"I'd see in her eyes how she was trying not to know, and then telling herself even if it was true, he couldn't help it, they tempt him, and he's lonely, he hasn't got me, it's only his body, anyway, he doesn't love them, I'm the only one he loves ... She forgave me even when it had all come out in the open. You know how it is when you keep taking chances. You may be lucky for a long time, but you get nicked in the end."   

- From the last-act speech of hardware salesman Theodore Hickman in "The Iceman Cometh." President Clinton attended a special Broadway benefit performance of the Eugene O'Neill classic, but Hillary and Chelsea were too busy with New York house-hunting.    -The Washington Post

Gridlock at the Crossroads 

Derek Jeter, Spike Lee, a food festival, and oh yes, Bill Clinton, combined to create starlock in Times Square yesterday. Police officers escorted the President to a special performance of  ''The Iceman Cometh." - The New York Times 

A Hungry Young Actor

Kevin Spacey knows the kind of advice struggling young actors can really use. Like how to scam free food. The "Iceman Cometh" star shared some tips from his own days at Juilliard when he spoke to the graduates of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts' ceremony on Monday. "I used to borrow a tuxedo from the costume department at school, telling them I needed it for a Noel Coward scene in class," Spacey recalled. "Then I would go to whatever convention they were having at the Sheraton Hotel —'Dentists of the Midwest,' 'Industrial Lubricants Spring Gala' — because they always had a free buffet. So I would be stuffing my pockets with bread, saying, 'Yeah, that new molar bit is really good!' " 

NICEMAN COMETH TO LUNCH

New York Post, Tuesday, April 20, 1999
PAGE SIX Column

Eager theatergoers are thrilled that the Broadway revival of "The Iceman Cometh" has been extended into July. It's one of the hottest tickets in town, and its star, Kevin Spacey, is playing the role of his life. Despite having just done the Eugene O'Neill classic in London, Spacey keeps working on it. Before he opened here, he asked O'Neill biographers Arthur and Barbara Gelb if he could talk with them about the playwright. He came to lunch and stayed four hours. The Gelbs, who are now updating their massive work, are sure to give a mention to Spacey's star turn in "Iceman." 

~

In Theatre  May 24, 1999 issue has an article about the 1999 Drama Desk Awards ceremony. Kevin was not nominated for this award and the article says this about Kevin appearing to hand out the award for lead actor to Brian Dennehy (Death of a Salesman):

And though he wasn't nominated for his turn in Iceman, Kevin Spacey proved himself a winner, leaping on stage from the audience to present the lead actor award to Dennehy - Spacey's main competitor for the Tony Award. (Inquiring minds want to know: Was it merely a gracious gesture from the Oscar winner, or was it a crafty move designed to woo Tony voters, who received their ballots over the weekend.) 

The Iceman Cometh tied with Death of a Salesman for Revival of a Play.

 

~

Variety ad

The William Morris Agency placed a full page ad in Variety congratulating all of their clients who were 1999 Tony nominees. The name of Kevin's production company was misspelled. Triger Street Productions was congratulated instead of Trigger Street. A smaller version of the same ad appeared in the Tony Awards PLAYBILL.

~

Tuesday June 08 09:04 PM EDT

The Tonys Flop (and Flap)

The Tonys are over, but the melody lingers--like day-old fish. The post-ceremony news is all bad for Broadway's showcase awards, what with dismal TV ratings, angry producers and a scapegoated Kevin Spacey. First disasters first: The backers of the Tony-nominated musical It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues are fuming because producers of the CBS telecast cut their scheduled production number with 30 minutes to go in Sunday's show. The four minutes of air time traditionally allotted each nominated new musical is considered the ultimate promotional tool--a virtual commercial to a nation of potential ticket buyers. But with the already low-profile It Ain't Nothin' getting nothin', the show has been "substantially damaged," producer Eric Krebs said in a statement Monday. "Cutting this because of a disorganized Tony event could actually close us," another producer, Anita Waxman, said in The New York Times.

Producers have hired entertainment-industry lawyer Bert Fields, currently repping movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg in his lawsuit battle with Disney. Krebs said Fields will provide advice on their next move. As for the Tony camp, it argues the ax was regrettable, but necessary--the show was running long and had to end at 11 p.m., sharp. "We share in the disappointment of our community that the fine performance of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues and the other elements of the broadcast fell prey to one of the inherent perils of live television," producers of the Tony Awards said, in a statement. The last time a nominated musical lost air time to an over-long show was 1996. The production was the still-running Smokey Joe's Cafe. But unlike It Ain't Nothin', Smoky Joe's had its number cut after peformers from the show had opened the telecast. 

Ironically, on Sunday's show, actors from the multi-nominated Parade got their prime-time time, even though the show had closed months ago. A Tony spokesman said he didn't know why Parade was scheduled to appear on the telecast before It Ain't Nothin', adding that producers thought they'd have time for everything. According to Daily Variety, some are pointing the finger of blame for the time-challenged broadcast at actor Kevin Spacey. 

A few days before the telecast, Spacey, currently starring on stage in The Iceman Cometh, dreamed up a set piece wherein actors from the nominated plays traded disconnected lines from their respective shows. ("It was a mess," an unnamed producer told the New York Post. "It made absolutely no sense.") Spacey's brainchild ran about three minutes. Originally, Tony producers slotted its play segment for two minutes. As a result, "Broadway insiders" are blaming Spacey for the bloated telecast, Variety said. "That upsets me," Spacey told the trade paper Monday, "because it's absolutely inaccurate. I'm not going to get in the middle of some dispute, but we took exactly the time that they expected." 

All in all, Sunday was a wash-out for both It Ain't Nothin' and Spacey--the show lost out to Fosse for the best musical Tony; the Oscar-winner lost out to Death of Salesman's Brian Dennehy for the best play actor Tony. In the ratings department, the news gets no rosier for the Tonys (or CBS), chiefly because Rosie O'Donnell wasn't around. The Rosie-free show plunged to a 7.9 rating in the overnight markets--a free fall of nearly 25 percent from 1998. In January, O'Donnell declined a chance to emcee her third straight Tonys, citing scheduling conflicts. She also was a last-minute no-show as a presenter Sunday, citing family business. 

~

Kevin made a surprise appearance on the Letterman show to introduce the musical number from It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues after the Tony time problem.

Driving Mr. Spacey!: The positively untrue life and times of Kevin Spacey,
with a few real facts thrown in for fun.

All collages and photo enhancements were done by me using Microsoft® Picture It!® 99