Earlier this week, the Tony nominations landed on the internet’s doorstop. We learned that this year’s hosts, Alan Cumming and Kristen Chenowith, have some surprises planned. As predicted, Bradley Cooper nabbed a best male performance nod. BCoop has said that starring in The Elephant Man was his lifelong dream. He was inspired to become an actor, in fact, by watching one of the production’s prior revivals. Coop is a classically trained actor, but his stint on Broadway this season wasn’t a coincidence. This was a way for him to put a different spin on his third Oscar nomination while his friends did the handshaking for him. Coop lost the Oscar, but he’ll probably win the Tony. A nice trade-off.
It never dawned on me until now that Harvey Weinstein co-produced The Elephant Man, which is how Coop got the gig. Harvey had his hands all over Broadway this season, especially with his $20 million investment in Finding Neverland (starring Matthew Morrison). That play came up empty-handed for noms, and everyone figures Harvey is secretly fuming. The NY Post had a great time trashing this production, noting how critics described the play as “empty calories” and “fatally ersatz.” The production has been plagued by drama. A publicist walked out, but analysts think the bad publicity may help ticket sales. No matter. The focus with Harvey is usually on awards. The NY Post says Broadway wants Harvey to take his ball and go home to Hollywood:
The Tony nominators gave Harvey Weinstein the hook, the Captain Hook!
Weinstein’s $20 million Peter Pan musical Finding Neverland — his first foray onto Broadway — failed to receive a single Tony nomination Tuesday.
This is Broadway telling Harvey to go away, to take his bulldozing tactics back to Hollywood and leave the business of theater to theater people.
Well, I exaggerate. That overrated camp fest Something Rotten! received 10 nominations, including Best Musical, which means the Tony nominators aren’t immune to a lapse of taste.
For the record, they also ignored Larry David and his Fish in the Dark, which can lick its wounds all the way to the bank, since it’s one of the most successful nonmusical shows in history.
But the snubbing of Weinstein and his show is the headline today, and the question is, what’s he going to do about it?
Weinstein responded. “With 27 nominations today for ‘Fun Home,’ The Elephant Man, The Audience and Wolf Hall, shows that we either co-invested or co-produced, we couldn’t be more thrilled. As as for Finding Neverland, our passion for it remains unwavering. I could not be more proud of the magic created on our stage by Diane Paulus and the entire Neverland team night after night, which has made this show a smash hit.”
That said, I still think Harvey’s plotting something.
[From NY Post]
This is deliciously catty gossip and high drama on Broadway. Harvey has reportedly assured his cast and crew that the lack of Finding Neverland nods “was a missile, squarely aimed at me.” This is probably true. I’ve always wondered how theater actors feel when Hollywood stars swoop in and gather up the plum roles. Broadway producers have always embraced big movie star names because they translate into ticket sales. But when it comes to Harvey Weinstein, Broadway seems to have drawn a line. Harvey’s influence goes far and wide at the Oscars, but Broadway isn’t impressed. He’s surely kicking a wall right now.
Photos courtesy of WENN
Remember how Chet was turned into a pile of poo at the end of Weird Science? This is what I picture whenever Harvey’s name comes up.
Ha! Perfect description.
Yes, perfect! I can see Chet’s laugh coming out of Harvey’s mouth.
He makes me think of Jabba the Hutt!
I would fight back against anyone making fun of someone’s appearance, but since the soul, character, and ethics of Weinstein match the exterior, any grenades you want to throw at his looks are fine by me. Dude is a baaaaad man, and I don’t mean that in a good way.
*dead* Aw, c’mon guys!
Hilarious, Blue Marie. Why thank you for having me wake up this a.m. to visions (and audio) of Chet, ha…
Best description ever!
I think it’s funny that Harvey got shutdown. I have a feeling not a lot of people say no to him. He’s too arrogant to be humbled.
And too powerful to care.
I wonder if there’s a casting couch “interview” for the male actors that score big parts. Maybe his wife enjoys their company.
Maybe instead of the wife, what about him?3sum-a-role?
Maybe instead of the wife, what about him? Threesome-a-role? Four-for-a-lead?
Mmmwwwwwaaaaahhhh. I’m awfully proud of the theatre geeks for sticking together.
Somewhat ironically, this scenario could have been played out on an episode of Glee.
He is gross – his personality, and he dresses so slovenly, where did he get that suit from!
Yes! Totally lost respect for him, with the recent harassment stories, just Gross.
I can’t get past his ickiness to even comment. He gives me the heebi-jeebies. Blech!
I do like that that black and silver dress his wife is wearing.
His wife is stunning.
