As we predicted here, the David Mamet play November will close next month when Nathan Lane departs the starring role. I wonder if the delay in announcing this was because they were trying to find someone spectacular to replace him and couldn't. I don't mean Nathan wasn't spectacular, and I doubt anyone could do the part better…but there might have been someone whose appearance on Broadway would have been such news — say, if Dustin Hoffman or Peter Falk was willing to do it for a few months — that audiences would have flocked.
The Tony Awards are this Sunday…and this year, the thing might even get semi-decent ratings. True, there isn't a lot of buzz out there about any of the nominees and the host, Whoopi Goldberg, doesn't seem like the kind of selection who'd draw an audience. But for the first time in recent memory, the telecast doesn't seem to be on opposite anything too formidable…so maybe the numbers won't be awful. They've been trending upwards the last few years, perhaps because the total number of awards shows on TV has diminished. They're starting to feel like events again.