‘Death of a Salesman’ Takes Four Tony Awards

NEW YORK —  “Death of a Salesman” won four Tonys, including the hotly contested prize for best revival, while “Side Man” was named best play and “Fosse” best musical during an evening that saw no one production dominate the awards.

Fifty years after it was named best play, “Salesman” also picked up acting nods for Brian Dennehy and Elizabeth Franz, its true-believing Willy and loyal Linda Loman, and the direction prize for Robert Falls.

“I feel like Cathy Rigby,” said Dennehy, referring to the high-flying actress who plays Peter Pan in the current Broadway revival.

Miller Honored for Lifetime Achievement

He also paid tribute to “Salesman” playwright Arthur Miller, who received a lifetime achievement award during the ceremony.

The audience stood to cheer the 83-year-old Miller when he came onstage. “Just being around to receive it is a pleasure,” the playwright joked.

In his acceptance speech, Miller expressed the hope that Broadway would provide the changes “so that a new generation of fiercely ambitious playwrights will . . . once again find welcome for their big world-challenging plays, somewhere west of London, somewhere east of the Hudson River.”

Shut out of any prizes was the revival of “The Iceman Cometh,” which, along with its star Kevin Spacey, was expected to provide “Salesman” with its stiffest competition.

Warren Leight’s “Side Man”--the story of a dysfunctional family set against a backdrop of jazz musicians--was the only new American drama nominated for best play. Tennessee Williams’ 1938 play “Not About Nightingales” also was up for the award.

Judi Dench picked up a Tony for her role as an elegant, besieged actress in David Hare’s drama “Amy’s View.”

“The winning bit is not the best, the nominating bit is the best . . . there is no such thing as doing a performance on your own, unless you are doing a one-woman show,” said Dench, who adds this award to the Oscar she received for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in “Shakespeare in Love.”

“Annie Get Your Gun” captured the best-musical revival prize, and its star, Bernadette Peters, won her second Tony for best actress in a musical.

Both “Fosse,” a revue saluting the work of choreographer Bob Fosse, and “Swan Lake” won three Tonys.

Matthew Bourne took two Tonys, for best direction and best choreography of a musical for his work on “Swan Lake,” a modern-dress retelling of the famous ballet with an all-male corps of swans.

“I’m absolutely astonished . . . best director of a musical that’s not even a musical,” Bourne said.

Lez Brotherston’s costume design for “Swan Lake,” featuring feathered capri pants, also won a Tony. The other design awards were split between two shows--Richard Hoover and “Not About Nightingales” for sets and Andrew Bridge and “Fosse” for lighting.

“Parade,” a short-lived musical love story set against the backdrop of a murder and lynching in pre-World War I Georgia, picked up awards for best score (music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown) and book.

“‘Parade’ isn’t over yet,” said its book writer Alfred Uhry, best known as the author of “Driving Miss Daisy.”

Uhry said it will open next June in Atlanta and then tour, adding: “Who knows, look for us to come back to New York.”

“Please be seated,” wisecracked Martin Short, who won the top musical-actor prize for playing seven roles in the revival of “Little Me.” “There are so many, many people that I really must thank and should but the reality is I did it all myself--that’s not true.”

As expected, Kristin Chenoweth, a sassy, unrepentant Sally Brown in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” was chosen best featured actress in a musical.

“I’ve never changed my clothes so fast in my life,” said Chenoweth, accepting the prize right after doing a production from the show.

Roger Bart, who plays Snoopy, won the featured actor-musical prize.

Box office and attendance figures rose during the 1998-99 Broadway season, although not as much as in previous years. Total grosses topped $588.1 million, while more than 11.6 million people saw a Broadway show.

Production climbed, too, with 39 new shows, compared to 33 the previous year.

The 53rd annual Tony Awards returned to a Broadway theater, the Gershwin, this year, because Radio City Music Hall, its home for the last two years, is being renovated.

The ceremony also featured many presenters instead of one host. Rosie O’Donnell, who has participated for two years, declined this year because of her busy schedule.

The Tony winners in 21 categories were chosen by more than 800 voters, including members of the theater community and theater journalists. The Tonys are named after Antoinette Perry, founder of the American Theater Wing, a theater service organization.