And the TONY Goes To: Don’t Let the Fact That You Have Not Seen a Broadway Play or Musical Get in the Way of Your Predictions

Cynthia Nixon and Laura Linney in “The Little Foxes.” Photo by Joan Marcus.

BY TAMARA BECK

TONY! TONY! TONY! Tony fever, Tony fervor.

Of course, until the CBS telecast of "The 71st Annual Tony Awards" at 8 on Sunday night (11 June), we won't know the results.

Truth be told, I'm happy not to make the big decisions on behalf of the Broadway theater community. I like being a gadfly, irked by some choices the Tony poobahs make, buoyed by others. Sure, I'm passionate about some performances and productions, but like Ado Annie, I "like the one I'm near." So, yes, to some extent, last comes first.

This fickleness was more confusing to me when I went to see everything that was on the Broadway boards. I mimicked those in charge of making the selections so that by the end of May, I could safely say I saw all of the musicals and all of the plays contending for the best in Tony's eyes. This season, I confess, I have seen few of the shows on the short list.

Of those I did, I am loath to pick a favorite. Both men contending for Best Lead Actor (the Tonys use a much longer moniker) whom I saw were terrific. One has been in films; the other was welcome news to me. From these choices, Chris Cooper gets my nod. Not just because I saw him most recently, and definitely not because I did not appreciate the nuances in Denis Arndt's performance in “Heisenberg” opposite Mary-Louise Parker. CC is brilliant, burning with a kind of cold fire as Torvald in “A Doll's House, Part 2.”

Sally Field and Joe Montello in “The Glass Menagerie.” Photo by Julieta Cervantes.

In the Featured Actor in a Play slot, I witnessed three out of five performers. Richard Thomas is an intense Horace Giddens in "The Little Foxes," but Horace provides a moral ballast in a play of consuming evil. Danny DeVito walks away with "The Price" in a production that lacks a lot of other sparks. (Jessica Hecht should have garnered more attention for her Esther Franz in this Roundabout Theatre Company revival).

The third supporting actor has been touted for his classical theater chops in roles such as Julius Caesar in Shakespeare's play of the same name. John Douglas Thompson is a solid presence as Becker in the Manhattan Theatre Club revival of August Wilson's "Jitney." Though RT broke my heart with the decency of his Horace, DDeV brings life, color and interest to "The Price" and should be rewarded for his efforts Sunday night.

On the distaff side, of the five nominees for Featured Actress, two are from "Sweat," two are from "A Doll's House, Part 2," and one is from "The Little Foxes." Cynthia Nixon belongs in the Lead Actress category as a co-star to Laura Linney with whom she splits the role in "The Little Foxes." She will, however, have to settle for the statuette for the featured role.

Now for the female leads. Since I did not see either Jennifer Ehle in“Oslo” nor Cate Blanchett in “The Present” – or for that matter LL as Regina in “The Little Foxes,” – I am narrowly choosing between Sally Field as Amanda Wingfield in “The Glass Menagerie” and Laurie Metcalf in “A Doll's House, Part 2.” SF is a sensational Amanda, by turns deluded, protective, self-absorbed, but my Tony goes to LM for her charismatically poignant Nora.

On very small evidence, I am rooting for “A Doll's House, Part 2” for Best Play, as well. Its creator, Lucas Hnath, is a luminous new voice in the theater. I am also partial to Lynn Nottage, and her “Sweat” seems like a major undertaking.

Meanwhile, this season's big musicals have eluded my notice. I mourn that “Bandstand” did not get more recognition for bringing swing to the Broadway stage and for its heart (a gap perhaps already filled by the inclusion of “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Come from Away”). At any rate, the smart bet – and buzz – is for “Groundhog Day,” which, along with its star, Andy Karl, is reported to be this year's best.

In the Best Play Revival category, I think “Six Degrees of Separation” may get the win. “Falsettos” is a likely Best Musical Revival, although my heart belongs to “Hello, Dolly!” starring Bette Midler.

Laurie Metcalf and Jayne Houdyshell in “A Doll’s House, Part 2. Photo by Brigitte Lacombe.

The televised show, this year hosted by Kevin Spacey, is always spectacular and gives viewers a taste of the talent that's on Broadway. That, in and of itself, is a win-win proposition.

