Terrence McNally has a history of getting cut off by the Tonys telecast.
The first time was in 1995, when his drama “Love! Valour! Compassion!” won the Tony Award for Best Play. CBS pulled the plug on the telecast before he was able to thank the Manhattan Theatre Club “for giving me what every playwright needs but so few have: a home where the doors are always open.”
Sunday night, McNally, a four-time Tony winner, again got the boot from the Tiffany network, his acceptance of a Lifetime Achievement award being relegated to a commercial break. So unless you were in the audience Sunday night at Radio City Music Hall, you missed the evening’s most poignant speech.
Appearing more frail than anyone might have expected, the 80-year-old playwright began by reflecting on his “lifetime achievement” in the theater coming “not a moment too soon.”
