Who's who and what's what at the Tony's

So as we all know it is Tony Season and there's a lot of hub bub in the city. After Jesse Green's unnecessarily bitchy column in this weeks New York Magazine I thought it would be important to emphasize how great this season has been. I'm so proud of everyone doing their thing in such a moment of economic woe and creative spirit. This should be an incredible night and I will be there, tweeting and sharing my experiences on examiner.com and on this fine site. 

But just so ya know, this year’s award ceremony will air live on CBS at 8:00 EST from Radio City Music Hall and will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. Billy Elliot leads the pack with the most nominations, 15 to be exact.

Some of the nominees include,

Best Musical: Billy Elliot, Next to Normal, Rock of Ages, Shrek The Musical.

Best Play: God of Carnage, 33 Variations, Reasons to be Pretty, and Dividing the Estate.

Best Book of a Musical: Billy Elliot, Next to Normal, Rock of Ages, and Shrek The Musical

Best Score: Billy Elliot, Next to Normal, 9 to 5: The musical, and Shrek The Musical.

Best Revival of a Musical: Guys and Dolls, Hair, Pal Joey, and West Side Story.

Best Leading Actor in a Musical: David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish (Billy Elliot), Gavin Creel (Hair), Brian d’Arcy James (Shrek), Constantine Maroulis (Rock of Ages), J. Robert Spencer (Next to Normal).

Best Leading Actor in a Play: Jeff Daniels (God of Carnage), Raúl Esparza (Speed-the-Plow), James Gandolfini (God of Carnage), Geoffrey Rush (Exit the King), and Thomas Saoski (Reasons to Be Pretty).

Best Leading Actress in a Musical: Alice Ripley (Next to Normal), Stockard Channing (Pal Joey), Sutton Foster (Shrek The Musical), Allison Janney (9 to 5: The Musical), and Josefina Scaglione (West Side Story).

Best Leading Actress in a Play: Hope Davis (God of Carnage), Jane Fonda (33 Variations),  Marcia Gay Harden (God of Carnage), Janet McTeer (Mary Stuart), Harriet Walter (Mary Stuart).

The nominees for best musical and best revival of a musical will perform at the live telecast. According to Playbill.com, “the cast of Next to Normal, led by Tony nominee Alice Ripley, will perform ‘You Don't Know,’ while the Billy Elliot performance will feature all three Tony-nominated Billys: Trent Kowalik, Kiril Kulish and David Alvarez. The Shrek cast will also perform ‘What's Up, Duloc?’”

Some of the presenters include Anne Hathaway, Will Ferrel, Lauren Graham, Oliver Platt, Susan Sarandon, Kevin Spacey, Kristen Chenoweth, Nicole Kidman, and Frank Langella.

The Tony Awards will also air on the Clear Channel Spectacolor Screen in Times Square from 7-11 PM with seating in Duffy Square. The 2009 Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway league and the American Theatre Wing. 

So here's to the all the nominees and I'll see you there!

Slimane's Rock Royalty Prada Ads... Metaphor? Statement? Subtext?

Former Dior Homme designer and photographer Hedi Slimane's new pics for Prada's Spring 2009 Menswear line hit the internet waves and it looks like everyone's talking. The images don't feature models (don't worry they're still stunningly waif-like), they feature the sons Paul and Tricia Simonon in black and white.

The campaign has sparked discussions on WWD and New York Magazine as well as the infinite fashion blogs. Is this campaign more saying more than just "Buy Prada!" or are we simply over analyzing the only enticing and uplifting fashion story in the past weeks?

Miuccia Prada has not issued an official statement but it cannot be denied that these photos are chock full of subtext. It seems to be a message to the whole fashion community to look outside the borders. there's an entire world of "normal people" and the current self-exclusivity may be the reason everything is so damn shitty. Open your eyes people.

Economy: How dare you rain on my Fashion Week

You can fuck with my theater, but when an economy in the crapper starts to meddle with Fashion Week, that's when shit goes down. Vera Wang and Betsey Johnson both officially announced to WWD that they will no longer be showing in the Tents. Instead they will opt for more intimate (and cheap) venues to showcase their latest wears. Wang will show in her new SoHo store on Mercer. Also Bill Blass is finally closing for good. We were all knew this would happen after the year they had. Peter Som came in for one season, and despite critical acclaim, stores refused to buy the collection due to the company's instability. The company couldn't find a backer for a while. All that considered its a shame, such an iconic and definitively American label will close its showroom doors forever. Things are bad, but what can we do?

Spring Vuitton ads... Madonna+those shoes+Paris noir= LOVE

Louis Vuitton's ads for S/S 2009 have been released and I'm already drooling. The photo feature Madonna in the heels that danced in everyone's head in the weeks after Paris fashion week. Of course Madonna isn't wearing pants, but I'm ok with that. Only because that bag is hella gorgeous. The ads expemlify the mood that Jacobs created at his show. French noir meets exotic adevntures to Prague or Morocco circa 1925. Although the collection wasn't incredibly wearable, in my eyes, the ads give a pleasant light into what we can expect from stores come February. All I know is when I see gals wearing those shows, I fully plan on being friends with them.

Rough Times Echo on Broadway

It is incredibly hard for me to write this post tonight, as each show announced it would close I thought "OK its just one show", and writing about the troubled box offices would make it real. But it is real, we're in real trouble. The list of closing shows is as long as those that will remain after the holidays. Its not just the lousy shows like 13 too, the beautifully artistic and critically lauded musical Spring Awakening and the blockbusters Spamalot and Young Frankenstein(though I'm not quite crying about those). Although I truly believe Broadway will never die, I feel like after all this is over we'll have Disney's... and that's about it. Where is the art? Where are people like Stephen Sondheim? The answer is they're either Off-Broadway of out of town. Sonheim's Road Show is currently playing at The Public and more and more writers are performing their work in cities like D.C. and Philly. Its just a shame that high rent and tasteless tourists have finally made the move to ruin our city. And I'll be damned if I spend one cent on that bullshit mega-conglomerates whip up in their L.A. offices. I'll be seeing my annual holiday show at The Public and leaving those theaters in the dust.

Loomstate for Target!!

Amongst throngs of rumors about the upcoming McQueen line for Target, the retailer announced to WWD that they will Rogan Gregory will launch an eco-friendly line for Target. Gregory was a featured designer under the GO guest designer label and now will embark on a new collection. Coinciding with Earth Day, the line will launch on April 19th and will feature clothes for men and women ranging in prices from $14.99 to $44.99. Even Target is getting on the Eco-fashions band wagon!

Sprouse and Vuitton: Together Again... and Naked

Marc Jacobs and Stephen Sprouse are collaborating once again for Vuitton. The collection will feature his famous graffiti print on more than just Speedys and Keepalls. They're doing tights, shoes, and even Neverfulls. 

As for advertising, well Mr. Jacobs decided that he is, in fact, his own best advertising. He's posed nude with a fab Keepall keeping all his Vuittons hidden for an upcoming issue of Harper's Bazaar. Terry Richards took the pictures, which of course are sparse and incredibly sexual. Quite the marketing campaign, but then again this is Marc Jacobs. The man doesn't do discrete very well. Either way I want some Sprouse Vuitton goods!