He is so gross with this recent stories about harassment. Great business film mogul, but just No respect for him any more.
I don’t know how she can share a bed with that ogre. I know he has money and power, but she comes from money, so I don’t get it. Major Daddy issues (maybe Daddy was gross?), I guess. NOT FOR A BILLION DOLLARS could I sleep with this man!
*kicks wall with a $10mil painting* S’NOT FAIR! S’NOT FAIR! I’M DA K-I-N-G, YOU TONY PEASANTS!
Do he and his wife actually, well, you know…..ahem….do….it?
I have second hand PTSD for her…..
Not much, I guess. Some fumbling for 2 minutes then wifey heads off to the lavatory to wash away the yuckiness.*shivers*
WHY, CoSquared, did you have to get graphic??? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY????!!!! I will not be sleeping or eating well for a while! 🙁
I suspect he does it with everyone BUT her, and she does it with the pool boy#MARRIAGEASBUSINESSARRANGEMENT
This has been a major passion project for him. He’s been doing the rewrites himself since it premiered in England. He is hyper involved and the snub has got to hurt on a personal level.
But he pissed off a lot of theater folks since the premiere and getting it to Broadway. He fired the entire cast and brought in Hollywood actors, fired lyricists/composers, show managers, etc. I think that community sent him a message. And it was easy to send because apparently the show really isn’t great. It’s getting good box office though.
If anyone is in NY and does want to see a great musical, see FUN HOME. It’s playing at the Circle in the Square and is fantastic. Small production but so powerful. It deserves all the Tony noms it received.
YES! FH is bloody brilliant. (Sorry, got all English there for a moment.) Circle in the Square and The Public are my two favorite theatres in NYC…both do a good balance of commercial fluff/Willy Shakes (to keep the coffers full) with quirky, edgy pieces to satisfy us show people on an emotional and creative level.
(Also, go see “Hamilton” at The Public if you can. It was fantastic.)
ETA: This theatre person is heartily in the anti-WCo. camp. Harvey gives me the uber skeeves on multiple levels.
Delphi – So jealous that you saw Hamilton at The Public Theater. I don’t live in NY, only travel there frequently for business. I go to the theater at least one night each trip.
I tried to get tickets last week to see it, but there was no way. Sold out and resale was way too expensive. I’m just going to have to wait to see it during the Broadway run.
mia – I try to get to NYC 4 or 5 times a year for “new” goodies…so far this year’s had two successful trips. “Hamilton” was first, then “Fun Home” last month. I haven’t been this giddy since seeing John Lloyd Young during his initial run in “Jersey Boys” or being thisclose to John Gallagher, Jr. post-previews for “Spring Awakening”. *swoons*
Wait, Judy Kuhn is in Fun Home? That’s all I needed to hear……..
He kind of reminds me of a portly ninja turtle
Not Splinter? C’mon
I read so many awful things about Weinstein — perhaps some of them are deserved, maybe others not so much. Just a personal observation here…..
I’ve met the man twice. The first time was many, many years ago. On that occasion he did something for me that was actually very nice and asked nothing in return. The second time was just a couple of years ago, and that time I reminded him of our earlier meeting. He couldn’t have been nicer, more friendly, or more ingratiating.
I’m not someone who merits any particular attention. No fame here, no particular fortune. A famous and very successful guy like Weinstein could have just ignored me and thrown the attitude, ‘why is this guy even talking to me?’ Rather, he acted completely friendly and with what appeared to be genuine warmth. I think sometimes some of the gossip has to be taken with a grain of salt. I’m sure he’s far from perfect, and probably didn’t get where he is in business by being everyone’s friend. But based on having been in the same room with the man, which is probably more than most here can say, he’s not the viper he’s always made out to be either.
I laugh like Nelson whenever Weinstein fails. He’s such a slime ball sexist pig that I get almost high when he gets shut out of awards. Yes, even TIG. TIG deserved better than Weinstein.
Isn’t it odd how some of the old establishment seems to be cracking in Hollywood? RDJ has been THE darling for a decade now, Harvey has been the Power guy. etc. I think this may be a good thing, though. I would say Hollywood needs its closet cleaned out, but that would invite some trouble. HW looks like Chunk from the Goonies. Also, I think he is a truly bad person.
It’s because of the internet. It’s too easy to see what’s going on.
I’m a longtime lurker but this is the first time I absolutely needed to make a comment because of the inaccuracies in this post. It actually doesn’t have to do with how Harvey is perceived. I think that’s accurate — people here have disdain for him.
For the record, I live in New York, see nearly everything on Broadway, and follow the Broadway chatter closely. I am not “in the biz” but have many friends who are.
