KLMNO

Arts&Style

SUNDAY,JUNE 12 , 2022. SECTIONE EZ EE

INSIDE

Ballethonoring

Blackness E8

BOOKS: Interiordesignand

pets?Yes, they can coexist. E5

BYPETERMARKS

newyork—Thetheme is the

stuffoftheatricallore:the one-

timestar desperatefor acome-

back.On thisoccasion,though,

it’s an entireindustrythat’sach-

ing for the comeback—inastory

thatreachesits climaxon Sunday

night.

I’mtalkingaboutBroadway

andthe Tony Awards,the cele-

bratoryvehiclebywhichAmeri-

cantheater sellsitselfto ana-

tionaltelevision audience. Oh,

yeah: It alsohandsout abunchof

statuettes to talentedshowpeo-

ple.Butmakenomistake. Mar-

ketingthe GreatWhite Way’s

latestoutputisthe Tonys’ most

sacred mission. Whatproducers

really want to hear,eachtimethe

bandstrikes up on thisexuber-

ant evening in Radio CityMusic

Hall, is thesweetsoundof ka-ch-

ing.

Thestakes surroundingthe

event —the Tonys’ 75th anniver-

saryceremony, hosted thisyear

by “WestSideStory” Oscar win-

ner Ariana DeBose—could not

be higher: Awin in amajor

category can addweeks, months

or moreto ashow’slife. Andthis

year, Broadwayisstillinwhat

youmight callaviralconvales-

cence,recuperating fromthe de-

bilitatingeffects of apandemic

shutdown thatbegan in March

2020.It didn’tbegintoeaseuntil

late June 2021, when Bruce

Springsteenled the waywiththe

returnof his hit soloshow.Then

came the firstpost-pandemic

playinAugust, AntoinetteChi-

nonye Nwandu’s “Pass Over,” and

the returnin Septemberofthe

tentpolewarhorses—“TheLion

King,”“Wicked,” “Hamilton”and

“Chicago.”

Dozensof otherreturning or

newshows followedin the 2021-

2022 season,which endedApril

30 —the firstfull seasonon

Broadwaysince 2018-2019. (Last

fall’s oddly conceived,catch-up

Tonysgaveout awardsfor the

abbreviated2019-2020 season.)

This season has provedto be an

artistically robust re-engage-

ment, even surprisingly so, as

evidenced by an unusuallyover-

stuffed slateofnominees:six

shows vyingfor bestnew musi-

cal; sevencontenders for best

actorinaplay. (The norm is four

or five at most.)Worksupfor

consideration,including themu-

sicals “A StrangeLoop,”“Six”and

“GirlFrom the NorthCountry,”

andsuchplays as “The Minutes,”

“The Lehman Trilogy” and

“Clyde’s,”speak to those vital

renewableresourcesof the arts,

freshnessand inventiveenergy.

But if Broadway andthe thea-

ter beyondare stagingacome-

back, well,not everythinghas

donesosuccessfully. Just this

week, threemusicals thatsaw

triumphs on pre-pandemicTony

nights—“Dear Evan Hansen,”

“Tina:TheTina TurnerMusical”

and“ComeFromAway”—an-

nouncedend dates for their

Broadwayruns. Broadway’s

healthhasindeed beenspotty,

withsomeproductions,includ-

ing the Tony-winning “Hade-

SEE TONYAWARDS ON E10

CRITIC’SNOTEBOOK

The stakes

could not

be higher at

the Tonys

BYROBINGIVHAN

IN PLEASANTVILLE,N.Y.

T

he meditative and af-

fecting artinstallation

in the modestgalleryin

the unremarkablebuild-

ing includesportraitsof

acommunity in crisis butone

that’salso definedby determina-

tionandcare.It’s aphotographic

storyaboutlead-lacedwater in

Flint,Mich.—acatastropheun-

leashed in 2014 by officialswho

stubbornlyand cavalierlyignored

the will andthe well-being of the

peopletheywere swornto serve.

Theexhibition unfolds mostly

from thepointof viewofBlack

women,and one of the mostmov-

ing portraitsisofthree genera-

tionsof them.SheaCobb,ina

cheerful pinkT-shirt,standsbe-

tween her daughter Zionandher

mother,Renée. Cobb’sleftarm is

wrappedaroundher mother in a

protective gesture underscoring

how,overtime,rolesreverse;now

she’sinchargeofkeepingher elder

safe.Cobb’s otherhandrests on

Zion’s back as if she’s silently reas-

suring her daughter thatshe’s

thereto catch her if she should

stumblewhilealsoencouraging

her to stand on her own.

Thewomeninthe picture

aren’t smiling,but theydon’t look

angryorsad, either.Theirexpres-

sionsare morecomplicated than

that, even youngZion’s.The wom-

en lookinquisitive,as if they’re

asking theviewer: What more

couldanyonewantfromus? Zion,

whomartistLaToya Ruby Frazier

capturedfromage8to13, appears

abit suspiciousor,atleast, doubt-

ful. Perhapsshe alreadyhas wit-

nessedthe foolishnessof adults

toomanytimesto count.The

threesomestandin frontof an

atmosphericwater generator,a

truck-sizeexampleof industrial

sorcerythatextractspotablewa-

ter fromthe air.

Theportrait tellsthe storyof

Flintwithunderstanding and

dignity, withouttransformingthe

city’sresidents into pathology,

statistics,victimsor martyrs. It

speaksof acommunitythathas

grabbedholdof its destiny, even if

itsgrip is tenuous.This picture,in

all its simple complexity, was

made by Frazierandis fromher

multimediaproject“Flintis Fam-

ily in Three Acts.”

“Therehas to be adeep empa-

thy. There’saneed to be compas-

sionate and[to] wantto really,

truly see someone’s humanity

when they’re at their lowest,”

Frazier says of herworkwith

Flint residents.“Toexaltthem

and lift themup andhonorthem.

...And Blackwomen’s lives, our

perspectives,our voices andour

stories are notvaluedorhonored

to thegreatnessthattheyde-

serve.”

Frazier’s projectisonviewun-

til June 24 in agalleryattachedto

the Gordon Parks Foundation,

and the photographsare, in many

ways, partofits namesake’slega-

SEE GORDONPARKS ON E12

CRITIC’SNOTEBOOK

Social

agitators,

joyfully

Black

Alook atthe artistic

heirsof GordonParks

LATOYARUBYFRAZIER/COURTESYOF THE ARTISTAND GLADSTONEGALLERY

DAWOUDBEY/SEANKELLYGALLERY,NEWYORK

JAMELSHABAZZ

FROM TOP:“SheaCobb

StandingBetween HerDaughter

and HerMother,Zion and Rene,

at the AtmosphericWater

Generator on NorthSaginaw

StreetBetweenEastMarengo

Avenue and EastPulaski

Avenue,”Flint,Mich., 2019;

“Irrigation Ditch,”2019, by

DawoudBey; and “Signof the

Time,”1981, by Jamel Shabazz.