Tony Nominations: Nods and Snubs for South Fork Theater Crowd

South Fork actors and other theater types who participated in Broadway productions this past year were both honored and snubbed in this year’s Tony nominations.

Alessandro Nivola, an Amagansett part-timer, has a nomination for best featured actor in a play for his role in "The Elephant Man." Yet, Micah Stock, one of his fellow nominees in the category, was the only actor nominated in the “It’s Only a Play” production that stars Nathan Lane of East Hampton and Matthew Broderick of Amagansett. In 2005, each was nominated for lead actor in a musical for “The Producers" and Mr. Lane won that year. Kelsey Grammer, who had a house in Bridgehampton for several years, was also snubbed for his performance in “Finding Neverland,” which received no nominations in any category.

For best musical revival, “On the Town,” for which Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote the book and lyrics (Leonard Bernstein was the composer), has been nominated along with “The King and I” and “On the Twentieth Century.” It received three other nominations as well. Green had a house in East Hampton prior to his death in 2002 and Comden had a place in Bridgehampton. She died in 2006.

Ruth Wilson, an English actress who spent some time in Montauk last year filming “The Affair” for Showtime, is nominated for the play “Constellations.”

The revival of Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance” had star power and plenty of talent, but was poorly received in reviews and received no nominations. While Ben Brantley praised the Montauk playwright's text in his review, he was critical of the leads, John Lithgow and Glenn Close, and the director, saying of their performance, “It’s rather as if they’re docents in a 'Delicate Balance' museum, which makes the play easier than usual to understand but harder to embrace.” 

Mr. Brantley, however, was effusive in his praise of Bob Balaban of Bridgehampton, who was Harry in the production. The review said of him and Clare Higgins, who played his wife, that their acting was “subtle but bone deep . . . when they left the play, my heart and curiosity went with them.”

Blythe Danner of Amagansett starred in “The Country House” this past fall. The play received no nominations.

Patricia Clarkson, who visited East Hampton in October for the Hamptons International Film Festival, was nominated for her role in "The Elephant Man," which received four nominations in total.

The Tony Awards, hosted by Alan Cumming and Kristin Chenoweth, will be presented on June 7.