There were kids at every turn "Motown: The Musical," ''Kinky Boots," ''Annie," ''Matilda the Musical," ''A Christmas Story, the Musical" and "Pippin." And animals? Dogs in "Annie," ''Pippin" and "A Christmas Story, the Musical," a cat in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," a dead crow in "Macbeth" and even a live vulture in "The Testament of Mary."

But now that it's Tony Awards time, it's the moment for the adults to shine. No kids or pets made it through the nomination process, so only grown-ups will emerge victorious Sunday night.

BEST MUSICAL

Will win: "Kinky Boots." Should win: "Matilda the Musical."

Though it's been a horse race between "Kinky Boots" and the import "Matilda the Musical" both coincidentally having actors adopting British accents and both featuring men in dresses the consistently high marks for all aspects of "Matilda" should sweep it to victory, but won't. "Kinky" is unabashedly sentimental with a classic message of acceptance, while "Matilda" is rebellious and edgy, a place Tony voters don't naturally feel comfortable.

BEST PLAY

Will win: "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike." Should win: "The Assembled Parties."

Christopher Durang's comical "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," which takes characters and themes from Anton Chekhov and sets them in present-day Pennsylvania, is sly and funny and lovely. But Richard Greenberg's "The Assembled Parties," a meditation on time and family, leaves a lasting impression.

REVIVAL-PLAY

Will win: "The Trip to Bountiful." Should win: "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."

The Cicely Tyson-led revival of Horton Foote's play is lovely and well done. You walk out hopeful and sunny the opposite of what the revival of Edward Albee's play felt like. Superbly acted and directed, it was a cage-match with intellectuals. But Tony voters like sunny and inspirational.

REVIVAL-MUSICAL

Will win: "Pippin." Should win: "Pippin."

"Annie" is pretty good, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" was rollicking, "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella" is sweet and smart, but "Pippin" is thoroughly thrilling, rebuilt with a circus inside. Diane Paulus rides the Big Top theme fire jugglers, teeterboards, knife throwing and contortionists but she also teases out the wandering nature of the mysterious players and zooms up the physicality of the story. Magic.

ACTOR-PLAY

Will win: Tom Hanks. Should win: Tracy Letts.

Everybody loves Tom Hanks. He is just so darn lovable. In "Lucky Guy," he gets to be funny and poignant and noble while dying. What kind of monster are you if you don't like Tom Hanks?

But, speaking of monsters, Tracy Letts showed a hint of one in the seemingly weak-willed history professor George in Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" ''He was savage and sad, allowing years of pain and frustration to seep out of a semi-broken man." Hanks, David Hyde Pierce and Nathan Lane turned in fine performances, but nothing touched Letts, an actor at the top of his game.

ACTRESS-PLAY

Will win: Cicely Tyson. Should win: Laurie Metcalf.

Cicely Tyson's return to Broadway for the first time in 30 years to be in Horton Foote's "The Trip to Bountiful" has been met by deserved high praise. But Laurie Metcalf was simply astonishing as she went from a snippy, bossy scientist to a broken, confused intruder wolfing down Chinese food on the floor in "The Other Place." The other three women in this category Amy Morton, Kristine Nielsen and Holland Taylor also are admirable, but Metcalf was soul-stirring.

ACTOR-MUSICAL

Will win: Bertie Carvel. Should win: Billy Porter.

Both men are deserving of the honor and, believe us, both actors look sensational in skirts, but Billy Porter in "Kinky Boots" bares his heart a little more and pushes his poor body a little more than his rival in "Matilda the Musical." Bertie Carvel won the Oliver Award Britain's equivalent of the Tony in the role of Miss Trunchbull and brought his terrifying skill to Broadway without being cartoonish, but Porter can make tears fall down your cheeks.

ACTRESS-MUSICAL

Will win: Patina Miller. Should win: Patina Miller.

