Seattle's Shrek and Sher in the 63rd Tony Awards; Next to Normal has Northwest roots

June 7, 11:48 AMSeattle Theater ExaminerRosemary Jones

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Intiman's Sher up for Tony tonight,
as is Shrek the Musical.

Seattle theater lovers  will be celebrating tonight's Tony awards in both public and private parties, cheering hometown favorites.

While New York's Great White Way is about as far away from Seattle as you can get without falling into an ocean, there's shows and nominees with strong Seattle roots in the 63rd Tony Awards.

Shrek the Musical leads the Seattle tie-in list.  The musical got its premiere here at the 5th Avenue Theatre downtown and has been nominated for eight awards:  Best Musical, Best Book (by David Lindsay-Abaire), Best Original Score (Jeanine Tesori, music, Lindsay-Abaire, lyrics), Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Brian d’Arcy James), Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Sutton Foster), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Christopher Sieber), Best Orchestrations (Danny Troob and John Clancy), and Best Costume Design (Tim Hatley).

Foster has huge Seattle following who remember her not only as the occaisionally green Fiona but also her star turn as Inga in Young Frankenstein, another green monster musical that got it's pre-Broadway try-out in Seattle before going to New  York.

Among Shrek's competion is Next to Normal, which began its musical road to Broadway in Issaquah as part of the Village Theatre's new works series. First done as a reading here in 2002 under the title Feeling Electric, the musical written by Northwest native Brian Yorkey has received eleven nominations. Actor Aaron Tviet, who got the NY media buzz as the breakout star of the show, didn't receive a nomination. However, he's leaving New York and Normal for another new musical in development here:  Catch Me If You Can.  You can catch him at the 5th's preview night on Tuesday. If Catch Me does as well as Normal or Shrek, you may see him in next season's Tony awards.

Intiman's artistic director Bar Sher has been nominated for his direction of the current revival of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone, also nominated for best revival of a dramatic work. Wilsom spent his later years in Seattle, writing in local restaurants and coffee shops as well as premiering much of his work at the Seattle Rep. Actor Roger Robinson,  nominated for his portrayal of conjure man Bynum Walker. grew up in the Bellevue before Microsoft, leaving the Northwest for a tour in the Navy and a career in Hollywood and New York. 

While Lincoln Center's selection of Sher for this revival generated some controversy (during Wilson's life, the playwright asked that only African-American directors direct his plays on Broadway) the play has garnered glowing reviews. Sher is no stranger to the Tonys. He received the 2008 Tony Award and other honors for his direction of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, and Tony nominations for Awake and Sing! by Clifford Odets and The Light in the Piazza by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel.

Of course the results for the 2009 Tony Awards will be known long before the broadcasts begin on the West Coast, but don't expect that to dim the Seattle parties. 

Update June 8

Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt may not be as famous as Dolly Parton but they beat the 9 to 5 songbird as Next to Normal was honored for Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics). Normal's Alice Ripley also received a Tony for lead actress. Kitt and Michael Starobin of Next to Normal split the Tony for best orchestration with Martin Koch of Billy Elliot.

Shrek received only one Tony Award for Tim Hatley's costume design.

Roger Robinson received the Tony Award as featured actor in the drama Joe Turner's Come and Gone.