Stage Shows and Stars Get Emmy Noms

Theater fans will be delighted to hear that the 2002 Emmy nominations, announced this morning, include more than just a little bit of Broadway. Recognizing the achievements of people in television both in front of and behind the camera, this year’s Emmy nods have gone to several shows–and even more stars–that have made their way from the stage to the small screen.

HBO’s film adaptation of Donald Margulies’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play Dinner With Friends was nominated for Outstanding Made For Television Movie, and composer Dave Grusin received a nod for the Dinner score. HBO’s version of The Laramie Project was placed in competition in the Outstanding Made For Television Movie category, receiving further noms for Ann Goulder’s Outstanding Casting for a Mini-Series, Moises Kaufman’s Direction for a Mini-Series, and Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project’s Outstanding Writing for a Mini-Series.

Sweeney Todd in Concert, which aired on PBS last Halloween, fills out the Outstanding Classical Music-Dance Program category, and Matthew Diamond was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program for his work on PBS’s From Broadway: Fosse.

Of the Emmy-hopeful actors and actresses on this year’s list, many are familiar faces on and/or off Broadway: Michael Gambon, Blythe Danner, Laura Linney, Victor Garber, Don Cheadle, Tyne Daly, Mary-Louise Parker, Stockard Channing, Brian Cox, Glenn Close, Frances Sternhagen, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Illeana Douglas were all nominated for their performances in mini-series and made-for-TV movies, or for guest shots on prime-time sitcoms and dramas.

In a final coup, theater makes an appearance in the Outstanding Commercial category: Visa’s “Broadway Tribute” ad earned a much-deserved nomination.