While Laura Osnes from "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella" is perfectly cast as a princess-to-be and sings beautifully, Patina Miller is a muscular creature with a hat and cane, a grimace plastered to her face, who dances tough Bob Fosse steps and does tricks on a trapeze while singing in Diane Paulus' retelling of "Pippin." Miller is fierce and that always beats cute.

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Mark Kennedy can be reached at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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MIAMI (Reuters) - A more confident LeBron James heads into his fourth NBA Finals on Thursday against a familiar San Antonio Spurs team that eased by his former Cleveland squad in his first title series in 2007.

The core of the San Antonio team that swept that best-of-seven championship, and celebrated on James's former home court, remains intact but it will be a much-improved James who is now a much more complete player with the Miami Heat.

"LeBron is a different player than he was in '07. That is like ancient history," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said on Wednesday.

"He was basically a neophyte at the time, wondering how all this stuff worked and how it's put together. We were very fortunate at that time to get him so early ... he'll be a lot more of a problem than he was in '07, that's for sure."

James, the reigning league most valuable player (MVP), has arguably improved in every area of his game over the past six years and his assessment is that the main upgrade has been in terms of his basketball intelligence.

"A lot smarter and more experienced, older and more mature on and off the floor. And I think that's the most important thing," said James.

"I've matured as a basketball player. I've matured as a man. And it has allowed my game to sprout."

James and the Cavaliers were simply outclassed by the Spurs in 2007 and James concedes that San Antonio worked him out pretty well.

The four-time MVP is also confident that he has a more diverse range of skills this time around and, crucially, he has an increased belief in his shooting ability.

"They funneled me to the sideline and dared me to shoot it, and didn't allow me to get to the paint where I did most of my damage back then," said James.

"If you go into my pickandroll now, I'm going to shoot and I'm confident I'm going to make every last one of them. I'm just more confident in my ability to shoot the ball.

"At the same time, I also have a lot more weapons this time around going against this team, where in '07 they loaded three guys to me a lot on the strong side of the floor.

The Spurs certainly don't expect to be able to deal with James, who won his first NBA title in 2012, with the same ease they showed six years ago.

"It was a young LeBron. He was still unbelievable, because he was just coming off an unbelievable series against Detroit, playing great basketball. I think in that particular series we played great defense on him," said Spurs point guard Tony Parker.

"It was just the beginning for him. Right now he's a fourtime MVP, so it's going to be a different story. He's playing unbelievable basketball and he's a little bit older.

"We'll try to do the best we can to try to slow him down. You can't stop him. That's for sure."

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

Both men won in straight sets Wednesday, hardly challenged. Both earned 12 break points, Nadal converting seven, Djokovic five. Nadal's serve was broken only once, Djokovic's twice.

In what amounted to heavy-duty practice sessions for the real test that lies ahead, Nadal needed 1 hour, 56 minutes to beat No. 9-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 in Court Philippe Chatrier, while a short walk away, Djokovic's 6-3, 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory over No. 12 Tommy Haas in Court Suzanne Lenglen lasted just 17 minutes longer.

Now comes the showdown everyone's been anticipating since the field was set nearly two weeks ago: A Djokovic vs. Nadal semifinal Friday that will have the feel of a final, and not only because they met for the championship at Roland Garros a year ago.

"A lot of people in the tennis world are looking to the matchup coming up with Rafa and Novak," said Haas, who at 35 was the oldest French Open quarterfinalist since 1971. "I'll definitely be watching."

Who wouldn't?

Djokovic, ranked and seeded No. 1, against Nadal, owner of a record seven French Open titles, including three in a row.

Djokovic, trying to become the eighth man to complete a career Grand Slam, against Nadal, trying to become the only man to win eight trophies at one major tournament.

Djokovic owns six major titles, Nadal 11.

"I would prefer an easier opponent," Nadal said.

Djokovic is 33-4 this season and reached his 12th consecutive major semifinal, the second-longest streak in history.

