Tony Award Nominations Announced

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Tony Award Nominations Announced

The nominees for the 2009 American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards were announced Tuesday.

Among the nominees for leading actress in a play were Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden for "God of Carnage," Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter for "Mary Stuart," and Jane Fonda for "33 Variations."

Fonda's performance was discussed previously in this blog in March.

Leading actress in a musical nominees were Sutton Foster in "Shrek the Musical," Allison Janney in "9 to 5: The Musical," Alice Ripley in "Next to Normal," and Josefina Scaglione in "West Side Story."


Rounding out the leading actress in a musical nominations is Stockard Channing for "Pal Joey." Her work in that show was discussed in this blog in January.

For best featured actress in a play, the nominees are Hallie Foote in "Dividing the Estate," Jessica Hynes and Amanda Root in "The Norman Conquests," and Marin Ireland in "reasons to be pretty."

Finishing out those nominations is the legendary Angela Lansbury in "Blithe Spirit."

The featured actresses in a musical nominees are Jennifer Damiano for "Next to Normal," Haydn Gwynne and Carole Shelley for "Billy Elliot, The Musical", and Karen Olivo in "West Side Story."

Completing the nominations for featured musical actress is Martha Plimpton in "Pal Joey."

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Stockard Channing Avoids Typical Older Actress Roles

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Stockard Channing Avoids Typical "Older Actress" Roles

Stockard Channing does not want to do piñata parts; those are the grotesque roles for older women, drunken mothers-in-law and the like.

Instead, she's returning to a singing role for the first time since 1984 in "Pal Joey" on Broadway.

She describes her character in the show, Vera Simpson, as the original cougar. Vera is a rich married woman who is one of the title character's two love interests in the play.

The role is also most assuredly not a piñata part, which makes Channing very happy - along with the chance to sing again. One of her songs in the show is "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered."

Gina Wilhelm Actress enjoys piñata parts, but she also isn't actually an older actress yet. She just sometimes gets to play those roles. It may change by the time she's "older."

Gina Wilhelm Actress