Tony Awards Film Series Line-Up to Include THE STANDBYS, CAROL CHANNING: LARGER THAN LIFE and OKLAHOMA! on May 12-13

The Tony Awards have announced the line-up for the 2nd Annual Tony Awards Film Series, which will take place on Saturday, May 12th and Sunday, May 13th at The Paley Center for Media. The Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards, which are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from the Beacon Theatre, on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 10, 2012.

The Tony Awards Film Series will screen Broadway inspired films and will feature exclusive interactive opportunities for audiences, including panel discussions with Tony Award winners, a Carol Channing look-a-like contest and sing-a-longs. The Tony Awards Film Series is free to the public, with a suggested donation to The Paley Center for Media. Tickets will be available on a first come, first serve basis, as seating is limited. Please limit two (2) tickets per person. To RSVP, please send your ticket request and film preference to FilmSeries@TonyAwards.com.

The Tony Awards Film Series will open on Saturday, May 12th with the world premiere of Stephanie Riggs' "The Standbys." This dramatic documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of performers rarely glimpsed by audiences. These performers, known as "standbys," remain backstage, prepared to go on at a moment's notice. In this evocative behind-the-scenes documentary, the at times heartbreaking and hilarious lives of Broadway's understudies and standbys are finally brought into the spotlight. "The Standbys" follows three undiscovered performers for several years through their ups and downs, struggles and triumphs, onstage performances and private lives. When these standbys are finally given the chance of a lifetime, anything can - and does - happen.

The film features never-before-heard stories from industry insiders and celebrities who reveal the unimaginable struggles these under-appreciated performers endure as they wait in the wings for their shot at a dream that may never come true.

The "Standbys" screening will be followed by a talk-back panel of Tony Award-winning Broadway stars who got their start as understudies or standbys.

On Sunday, May 13th, the Tony Awards Film Series will feature two films, "Carol Channing: Larger Than Life," and "Oklahoma!"

Guests attending the screening of "Carol Channing: Larger Than Life" are encouraged to come dressed as the Broadway legend for a fun and interactive Carol Channing Look-A-Like Contest!

"Carol Channing: Larger Than Life," is the story of Tony Award-winning and legendary performer Carol Channing, whose life is as colorful as the lipstick on her big, bright smile. Director Dori Berinstein (Show Business, Gotta Dance), with co-writer Adam Zucker, captures the magic and vivacity of the 90-year-old – both onstage and off…past and present. The film is both an intimate love story and a rarefied journey inside Broadway's most glamorous era. It is, above all, a look at an inspiring, incomparable and always entertaining American Legend. The DVD of "Carol Channing: Larger Than Life," featuring exclusive extras, will be available on May 22nd.

What better way to celebrate Mother's Day, then with a sing-a-long with Tony Award-winner Hugh Jackman? "Oklahoma!," the classic Broadway musical seen in an Emmy Award-winning film version features some of Rodgers & Hammerstein's greatest compositions including: Oh What a Beautiful Morning, Surrey With the Fringe on Top and People Will Say We're In Love. The film of the London stage revival stars Hugh Jackman, Maureen Lipman, Shuler Hensley and Josefina Gabrielle. Courtesy of Richard Price, RPTA, Ltd.

More Articles by This Author...