Nadal is 41-2 since returning in February after missing seven months because of a left knee injury he declined to discuss Wednesday.

That absence is why Nadal's ranking slid and he was seeded No. 3, so was drawn to play Djokovic in the semifinals; their previous 11 matchups came in tournament finals.

"He never gives up. I mean, that's an impressive virtue that he has. Over the years, he's been so consistent and so dominant, on this surface especially," Djokovic said. "He's struggled with injuries, came back, and lost only a few matches since he came back. You've got to respect that."

It's all enough to render Friday's other semifinal something of an afterthought, even if local fans have a rooting interest when No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France faces No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain. Tsonga, who beat Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, wants to give France its first male champion at Roland Garros since Yannick Noah 30 years ago.

The women's semifinals Thursday are No. 1 Serena Williams against No. 5 Sara Errani, and No. 2 Maria Sharapova against No. 4 Victoria Azarenka. Sharapova, the defending champion, and Azarenka advanced Wednesday; Williams and Errani won their quarterfinals Tuesday.

While Ferrer and Tsonga have only met three times, Djokovic and Nadal will be playing each other for the 35th time the 10th at a Grand Slam tournament, the fifth at Roland Garros.

"We know each other's game really well," Djokovic said.

Nadal holds the edge in every category: 19-15 overall, 6-3 at majors, 4-0 in Paris, part of his 57-1 mark at the clay-court tournament.

But Djokovic did win their most recent encounter, in the final at Monte Carlo on clay in April.

"That is something that can maybe give me that mental edge when I step onto the court knowing I already won against him on clay this season. Knowing I can do it, even though not many players in last 10 years have won against him on this surface and he's been the most dominant player in the history of this sport on this surface," Djokovic said. "It's incredible what he does on this surface."

Just ask Wawrinka.

With the sun out, for a change, and the temperature up to 75 degrees (24 C), Nadal turned in his finest performance of these two weeks, displaying his particular brand of relentless ball-chasing on on-target shotmaking, with only 17 unforced errors less than one per game.

"Today, I think, his level was really high," said Toni Nadal, Rafael's uncle and coach.

Wawrinka's coach, Magnus Norman, was working with Robin Soderling back in 2009, when Soderling stunned Nadal in the French Open's fourth round. That remains Nadal's only loss in nine appearances in the tournament.

Norman couldn't help Wawrinka pull off the same sort of surprise against Nadal.

"He was too strong," Norman said.

After dropping the first set in each of the first two rounds, Nadal has won 12 sets in a row, looking better each time out.

"Obviously I really am playing better here. I'm happy the way that I played today, especially. Was my best match of the tournament, without any doubt," Nadal said. "I was not happy five days ago."

For the first time since 1948, all four men's quarterfinals at the French Open were decided in straight sets, and that sort of result isn't very surprising when Nadal faces Wawrinka. Nadal has won all 10 matches, and all 22 sets, they've played.

Coming off a five-set victory in the fourth round, Wawrinka insisted fatigue was hardly the real issue Wednesday.

"I was not exhausted," Wawrinka explained, "but I was fighting against Nadal."

Djokovic's turn next.

Against Haas, Djokovic won 40 of the first 43 points he served, and the only moment of real tension came at 5-all in the second-set tiebreaker.

But Djokovic hit a backhand winner to close a 24-stroke exchange, the longest of the match, then won that set when Haas sent a backhand wide.

"When you don't win the big points against these type of guys," Haas said, "it gets very, very tough."

Djokovic has said repeatedly that his top priority this year is adding a French Open championship to his four from the Australian Open and one each from Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

He's also determined to lift the trophy Sunday in honor of his childhood coach, who passed away last weekend.

"He is playing terrific tennis," Haas said. "He's got a quest, obviously, to win this title."

To do that, Djokovic must first get past Nadal.

