The Play Area: three shows from the Bay make their mark on the Tony Awards

Oakland based punk band Green Day's musical "American Idiot"
is sitting on three Tony Award nominations.
Photo by Kevinberne.com

The Bay Area theatre community is puffing out its chest after learning that three shows which were developed in the South and East Bays respectively, have been nominated for 14 of theatre's biggest prizes.

The Tony Award nominations featured three shows which all hailed from the Bay Area, including two in the same category.

"Memphis," the musical comedy of Memphis Tennessee in the '50's, during the boon of a young Elvis Presley and Rock 'n' Roll taking over the radio waves, was first co-produced along with North Shore Music Theatre at Theatreworks in Mountain View in 2004.

Joining "Memphis" and its eight Tony nominations are two productions from Berkeley Repertory Theatre that nabbed six more. Playwright Sarah Ruhl's "In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)" netted a nomination for best play. The play, which is also director Les Waters' debut for the Tonys, is a beautiful story of a new "machine" that treats women for anxiety and madness, and through the journey, a heartwarming connection is found. Set in the Victorian era of manners and prudeness, the show is also nominated for best actress in a play (Maria Dizzia) and best costume design (David Zinn).

(l to r) Stacy Ross, Maria Dizzia and Paul Niebanck use some electricity to treat anxiety in Sarah
Ruhl's "In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)," which received three Tony nominations,
including a best actress nod for Dizzia. Photo by Kevinberne.com

The final and most recent entry into the Tonys is "American Idiot," punk band Green Days ode to the anger of youth and the onslaught of media. The show is a marvel, with an amazing set, fabulous music and performances presented at dizzying and breakneck speeds. The show is nominated for best musical, best set design (Christine Jones) and best lighting design (Kevin Adams)

Overall, "Fela!" and "La Cage Aux Folles" have the most nominations with 11, and Denzel Washington's revival of August Wilson's classic play "Fences" comes in with 10.

The award show is on Sunday, June 13th at 5 pm PST on CBS

Here is the complete list of nominated plays and the number of nominations:

Fela! - 11

La Cage aux Folles - 11

Fences - 10

Memphis - 8

Ragtime - 7

Red - 7

A View from the Bridge - 6

The Royal Family - 5

Enron – 4

A Little Night Music - 4

Promises, Promises - 4

American Idiot - 3

Finian's Rainbow - 3

In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play - 3

Lend Me a Tenor - 3

Million Dollar Quartet - 3

Go to the Tony Award website for a complete list of all nominees

Email David John Chavez at dchavez04@att.net
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