New York theater swings these summery days between two musicals, both revivals. This has created the usual chaos for the coming Tony Awards, happening on Sunday, June 15th.

I adored and worshiped “South Pacific” at Lincoln Center. I said it was like a spiritual experience. This revival is a great work of art, sure to stir and inspire your soul. But for musical theater, you can’t beat its rival at the St. James, the celebrated “Gypsy” starring Patti LuPone. Arthur Laurents had a real, a desperate, divinely deep story to tell and his musical wins hands down. So I am also crossing my fingers that my wow star, Patti, will win the Antoinette Perry Award.

And now I want to add something about the single most hilarious performance seen all season. That is Marilyn Caskey as the stripper Electra, seen only in the final moments of the show. She is there every performance, stealing the entire scene. (And this moment in “Gypsys” past usually belonged to the various actors who played Mazeppa.) But Marilyn moves about the stage gingerly, as if she has already received too many accidental jolts of electricity in her time. She is so obviously stoned out of her mind that when I saw the actual actress offstage after the opening night, I was shocked to realize that she was perfectly sober. It’s a sheer performance. Ms. Caskey’s name came up in many awards groups but she did not snag a nomination. The role is just not big enough, not long enough.

As she tries to “electrify” herself, stumbling around, Ms. Caskey gives the neat and succinct performance of a lifetime. I guess there are no small actors, only small parts as they say.

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