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| SCHMOOZE OR LOSE By MICHAEL RIEDEL y May 8, 2009 -- LET the campaigning begin. Winning a Tony Award is very much like running for office in a small town. Because there are fewer than 800 Tony voters, it's possible for a nominee to shake the hand of every one. Whether you want to is another matter. Some of those hands, such as those belonging to critics (and maybe a columnist I know), can be pretty scary -- can, in fact, be claws. But if you're in a tight race, pressing the flesh around town is essential. The best politician I've ever seen on the Shubert Alley circuit is Harvey Fierstein, who was nominated for a Tony in 2003 for his performance as Edna in "Hairspray." Fierstein was the front-runner for most of the season. Then, out of nowhere, emerged Antonio Banderas, star of the revival of "Nine." Banderas was a charmer and, as one besotted Tony voter said at the time, spread "Antonio-ness all over the place -- it's like a beautiful perfume!" Fierstein sized up his rival and plunged into the crowd. There wasn't a benefit, a cocktail party, a luncheon, a long, boring awards ceremony full of creepy critics from publications no one's ever read that Fierstein did not attend. There wasn't a room he didn't work. I once saw him in an elevator with a handful of Tony voters. He had them all in stitches, and by the time the doors opened he had all their votes in his pocket. He dispelled "Antonio-ness" and took home his Tony. This year, the campaigner to watch is Jane Fonda, who's been nominated for Best Actress for her performance in "33 Variations." Fonda rarely turns down interview requests, tweets and blogs about being on Broadway and, drawing on her long experience in politics, works the Theater District hangouts, which these days are full of Tony voters. Last week, on the eve of the Tony nominations, she appeared in a skit sending up her show at the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition, a crucial stop on the Tony campaign trail. Dressed in tights, Fonda led the cast of "33 Variations" in their preshow warm-up, which was a spoof of her 1982 "Jane Fonda's Workout" video. She cracked up the place. (So, by the way, did Jeremy Irons, who's slogging it out in "Impressionism," which closes this weekend. Surveying the crowd, he said: "So this is what a full house looks like.") "33 Variations" also won the prize for raising the most money this year for Broadway Cares. A veteran producer who's been watching Fonda on the Shubert Alley circuit said at lunch the other day: "Jane Fonda sealed her Tony nomination at the Easter Bonnet Competition. She took that slot right away from Kristin Scott Thomas." Thomas opened last fall in "The Seagull" to rave reviews but was not nominated this week for a Tony. A longtime press agent says of Fonda: "She's a p-r-o. She's doing a Carol Channing." Channing, the star of "Hello, Dolly!" for about 2,742 years, never missed a chance to woo the press and the theatergoing public. It's widely believed that Fonda's competition is Marcia Gay Harden, who's very funny in "God of Carnage." Harden's no slouch in the charm department, either. She's sharp, witty and, in television interviews, gets big laughs with amusing showbiz anecdotes. As a talk-show guest, she's as good as the old-time Broadway and Hollywood stars who used to appear on "The Dick Cavett Show." A producer who's not aligned with either "33 Variations" or "God of Carnage" says: "This is a close race. Marcia probably gives the better performance, but Jane is an icon -- and she's going out of her way to be part of the [theater] community." In the end, it may come down to who shook the most claws. michael.riedel@nypost.com |
