In Wednesday’s column, I paraphrased “It Might as Well Be Spring” — rather cleverly, I thought — to describe the Tony madness that’s gripping Broadway. I credited the lyrics to Larry Hart, which, as many readers pointed out, is wrong. Hart wrote “Spring Is Here.” Oscar Hammerstein II wrote “It Might as Well Be Spring.”
I stand corrected, and my show queen credentials have officially been revoked by ASCAP. And now, as Jerry Herman wrote, “Let’s go, on with the show!”
Broadway producers are dripping with flop sweat as the thermometer registers new heights of Tony fever. Pity Harvey Weinstein. The reviews this week for his musical “Finding Neverland” were mixed to negative, with an especially nasty jab from Big Ben Brantley at the Times — “empty calories,” “objectionable,” “fatally ersatz.”
I told Weinstein that Brantley pulled his punches when he reviewed “Finding Neverland” last fall in Boston. Reading between the lines, I predicted that Brantley wouldn’t hold back when the show came to New York.
To quote Peter Pan, I say, “I gotta crow!”
“Finding Neverland” is no longer guaranteed a Tony nomination for Best Musical. The sense around Broadway yesterday was that John Kander and Fred Ebb’s “The Visit” could nab the fourth slot, leaving “Finding Neverland” in the fairy dust.
The other nominees will be “An American in Paris,” “Fun Home” and “Something Rotten!”
It’s going to be fun watching Weinstein fight for his show. And if it isn’t nominated, we’ll see how he goes about muscling his way onto the Tony telecast again, as he did last year. I bet he’s already badgering poor Les Moonves over at CBS.
The other Tony race that’s heating up is for Best Revival of a Musical, pitting “On the Twentieth Century” against “The King and I.”
“Century,” starring Kristin Chenoweth, opened to sparkling reviews in March. The reviews for “The King and I” are out Friday, with The Post’s Elisabeth Vincentelli giving it a warm 3 ½ stars.
Tony voters I’ve spoken to are mixed. I reported last week that Japan’s Ken Watanabe was becoming easier to understand as the King of Siam. My sources, who are in the production, said he’s worked hard on his English. But Elisabeth and the voters who saw the show this week say they had trouble understanding him.
“It’s an excellent performance,” one voter told me, “but I thought I was watching ‘Pacific Overtures.’ ”
As of today, I’d have to give the edge to “On the Twentieth Century.” And I think Chenoweth is likely to deny Kelli O’Hara, who plays Anna in “The King and I,” yet another Tony.
But it’s still early, and we have miles to go before “And the winner is . . .”