Tommy Tune
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| Tommy Tune | |||||||||||
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| Born | Thomas James Tune February 28, 1939 Wichita Falls, Texas, USA |
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| Spouse(s) | David Wolfe (10 yrs.) Michael Stuart (7 yrs.) |
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Thomas James “Tommy” Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American award-winning actor, dancer, singer, director, producer, and choreographer. Over course of his career, he has thus far garnered nine Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, Tune attended Lamar High School in Houston and the Methodist-affiliated Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas.
[edit] Career
[edit] Stage
In 1965, Tune made his Broadway debut as a performer in the musical Baker Street. His first Broadway directing and choreography credits were for the original production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1978. He has gone on to direct or choreograph, or both, some eight Broadway musicals.
Off-Broadway, Tune has directed The Club and Cloud Nine. Tune toured the United States in the Sherman Brothers musical Busker Alley in 1994-1995 and in the stage adaptation of the film Dr. Doolittle in 2006.[1][2]
Tune is the only person to win Tony Awards in the same categories (Best Choreography and Best Direction of a Musical) in consecutive years (1990 and 1991), and the first to win in four different categories. He has won nine Tony Awards.
[edit] Film and television
Tune appeared in a 1975 TV special along with Lucie Arnaz and Lyle Waggoner to promote the Walt Disney World Theme Park.
Tune's film credits include Hello, Dolly! (1969) and The Boy Friend with Twiggy (1971).[3]
[edit] Memoirs
In 1997, Tune wrote Footnotes, a memoir. Despite the disjointed nature of the autobiography, Tune offers an insightful look into his then thirty-year career. He writes intimately about what drives him as a performer, choreographer and director. His obsession and desire to find everlasting love is prominent in the memoir, offering many personal stories about being openly gay and being hurt by lovers. Ultimately though, it is his passion for theatre, dance, and people that carry him through a fruitful career full of many successful projects. Winning numerous Tony Awards and Drama Desk Awards, Tune writes mostly about his days with Twiggy in My One and Only, in which he played the part of Billy Buck Chandler for more than 1,000 performances, the struggles in directing Grand Hotel and Cloud Nine, as well as meeting and working with his many idols.[4]
[edit] Other work and honors
Tune released his first record album, Slow Dancing, in 1997 on the RCA label, featuring a collection of his favorite romantic ballads.[5]
In 1999, he made his Las Vegas debut as the star of EFX at the MGM Grand Hotel. [6]
Tune staged an elaborate musical entitled Paparazzi for the Holland America Line cruise ship the Oosterdam in 2003. [7] He works often with the Manhattan Rhythm Kings, for example touring in a Big Band revue entitled Song and Dance Man and White Tie and Tails (2002). He performed in Boston in April 2008 in the new review, Steps in Time.[8][9]
He was parodied in Martin Short's Broadway show Fame Becomes Me by an actor wearing stilts.
- Legacy
In 2003, Tune was presented with the nation's highest honor for artistic achievement, the National Medal of Arts.[10]
The Tommy Tune Awards, presented annually by Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) honor excellence in high school musical theatre in Houston; the current home of the Tommy Tune Awards is the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston, Texas.[11]
He will receive the 2008 Fred & Adele Astaire Lifetime Achievement Award on June 2, 2008 in New York City.[12] He will receive the Julie Harris Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Tony Awards Party in Los Angeles on June 15, 2008. [13]
[edit] Personal
At 6'6½" (1.99 m), Tune is unusually tall for a dancer. When not performing, he runs an art gallery in Tribeca that features his own work.[14][15]
[edit] Stage productions
- A Joyful Noise (1966) (performer)
- How Now, Dow Jones (1967) (performer)
- Seesaw (1973) (performer, associate choreographer)
- A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine (1980) (director, choreographer)
- Nine (1982) (director)
- My One and Only (1983) (performer, choreographer)
- Stepping Out (1987) (director)
- Grand Hotel (1989) (director, choreographer)
- The Will Rogers Follies (1991) (director, choreographer)
- Tommy Tune Tonite! (1992) (performer)
- The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public (1994) (director, choreographer)
- Grease (1994 revival) (production Supervisor)
[edit] Awards and nominations
- Awards
- 1974 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical - Seesaw
- 1978 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical - The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
- 1980 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography - A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
- 1980 Tony Award for Best Choreography - A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
- 1982 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical - Nine
- 1982 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - Cloud Nine
- 1982 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - Nine
- 1983 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography - My One And Only
- 1983 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical - My One And Only
- 1983 Tony Award for Best Choreography - My One And Only
- 1990 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography - Grand Hotel
- 1990 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical - Grand Hotel
- 1990 Tony Award for Best Choreography - Grand Hotel
- 1990 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - Grand Hotel
- 1991 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography - The Will Rogers Follies
- 1991 Tony Award for Best Choreography - The Will Rogers Follies
- 1991 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - The Will Rogers Follies
- Nominations
- 1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical - The Club
- 1978 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography - The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
- 1979 Tony Award for Best Choreography - The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
- 1979 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
- 1980 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
- 1983 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - My One And Only
- 2003 Drama Desk Award for Oustanding Choreography - Tommy Tune: White Tie and Tails
[edit] References
- ^ Curtain Up article, "Busker Alley", ca. 2007
- ^ playbill article, Aug. 3, 2006 "Dr. Dolittle Closes His Practice on the Road"
- ^ Internet Movie Database listing
- ^ Amazon.com listing with brief reviews
- ^ amazon.com listing, "Slow Dancing", Retrieved 4-28-2008
- ^ talkinbroadway review, undated ca. 1999
- ^ listing for Holland America
- ^ Elyse Sommer (19 December 2002). A CurtainUp Review Tommy Tune: White Tie and Tails. curtainup. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
- ^ Jan Nargi (14 April 2008). Tommy Tune: Steps in Time. BroadwayWorld. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
- ^ National Endowment for the Art listing
- ^ TUTS information on Tommy Tune Awards
- ^ Adam Hetrick; Ernio Hernandez. "Tune Will Be Honored With 2008 Astaire Lifetime Achievement Award", Playbill, 15 February 2008. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
- ^ Andrew Gans. "Annual Tony Party to Honor Tommy Tune; Henderson Hosts", Playbill, 14 March 2008. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
- ^ Andrew Gans. "Tommy Tune Launches On-Line Art Gallery", Playbill, 18 December 2007. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
- ^ Owen Keehnen. A Broadway Tune: A Halloween Visit with Tommy Tune. glbtq Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
[edit] External links
- Tommy Tune official website
- Tommy Tune at the Internet Broadway Database
- Tommy Tune at the Internet Movie Database
- playbill article, Jan. 15, 1999 "Tommy Tune To Use Tap Skills As Special EFX in Las Vegas; Begins Jan. 15"
- playbill article, Simonson, Robert, April 29, 2008, "PLAYBILL.COM'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER With Tommy Tune", Retrieved 4-30-2008
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by George S. Irving for Irene |
Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical 1974 for Seesaw |
Succeeded by Ted Ross for The Wiz |
| Preceded by Martin Charnin for Annie |
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical 1977-1978 for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas |
Succeeded by Harold Prince for Sweeney Todd |
| Preceded by Michael Bennett and Bob Avian for Ballroom |
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography 1979-1980 for A Day in Hollywood |
Succeeded by Gower Champion for 42nd Street |
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