Sasha Stone discusses the widening rift between critics and the Oscars: “Two years ago, when the Academy thumped ‘The Social Network’ and awarded ‘The King’s Speech’ in the top two categories, it marked one of the more significant mutations in the ongoing evolution of Oscar’s relationship with critics … When the old-guard industry establishment turned away from the films New Hollywood offered up that really were fresh and different, like ‘Inception,’ ‘Black Swan’ and ‘The Social Network’ and instead embraced the same sort of traditional film that could have been made in any year in their 84 year history for Best Picture, it sent a harsh message to critics that their respect for a new generation of dream-makers really, and finally, didn’t matter to the old dreamers of Hollywood who hold seniority in the Academy.” AWARDS DAILY
Audra McDonald returns to “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” after leaving due to illness: “‘Porgy and Bess’ headliner Audra McDonald returns to the Tony-winning revival as scheduled on July 5 after two weeks of vocal rest. McDonald left the production on June 20 due to a respiratory infection which caused her vocal chords inflaming to a point where she was unable to sing. McDonald, who nabbed for fifth Tony Award for playing Bess, will now play seven performances a week, with her understudy, Alicia Hall Moran, playing Bess on Wednesday evenings.” BROADWAY.COM
10 actors who deserve Emmy nominations but probably won’t get one include Madeleine Stowe, Jared Harris, and “Veep” star Anna Chlumsky: “… her serious comeback came with a major role in Armando Iannucci’s glorious political satire ‘In The Loop,’ and when the writer came to HBO for a similar series (like the film, indebted to his original BBC show ‘The Thick Of It’), he brought Chlumsky with him, playing the young chief of staff to Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Vice-President Selina Meyer. Given her long and lauded sitcom past, the ‘Seinfeld’ star is virtually assured a nomination, but even among a cast of comedic ringers including Tony Hale and Matt Walsh, Chlumsky has been the real stand-out.” INDIEWIRE
The Tony Awards do not lengthen a show’s run by 50%: “You may have seen the headline on a press release from NYU Stern School of Business, ‘New Study Shows that a Major Tony Award Lengthens a Show’s Run by Almost 50%.’ The problem is the research conducted by a Stern professor and others says no such thing. Talk about dropping the lede: the study has a stunning finding about the impact of a New York Times review and that shocker is not mentioned in the press release … The researchers specifically deny that their findings support the notion that the Tony award boosts runs. A correlation is not a cause. They believe that the more likely mechanism is that both length of run and Tony awards generally measure the same thing, a production’s quality defined as success with audiences.” STAGE MONEY
With “Fringe” be embraced by the Emmys: “For our second Emmy debate of the week, we are looking at another fan favorite show with a long history of being ignored come awards season — even though it boasts some performances that are surely worthy of breaking into the Drama Series category — ‘Fringe.’ Unlike ‘Revenge‘ (which was the subject of our piece Tuesday), ‘Fringe’ is a show that does not exactly have much in the way of time left if it wants to secure a few trophies. Season 5 is airing this fall, and following the Emmys this year it is only going to have one more chance to score some gold. While it odds in the Outstanding Drama Series category are slim to none, we still have some hope for some individual actors despite heavy competition.” CARTERMATT.COM
Trailer debuts for “The Silver Linings Playbook“: “Oscars aside, Lawrence arguably reached the biggest point in her career thus far with this year’s release of the mega-blockbuster ‘The Hunger Games,’ in which she received critical acclaim for her performance as Katniss Everdeen. And now, ladies and gentlemen, the trailer has been released for the upcoming film ‘The Silver Linings Playbook,’ starring… Jennifer Lawrence. ‘The Silver Linings Playbook’ tells the story of Pat (Bradley Cooper), a former teacher just released from a mental hospital. He goes to live with his parents while adjusting back to the world and begins a friendship with Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), who is similarly socially awkward and has a problem with sex addiction.” LOUISVILLE.COM
