‘Anastasia’ Deserved More Tony Nods; Long Wharf Next Season Shows

I’m not a huge follower of the Tony Awards: I dislike competitive arts awards and nominee-based horse races in general. But even from my don’t-know, don’t-care perspective I expected there to be more love for “Anastasia” when the Tony nominations were announced Tuesday. For one thing, “Anastasia” had gotten more Outer Critics Circle nominations (13) than any other musical, not to mention nine noms for the Drama Desk Awards. Why the imbalance?

The arguments that a more traditional show couldn’t compete with contemporary fare like “Evan Hansen” or more showily creative adaptations like “Groundhog Day” don’t quite hold, since “Hello, Dolly” cleaned up at the Tony noms — and, stylistically speaking, “Anastasia” isn’t so far afield from the other Tony titan this year, “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.”

What is true is that some shows simply don’t need awards to be successful. In a classic “nyah, nyah” move, the critically reviled Broadway version of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” announced on Monday — one day before we all learned that the show hadn’t received a single Tony nomination — that its first national tour was all planned and ready to go for 2018.

While it was feared that another Connecticut-to-Broadway phenomenon, Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman’s “Indecent,” would have its life drastically shortened if it didn’t receive a nomination for Best Play, “Anastasia” boosters seemed less panicky. The Russian princess odyssey has already developed a fierce fan base made up of those who understand that the stage version is different from the 1997 animated picture but love it anyway. Young women are arriving at the theater wearing gowns that rival the brilliant ballroom attire created for the show by Linda Cho.

Cho’s work earned “Anastasia” one of its mere two Tony nominations. The other one went to Mary Beth Peil, who personifies the show’s old-world grace as the Dowager Empress.

It’ll be considerably less fun watching the Tonys this year than it was in 2014 when Hartford Stage’s “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder” won Best Musical. Without a “Best Musical” nomination, “Anastasia” isn’t even assured a big production number on TV. But in other ways, the dearth of nominations will make future journeys of “Anastasia” much more interesting. This is a story of pluck, perseverance and beauty. Those things take you places.

The Vogel Vanguard

Paula Vogel is not exactly hurting for recognition. Legions of her students and proteges sing her praises. Her plays routinely get major productions in the regional theater realm and Off Broadway. She has a Pulitzer. She’s in the American Theater Hall of Fame.

But the past couple of weeks showed clearly how highly respected Vogel is throughout the theater galaxy. On April 27, it was announced that she will receive a Lifetime Achievement award at the 2017 Obie Awards ceremony in May.

That’s how much off Broadway likes her. (Vogel received an Obie for “The Baltimore Waltz” in 1992.) On Monday, Vogel’s “Indecent” was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. That’s how much Broadway likes her.

Long Wharf Has A Season

Of Connecticut’s major regional theaters, the Long Wharf is last out of the gate in announcing its 2017-18 season. The list was finally revealed Monday. It’s a full six-show season, with no vague “To Be Determined” slots and quite a lot of detail.

“Small Mouth Sounds,” the recent off Broadway hit by Bess Wohl, directed by Rachel Chavkin, Aug. 30 through Sept. 24. It’s about six people on a retreat who have taken a vow of silence. This production is on a national tour that will play four other cities. That’s a rare, though not unprecedented, type of booking for the Long Wharf, which, of course, tends to produce or co-produce its own shows.

The world premiere of “Fireflies” by Matthew Barber, directed by Long Wharf Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein, Oct. 11 through Nov. 5. It’s about a retired, “orderly” woman who meets “a mysterious drifter.” Hartford Stage premiered Barber’s first play, “Enchanted April,” in 2000.

“The Chosen,” Aaron Posner’s adaptation of the Chaim Potok novel. West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park did this script last fall. Edelstein directed another Posner adaptation of Potok, “My Name is Asher Lev,” in 2012; that show had an off-Broadway run after New Haven.

“Office Hour” by Julia Cho, Jan. 17 through Feb. 11. Long Wharf staged the world premieres of Cho’s “BFE” in 2005 and “Durango” in 2006, and did a reading of her “Aubergine” in 2015. “Office Hour” premiered in California last year.

“Baskerville” by Ken Ludwig, Feb. 28 through March 25. The comic playwright who concocted “Lend Me a Tenor” and “Moon Over Buffalo” turned out this Sherlock Holmes lampoon in 2015. You can find another Ken Ludwig Sherlock Holmes pastiche, “The Game’s Afoot,” at the Ivoryton Playhouse in November.

“Crowns,” the popular gospel musical by Regina Taylor, directed by Taylor herself, April 18 through May 13, 2018. The show is about a Brooklyn girl who goes to live with her grandmother and other fancy-hat-wearing women in South Carolina. “Crowns” was done at Hartford Stage back in 2004.

“Small Mouth Sounds” and “Office Hour” will be in Long Wharf’s Stage II space, the others on the mainstage. Season subscription info and other details are at 203-787-4282 or longwharf.org

An Extra Mann

“Terry’s Late Night Cabaret” is a new event at Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s Nutmeg Summer Series. The “Terry” is, of course, Terrence Mann, the series’ new artistic director and the director of its season-opener, “1776.” The cabaret happens just once, at 11 p.m. June 24, following a performance of “Noises Off.” Mann (whose Broadway acting credits include the original casts of “Cats,” “Rags,” “Les Miserables,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Addams Family” and “Tuck Everlasting”) will perform, along with the proverbial “friends” that light up any cabaret. The show is a benefit for the theater and offers “an open bar, hors d’ouevres and desserts.” Tickets are $125. Details at 860-486-2113, crt.uconn.edu.

Summer of Strong Women

Yale Summer Cabaret is straddling the line of prog and trad with a classically feminist season. The four shows on the just-announced 2017 summer schedule all have powerful female roles. At least one of them, it seems, will be played by a man.

June 2-11: Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” adapted and directed by one of this year’s SumCab co-artistic directors, Rory Pelsue. It features an all-male cast exploring Antony’s “masculine ideals.”

June 23 through July 2: Euripides’ “The Trojan Women,” using the 1995 Ellen McLaughlin version that alluded the modern war in Bosnia. Directed by the other co-artistic director, Shad Ghaheri.

July 14-23: The Yael Farber adaptation of Strindberg’s “Miss Julie,” updated to post-Apartheid South Africa. Directed by Pelsue.

Aug. 4-13: “Lear,” Young Jean Lee’s multi-layered postmodern investigation of Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” centering on the monarch’s offspring — those sharper-than-serpent’s-teeth daughters. Directed by Ghaheri.

Distinct from the school-year Yale Cabaret, the 40-year-old Yale Summer Cabaret offers an ensemble company and (in some recent years) an overarching theme. This season is collectively titled “Canon Belles.” Details at 203-432-1567, yalecabaret.org.