Thursday, June 11, 2026

Tony Awards Downside: Many Winners Are Leaving Or Have Left Their Shows

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The Tony Awards were great, and all the people who won are no doubt grateful. But many of them are leaving before the audience can see them. “Death of A Salesman” has already closed, so that wipes out the Best Revival of a Play and Best Director. “Other Desert Cities” is closing, along with it winner Judith Light. “Venus in Fur” is closing in one week, so goodbye to Nina Arianda. Christian Borle is about three weeks away from exiting “Peter and the Starcatcher.”

Over at “The Book of Mormon,” both Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad are gone. Nikki James is off for the month of July. They all won Tonys last year. On last night’s show, Rannells and Gad lookalikes appeared in the opening number. Luckily, the folks from “Once” are all locked in for the rest of the year. And James Corden is sticking around with “One Man Two Guvnors.”

For the time being, “Porgy and Bess” and all its players remain intact. However, for some reason, “Leap of Faith” was featured last night. That show is long, long gone. It closed about a week after it opened.

Meantime, “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” is getting ready to wrap things up.  And some shows, like “Godspell” and “End of the Rainbow” will have to decide if they can make it through the summer.

“Book of Mormon,” by the way, is finally starting its national tour. Matt Stone and Trey Parker told me last night they’re very psyched. Wait til America gets to see this show. If they can get tickets. It’s still the hottest show on Broadway or anywhere.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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