"Barfi," for its part, has already been a box-office success in India, and won critical acclaim for its lead actors — so whether it gets any attention from Oscar judges may not even matter.
Certainly, the $82.5 million Meyerson Center -- which, if it had been named for its lead backer, would be known as the Ross Perot Center -- proves that with enough vision and money, you can indeed elevate your status.
"HOPELESS PICTURES," an sanimated comedy about the life of a Hollywood studio executive, is among the screwiest new shows of the summer, but Michael McKean, who provides the voice for its lead character, doesn't think it's that screwy.
The role is notable not just for its leads gender, but the message it sends: the wife of a sex scandal-plagued politician, going back to her job as a lawyer, taking the lead in court and at home.
Doctor Who has previously been named best drama by Bafta, but nearly 50 years after it first appeared on screen it has never before received a nomination for its lead actor.
The production recently concluded a run at the Chichester Festival Theater in Sussex, England, where it garnered high praise from London critics, especially for its lead actors, Michael Ball ("The Woman in White") and Imelda Staunton ("Vera Drake").
Last weak, Basilea, a Swiss biotech developing anti-MRSA medicines, hauled its partner, Johnson & Johnson, into Dutch arbitration proceedings because it says J&J has fouled up the applications for its lead drug, ceftobiprole.
It may yet provide a long-hankered-for Oscar for its lead actor, Leonardo DiCaprio.
As for The Hours, it got a three-way "ensemble" best actress award for its leads.
Though the story of Don Quixote is banal, its comedy coarse, and its dramatic tension nil, it is studded with extravagantly showy dance numbers, both for its lead couple, Kitri and Basilio, and for half a dozen soloists.
