Viewing page 26 of 35

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

A THEATREGOER'S NOTEBOOk

[[image - black and white photograph of Walter C. Miller]]
[[caption]] Walter C. Miller, who directs the Tony show, thrives on the unpredictability of live TV [[/caption]]

When theatre lovers tune in the 46th annual Tony Awards telecast on May 31, they'll see two hours of musical performances and emotional thank-yous packaged to capture the special glamour of Broadway. But just outside the theatre in a truck crammed with broadcasting equipment, the scene promises to be more hectic than glamourous. Surrounded by television monitors, producer/director Walter C. Miller will juggle ten cameras and four tape machines while keeping an eye on the teleprompter and praying that the winners don't eat up too many precious minutes acknowledging their mothers, spouses and agents.

"You never know what's going to happen on a live show, and that's what makes it fun," says Miller, who has made a specialty of directing variety and awards programs, including "The 1989 Presidential Inaugural Gala," "Comic Relief," "Irving Berlin's 100th Birthday Celebration"; Streisand, Sinatra and Billy Crystal specials; and the Grammy, Emmy and Country Music Awards. This is his sixth consecutive year as director of the Tony Awards.

"I try not to lose the feeling that this is a live theatre presentation," Miller says of the Tonys. "I don't let the electronic world intrude--I'm not putting up flashy special effects, graphics or a lot of smoke. My feeling is that if you take the energy of the performers and convey it form the stage, it works. The problem is that nobody gets enough time to display everything they can do."

Given the telecast's strict time constraints, Miller and executive producer Joseph Cates look for ways to get across the spirit of each Best Musical nominee in about four minutes. Some numbers, such as "Favorite Son" from The Will Rogers Follies (a clever chorus line of synchronized handclapping), are naturals for television, but other shows are best served by patching together portions of several songs into a mini-musical, an approach used with The Secret Garden and City of Angels, among others.

"Not everything works on TV," Miller notes. "It's hard to do a love duet, for example, so we'll truncate and figure out what will come across." Producers realize that a strong performance on the Tonys can translate into a boost at the box office. Grand Hotel, for example, played well on television, as did last year's small-scale hit Once on This Island. Staging excerpts from nominated plays is more difficult to do out of context, and time pressures have pushed them off the show.

With Broadway enjoying a spring boom of star performers and a rush of new musicals and revivals, Miller concedes he could easily fill a marathon show. "Wouldn't it be nice," he asks, "to show the young people of America scenes from Guys and Dolls, Man of La Manch and The Most Happy Fella? I'm not sure how much we'll be able to do and still cover the nominated musicals and 19 awards."

Acceptance speeches, of course, are the wild card in any awards show, as winners take advatnage of a rare moment of glory on national TV. "The most controlled performer, the person you think would get up and out in 30 seconds, falls apart and becomes emotionally overwrough,"

by Kathy Henerson

[[end page]]
[[start page]]

Miller says. "But that's what it's all about."

In the pantheon of awards shows Miller says the Grammys, which include 23 live performances this year, are the hardest to mount; the Tonys, amound the most pleasant. "Theatre people take pride in their work and don't mind coming in for an extra rehearsal," he notes.

Miller seems to thrive on the pressure and unpredictablility of live TV. "When you work on a sitcom, you get nothing but advice and interference form the network," he says. "Once I'm on the air live, the ship is sailing, and everybody else is on the pier. I enjoy that feeling of not knowing what's coming at me."

Raised in Merrick, Long Island, Miller studied engineering in college but rejected his parents' push for medical school to take a job as an NBC cameraman during the golden age of live television.
"When I got off work, I'd walk over to Times Square and buy a theatre ticket for whatever show was available that night" he remembers. His special rapport with musicians comes from childhood training as a classical violinist. "I can call Itzhak Perlman and threaten that if he doesn't do the Grammys, I'll play," he jokes. Miller's joy in direction apparently rubbed off: His son has directed episodes of "In Living Color," "Saturday Night Live" and the most recent "Carol Burnett Show"; his daughter directs the syndicated dating show "Love Connection."

Miller speaks with fondness of what he sees as the mission of the TOny Awards telecast. "It's important to send this out to the ocuntry to help cultivate an audience for theatre. Maybe the viewers will get smitten by it and decide to see a show when they come to New York. If I can get even ten people in a city to say, 'That looks like fun--I'd like to see that show,' I think it's important." □

[[box]]
MASTER THEATRE QUIZ--#9 What Tony Award-winning star is associated with the HB Studio in New York (a) Robert Lindsay (b) Arthur HIll (c) Uta Hagen
[[/box]]

[[advertisment]]
Diamoniair®

[[image A -color photograph of a ring with a pearl surrounded by diamonds]]

[[image B -color photograph of a ring with a pink diamond surrounded by white diamonds]]

[[image C -color photograph of a ring with diamonds inlaid the ring]]

Taken from our many collections of cubic zirconia jewelry.

A. is from our Pearlair® COllection,
B. is from our Color Fantasy® Collection,
C. is from our Diamonair® Collection

Featured at Saks and other select stores.
[[/advertisement]]