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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

Over the past three days, protesters around the country have unleashed pent-up resentment against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who after 10 years in office many Turks see as an uncompromising figure with undue influence in every part of life.

A huge, exuberant protest in Taksim Square subsided overnight, but an estimated 10,000 people again streamed into the area on Sunday, many waving flags, chanting "victory, victory, victory" and calling on Erdogan's government to resign.

About 7,000 people took part in protests in Ankara, the capital, that turned violent on Sunday, with demonstrators throwing fire bombs and police firing tear gas. Scores of protesters were detained.

Some protesters have compared Erdogan to a sultan and denounced him as a dictator. Scrambling to show he was unbowed and appealing to a large base of conservative Turks who support him, Erdogan delivered two speeches on Sunday and appeared in a television interview.

With Turkish media otherwise giving scant reports about the protests, many turned to social media outlets for information on the unrest.

"There is now a menace which is called Twitter," Erdogan said. "The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society."

Under Erdogan's leadership, Turkey has boosted economic growth and raised its international profile. But he has been a divisive figure at home, with his government recently passing legislation curbing the sale of alcohol and taking a strong stand against the Syrian regime that some believe has put security at risk.

The White House on Sunday night called for all parties in Turkey to "calm the situation." In a statement, spokeswoman Laura Lucas said the U.S. believes peaceful public demonstrations "are a part of democratic expression." And she said Turkey's long-term stability is best guaranteed by upholding "the fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association."

The White House statement in particular called on security forces in Turkey to "exercise restraint."

The demonstrations were ignited on Friday by a violent police crackdown on a peaceful sit-in to prevent the uprooting of trees at Taksim Square in Istanbul and have since spread around the country. The Turkish Doctors Association said the three days of demonstrations have left 1,000 people injured in Istanbul and 700 in Ankara.

Sunday's violence occurred in Ankara when the protesters tried to march toward Erdogan's office from the city's main square. A group of youths formed a barricade and hurled fire bombs or threw back gas canisters at police.

An Associated Press reporter saw at least eight injured people being carried away, and police appeared to directly target journalists with tear gas. The state-run Anadolu Agency said 200 demonstrators were detained.

In Istanbul's Taksim Square on Sunday, dozens of people climbed on the roof of a cultural center that Erdogan says will be demolished and turned into an opera hall. A banner reading "Don't yield" was hung from the building.

"If they call someone who has served the people a 'dictator,' I have nothing to say," Erdogan said in an address to a group representing migrants from the Balkans. "My only concern has been to serve my country."

In another speech delivered an hour later, Erdogan said: "I am not the master of the people. Dictatorship does not run in my blood or in my character. I am the servant of the people."

Police and protesters also clashed violently on Friday and Saturday. Clouds of tear gas overwhelmed Istanbul's normally touristy city center.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said some 1,750 people had been detained since Tuesday, but most had since been released.

Erdogan called the protests "ideological" and manipulated by an opposition "unable to beat (the government) at the ballot box." He said 89 police vehicles, 42 private cars, four buses and 94 businesses were destroyed by the "vandalism" of the past two days.

Alluding to his party's strong base, Erdogan said he had the power to summon much larger numbers of his supporters at rallies. "Our supporters are calling and saying 'are we going to stay silent?' but I am urging calm," he said in an interview with Haberturk television.

Erdogan reiterated that his government would not back away from plans to uproot trees at Taksim as part of his urban renovation plans for the area. In a statement that could cause more controversy, he also declared that a mosque would be built at Taksim.

The mosque plans have long been contentious because it would further shrink the green spaces in Istanbul's city center. Some argue that there are already plenty of mosques around Taksim.

"I am not going to seek the permission of the (the opposition) or a handful of looters," Erdogan said.

He also defended his government's environmental record, saying it had planted two billion trees and built 160 parks since coming to office in 2002.

In Berlin, meanwhile, about 500 people staged a peaceful solidarity protest outside the Turkish Embassy.

