‘Angels,’ ‘Spider Woman’ Take Top Billing for Tonys : Theater: Theme of gay life takes center stage with top drama, musical prizes. West Coast productions honored.

Two riveting plays exploring the complex intersection of politics and gay life--”Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman”--won best play and best musical Sunday night in Broadway’s 47th annual Tony Awards.

“Spider Woman,” the musical based on the novel by Manuel Puig about a gay window dresser and a Che Guevara-style Marxist guerrilla imprisoned in a Latin American jail, swept seven categories, the most won by any production. Playwright Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America,” a touching and searing drama about AIDS, Washington politics and relationships, won four of the prestigious awards.

“I want to accept this award in behalf of my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters,” Kushner said in his acceptance speech. “In the ‘90s, I want to see the passage of a gay and lesbian bill of rights and an end to the AIDS crisis.”

“The Who’s Tommy,” the high-decibel MTV-tinged adaptation of the 1969 rock opera by the British group The Who, received five Tonys.

This year’s awards had roots deep in California’s regional theater. Both “Angels” and “Tommy” originated and were developed on the West Coast.

“Angels” originated at the Eureka Theater in San Francisco and was produced last fall at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. “Tommy” premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse.

The producers of “Angels in America” hoped that the Tony victories coupled with the Pulitzer Prize won by the play earlier this spring would bring in mainstream audiences they regard as critical to the play’s success.

“It is imprimatur of highest achievement which will allow this play which has always been a crossover play to reach a wider audience,” said Gordon Davidson, one of “Angel’s” producers and artistic director of the Taper.

Davidson said his fellow producers were “truly apprehensive” that without Tony Award recognition, the play would “have difficulty finding a wider audience.”

“It’s exciting, it’s good, it’s gratifying and personally it’s encouraging,” Davidson said. “We’ve worked out here for so long, and for so long we were thought of as the other end of the world.

“I knew “Angels” would come to New York, but I didn’t know it would be a Broadway show,” Davidson said. “. . . Something profound has happened in regional theater. It has grown as Broadway has shrunk, but Broadway is still a major resource and an important one. That’s the thing that should be celebrated.

”. . . In catering more for the tourist trade, Broadway has lost a couple of generations, and this is a chance to get it back. The healthiest audience is a mixture, left and right, gay and straight. It’s a better reflection of America.”

Ron Leibman won the Tony for best actor in a play for his portrayal of an AIDS-ravaged Roy Cohn, the Red-baiting lawyer in “Angels in America.” He had been hailed by critics for his riveting performance and was a favorite to win the award.

Another favorite, Madeline Kahn, won best actress for her role as Gorgeous, the overachieving oldest sister--housewife, mother and radio personality--in “The Sisters Rosensweig.”

In a sentimental favorite with the audience gathered in Manhattan’s Gershwin Theater, Chita Rivera, 60, and a Broadway presence who came back from a badly broken leg, won the award for best actress in a musical for her role as a B-movie queen in “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

“It’s wonderful to be standing here back on Broadway,” Rivera said.

The Tony for best actor in a musical went to Brent Carver for the role of Molina, the shy, gay window dresser in “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

“I have been kissed by some angels in America,” Carver said, accepting his award. “. . . I can say, ‘Death be not proud.’ ”

“Angels,” which had been nominated for nine awards, won four. The chief suspense at the awards, named after Antoinette Perry, a major force in American theater during World War II, was the battle of the big musicals. Clearly, “Spider Woman” spun a broader Tony web than “Tommy,” the pinball wizard--the story about a boy struck deaf, dumb and blind at the age of 4 after witnessing his father shoot his mother’s lover.

Matthew Broderick presented a special Tony for outstanding regional theater to the La Jolla Playhouse, which playhouse artistic director Des McAnuff accepted. “Ten years ago this month we had the audacity of launching a new theater where leading theater artists can gather,” McAnuff said as he received the prize with Managing Director Terrence Dwyer and Associate Artistic Director Robert Blacker. “. . . I want to thank the national critics for our efforts to put together a serious body of work.”

McAnuff also won for best director of a musical.

He said that “Tommy” carried on the tradition of the American musical theater, “which ‘Oklahoma!’ established 50 years ago using popular music which reached the Hit Parade.” “Oklahoma!” was celebrated with a special award Sunday in recognition of the anniversary.

“Rock ‘n roll has occupied that position for the last 20 years, and ‘Tommy’ fuses those two worlds in the same way that ‘Oklahoma!’ once did,” McAnuff added. “. . . It’s important to send a signal that Broadway’s capable of change at a pace other than glacial.”

Four other shows each received one prize.

In addition to Kahn’s award, Andrea Martin won best featured actress for her role as a quick-talking, wise-cracking comedy writer in “My Favorite Year,” a comedy about the golden age of live television. The featured actress Tony went to Debra Monk for “Redwood Curtain,” which had a short run on Broadway.

The Roundabout Theater Company’s presentation of Eugene O’Neill’s “Anna Christie” was picked as the best revival.

This year the Tony Awards were hosted by Liza Minnelli. A 12-member panel of theater professionals selected the nominees in the 19 categories, and the winners were picked by 668 members of the theatrical community.

One of the evening’s most poignant moments was the appearance in a wheelchair of Agnes de Mille, who choreographed “Oklahoma!”

“Rogers and Hammerstein gave us lyric theater of a light and brilliant caliber that has not been surpassed,” said the dance legend, who is in her late 80s. She explained that “Oklahoma!” was not a hit on opening night but quickly became wildly popular as the opening-night audience of theater professionals was replaced by the general public.