Good news for Michael Douglas???

He likely won't have to take his son's framed mugshot down off of the mantle to clear space for his wife's Tony Award. People in the know all seem to insist that Catherine Zeta-Jones' award season hopes are fading, after the Oscar winning actress missed 5 performances over the last two weeks with a viral infection that has killed her voice. To make matters worse, the missed performances have come at a critical time, when Tony voters are attending shows and deciding on who to vote for.

While I certainly empathize with the frustration of losing your voice at such a critical time, I will also go on record and say that healthy or not, CZJ probably doesn't deserve the award in the first place. I attended a performance of A Little Night Music while visiting the city in April, and while Zeta Jones looked amazing, she didn't SOUND amazing. Her voice was already showing some wear and tear from the eight performances a week, and while she may have won her Academy Award for belting out Velma's songs in Chicago, she did sound different without the added help of some good, old-fashioned, Hollywood post production. "Send In The Clowns" is not the most vocally demanding song in the Sondheim catalog, requiring an actress to hit all of about 7 notes, but even so, I didn't think she pulled it off. Her acting performance was convincing, but this is the Tony's. Your vocals have to count for something s well.

All that being said, her six month run at the Walter Kerr Theater is good for Broadway. I suppose her winning an award on a national telecast to casual theater fans would be even better for Broadway.

It just might not be the right decision artistically.