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THERE
IS
NOTHING
QUITE
as
gay
as
the
Tony
Awards,
Broadway’s
annual
toast
of
the
best
and
brightest
in
theater.
Last
year,
when
Marc
Shaiman
and
Scott
Whitman,
who
won
for
the
score
they
wrote
for
the
musical
“Hairspray,”
declared
their
love
on
stage
and
sealed
it
with
a
kiss,
no
one
was
appalled.
Everyone
just
applauded.
And
there
are
sure
to
be
gay
winners
this
year
thanking
their
partners
from
the
podium.
No
place
will
this
be
quite
as
evident
as
it
will
be
in
the
Best
Musical
category.
This
contest
pits
“Avenue
Q,”
the
adult
puppet
musical
that
features
gay
characters,
against
“The
Boy
from
Oz,”
about
the
late
gay
songwriter
Peter
Allen;
“Caroline,
or
Change,”
gay
writer
Tony
Kushner’s
musical
about
a
black
maid
in
a
Jewish
family
in
the
‘60s;
and
“Wicked”
a
musical
about
the
witches
of
Oz,
based
on
the
1995
novel
by
gay
writer
Gregory
Maguire.
All
four
plays
also
are
nominated
for
Best
Book
of
a
Musical,
and
“Avenue
Q,”
“Wicked,”
“Caroline”
(Kushner
is
nominated
for
writing
the
lyrics)
and
“Taboo”
are
also
nominated
for
Best
Original
Score.
Boy
George,
who
wrote
the
score
for
the
Rosie
O’Donnell-produced
“Taboo,”
would
take
home
the
trophy
if
the
show
were
to
win
in
this
category.
FOR
THE
BEST
REVIVAL
OF
A
Musical,
the
only
gay-related
nomination
is
Stephen
Sondheim’s
“Assassins,”
which
is
about
failed
and
successful
presidential
assassins.
It
is
up
against
revivals
of
“Big
River,”
“Fiddler
on
the
Roof,”
and
“Wonderful
Town.”
The
Best
Play
category
pits
several
gay
Pulitzer
Prize
winners
against
each
other.
“Anna
in
the
Tropics,”
the
story
of
Cuban-American
factory
workers
in
1929,
by
gay
writer
Nilo
Cruz,
won
a
Pulitzer
in
2003
for
drama.
It’s
up
against
the
2004
Pulitzer
winner,
“I
Am
My
Own
Wife,”
written
by
gay
writer
Doug
Wright
about
German
transvestite
Charlotte
von
Mahlsdorf
.
“Frozen”
and
“The
Retreat
from
Moscow,”
are
the
other
two
plays
nominated
in
this
category.
Gay-friendly
writer
Lorraine
Hansberry’s
play
“A
Raisin
in
the
Sun,”
about
three
generations
of
an
African-American
family
in
Chicago
in
the
‘50s,
is
nominated
for
Best
Revival
of
a
Play,
along
with
Shakespeare’s
“Henry
IV,”
“King
Lear,”
and
Tom
Stoppard’s
“Jumpers.”
THE
ACTING
CATEGORIES
also
contain
a
number
of
gay-related
roles
and
actors.
For
Best
Performance
by
a
Leading
Actor
in
a
Musical,
Hugh
Jackman,
who
is
hosting
the
ceremony
for
the
second
consecutive
year,
is
nominated
for
his
role
as
Peter
Allen
in
“Oz.”
Euan
Mortan
is
nominated
for
his
portrayal
of
Boy
George
in
“Taboo,”
and
gay
actor/puppeteer
John
Tartaglia
for
his
roles
as
Princeton
and
Rod
(a
closeted
gay
Republican
puppet)
in
“Avenue
Q.”
The
other
nominees
in
this
category
are
Hunter
Foster
for
a
performance
in
“Little
Shop
of
Horrors”
and
Alfred
Molina
for
“Fiddler
on
the
Roof.”
Jefferson
Mays,
the
only
actor
in
“I
Am
My
Own
Wife,”
is
nominated
for
Best
Performance
by
a
Leading
Actor
in
a
Play,
alongside
Frank
Langella,
who
portrays
bisexual
Tobi
Powell
in
“Match.”
The
other
nominees
in
this
category
are
Kevin
Kline
for
“Henry
IV,”
Christopher
Plummer
for
“King
Lear,”
and
Simon
Russell
Beale
for
“Jumpers.”
Gay
actor
Denis
O’Hare,
who
won
a
Tony
last
year
for
his
role
as
Charles
Guiteau
in
the
gay-related
drama
“Take
Me
Out,”
and
Michael
Cerveris
as
John
Wilkes
Booth
are
nominated
for
Best
Performance
by
a
Featured
Actor
in
a
Musical
for
their
roles
in
“Assassins.”
Raúl
Esparza
is
also
nominated
as
Philip
Sallon
in
“Taboo,”
along
with
Michael
McElroy
from
“Big
River”
and
John
Cariani
from
“Fiddler
on
the
Roof.”
Though
the
categories
for
actresses
appear
to
be
a
bit
less
gay
(even
though
Anne
Heche,
Ellen
DeGeneres’s
ex,
garnered
a
nomination
for
her
role
in
“Twentieth
Century”)
there
are
still
a
few
noteworthy
nominees
of
interest.
As
the
witches
from
Oz,
Kristin
Chenoweth’s
Glinda
and
Idina
Menzel’s
Elphaba
were
nominated
for
Best
Performance
by
a
Leading
Actress
in
a
Musical
for
their
roles
in
“Wicked.”
Tonya
Pinkins
got
a
nod
in
this
category
for
her
role
in
“Caroline,
or
Change,”
along
with
Stephanie
D’Abruzzo
for
“Avenue
Q,”
and
Donna
Murphy
for
“Wonderful
Town.”
Isabel
Keating,
who
portrayed
gay
icon
Judy
Garland,
is
nominated
for
a
Tony
for
Best
Performance
by
a
Featured
Actress
in
a
Musical
for
her
role
in
“The
Boy
From
Oz.”
Other
nominees
in
this
category
are
Beth
Fowler,
for
her
role
as
Peter
Allen’s
mother
in
“The
Boy
From
Oz,”
Jennifer
Westfeldt
(who
played
Jessica
in
the
lesbian-themed
movie
“Kissing
Jessica
Stein”)
for
“Wonderful
Town,”
Anika
Noni
Rose
for
“Caroline,
or
...
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