A.R.T. reaps Tony Awards notice
When Diane Paulus heard that her production “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” garnered 10 Tony Award nominations, she burst into tears. Then she got back to business. The American Repertory Theater’s (A.R.T.) indefatigable artistic director was on the early morning train to Manhattan to attend auditions for the theater’s upcoming production of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” when the text messages started pouring in and the nominations started piling up, including one to Paulus as best director, and one to “Porgy” as best revival of a musical. “I was texting back, ‘Are you sure?,’ ” said the director, who started to cry, but then promptly began trying to sell season tickets to her seatmate, a resident of a Boston suburb who was lamenting his lack of engagement with the theater. “It was a classic moment,” she said. “There I was, selling him a subscription to the A.R.T.” Even before “Porgy” premiered, Paulus had drawn...