Tonys say: Kevin help us!
I N Washington, DC, the name Frank Underwood inspires fear and loathing. But on Broadway, he’s a hero!
Underwood, otherwise known as Kevin Spacey, swooped in Tuesday and saved the Tony Awards by agreeing to host the June 11 telecast.
Tony producers were scrambling to find a host after being turned down by everyone from Tina Fey to James Corden, Hugh Jackman to my mother, Penny
Riedel. (She’s hosting a Tupperware party instead.)
“We made a 911 call to Kevin, and thank God he answered,” a Tony source says.
Spacey made fun of his position as the caboose on the hosting train: “I was their second choice for ‘The Usual Suspects,’ fourth choice for ‘American Beauty’ and 15th choice to host this year’s Tony Awards. I think my career is definitely going in the right direction.”
It’s a shrewd move, earning him tremendous goodwill from theater people. As he’s shown on the late-night talk show circuit, Spacey is affable and funny. He sang and danced as Bobby Darin in the 2004 movie “Beyond the Sea,” and while he’s no Gene Kelly, he could charm viewers the way
Ryan Gosling did in “La La Land.”
Spacey certainly has a Broadway pedigree. After making his debut in Ibs- en’s “Ghosts” in 1982 he went on to perform in several Eugene O’Neill plays and in Neil Si
mon’s “Lost in Yonkers,” for which he won a Tony.
Hosting the awards show is a lot of work. The show moves into Radio City Music Hall two weeks before the telecast, and rehearsals are grueling, 12-hour affairs. Until the late 1990s, hosts weren’t paid a dime.
“It was considered an honor to be asked,” says a veteran Tony official. Rosie O’Donnell changed that when she hosted a second time in 1998. Her fee was about $75,000. No word on how much Spacey’s being paid, but sources say the fees have gone up to about $250,000. In other Tony news, the race for Best Actor in a Musical is heating up now that “Groundhog Day” star Andy Karl has collected a basketful of valentines from the critics.
Karl also proved himself a trouper by performing at Monday’s opening, after tearing his ACL Friday. He’s now working with a black brace on his leg.
His competition for Best Actor — Ben Platt of “Dear Evan Hansen” — performs with his arm in a cast, but that’s a prop.
“He might want to break his arm for real,” says a cynical Tony voter.
Expect Corey Cott from “Bandstand” and David Hyde Pierce from “Hello, Dolly!” to round out the category.