Sunday, June 10, 2010 • Radio City Music Hall

TONY AWARDS 2010

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American Idiot • Courtesy, mellopix.com

A Tony Award—or an Antoinette Perry Award, to be exact—is perhaps the highest honor in American theater. Past recipients of the medallions are an impressive bunch, including Rent, Fences (which will almost certainly add to its count thanks to this season's revival) and The Phantom of the Opera (which you can still catch on Broadway; it's been running for more than two decades).

This year, the following productions—which are all still showing on the Great White Way—are in contention to be named Best Musical, Best Play, Best Revival of a Musical and Best Revival of a Play. The competition is fierce, with big names behind the scenes, including Bill T. Jones and Green Day and onstage, including Denzel Washington, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kelsey Grammer. Which shows deserve a place in history alongside the greatest Broadway productions of all time? Go see the nominees and decide for yourself.

Following are some of the Broadway shows competing for 2010 Tony Awards.

American Idiot

Nominated for Best Musical

This rock opera based on Green Day's Grammy Award winning album of the same name features all of that release's songs plus a few others. The plot revolves around a group of working class young men who journey from their suburban homes to the Middle East, the big city and adulthood in the confusion of post 9/11 America. Directed by Michael Mayer, who helmed the Tony Award winning smash Spring Awakening, it's light on dialogue but heavy on energy, emotion and imaginative choreography.

Fela! • Photo: Monique Carboni

Fela!

Nominated for Best Musical

When Tony Award winning choreographer Bill T. Jones turned his attention to the turbulent life of Nigerian musician and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti he created a sensation. With a talented cast and musicians from Brooklyn's Afrobeat juggernaut Antibalas powering the show, Fela! has been ecstatically hailed as an electrifying blend of biography, concert and dance performance. The high energy show practically dares audience members not to get out of their seats and dance along.

Memphis • Photo: Kevin Berne

Memphis

Nominated for Best Musical

This energizing musical about the early days of rock 'n' roll, loosely based on a true story, follows a talented black female singer struggling to break out of the segregated club circuit along with a white radio DJ who introduces his listeners to so called "black music." When they come together, they find love and help usher in the golden age of rock but also face challenges that threaten to destroy their relationship.

Million Dollar Quartet • Photo: Joan Marcus

Million Dollar Quartet

Nominated for Best Musical

This production was inspired by a legendary real life jam session with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins on December 4, 1956, at Sun Records in Memphis. The show includes the most beloved songs from these rock 'n' roll icons, including "Blue Suede Shoes," "Great Balls of Fire," "Walk the Line," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," "Hound Dog" and many more.

A Little Night Music • Photo: Joan Marcus

A Little Night Music

Nominated for Best Revival of a Musical

The first Broadway revival of Steven Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's 1973 Tony Award winning musical brings together Broadway vet Angela Lansbury with a newcomer to the Great White Way, Catherine Zeta-Jones. Set in a Swedish country house at the turn of the last century, the romantic story is based on Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night.

Lend Me a Tenor • Photo: Joan Marcus

Lend Me a Tenor

Nominated for Best Revival of a Play

Anthony LaPaglia, Tony Shalhoub and Justin Bartha provide the star power in this Broadway revival of the screwball classic directed by Stanley Tucci. Plot twists and mistaken identities abound in this farce about the havoc that breaks loose at a Cleveland opera house when star Italian tenor "Il Stupendo" is rendered unable to sing the lead in Otello and the manager's assistant, Max, is recruited to fool the audience.

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