News flash: First COVID and now the writers' strike. The 2023 Tony Awards will not be broadcast on Pluto and CBS as planned on June 11. The producers of the ceremony had hoped to be granted a waiver by the union but it has been denied. What happens now? Either the awards will be delayed till the end of strike (unlikely since the labor action could drag on for months) or the awards will be presented in a small non-televised event so the winning shows can at least announce their Tony status in advertising. The Tony Management Committee will hold an emergency meeting on Mon. May 15 to decide how to move forward. This is a potentially devastating blow to several shows who count on the national exposure the Tonys provide and to the Broadway industry in general since audience levels are still not at pre-pandemic levels. Many productions could close prematurely because of a lack of Tony TV attention.
Bob Fosse's Dancin' and
Bad Cinderella, which did not receive any Tony recognition, have already posted closing notices.
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| Jeremy Strong |
Strong in Ibsen's Enemy: Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Award winner Jeremy Strong (
Succession) will star on Broadway in a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's
An Enemy of the People by Amy Herzog who is also represented by her version of Ibsen's
A Doll's House with Jessica Chastain now at the Hudson Theater. The production will begin in early 2024. Tony winner Sam Gold (
Fun Home) will direct. A theater, cast, and design team will be announced at a later date. This will be the 11th Broadway production of Ibsen's drama about a Norwegian doctor who becomes a pariah in his community after revealing the town spa and main source of income is toxic. Broadway audiences first saw it in 1895 and most recently in 2012 with Boyd Gaines. In between, the lead role of Dr. Stockman has been played by Walter Hampden, Frederic March, and Stephen Elliott.
Strong, best known as his role for Kendall Roy on HBO's Succession, previously appeared on Broadway in 2008's revival of A Man for All Seasons. He also appeared in Herzog's play The Great God Pan Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons.