1. Bradley Cooper will 100% not get the Tony for his role in Elephant Man. Everyone knows it’s going to be Steven Boyer from Hand to God, maaaayybbe Alex Sharp from Curious Incident… But those two are the front runners. Hand to God is the *cool* and *hip* show to see. Both Hand to God and Curious… got across the board raves whereas Coop’s performance and show got mixed-to-positive reviews. Sorry, Coop.
2. Coop is the reason that The Elephant Man was revived on Broadway. He did it at Williamstown beforehand and will be doing it in London. Theater actors certainly don’t like it when Hollywood types “steal” roles from legit theater actors but this is not one of those cases. Simply put, the show would not have been on Broadway without Coop. It is a labor of love for him.
3. Speaking of “stealing” roles, Matthew Morrison (who is currently in Finding Neverland) didn’t “steal” his role from anyone. There was controversy because Jeremy Jordan played the same role in the out of town pre-Broadway tryout, but it was always clearly Matthew’s role. He was too busy to play the role before Broadway because he was shooting Glee. Further, Broadway folk don’t see Matthew as a “Hollywood type.” He’s got tons of Broadway cred (Hairspray, Light in the Piazza, South Pacific, just to name a few). So if the comment about Hollywood actors stealing roles from theater actors was aimed at Matthew, it’s misdirected.
4. Lastly, the show didn’t get any noms because it’s a stinker. Saw it, cringed through it, and legitimately felt bad that such amazing actors had to be in it. It did not get good reviews. There’s a lot of ill will towards Harvey regarding this show. He fired the original writing team that is beloved by the Broadway community. The day before the noms came out, he got a Peter Pan historian (major side eye) to write an op-ed for the nominating committee to consider. He’s a bull in a china shop and unfortunately the cast and crew suffer.
Thank you!!
What’s the word on who’s likely to win Lead Actress in a Play? Lead Actress in a Musical?
Re: Lead Actress in a Musical is so far a three way race among Kelli OHara from King & I, Chita Rivera from The Visit, and Kristin Chenoweth from On The Twentieth Century. I’ve seen all 3 performances and loved them all. Kelli has now been nominated 6 times and never won and Kristin has never won for Leading (she won for Featured in the 90s) so there’s definitely a feeling theyre overdue for an award. But my humble opinion is that it will go to Chita. She’s 82, originating a Kander & Ebb role (possibly her last role ever), theater royalty, and giving a tour de force performance.
Re: Leading Actress in a Play, Helen Mirren is expected to win. Carey Mulligan stands a chance but so far Helen is the front runner.
We’ll have a better indication for who will win after the Drama Desks and Outer Critic Circles (which are like the Golden Globes kind of precursor award ceremonies).
I have a feeling Bradley won’t win either. A lot of people seem to think Alex Sharp will win. What is predicted to win Best Play Revival?
Skylight has the best chance of winning Best Revival of a Play. It’s the only nominee still open and generally speaking (though it’s not a hard and fast rule), the voting committee tends to choose shows that are open versus those that have closed. After all, award shows are a marketing tool and there’s no need to award a show that’s closed and thus can’t effectively use the award for their marketing.
All of the shows in this category got decent enough reviews so that if any of the closed shows wins, no one is going to throw a hissy fit. But I’d put my money on Skylight.
I enjoyed Skylight quite a bit.
NYCDents, thanks.
“Coop is a classically trained actor, but his stint on Broadway this season wasn’t a coincidence. This was a way for him to put a different spin on his third Oscar nomination while his friends did the handshaking for him.”
…This makes no sense. Cooper did Elephant Man as his grad school thesis and starred in a production at the Williamstown Theatre Festival a few years ago. He has wanted to bring it to Broadway for a long time. I highly doubt it had anything to do with his Oscar campaign – after all, no one was even expecting him to be nominated. Not everything celebrities do is a conspiracy – sometimes coincidences do happen!
Exactly!! Thank you!
In point of fact, all the leads in Finding Neverland are Broadway vets with solid stage training. Theatre dogs respect true theatre dogs, and this cast is the real deal. It’s not like Weinstein brought in Jennifer Aniston to play Mary Poppins. That would have Broadway vets howling. They may be hatin’ on Weinstein, but they’re not hating on BCoop or other properly-trained and experienced stage actors he’s cast, regardless of their Hollywood fame.
To keep the Great White Way alive you have to put asses in seats hailing from Hoboken to Humptulips. The working pros know that and don’t resent the likes of Kelsey Grammar or Matthew Morrison. Big shows carried by big stars create opportunity and exposure for lower-billed actors in the cast.