Issue Date: June 7, 2009
Tony special report
Neil Patrick Harris hosts the Tony Awards Sunday, live from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET on CBS. Harris is best known for his TV work -- he stars now in CBS' "HowI Met Your Mother" -- but he's a veteran of three Broadway shows and has performed in theaters from L.A. to London. In addition to the stars here, look for nominees Elton John, Dolly Parton, Stockard Channing, Geoffrey Rush, Martha Plimpton and former "American Idol" contestant Constantine Maroulis.
If Angela Lansbury wins the Tony for "Blithe Spirit," she'll tie Julie Harris for most wins, at five. Lansbury, 83, who has Tonys for "Mame," "Dear World," "Gypsy" and "Sweeney Todd," tells us, "I don't get offered that many opportunities, but the ones I do get are extraordinary." She says it's her TV crime drama "Murder, She Wrote," still airing in syndication, that keeps her popular. "My core audience is those who still watch," says Lansbury, who starred for 12 years. "They come to the theater and accept me playing Madame Arcati [in "Spirit"]. It takes a wide imagination to see me in that role, light years away from Jessica Fletcher."
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Allison Janney, nominee for lead actress in a musical, tells us she was terrified about starring in Dolly Parton's "9 to 5: The Musical." "But I'm always looking for things to challenge me." (Her secret to showtime success? "I take a nap for at least a half-hour before.") Janney, 49, says she finds joy in theater -- "in the fluidity, the start to finish [that] you never get to experience in film."
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We cannot talk Tonys this year without mentioning Jane Fonda, who is nominated as lead actress for "33 Variations." It is her fifth Broadway appearance, but her first in 46 years. If she wins, Fonda, 71, will be 17th in the select group of actors who have won an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony award. Fonda has said she loves doing the show: "It's weird -- it's been 46 years, and I feel like I've been born to do this."
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Gavin Creel's first musical was "Camelot," back in high school in Findlay, Ohio. He had two words: "And mine." By the time high school was finished, he had decided theater life was what he wanted, so he went to the University of Michigan, where he studied and acted and dreamed of getting to Broadway. He's not only there, but he's also a Tony nominee for the second time, this one for lead actor in a musical, "Hair." Creel, who got his first nomination at 26 (he's now 33), understands that he's luckier than most because his dream came true pretty fast. Asked what he wants to do next, he's quick to answer: "Be a father, renovate a house, learn to play guitar, travel to countries I've never seen ..." The long list of life experiences goes on.
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Brian d'Arcy James, nominated as lead actor in a musical for "Shrek the Musical," says this second Tony nod will help give him the courage "to do things I don't normally do." Of course, he does that every night onstage, becoming a big green ogre. The unique demands of the role -- the makeup alone takes two hours a night -- have been challenging. James, 40, began acting in community theater while growing up in Michigan. He tells us he doesn't have a single "dream" role; he's interested in "creating new things for myself."
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God of Carnage
Jeff Daniels
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"I'm old enough to have been up and down," says Jeff Daniels, 54, nominated as lead actor for "God of Carnage." "I have learned to cherish the ups." When he got this first Tony nod, Daniels called his parents right away. "They've been nothing but supportive from high school on." His castmates Marcia Gay Harden, James Gandolfini and Hope Davis got nods, too. "I honestly felt certain the others had a better shot," he says.
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BIRTHDAYS
June 7: Anna Kournikova 28, Prince 51
June 8: Julianna Margulies, 43, Joan Rivers, 76
June 9: Natalie Portman, 28, Johnny Depp, 46, Michael J. Fox, 48
June 10: Elizabeth Hurley, 44
June 11: Hugh Laurie, 50, Joe Montana, 53
June 12: George H.W. Bush, 85
June 13: Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, 23
Contributing: Gayle Jo Carter
 Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
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