Tony Administration Makes First Decisions of 2010-2011 Season; Time Stands Still's Christina Ricci Eligible

The Tony Awards Administration Committee met on December 9 for the first time this season to decide the eligibility of 12 Broadway productions (Brief Encounter, The Pitmen Painters, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Time Stands Still, A Life in the Theatre, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, La Bete, Lombardi, Driving Miss Daisy, The Scottsboro Boys, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Colin Quinn: Long Story Short). The Tony ceremony will be broadcast live from the Beacon Theatre on June 12, 2011.

Among the decisions, the Administration Committee deemed Christina Ricci eligible in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role category for her work in Time Stands Still. Ricci is the second actress to perform the role in the Broadway production after Alicia Silverstone, who was unable to join the show's commercial run. Time Stands Still received a nomination for Best Play during the 2009-2010 award season for its initial engagement earlier this year at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The play re-opened as a commercial venture at the Cort Theatre under the same director and featuring original stars Laura Linney (who received a 2010 Tony nomination for her performance), Brian d'Arcy James and Eric Bogosian.

The committee also decided that Brief Encounter will be considered eligible in the Best Play category, with its stars Tristan Sturrock and Hannah Yelland eligible in the categories of Best Performance by an Actor/Actress in a Leading Role in a Play, respectively.

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson’s Benjamin Walker and The Scottsboro Boys’ Joshua Henry will both be eligible in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical category

Joanna Lumley will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play category for her performance in La Bete.

Lombardi's Judith Light will also be eligible in the Featured Actress category.

Boyd Gaines will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for Driving Miss Daisy.

Sherie Rene Scott will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical category for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

All other decisions were consistent with the opening night credits. The Tony Awards Administration Committee will meet a total of four times throughout the 2010-2011 season to decide the eligibility for the 2011 Tony Awards.