Alice Ripley

In a rehearsal room several floors above 42nd Street, actress Alice Ripley had just finished crying her way through a particularly heartbreaking scene in the musical "Next to Normal. " Still sobbing, she started thinking about what she was doing, and, she says, "I can't believe I said yes, I would do this again. What was I thinking?" Getting ready to portray bipolar suburbanite Diana Goodman on tour as she had on Broadway, Ripley knew what she was in for. "Playing Diana feels like I'm walking out into traffic," she says.

In a rehearsal room several floors above 42nd Street, actress Alice Ripley had just finished crying her way through a particularly heartbreaking scene in the musical "Next to Normal. " Still sobbing, she started thinking about what she was doing, and, she says, "I can't believe I said yes, I would do this again. What was I thinking?" Getting ready to portray bipolar suburbanite Diana Goodman on tour as she had on Broadway, Ripley knew what she was in for. "Playing Diana feels like I'm walking out into traffic," she says.

If there's one thing that Broadway never runs short of, it's transcendent acting. And in a year that was marred by too much commercial dross and partly redeemed by top-drawer revivals, the following Tony nominees make it easy to see the glass as half full. I mean, who could cast aspersions on a season that brought us the following six powerhouse performances?

In a decision that has surely left many in the theater world scratching their heads, the Pulitzer Prize board on Monday bestowed its 2009 drama award to the musical "Next to Normal." The edgy musical, which opened last spring on Broadway at the Booth Theatre, has been a critical and audience hit, but it was not viewed as a favorite to win by industry watchers. At last year's Tony Awards, "Billy Elliot: The Musical" beat out "Next to Normal" for the award for best musical. The Pulitzer board made the rare but not unprecedented decision of ignoring the list of finalists submitted by the nominating jury.

In a decision that has surely left many in the theater world scratching their heads, the Pulitzer Prize board on Monday bestowed its 2009 drama award to the musical "Next to Normal." The edgy musical, which opened last spring on Broadway at the Booth Theatre, has been a critical and audience hit, but it was not viewed as a favorite to win by industry watchers. At last year's Tony Awards, "Billy Elliot: The Musical" beat out "Next to Normal" for the award for best musical. The Pulitzer board made the rare but not unprecedented decision of ignoring the list of finalists submitted by the nominating jury.

Henry Spofford Jr. of the Philadelphia Spoffords will sing sweet nothings into the ear of the brunet Dorothy Shaw on Tuesday, when the curtain goes up on "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. But in real life, the gentleman who plays him, Broadway leading man Hugh Panaro, really does prefer blonds--at least the particular towhead who plays the gold-digging Lorelei Lee. After all, Panaro and Alice Ripley have a love child together. They call him Zippy.

TONY-nominated actress and pop musician Alice Ripley is about to become a mother for the third time. Sort of. When "The Who's Tommy" is unveiled this weekend at Hollywood's Ricardo Montalban Theatre, it will mark Ripley's third appearance as one of the show's principal players: Tommy's reputation-obsessed mom, Mrs. Walker. Also in the cast are Acid Queen Nona Hendryx (a Grammy nominee and former member of Patti LaBelle's R&B group LaBelle); titular deaf, dumb and blind kid Aleks Pevec (from the L.A. cast of "Wicked")

The title may sound antiquated, yet the 1949 musical "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" was never really about what gentlemen want. It's about what the siren Lorelei Lee wants--to bag a wealthy husband. And the practice of screening potential spouses for their moola has not been completely banished from the 21st century--or from certain social strata in L.A. So while the fizzy Reprise!

MUSIC Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Wagner and Hindemith Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall When: Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m. Tickets: $42-$167 OPERA LA Opera performs "Rigoletto" Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion When: Opens Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Through Dec. 18 Tickets: $40-$270 ARCHITECTURE Charles Phoenix's Disneyland Tour of Downtown L.A. Where: Departs from Union Station ...

Bill Condon hit the Hollywood jackpot when he was hired to direct the final two installments of the "Twilight" franchise. Following his sojourn into teen-vampire territory -- the final installment opens in November -- Condon will head for the stage to direct a revival production of "Side Show" debuting at the La Jolla Playhouse next year. "Side Show" -- a musical about the real-life conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton -- is set to open at the La Jolla Playhouse in the fall of 2013 and will then transfer to the Kennedy Center in Washington in June 2014.

If there's one thing that Broadway never runs short of, it's transcendent acting. And in a year that was marred by too much commercial dross and partly redeemed by top-drawer revivals, the following Tony nominees make it easy to see the glass as half full. I mean, who could cast aspersions on a season that brought us the following six powerhouse performances?

TONY-nominated actress and pop musician Alice Ripley is about to become a mother for the third time. Sort of. When "The Who's Tommy" is unveiled this weekend at Hollywood's Ricardo Montalban Theatre, it will mark Ripley's third appearance as one of the show's principal players: Tommy's reputation-obsessed mom, Mrs. Walker. Also in the cast are Acid Queen Nona Hendryx (a Grammy nominee and former member of Patti LaBelle's R&B group LaBelle); titular deaf, dumb and blind kid Aleks Pevec (from the L.A. cast of "Wicked")

The title may sound antiquated, yet the 1949 musical "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" was never really about what gentlemen want. It's about what the siren Lorelei Lee wants--to bag a wealthy husband. And the practice of screening potential spouses for their moola has not been completely banished from the 21st century--or from certain social strata in L.A. So while the fizzy Reprise!

Henry Spofford Jr. of the Philadelphia Spoffords will sing sweet nothings into the ear of the brunet Dorothy Shaw on Tuesday, when the curtain goes up on "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. But in real life, the gentleman who plays him, Broadway leading man Hugh Panaro, really does prefer blonds--at least the particular towhead who plays the gold-digging Lorelei Lee. After all, Panaro and Alice Ripley have a love child together. They call him Zippy.

Here are the recipients of the 2009 Tony Awards: Play "God of Carnage" Musical "Billy Elliot: The Musical" Book of a Musical "Billy Elliot: The Musical," Lee Hall Original score (music and/or lyrics) "Next to Normal," music: Tom Kitt, lyrics: Brian Yorkey Revival of a play "The Norman Conquests" Revival of a musical "Hair" Actor in a musical David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, Kiril Kulish, "Billy Elliot: The Musical" Actress in a musical Alice Ripley, "Next to Normal" Actor in a play Geoffrey Rush, "Exit the King" Actress in a play Marcia Gay Harden, "God of Carnage" Featured actor in a play Roger Robinson, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" Featured actress in a play Angela Lansbury, "Blithe Spirit" Featured actor in a musical Gregory Jbara, "Billy Elliot: The Musical" Featured actress in a musical Karen Olivo, "West Side Story" Director of a play Matthew Warchus, "God of Carnage" Director of a musical Stephen Daldry, "Billy Elliot: The Musical" Special theatrical event "Liza's at The Palace" Choreography Peter Darling, "Billy Elliot: The Musical" Orchestrations Martin Koch, "Billy Elliot: The Musical" (tie)

Two ROCK musicals will amp up the summer, one a classic from an all-time great band, the other a world premiere about the racial politics of the birth of rock 'n' roll. As for substantive new dramas, two emerging playwrights tackle subjects that are sure to spark vigorous discussion, if not heated debate. A new mounting of the "The Who's Tommy" opens at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre on June 20 for a two-week run. The marvelous Alice Ripley, who was in Des McAnuff's original Broadway production, joins a cast that includes Nona Hendryx as the Acid Queen and Aleks Pevec as Tommy.