Visit http://www.tonyawards.com/index.html to learn more about “The 71st Annual Tony Awards.”

Day 6 TFF2016: 'Elvis & Nixon,' Hilarity Marks Retelling of the Musician and Politician Who Sat Down Together

Colin Hanks, Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon in "Elivs & Nixon." Photos by Steve Dietl/Amazon Studios & Bleecker Street.

By V.W.

HERE'S a trivia question for you: What rock ’n’ roll star had a meeting with then-President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office? …

If you said Jerry Lee Lewis you are … wrong It was none other than The King! You know the one.

That fateful rendezvous is chronicled in “Elvis & Nixon.” Director Liza Johnson's film is in its world premiere run at the 15th annual Tribeca Film Festival. It screens this evening and tomorrow afternoon. It opens widely in the United States on 22 April on Amazon and in theaters.

A brief, impromptu meeting is a flimsy premise on which to hang a film. However, writers Joey Sagal, Hanala Sagal and Cary Elwes bring it off with aplomb. In the mouths of the actors, their dialogue snaps, crackles and pops.

"Elvis & Nixon" is an occasion to enjoy the journey. Along the way we see both men preparing for their respective day. Elvis, played with an intense reserve by Michael Shannon, is in a Los Angeles hotel room not liking what he is watching on TV (protests, drug-using young people, Communist marches and various governmental denunciations, etc.).

Consequently, he turns the TV off. That is, he shoots the TV with one of the handguns he is legally licensed to carry. Elvis is armed to the teeth, or is that the feet? Meanwhile, in the nation's capitol, POUS is cheerlessly getting his day organized.

Because the meeting is going to happen on this day, titles on the screen keep viewers apprised of the time.

After sorting out the TV, a disgusted Elvis and his weapons take themselves off to LAX. He is met by his friend, Jerry Schilling (Alex Pettier) and off they go to the nation's capitol to take an unscheduled, unplanned meeting with the most powerful man in the world.

There are many laughs in "Elvis & Nixon" and many of them revolve around the reactions of ordinary people to Elvis.

Invariably, the people whom Elvis encounters are initially unsure whether they can believe their eyes. He is out of context. One should see him on the movie screen or concert stage, not walking alone into the airport with no luggage. Or walking into a diner unaccompanied. Where is this man's entourage? He cannot be allowed to walk around as if he were a nobody. Two of the funniest encounters take place in the airport with an Elvis impersonator and at a black diner in Washington, D. C.

Each scene in "Elvis & Nixon" advances the viewer closer to the meeting. It's akin to watching a chess match. Strategy is key in almost every encounter, starting with Elvis dropping by the White House with a letter for the president.

As Richard Nixon, Kevin Spacey is by turns spot-on and the veriest caricature. Always, however, he is hilarious, deftly capturing that chip-on-his-shoulder, inferiority-complex mien that defined Nixon much of his life.

Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) and flygirls in "Elvis & Nixon."

Among the funniest moments in the film are the scenes in which the handlers of each man are setting the parameters of the meeting, which was ultimately brought to pass by a certain persuasive young woman. During their chat the two men discover that they have a few things in common. By its conclusion they are new BFFs.

It was a good meeting — for Elvis, anyway; he got his badge. Not so sure about Nixon.

It is hard not to leave "Elvis & Nixon" with a smile on your face and a laugh in your belly.

Other films/events on today's TFF2016 schedule: Virtual Arcade, "Little Boxes," Don't Look Down," "Abortion: Stories Women Tell," Shorts: Pressure Points," "Keepers of the Game," "Kicks," "Untouchable," "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea," "Children of the Mountain," Betting on Zero," "After Spring," "Team Foxcatcher," "Tickling Giants," "Equals," "Live Cargo," "The Human Thing," "Vincent N Roxxy," "The Meddler," "Robert Klein Still Can't Stop His Leg," "Equity," "Do Not Resist," "Haveababy," "Lavender," "Nerdland," "A Kind of Murder," "Midsummer in Newtown, "Don't Think Twice," "The Banksy Job," "Dreamland," "Between Us"

Visit http://www.tribecafilm.com/festival to learn more about it and the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, including tickets and schedule.