Tony's Doubts

"Doubt" won the Tony for Best Play Sunday night, and its star Cherry Jones won her second Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Play. Newsday said the play came closest to sweeping, with awards for Play, Director, Leading Actress and Featured Actress:

www.newsday.com/entertainment/stage/nyc-tonyso605.story

The leading actor in the play, Brían F. O'Byrne, won a Tony last year. This award goes to actors in consecutive years about as often as Oscar visits a mantle two years running. The TV broadcast had its quirks, like playing nine-time Tony winner Mike Nichols off the stage when his acceptance speech for directing "Spamalot" ran long. You'd think that nine Tonys might earn you an extra 60 seconds. But the American Theatre Wing is just grateful for the TV exposure — those $90 seats don't sell themselves — so the show is a slave to the CBS commercial schedule. Lots of drug ads throughout, another oddity.

Spamalot's TV number was a takeoff on "American Idol," so the joke was lost on me. A friend saw the play this spring and said

I was a bit worried after the first couple of numbers in our musical tonight that I actually COULD have produced the play with a high school drama class. Then things got rolling and it was a full on knee slapper! If you liked "Holy Grail" you'll enjoy the musical adaptation, they've changed it up quite a bit, but the favorite bits are there.

NY Times critic Ben Brantley says "Doubt" will be able to tour easily with its modest cast and set requirements. You have to wonder if it will ever make it onto the community theatre circuit. Maybe only at the braver companies. Pederasty plays probably still aren't homespun fare, even if two of them were nominated for Best Play this year.