TORONTO – Tuesday was a bittersweet day for Montreal-raised theatre producer Adam Blanshay.
He got to celebrate 14 Tony Award nominations for two of his Broadway plays, but also had to announce the early closure of another.
Wolf Hall, Parts One & Two got eight Tony nominations while The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time got six. Both are co-produced by Just For Laughs Theatricals, where Blanshay is CEO.
Meanwhile, Living on Love — starring Anna Chlumsky, Jerry O’Connell and Renee Fleming, among others — will now close this Sunday instead of its scheduled run until the end of July.
The Joe DiPietro comedy, directed by Kathleen Marshall, began previews at the Longacre Theatre on April 1. It marked the Broadway debut of Fleming, an opera star.
“We got tepid reviews and we didn’t really have any traction on sales,” Blanshay said in a telephone interview.
“But at the same time, what’s wonderful is clearly Wolf Hall and Curious will see jumps in sales, and I think people who perhaps were daunted by the subject matter and the length of ‘Wolf Hall’ will be further encouraged to buy tickets based on these accolades.”
Wolf Hall, Parts One & Two, based on Hilary Mantel novels, are set in Tudor England at the court of King Henry VIII. The story runs six hours, with a dinner break in between each part.
The show’s Tony nominations include best play, best direction for Jeremy Herrin, and acting nods for Ben Miles, Nathaniel Parker and Lydia Leonard.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, based on the Mark Haddon novel, follows an exceptionally intelligent teenage boy as he investigates the killing of his neighbour’s pooch. It’s up for Tonys including best play, best actor for Alex Sharp, and best direction for Marianne Elliott.
“What is exciting about Curious and Wolf Hall is that it’s a very heavy season for new plays, and for them to stand out and get recognized against the competition is great, especially because the competition is so phenomenal,” said Blanshay.
The other best play nominees are Disgraced and Hand to God.
Despite the early demise of Living on Love, Just For Laughs Theatricals has clearly made a splash in the theatre world recently.
The company co-produced Sunny Afternoon, a musical about The Kinks, which won four Olivier Awards.
Its other successful productions include Kinky Boots, which heads to Toronto this summer and to London in September. Then there’s Twelfth Night, Richard III, Rocky the Musical and Bullets Over Broadway.
The company also co-produced The River starring Hugh Jackman, which failed to snag a Tony nomination Tuesday but recouped its money and made a profit, said Blanshay.
Blanshay said The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has also recouped its money, as has Kinky Boots.
“I think it’s very important to stay focused and to stay grounded,” he added.
“It’s wonderful when these accolades come but you really have to not be overconfident by any means and continue to strive to produce great artistic and commercially sound work.”
Blanshay said he’s proud to wave the Canadian theatre flag south of the border and show the international community what Just for Laughs can do.
And he’s developing more shows, which he said he’ll announce in the coming months.
As for what works on Broadway, he said while he does his research, “it’s sort of the luck of the draw.”
“Some shows explode and some shows don’t catch on, catch the zeitgeist, and that’s just sort of the nature of the industry.”
The Tony Awards take place June 7.
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