There's a little rumor...

That title has nothing to do with this post--I only wrote it because I had my favorite In My Life song in my head.

For some reason, this was a big few days for my phone. I got all these phone calls from industry folks (and a good amount from friends and family). Most of the industry calls were from people who were asked to help fund Talk Radio, which currently doesn't have enough cash to, um, get on the air. Though none of the people who called me coughed up any dough, I'm fairly sure the producers will get it (if they haven't already) and the show will happen, so there is no point in dwelling on that. Some of the calls were about "star" replacement casting that I won't divulge here because I don't want to cause message board attacks before these people are even signed. I mean, when it was my job to report such news, that was one thing... but, now, it's not. Though I will say that one of the people that will be announced shortly is in one of my favorite campy movies of the last five years. None of you will guess from that, I'm sure, but, if you think you have, email me (carajoy@gmail.com).

Now that I've discussed what I'm not really talking about, I'll tell you what I learned this week that I wanted to share. In preparation for my big Tony coverage, I really needed to answer one of my outstanding Tony questions: What the hell is going on with Coast of Utopia?!? No eligibility stories that I read this time around mentioned the shows and there are a lot of questions related to them. Coast could be one show or three. All the actors are below-the-title and could be featured, but, also, some could be moved up. Without answers to these, we won't be able to accurately assess Best Play (though I think they'll be counted as a singular entity), Best Actor in a Play, Best Actress in a Play, Best Featured Actress in a Play or Best Featured Actor in a Play. It appears, Coast of Utopia eligibility will not be dealt with until the spring. So no questions regarding the show will be answered before then. It's going to be tricky to make picks in those categories before then. Sure, you can assume the play is a single entity, but that doesn't tell you anything about the actors. I would think they'd move people up, but LCT has a history of not petitioning for things. They got burned last year with Frances Sternhagen---maybe they've learned their lesson--but you just can't assume that.

In summary, for all those who thought the sentence "All other decisions were consistent with the opening night credits" applied to The Coast of Utopia: Voyage and/or The Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck, know that it did not. Those decisions are still pending.