AS plays go, “Journey’s End” seems to have it all – some of the best reviews of the year, six Tony nominations and hunky Hugh Dancy.

Everything, that is, except an audience.

So barren has the Belasco Theatre been for this British band-of-brothers drama that the cast jokes about it. In a skit they did for a recent fund-raiser, they called their show “intimate,” as in “Every night, it’s 11 of us and 11 of them.”

They’re not exaggerating – much. This prize-winning WWI story about men behind the front lines often plays to about 20 percent capacity.

So saying, the end of “Journey” is set for June 10, the night the Tonys are announced.

Meanwhile, its all-male cast soldiers on, with the gallows humor typical of the play itself.

“When the lights came up the other night, there were, like, 10 seats in the middle that were empty,” says Stark Sands, who’s up for a Tony as the boyish Lt. Raleigh.

“I said, ‘Wow, it looked like some of those mortars landed in the orchestra!’ ”

Sands says the producers warned them from the start that the play – with, as their skit put it, “no gimmicks, no TV stars, no fancy-pants dance numbers” and no women – was a tough sell.

“The country’s in the mood for pink cotton candy, and we served them rare porterhouse,” says producer Bill Haber, in a jab at “Legally Blonde.”

“Every morning you wake up and read in the paper about 10 dead American kids,” adds Haber, whose previous productions include the hits “History Boys” and “Spamalot.”

(more…)

I saw this Boyd Gaines excerpt on Broadway.com and thought others would appreciate reading it. He strikes me as a great, humble, and completely generous guy. Congratulations again, Mr. Gaines!

It’s a great honor. I think when I was young, I may have had a distorted view of what the Tonys meant—good, bad and indifferent. I think when I won the first one [1989 Featured Actor for Heidi Chronicles], not that I had illusions of grandeur, but I thought I would somehow be transformed. But then you wake up the next day and you put your pants on and go to work. When the second one came around [1994 Best Actor for She Loves Me], I was just so much more able to enjoy it, as it stood as a really relished symbol of a time. And now I’ve really come to see a Tony nomination for what it is: that a group of people are making this really lovely statement about you. Because as you get older, you become more and more aware of the limits of your talents. And two things can happen. You can start to think of yourself in a very limited way, which is something you fight—you’re always fighting the perception that you’re limited—and then, the reality is, that when you get older you have fewer and fewer opportunities to do things. The vast source of the material is just for younger people. That’s just where the business lies. But like this one, where I get to do something that is perceived as something different than I normally do, that has been incredibly sweet. It’s a fantastic part. And that’s also where the Tonys have been so wonderful for me, because they’ve helped people see that I can do a show on Broadway. And with this production, what can I say…I look around me, and it’s just such an ensemble piece lead by Hugh Dancy, who just rips his guts out every night, it’s hard not to go, “Well, he should be recognized.” Not that I’m trying to bite the hand that feeds me, because it’s always incredibly gratifying to be recognized by your peers, but I just feel so fortunate to be part of this exceptional group of people of Journey’s End.

Morning, you guys! First of all, let me get to the news. According to Broadway World and a Times ad, Journey’s End is set to close in “31 performances,” or June 10th, the day of the Tony’s (I assume they’ll finish up their matinee and rush to the theatre). This is a little disconcerting but at the same, not surprising. It’s an honor that it lasted as long as it did, almost to its entire limited engagement (if not two weeks short). They were truly waiting for Tony nods and they got them. If you have the opportunity to see this amazing show once or again, go see it!

In addition to that, I also added a bunch of stuff to the gallery.

• 01 x Savage Grace: Promotional Stills
• 01 x Evening: Promotional Stills
• 01 x Life & Style, May 14th, 2007
• 04 x May 14th: 2007 New York Drama Critics Circle Awards
• 09 x May 7th: “Poiret: King Of Fashion” Costume Institute Gala

Well, the Tony nods are in, and unfortunately Hugh didn’t receive one, but JOURNEY’S END received SIX NOMINATIONS total!

- Revival of a Play
- Performance by a Lead Actor in a Play (Boyd Gaines)
- Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play (Stark Sands)
- Scene Design of a Play
- Lighting Design of a Play
- Direction of a Play (David Grindley)

The awards will air on CBS on June 10th.