Wednesday, June 6,2001
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 3
The Producers takes the Tonys
The Associated Press
NEW YORK— Say goodbye, Dolly!
The Producers, Mel Brooks' musical comedy about two showmen scheming to get rich by staging a theatrical flop about Nazis, shattered a Broadway record Sunday when it won 12 Tony Awards.
Sweeping every category in which it was nominated, including best musical, it topped the 10 Tonys that Hello, Dolly! won in 1964.
David Auburn's Proof, which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama earlier this year, won three awards, including best play.
But Sunday was Brooks' night. In between one-liners, he giddily found time to thank just about everyone for his musical juggernaut, including cast, crew, supporters and family.
He also cracked, "I want to thank Hitler — for being such a funny guy on stage."
With a torrent of gushing reviews and record box-office numbers, *The Producers* was an odds-on favorite to dominate the Tonys. And in quick
succession Sunday, it swept a half-dozen of the coveted awards for choreography, orchestration, direction of a musical, lighting design, costume design and scenic design.
Brooks clearly sensed the evening's inevitability. After one early acceptance speech, he cockily informed the Radio City Music Hall audience, "I'll see you in a couple of minutes."
Three of the musical's actors won Tony's: Nathan Lane (best actor-musical) for his portrayal of the creatively devious Max Bialystock; Cady Huffmann (best featured actress-musical) for her role as the star-searched clueless blond; and Gary Beach (featured actor-musical) for his portrayal of self-absorbed director Roger De Bris, who flamboyantly leads the cast in the song, "Springtime For Hitler," the show's most famous number.
Susan Stroman accepted the awards for musical direction and choreography; the latter honor marked the second consecutive year she has won it, after last year's Contact.
Producers to audiences in the 1960s as a madcap movie, won for original score and, along with Thomas Meehan, for best book of a musical.
Brooks, who first brought The
His voice cheery but scratchy, Brooks needled the losing nominees, noting that they picked the wrong time to début their work on Broadway.
"Any other year, you guys would have won — I assure you of that. But (The Producers) is a phenomenon, so forgive us for that," he said.
Most upstaged by The Producers was the musical The Full Monty, which won much critical acclaim and got 10 nominations but took home no Tonys.
Lane, who previously won a Tony for A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, dragged his co-star and fellow nominee, Matthew Broderick, on stage and accepted on behalf of both of them.
"We are very much a team ... believe me, without him, I'm nothing." Lane said with his arm around his co-star. Broderick quickly and politely backed off, though, allowing Lane to bask in the moment.
Daniel Sullivan, who took the
urection-play award for Proof,
feigned disbelief at the honor:
"There must be some mistake," he
said. "I had nothing to do with The
Producers."
Sullivan's leading lady. Mary- Louise Parker, took home the best actress-play award.
Other winners included 42nd Street, for best musical revival; its star, Christine Ebersole, got the top female musical prize.
The play revival award went to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Richard Easton, who plays poet A.E. Housman in The Invention of Love, took the top actor-play prize, while Robert Sean Leonard, who plays a younger incarnation of the same character, won in the featured category.
Viola Davis, the fiery wife in King Hedley II, received the featured actress award.
Special awards included a regional theater prize to Victory Gardens Theater of Chicago and a lifetime achievement award to Paul Gemignani, veteran director of several Stephen Sondheim musicals.
Slick criminal squeezes through divider window, steals police car
The Associated Press
WICHITA, Kan. — A suspected car thief cuffed in the back seat of a Wichita police car apparently squeezed through a divider separating him from the front seat and stole the police cruiser.
The suspect led police Monday on back-to-back car chases through east Wichita, at one point driving through front yards and even killing a deer that darted into his path, police said.
Authorities eventually set spikes across a road to blow out the patrol car's tires and took the man into custody.
"He was handcuffed behind his back, but he somehow worked his hands around to the front of his body," police spokeswoman Janet Johnson said. "And I don't know how he fit through that opening. It must have been a tight fit."
The first chase started when a patrol car began pursuing a car
that had been reported stolen. It was during that chase that he killed a deer that darted into his path, police said.
The driver eventually lost control of his car. Officers hand-cuffed him and put him in the back seat of the patrol car.
