Broadway phenomenon 'Cat on A Hot Tin Roof' didn't make the cut with this year's Tony Awards.
The Debbie Allen-directed all-black Tennessee Williams revival didn't get any nominations for the 2008 Tony Awards, which were announced this morning by previous Tony Award winners Sara Ramirez and David Hyde Pierce from The New York Public Library for Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Nominations in 26 competitive categories for the 62nd annual ceremony were selected by an independent committee of 23 theater professionals appointed by the Tony Awards Administration Committee.The 2008 Tony Award Nominating Committee consists of Joe Benincasa, Robert Callely, Betty Corwin, Jacqueline Z. Davis, Michael D. Dinwiddie, Teresa Eyring, Sue Frost, Andrew Jackness, Betty Jacobs, Geoffrey Johnson, Robert Kamlot, Michael Kantor, Howard Marren, Laurence Maslon, Phyllis Newman, Lynn Nottage, Gilbert Parker, Roger Rees, Jonathan Reynolds, Donald Saddler, Steven Suskin, Tom Viola and Kimberlee Wertz.
'Cat,' produced by former Wall Street broker Stephen Byrd, won decent reviews when it opened on March 6 at the Broadhurst Theatre. Due to its major star power, audiences -- including diehard theatergoers and newbies -- were instantly drawn to the classic play, which stars Academy Award nominated hottie Terrence Howard, Tony Award winners James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad and Anika Noni Rose, Giancarlo Esposito and Lisa Arrindelle Anderson.
So it could've been expected that the show would've garnered nods for Broadway's biggest night -- but sadly, that is not the case.
Even Morgan Freeman's big Broadway comeback, 'The Country Girl,' was shut out of the nominations this year.
But as expected, Laurence Fishburne's critically acclaimed turn as civil rights icon Thurgood Marshall in 'Thurgood' garnered a nod for Best Leading Actor in A Play.
And for her stellar work in 'Come Back, Little Sheba,' 'Law & Order' diva S. Epatha Merkerson is considered in the Best Leading Actress in A Play category.
With major wow factor, the Latino-flavored hit musical 'In The Heights' received 13 Tony Award nominations, more than any other show.
Starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the songs for the show, 'Heights' was first seen Off Broadway last year, and has dazzled fans and critics since opening at the Richard Rodgers Theater on March 10.
The new revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'South Pacific' took in 11 nominations, followed by 'Sunday in the Park With George' with nine.
This year's Pulitzer Prize winner 'August: Osage County,' the black alternative rock musical 'Passing Strange' and the Patti LuPone-helmed revival of 'Gypsy,' all received seven nods each.
'August,' produced by theater industry veterans Jeffrey Richards with his associate Irene Gandy spearheading the media campaign, premiered as Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and has already won the Outer Critics' Circle Award and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award.
Academy, Emmy, Golden Globe, Grammy and Tony Award winner Whoopi Goldberg is slated to host the ceremony. Presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, 'The 2008 Tony Awards' will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on CBS, June 15.
1. I saw the play and fell asleep during the second act. I could not understand Terrence or James Earl Jones' speech patterns. It was at the beginning so maybe they improved enough to warrant a Tony.
Alice Portlock at 2:32AM on May 14th 2008