Broadway hopes Rosie will boost Tonys ratings

May 31, 1997
Web posted at: 8:18 p.m. EDT (2018 GMT)

From Correspondent Cynthia Tornquist

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Rosie O'Donnell has been plugging away all this week, promoting Broadway's audience-starved TV show, the 51st Annual Tony Awards, on her daytime talk show. The awards will be given out Sunday night, and O'Donnell is going to be the master of ceremonies.

"This was always an exciting thing for me, since I was a kid it was a way for me and my family to see what was going on Broadway," she said.

And it was her idea to move the show off Broadway for the first time in its 51-year history. The talk show host insisted that if she were to emcee the awards show that Radio City Music Hall must be the venue.

Broadway stars rehearsing for the telecast say the music hall stage is larger than any on Broadway. "I'm thrilled to be here; I've never played this before," said Bebe Neuwirth, one of the stars of the revival musical "Chicago."

And co-star Ann Reinking, getting caught up in the pageantry, exuded, "I want a big costume, lots of eyelashes. I guess I'd better wear those diamonds after all."

The extra-spacious venue means not only that viewers will get to see "Titanic"-sized musicals, but for the first time the public was able to buy tickets to the Tonys.

"New York is so on fire, booming with tourists, so they won't have any problems filling 6,000 seats for the Tony Awards," said actor Alec Baldwin. "I think it's a great idea."

Actress Raquel Welch agreed. "I think Tony Awards are legendary awards, and should be treated like the Academy Awards, which really are bigger than life," she said.

This year's awards are getting more spacious digs in another way, too. In past Tony telecasts, the challenge has been squeezing more than 20 awards into a two-hour show. This year, CBS will limit its broadcast to 12 top awards. The remaining 10 awards will be presented during a one-hour show broadcast nationally on PBS.

The partnership is intended to boost sagging ratings, which the show needs if it hopes to remain on TV in coming years. CBS is expected to negotiate with the American Theater Wing and the League of American Theaters and Producers in a few months over whether it will continue to run the awards ceremony in the future.

"Nowadays on TV, the name of the game is ratings," said the Tony Awards' executive producer, Gary Smith.

The Tonys could use some help. Last year's telecast generated the lowest ratings ever for a prime time Tony telecast. This year, Broadway is hoping that the millions of fans who tune into Rosie O'Donnell's talk show will also tune in to see her emcee the Tonys ceremony.

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