Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘The First Wives Club’ flourishes
It should be a big week for the stars of “The First Wives Club.”
Bette Midler is the heavy favorite to win a Tony tonight for the revival of “Hello, Dolly!” Diane Keaton received the Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in a TNT broadcast Thursday. (Goldie Hawn, the third star of the hit 1996 comedy, was showered with career retrospectives when “Snatched” opened last month.)
Midler’s victory at the Tonys, which start at 8 p.m. on CBS, is likely to be the evening’s high point. She has helped keep Broadway booming in the season after “Hamilton” conquered the Tonys.
The actress, who is 71, has said “Dolly” is the biggest challenge of her career. Fans hope for her peerless sass in the acceptance speech.
She won’t be the only familiar face triumphing at the theater awards. Laurie Metcalf of “Roseanne” is expected to win for actress in a play for “A Doll’s House, Part 2.” Her fellow Tony nominees are Sally Field, Cate Blanchett, Laura Linney and Jennifer Ehle, who won a TV following for the 1995 miniseries of “Pride and Prejudice” with Colin Firth.
In the summer of “Wonder Woman,” there’s a lot of female talent to celebrate. The AFI honor for Keaton, 71, is a reminder of the wide range of opportunities that used to be available to female actors.
Keaton can do drama, as she demonstrated in the “Godfather” trilogy, “Reds,” “Shoot the Moon,” “Mrs. Soffel” and “Marvin’s Room.”
But the self-deprecating star is best remembered for her comedies. She won the Oscar for “Annie Hall,” and her other collaborations with Woody Allen include “Sleeper,” “Love and Death,” “Manhattan” and “Manhattan Murder Mystery.” On her own, she flourished in “Baby Boom,” “Something’s Gotta Give” and “The Family Stone.”
And she keeps working. She acted in HBO’s “The Young Pope” opposite Jude Law. Her “Hampstead” with Brendan Gleeson will be released this month. She has been announced for the films “Book Club” with Jane Fonda and Candice Bergen and “Poms.”
The characters in “The First Wives Club” showed women could do just fine for themselves. The dynamic stars keep embodying the principle with zest.