Tony night. My nephew is graduating the same weekend, so I'm gonna fly to Michigan and spend Friday and Saturday with my family and come back Sunday morning at 6am. As soon as I got nominated, I went on AA.com and booked my flight!"
Dana Ivey
Featured Actress in a Play Nominee for The Rivals
"My agent called me and woke me up. I was in Washington D.C. I had gone down there for the Helen Hayes Awards, which were last night. I had been nominated for an award. I didn't win, but it was very nice to be there. I was at the Marriott Hotel, and my agent called me up on my cell phone and told me. I was thrilled! My gosh! I was over the moon. What a great wakeup call. I am thrilled that they remembered me. I am absolutely over the moon about that because sometimes that doesn't happen. So I'm very happy that I was remembered. When I got home there were 15 messages on my answering machine. I heard from my director who is very happy for me, and I did hear from one of my cast members, Brian Murray. Everyone was asserting congratulations and happiness for me. I am absolutely thrilled."