Kristin Chenoweth News

Competition is fierce on Broadway this year among Tony Award seekers for best musical as Mary Poppins goes head-to-head with Jackie O.'s relatives and a rock musical takes on a whodunit for nominations Tuesday.

Last season, Tony nominators ignored Disney's stage version of "Tarzan" in the coveted category. It's coveted primarily because best-musical nominees get to perform on the nationally televised awards program, which will be broadcast June 10 (8-11 p.m. EDT) on CBS from Radio City Music Hall.

Among the likely nominees for four slot from this season's musical productions are "Spring Awakening," the Duncan Sheik-Steven Sater rock musical about the sexual longing of 19th century German teenagers, and "Grey Gardens," a look at two of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' more eccentric relatives.

Competition for the two remaining spaces is expected to come from "LoveMusik," an examination of the relationship between composer Kurt Weill and his wife, actress Lotte Lenya; "Legally Blonde," based on the Reese Witherspoon movie; "Curtains," a backstage whodunit, and "Mary Poppins," adapted from the P.L. Travers novels and the classic Disney movie.

Best-play nominees should be a little easier to predict. Look for Tom Stoppard's "The Coast of Utopia," his trilogy about 19th century Russian intellectuals, to be on the list. Other strong possibilities include "Radio Golf," August Wilson's final chapter in his 10-play examination of the black experience in 20th century America and Peter Morgan's "Frost/Nixon," a docudrama about the celebrated interview between David Frost and Richard Nixon.

That still leaves one more slot to be filled. Contenders include "The Year of Magical Thinking," Joan Didion's adaptation of her heartbreaking memoir; David Hare's "The Vertical Hour, the story of a conscientious professor who wants to do the right thing; "Coram Boy," an epic melodrama with music by Handel, and Douglas Carter Beane's scathing Hollywood morality tale, "The Little Dog Laughed."

It was a memorable year for performances by leading actors on Broadway. Among the parade of competitors for the five nominations (performance categories have five slots): Frank Langella as the president and Michael Sheen as the interviewer in "Frost/Nixon"; Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy from "Inherit the Wind"; Kevin Spacey, "A Moon for the Misbegotten"; Liev Schreiber, "Talk Radio"; Brian F. O'Byrne, "The Coast of Utopia"; Nathan Lane, "Butley"; Harry Lennix, "Radio Golf," and Hugh Dancy, "Journey's End."

The actress-play category possibilities include Vanessa Redgrave, "The Year of Magical Thinking"; Eve Best, "A Moon for the Misbegotten"; Julie White, "The Little Dog Laughed," and the two theatrical legends from Terrence McNally's "Deuce," Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes.

For the ladies, though, musicals are the thing. Christine Ebersole is a shoo-in for an actress-musical nod. She could take home the Tony, too, for her double-duty performance, playing two roles, a mother and daughter, in "Grey Gardens."

Others on the ballot could include Audra McDonald, "110 in the Shade"; Donna Murphy, "LoveMusik"; Debra Monk, "Curtains"; "Kristin Chenoweth, "The Apple Tree"; Ashley Brown, "Mary Poppins"; Laura Bell Bundy, "Legally Blonde," and Stephanie J. Block, "The Pirate Queen."

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