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There’s never a shortage of drama on Broadway. However, this Tony season has taken things to a whole new level.
And with records for both ticket prices and box-office grosses having been broken this year, there’s more at stake than ever for Sunday’s ceremony, which will be held at Radio City and air live on CBS starting at 8 p.m., as well as stream on Paramount+ and Showtime.
Some huge-name stars (hello, Denzel Washington) are said to be hurting from snubs,. while others who are nominated — sorry, George Clooney — already know they won’t win.
But even if you are an A-list Hollywood actor, “Just because you’re on stage does not entitle you to a Tony nomination. The disappointment quotient is higher [this year] and it makes it more interesting,” one Tonys insider told The Post.
“In years past, perhaps the caliber of nominees wasn’t really as high or exciting. Competition wasn’t as great as it is this year.”
Nor were the off-stage theatrics.
Three-time Tony winner Patti LuPone, never known for keeping her opinions to herself, isn’t even nominated this year — but kicked off such a storm that 500 Broadway artists signed an open letter condemning her words. And that messy situation might even end up influencing voters in the heated category of Best Actress in a Musical.
The common expectation until recently was that Nicole Scherzinger, up for “Sunset Boulevard,” had her Tony in the bag. But in the past two weeks, insiders have been buzzing about McDonald’s momentum.
That’s because she’s been in the headlines for reasons no star wants.
It all began last year, when LuPone — who was co-starring with Mia Farrow in “The Roommate” at the Booth Theatre on 45th Street — called in a noise complaint to Shubert Organization head Robert Wankel about “Hell’s Kitchen,” the Alicia Keys musical starring Kecia Lewis and playing at the Shubert Theatre on 44th, which shares a wall with the Booth.
Lewis, speaking as one “veteran” to another, posted an “open letter” video in November, deeming LuPone’s behavior “bullying,” “racially microaggressive,” and “rooted in privilege” for calling “a black show loud.”
McDonald then showed support for Lewis on Instagram, which apparently annoyed LuPone, who she has shared the stage many times.
“That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend,” LuPone told the New Yorker in an interview, published in late May, that totally rocked the Broadway community.
When the magazine’s writer asked LuPone what she thought about McDonald as Mama Rose in “Gypsy” — a role LuPone played in a 2008 revival — the actress sat quietly before changing the subject and replying, “What a beautiful day.”
She went on to trash Lewis, saying, “She calls herself a veteran? Let’s find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn’t know what the f–k she’s talking about.
“She’s done seven,” LuPone added of the “Hell’s Kitchen” star. “I’ve done 31. Don’t call yourself a vet, bitch.”
You could practically hear jaws hitting the stages all around Times Square.
“People are thinking that the New Yorker profile on Patti LuPone was akin to the [former FBI director James] Comey emails about Hillary Clinton,” the Tonys insider joked to The Post.
It led to more than 500 Broadway artists, ranging from Tony winners like Wendell Pierce to wild cards like Courtney Love, putting their names to an open letter condemning LuPone.
“This language is not only degrading and misogynistic — it is a blatant act of racialized disrespect,” the letter said. “It constitutes bullying. It constitutes harassment. It is emblematic of the microaggressions and abuse that people in this industry have endured for far too long, too often without consequence.”
This led to an apology via social media by LuPone, who said, “I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview.”
“She’s [LuPone] a very outspoken person – no news flash there. It’s certainly her fault for choosing her words incorrectly,” the Tonys insider said.
Now, a Broadway source explained, the negative headlines might have the consequence of generating Tony voter sympathy for McDonald.
“Pre Patti LuPone drama, I would have said Nicole had [the Tony],” the Broadway source said. “But after Patti went after Audra, people are saying it may help Audra in the long run.”
Meanwhile, sources told The Post that McDonald, 54, was unhappy last month when she was unwittingly enlisted to present a Drama League award to “Sunset Boulevard” star Nicole Scherzinger, who is up against McDonald at the Tonys.
There were 51 actors up for the League’s Distinguished Performance honor, meaning there was less than a 2% chance McDonald had to present to her rival.
“They’ve been pitted against each other the entire season. She [McDonald] felt uncomfortable doing it, but ultimately went about doing it,” the Broadway source told The Post.
Playing Mama Rose — which the Tonys insider compared to “the ‘Hamlet’ and ‘King Lear’ of musical theater roles combined” — apparently hasn’t been easy for McDonald, who, sources say, has missed several performances of the grueling show due to exhaustion.
“When Audra misses [a show] it’s because she literally cannot perform — otherwise she’d be on that stage. It is Olympian,” the Tonys insider said, adding that Tony-nominated actors are “doing the shows every night and by day they’re campaigning.”
Still, the Tonys insider pointed out one difference between McDonald and rival Scherzinger’s “Sunset Boulevard” run: “Nicole has never missed a show.”
Scherzinger, meanwhile, had her own mini-scandal when some accused her of being pro-MAGA after she commented on a photo of Russell Brand wearing a hat with the phrase “Make Jesus First Again” — posting prayer hands and heart emoji and asking, “Where do I get this hat?”
The actress later said in a statement, “I deeply apologize for the hurt caused by my recent engagement with some social media posts. When I commented on these posts, I made the mistake of not realizing that they could be easily interpreted as being politically related and I apologize to anyone who understandably reached that conclusion.”
The Tonys insider called the whole thing nonsense, adding that Scherzinger is “a devout Catholic. She’s all about prayer. Nicole lives in her own world [and] she couldn’t be further from the MAGA world. For her to get painted as MAGA is such BS.”
As for Best Actor in a Play, there is apparently no doubt that the “Oh, Mary” phenomenon, Cole Escola, will walk away with the trophy. In fact, sources said, it’s such a sure thing that fellow nominee George Clooney, nominated for “Good Night, and Good Luck,” threw in the towel a while ago.
“Clooney was campaigning, but then realized Cole Escola has it in the bag, so he stopped,” the Tonys insider said.
Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck” set, then broke, a new record for the highest grossing week for a Broadway play, taking in more than $4.2 million in sales last week.
The other big earner has been “Othello,” starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, which made eyes water with box-office ticket prices that went above $900. (When The Post’s Johnny Oleksinski wrote a column criticizing those prices, he was disinvited from reviewing the show but did so anyway by purchasing a ticket rather than relying on the comps typically given to reviewers.)
Gyllenhaal and Washington, however, were not nominated for Tonys — a fact Washington’s wife, Pauletta Washington, told reporters was due to “narrow-minded people that are in charge of making decisions and judgements.”
“This is one of those great years where people who are giving Tony Award-caliber performances didn’t even make the cut during nominations. And that’s the way it should be,” the Tonys insider said.
Another surprise snub was Kieran Culkin for his role in the revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross.” But we’re told the actor will host a Tonys after-party at Pebble Bar to celebrate his former “Succession” co-star Sarah Snook, who is said to have a strong shot at winning Best Actress in a Play for portraying 26 characters in “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”
As always, the hottest ticket in town is not the awards show itself, but power publicist Rick Miramontez’s legendarily raucous and hard-to-get-into bash at The Carlyle. The Post is told the party will have a tighter, even more exclusive guest list this year
And after the high drama of this season, everyone on Broadway might need a stiff drink or three.
“It’s been a fun season but also a grueling season,” the Tonys insider said. “Everyone will be in the mood to party.”
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