Little orphan Annie and the villainous Miss Hannigan may be arch-enemies in the Broadway musical “Annie,†but the actresses playing them will not be facing off this spring at the 2013 Tony Awards.
The Tony Awards Administration Committee, an oversight panel made up mostly of theater producers, issued a series of eligibility rulings for acting categories on Thursday, and its starkest decision involved the leading ladies in the current revival of “Annie.†The committee chose not to elevate two-time Tony winner Katie Finneran, who plays Miss Hannigan, into contention for a nomination for leading actress in a musical, even though Dorothy Loudon won the 1977 Tony in that category for her portrayal of the orphanage manager. Ms. Finneran will be eligible for a nod for eatured actress instead.
The committee did put 11-year-old Lilla Crawford into contention for a leading actress nomination, and also made Anthony Warlow (Daddy Warbucks) eligible for a nomination as lead actor.
The committee did not disclose its reasoning regarding the “Annie†cast members; the deliberations are made behind closed doors. Typically a show’s producers ask the committee to place actors in certain categories, and usually the producers try to avoid having their performers square off against each other or risk canceling each other out. A spokesman for “Annie†did not immediately have a comment from its producers about whether they had wanted Ms. Finneran to be eligible for featured actress and not compete against Ms. Crawford.
Meanwhile the actor Dan Stevens, best known for his starring role on television’s “Downton Abbey,†was made eligible for a ! featured actor nomination for the Broadway revival of “The Heiress,†giving his co-star, David Strathairn, a clear shot at a nomination in the leading actor category.
The other eligibility rulings on Thursday were fairly predictable. While Al Pacino was the main box office attraction in the recent Broadway revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross,†he was put in contention for a nomination for best featured actor for his performance as Shelly Levene - consistent with the eligibility of the actors in that role in the 1984 and 2005 productions of the play on Broadway. Also eligible in the featured category will be Mr. Pacino’s co-stars, including Bobby Cannavale, David Harbour and Richard Schiff.
For the musical revival of “The Mystery of Edwin Dood,†Stephanie J. Block and Jim Norton will be eligible for leading actress and actor nominations, while their co-stars - Will Chase, Gregg Edelman, and Chita Rivera - were made eligible in featured categories.
One play from the 2012-13 theater season, “The Performers,†will not be eligible for Tonys because the critically drubbed production did not run long enough; the show closed in November after 24 preview performances and 6 regular performances.
The organizers of the Tonys have yet to announce the date of the annual awards ceremony, but it is likely to be in June.
