Broadway babies, Sunday night belongs to you!

ANOTHER OPENING, ANOTHER SHOW:  Broadway aficionados will be glued to CBS on Sunday night when The 2009 Tony Awards are beamed live from Radio City Music Hall at 8 p.m.  Special appearances are promised by Liza Minnelli, Elton John, and Dolly Parton and the cast of 9 to 5. We’ll see

MINNELLI: at the Music Hall

musical numbers from each of the Tony-nominated Best Musicals and Best Musical Revivals: Billy Elliot, The Musical; Guys and Dolls; Hair; Next to Normal; Pal Joey; Rock of Ages; Shrek the Musical, and West Side Story. Additionally, there will be special performances from actors from the various touring productions of Jersey Boys, Legally Blonde The Musical and the Reno, Nevada production of Mamma Mia, and presenters will include Lucie Arnaz, Kate Burton, Kristin Chenoweth, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, Edie Falco, Will Ferrell, Carrie Fisher, Jane Fonda, Hallie Foote, James Gandolfini, Lauren Graham, Colin Hanks, Marcia Gay Harden, Nicole Kidman, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Lange, Frank Langella, Angela Lansbury, Audra McDonald, Lin-Manuel Miranda, David Hyde Pierce, Piper Perabo, Oliver Platt, Susan Sarandon, Kevin Spacey, John Stamos, and Chandra Wilson, to

HARRIS: song & dance man

name quite a few.And then, of course, who can resist rooting for the home team? Tony-nominated Montreal teen David Alvarez and the two young actors with whom he shares the role of Billy Elliot have already won Astaire Awards for Best Male Dancer(s) on Broadway. Wow. For a full list of Tony nominations click here.  

P.S. Don’t be surprised if you see a show-stopping opening number from host Neil Patrick Harris. The star of TV’s Doogie Houser and How I Met Your Mother is an addictive song-and-dance man who even tripped the light fantastic on Sesame Street (“Have I got shoes for you!”) And if you didn’t catch his guest stint with the all-star cast of Prop 8: The Musical – including Tony nominee Alison Janney, Oscar nominee John  C. Reilly, SNL alumnus Maya Rudolph and, oh yeah, Jack Black as Jesus – give yourself a T.G.I.F.lift and click here.

DALE: special

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO …? Remember all those bright and beautiful belles who competed to star in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s extravagant revival of The Sound Of Music? Princess of Wales showstopper Elicia MacKenzie, the Maria voted in by viewers of How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? Will join  runner-up Janna Polzin (her on-stage alternate) and all the other hopefuls –– Jayme Armstrong, Tamara Fifield, Allie Hughes, Alison Jutzi, Katie Kerr, Donna Lajeunesse, Marisa McIntyre and Kyla Tingley – in a CBC Special set to explore how the reality series changed their lives. 10 Marias 1 Year Later will air June 24 on CBC-TV, and Lord Lloyd Webber, Gavin Crawford and judge

NIXON: conversing

and vocal coach Elaine Overholt will make special appearances … and speaking of Marias, Cynthia Dale, whose Maria set cash registers ringing when she starred in the Stratford production, is currently shooting a new special for the same network … and speaking of Cynthia, Broadway baby Cynthia Nixon, still most famous for playing one of Carrie Bradshaw’s chums in Sex And The City, is one of the artists captured in the New York Times’ snappy new video feature, Conversations. Nixon shares her feelings on gay marriage, including those rumours about her impending nuptials with her girlfriend. To check it out, just click here. And have a great night at the Tonys!

-/-

Advertisement

a Plain Jane she’s not

After an absence of almost half a century, Jane Fonda officially returns to Broadway next month when she opens March 9 at the Eugene O’Neill in 33 Variations, a new play by Moisés Kaufman.

Jane Fonda: Broadway-bound

Fonda, now a sizzling 71, shows no signs of slowing down. In Charles McGrath’s profile in yesterday’s New York Times, he notes that Fonda is still willowy and glamorous, and “still has that smoky, velvety voice.” And if her own life makes for a more daring story than most playwrights could come up with, well, that too is showbiz.

In acting circles, of course, the Fondas are regarded as a Hollywood dynasty – Henry, Jane, Peter, Bridget. So some theatre-goers are clearly intrigued by the fact that one of her co-stars on Broadway is Colin Hanks, son of Tom Hanks.

Personally, I love to watch her do comedy. From Period Of Adjustment to Barefoot In The Park, from Cat Ballou to Fun With Dick & Jane, she clearly  knows how to deliver a well-crafted punch line. “I’m the funny Fonda,” she reminded me years ago. But she’s awfully good in the steamy drama department, too. Which is why we see her name more frequently linked to Tennessee Williams than Neil Simon .

Still, how does it feel to go back to the Great White Way after acquiring two Oscars and shedding two husbands (Tom Hayden and Ted Turner) en route?

How does it feel to be learning new lines every day, rehearsing new scenes every day, performing in previews every night?

For answers to these and other questions, the best source is the lady herself. And in the spirit of her few-holds-barred autobiography My Life So Far  — the execution of which may have revived her once-dormant love of writing – Ms. Fonda is now a blogger, sharing her electronic diary with the world. She published her first post in early January and it seems to me that her writing becomes more compelling, more personal and more revealing with each entry.

But hey, don’t take my word for it. See for yourself at janefonda.com .

 TOMORROW: Eugene Levy