Focus : All About Antoinette

Curtain up. Light the lights. CBS airs the American Theatre Wing’s 1994 Antoinette Perry Awards Sunday evening from the Gershwin Theatre in the heart of New York’s Broadway theater district.

Anthony Hopkins and Amy Irving are the hosts for the Tony proceedings, named after the late actress Antoinette Perry, who was chairman of the board and secretary of the American Theatre Wing through World War II.

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical “Passion” leads the pack this year with 10 nominations, followed by the musicals “Beauty and the Beast” and “She Loves Me” with nine each. “Angels in America: Perestroika,” the second part of last year’s Tony Award-winning best play, “Angels in America: Millenium Approaches,” has six nominations.

A special Tony recognizing regional theater will be given to the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J. And Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn will be the first recipients of a special Tony for lifetime achievement in the theater.

Tony Awards over the years have produced their own share of drama. Among those moments:

* The first Tony Awards were presented in 1947. Jose Ferrer (“Cyrano de Bergerac”) and Fredric March (“Years Ago”) both won best dramatic actor. Ingrid Bergman (“Joan of Lorraine”) and Helen Hayes (“Happy Birthday”) won best dramatic actress.

* Renowned American playwright Arthur Miller, whose new Broadway play “Broken Glass” is nominated this year for best drama, has had major contacts with Tony: In 1949, his legendary “Death of a Salesman” won prizes for best play, best featured (a.k.a. supporting) actor (Arthur Kennedy), producer (Kermit Bloomgarden and Walter Fried) and director (Elia Kazan). Star Lee J. Cobb lost the best actor Tony to Rex Harrison for “Anne of the Thousand Days.”

* Both Angela Lansbury and Tyne Daly received best actress (musical) Tonys for their performances as Mama Rose in revivals of the musical “Gypsy.” Ironically, Ethel Merman, who originated the role in the initial production, didn’t win the 1960 best actress Tony. She lost to Mary Martin in “The Sound of Music.”

* In 1952, Peter Feller won the best “stage technician” award for his work as master carpenter on the Irving Berlin musical “Call Me Madam.”

* Rosalind Russell received a 1942 best actress nomination for her performance in the hit film “My Sister Eileen.” In 1953, she won the best actress (musical) award for the musical version, “Wonderful Town.”

* Ray Walston, currently appearing on CBS’ “Picket Fences,” won the best actor (musical) award for playing the Devil in the 1955 musical “Damn Yankees.” Victor Garber plays Walston’s role in the Broadway revival and is nominated for a Tony.

In 1958, Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man” and Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s “West Side Story” were both nominated for best musical. “The Music Man” beat “West Side Story” for the honors and also captured best actor (Robert Preston), featured actor (David Burns), featured actress (Barbara Cook), author (Willson, Franklin Lacey), producer (Kermit Bloomgarden, Herbert Greene, Frank Productions), composer and lyricist (Willson) and conductor and musical director (Herbert Greene). “West Side Story” only managed to win for choreography (Jerome Robbins) and scenic design (Oliver Smith).

* Warren Beatty received a nomination as best featured actor (dramatic) for his performance in William Inge’s 1960 drama “A Loss of Roses.”

* The classic Lerner-Loewe musical “Camelot” wasn’t even nominated for best musical of 1960. “Bye Bye Birdie” ended up taking the honors. The two other nominees were “Do Re Mi” and “Irma La Douce.”

* Davy Jones of The Monkees fame received a best featured actor (musical) nomination in 1963 for his performance as the Artful Dodger in “Oliver!”

* Barbra Streisand (“Funny Girl”) lost the 1964 best actress (musical) Tony to Carol Channing for “Hello, Dolly!” Streisand played Channing’s role in the 1969 film version of “Hello, Dolly!”

* Vivien Leigh, who won best actress Oscars for 1939’s “Gone with the Wind” and 1951’s “A Streetcar Named Desire,” won the best actress (musical) for 1963’s “Tovarich.”

* Robert Shaw, who starred in such films as “Jaws” and “The Sting,” wrote the 1969 Tony-nominated best play “The Man in the Glass Booth.”

* Charles Kimbrough, who plays Jim Dial on “Murphy Brown,” was nominated for best featured actor (musical) for 1970’s “Company.”

* Yul Brynner starred in both the Broadway and film versions of the musical “The King and I.” Though he won the best actor Oscar for the 1956 film, he received the best featured actor (musical) Tony for the 1952 musical.

* Although Angela Lansbury has never received an Emmy for her work as Jessica Fletcher on “Murder, She Wrote,” she has won four Tony Awards for best actress (musical): 1966’s “Mame”; 1969’s “Dear World”; 1975’s “Gypsy” and 1979’s “Sweeney Todd.”

* “Cheers” star Bebe Neuwirth, currently on Broadway in the revival of “Damn Yankees,” won a best featured actress (musical) Tony for the 1986 revival of “Sweet Charity.”

* Alan Alda, a musical comedy star? Well, he was nominated for best actor (musical) for the 1967 musical “The Apple Tree.” He lost the award to Robert Preston for “I Do! I Do!”

* Tom Bosley, currently appearing on Broadway as Belle’s befuddled father in “Beauty and the Beast,” won the 1960 best featured actor (musical) Tony for his performance as New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia in “Fiorello!”

“The 48th Annual Tony Awards” airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on CBS.