'REAL THING' AND 'LA CAGE' SWEEP TONY AWARDS; Musical Wins Six: Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons Take Top Acting Honors
by Samuel G. Freedman, The New York Times
June 4, 1984
''LA CAGE AUX FOLLES'' and ''The Real Thing'' - shows about love, both homosexual and heterosexual - dominated the 1984 Tony Awards last night at the Gershwin Theater.
''La Cage,'' the Jerry Herman-Harvey Fierstein musical about two male lovers in a French nightclub, was named best musical and won six Antoinette Perry Awards - the formal name for the Tonys - while ''The Real Thing,'' Tom Stoppard's play about a playwright who learns that love is indeed the real thing, was named best play and won five awards.
The Tony voters, audience and one award-winner made apparent their disagreement with the 12-member Tony nominating committee for not nominating Dustin Hoffman for best actor in a play for his performance as Willy Loman in ''Death of a Salesman.''
When Mr. Hoffman made an unscheduled appearance to give the best play award, he received a standing ovation from the capacity audience attending the 38th annual awards, which were nationally televised. Earlier in the evening, when Jeremy Irons accepted the award as best actor in a play, he pointedly lauded the ''extraordinary performances, both nominated and unnominated'' this year. ''Death of a Salesman'' was named the best revival.
Chita Rivera Wins
In a sentimental - and wildly applauded - choice, Chita Rivera won the Tony as best actress in a musical for her performance as the owner of a skating rink in ''The Rink.'' Miss Rivera had been nominated for the award several times but this was her first win. ''I've been coming for so many years and losing for so many years,'' she said, ''I said, why bother preparing'' a speech.
The two-hour Tony ceremony paid tribute to the careers of four composers and lyricists - Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman and the team of John Kander and Fred Ebb - but the bulk of the musical awards in this season belonged to Mr. Herman and ''La Cage.''
Among plays, ''The Real Thing'' overshadowed its competition. Besides best play, “The Real Thing” carried three of its cast members and its director to triumph. Mike Nichols won for best direction of a play, Jeremy Irons for best actor, Glenn Close for best actress and Christine Baranski for best featured actress. Their acceptance speeches all radiated harmony and good will. Close described the work, in which she plays the philandering wife of a successful playwright, as “the greatest experience in my career so far.” Irons said it was “the happiest eight months of my life professionally,” while Baranski called it “the most elegant, exhilarating collaboration.”
Miss Close, appearing shocked at her award, managed to joke that she had lost a $50 bet - evidently that another nominee would win. Miss Baranski, who is several months pregnant, said that ''The Real Thing'' was part of ''a fertile period of my life.''
''In the tradition of Tony acceptance speeches,'' Mr. Nichols said in a deadpan delivery worthy of his days as a comedian, ''I would like to thank the Lord and Sam Cohn.'' He amended that to thank only Mr. Cohn, his agent.
The Tony process began in May when the nominating committee - made up of academics and former theater critics - voted for four candidates in each of the 19 categories. The winners were decided by a vote of 670 journalists, producers and theater professionals. The Tony awards are operated by the New York League of Theaters and Producers under a licensing agreement with the American Theater Wing, which founded the awards.