2014 Tony Round Table with Kelli O'Hara

NEW YORK – A week ago, The Hollywood Reporter was on Broadway — or at least, at a studio nearby — for a momentous occasion: the taping of our first Tonys Roundtable videos, which represent an expansion of our award-winning Roundtable franchise that was previously limited to the Oscar and Emmy seasons.

With the 68th Tony Awards rapidly approaching — voting closes on June 6 and the ceremony itself will take place on June 8 at Radio City Music Hall — we decided to gather six of this year's most impressive Tony-nominated actresses for a photo shoot and a videotaped conversation about their lives, their careers and the roles for which they are nominated.

The six were: best actress in a musical nominees Sutton Foster (Violet in Violet), Idina Menzel (Elizabeth in If/Then), Jessie Mueller (Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Story) and Kelli O'Hara (Francesca in The Bridges of Madison County) and best actress in a play nominees Tyne Daly (Katharine in Mothers and Sons) and LaTanya Richardson Jackson (Lena "Mama" Younger in A Raisin in the Sun).

As you can see by checking out the video of our conversation at the top of this page, we touched upon a wide variety of topics. Among them: the actresses' earliest memories of performing; their thoughts on other mediums versus the theater; their feelings about the increasing presence of film and TV stars on Broadway; how they first heard about the roles for which they are nominated, and what drew them to those roles; their pre-show routines and superstitions; the person whose attendance at their shows has meant the most to them; the behavior of audience members that they find most annoying; how they feel about entrance applause; the most unexpected items in their dressing rooms; what they do on their days off; the number of shows they wish they could do each week; and how they hope their shows will impact those who see them.

Which of these ladies came to New York to see a few shows and ended up in one herself? Which one had a camera flash in her face while singing on the edge of a stage? Which one says she does not see herself as a "theater actress"? Which one admits to liking entrance applause? When during their shows — one of which doesn't even have an intermission — do they fit in "pee breaks" and "pump breaks"? And whose show did President Barack Obama recently attend? For answers to these and all sorts of other fun questions, check out the video!

Feinberg, S. (2014, May 30). Tonys Actress Roundtable: 6 of Broadway's Leading Ladies on Their Noms, Pet Peeves and Pee Breaks (Video). Retrieved from The Hollywood Reporter: http://bit.ly/1mEuIrU

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