While the officer was outside the car talking to a supervisor, the slimly-built man apparently found a way to get his hands to his front.
He then wrigled through a 12by-12 inch window in the Plexiglas divider separating the front and back seats.
"I don't know that we've ever had someone even try to get through there." Johnson said.
Bush twins cited for drinking
The man again led police through east Wichita neighborhoods. When he drove onto a dead end street, he passed pursuing officers by driving on front lawns. Johnson said.
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas — A restaurant staff did not follow normal procedure when a 911 call was placed after President Bush's 19-year-old twin daughters were suspected of violating underage drinking laws, the owners say.
The May 29 call led to misdemeanor citations against Jenna and Barbara Bush on accusations they violated toughened underage drinking laws their father signed in 1997 when he was governor.
"Usually we would not have handled this in the way it was handled," Mike Young, coowner of the Chuy's Mexican restaurants in Austin, told the Austin American-Statesman in Tuesday's online edition.
Young said he understood why the incident happened the way it did.
Young said the owners have received tons of calls and e-mails about the incident.
"There's always some complaints — it does not matter what you do." But he said many supported how it was handled.
In a form letter dated June 1 sent to those who sent in e-mail, Young and co-owner John Zapp said. "We realize that many of you are upset with the recent occurrence at our Barton Springs location, and we want you to know that we are too."
Capt. David Ball of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agreed that restaurant staffers usually do not call police to report a suspected alcohol violation by a minor—and rarely use 911.
"That is the decision they have to make," Ball said. "For your normal misrepresentation of age, it would be very unusual."
Police cited Barbara Bush on a charge of being a minor in possession of alcohol, and Jenna for allegedly attempting to buy alcohol with a false identification. A 20-year-old friend of the girls also was cited on the possession charge.
Just two weeks earlier, Jenna Bush pleaded no contest to charges of underage drinking. She was ordered to go to alcohol counseling and perform community service.
Ratings are in as the reruns begin
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — A fresh edition of CBS' "60 Minutes" was the No.1 program last week as the summer rerun dolrums set in and television viewership began to shrink.
The news magazine, which included a profile of evangelist Billy Graham's daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, scored its first top finish in 22 months, according to ratings released yesterday.
More viewers tuned into "60 Minutes" than the NBA Eastern Conference playoff final between Philadelphia and the Milwaukee Bucks when the broadcasts overlapped. The 76ers advanced to meet the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals.
A total of 14.9 million viewers watched "60 Minutes." The basketball game on NBC was the sixth-ranked program with 13.5 million viewers.
CBS had the top-rated comedy and drama with "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," which tied for fourth place. It was the most-watched network during May 28-June 3, Nielsen Media Research said.
"Who Wants to be a Millionaire's" Sunday and Tuesday editions on ABC tied for second place among all prime-time network shows.
Ratings for the 55th Annual Tony Awards failed to reflect Broadway's excitement over the hit musical The Producers, which won a record 12 tro
phies.
Sunday's ceremony on CBS drew 8.9 million viewers
Overall, CBS drew 9.7 million viewers followed by NBC with 8.9million.
ABC had 7.2 million viewers.
Fox had 5.9 million viewers.
UPN drew 3.3 million views
while WB had 3.1 million.
In the evening news contest,
"NBC Nightly News" edged into first place with 8.8 million viewers (6.6 rating, 15 share),
followed by ABC's "World News Tonight" with 8.5 million viewers (6.5 rating, 15 share). The "CBS Evening News" had 8 million viewers (6.0 rating, 13 share).
Pax TV had 1.5 million viewers.
A ratings point represents
1,022,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 102.2 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.
For the week of May 28 to June 3, the top shows, their networks and ratings: "60 Minutes," CBS, 10.5; tie: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (Sunday), ABC, and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (Tuesday), ABC, both 10.1; tie: "CSL Crime Scene Investigation." CBS, and "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, both 9.5; NBA playoff game (sunday, Milwaukee at Philadelphia), NBC, 8.7; "Touched by an Angel," CBS, 8.3; tie: "48 Hours," CBS, and "Becker," CBS, both 8.1; "Funny Flubs and Screws Ups," CBS, 8.0.
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