"The people are finally standing up, speaking up and fighting for their rights," said Hakan Tas, a deputy for the Left Party in Berlin's local assembly, who took part in the protest.

In Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki, 1,000 people, many of them Turkish students, marched peacefully to the Turkish consulate, shouting slogans against Erdogan. Police blocked them from reaching the building.

_____

Fraser, Burhan Ozbilici and Ezgi Akin reported from Ankara. Frank Jordans in Berlin, and Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki, Greece, contributed.

When thelaunched on Nov. 26, 2011, it began a 350-million-mile (560 million kilometers) trip to the surface of the Red Planet. During its voyage, a group of researchers, including Southwest Research Institute scientist Cary Zeitlin, monitored exactly how much radiation a piece of science hardware on the was exposed to over the 253-day journey from Earth to Mars.

"In space, it's between a 100 and 1,000 times higher dose rate [of radiation] than on Earth," Zeitlin told SPACE.com. "It's highly uncertain what the health risk is from these exposures." []

Zeitlin, whose study is detailed in the journal Science this week, collected the data with his team by turning on the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument while Curiosity was in flight. The instrument was active from 10 days after launch until about three weeks before landing.

Shielding from cosmic rays

By monitoring the variety and strength of each of the energetic particles entering the Mars Science Laboratory's hull, Zeitlin and his team were able to accurately track which particles of radiation got through and which were blocked by the ship's shielding.

If they were to travel to Mars, astronauts would be exposed to two forms of that don't pose a serious risk on Earth. One of those sources of radiation galactic cosmic rays are difficult to shield against and regularly fly through space-faring vessels. On the other hand, the second source of radiation solar energetic particles can be at least partially blocked by robust shielding used to protect spaceflyers.

Zoo officials say the Mangarahara cichlid is thought to be extinct in the wild and that two of the last known individuals both male are in the zoo's aquarium. A third is in the Berlin zoo.

Officials say the species' habitat in Madagascar has dried up due to dam construction.

The zoo on Friday asked aquarium owners and fish collectors to come forward it they know of any living females "so that a vital conservation breeding program can be started."

Officials say a worldwide search of zoo and aquarium organizations has so far proved fruitless.

World-Changer: Just because youre wasting time doesnt mean you cant be productive. Create your own planet at , an interactive site with tools for fiddling with the surface texture, atmospheric density and cloud cover, on the world of your choice. While adding rings to Mars, you can also pretend that you are learning something. Via .

Add It Up: Turns out dog years are more complicated than the old multiply by seven rule, so the BBC has offered up a . (Not enough choices on the breed menu, though.)

Best of the Worst: In other calculation news, consider : The Calculator that For more bad products, keep an eye on , which catalogs the Internets most horrible items. Via .

Art or Lulz? The Tumblrexamines the mysterious and liminal space that exists between how people present themselves and how the law presents them. More specifically, it juxtaposes mug shots and Facebook profile pictures. I know that sounds more like a Web stunt than an art project, but it does say liminal, so. . . . More at .

Being Watched: Many people are paranoid about a world in which drones follow us around. But this Popular Science video introduces us to a company that hopes to serve .

The former "Family Ties" star, 47, became a freshman at UCLA last fall and has created a blog chronicling her collegiate experience.

On a Tumblr page titled "," the actress (and sister of "Arrested Development" star Jason Bateman) details her journey as a computer-programming student.

Highlights from her blog include tidbits such as, "Had another choice of seating today between sitting next to someone with a cold or someone with smelly food. (WTF with eating in the library, BTW?)," as well as stories of how her class experience has changed now that she's an adult and hungry for knowledge.

After weeks of struggling to hear a professor over the casual conversations of her classmates, Justine blogged about her decision to take matters into her own hands.

"I interrupted the professor with a raised hand and when he called on me I turned to the class and said, 'I don't mean to be an a**hole, but the talking is out of hand. It's disrespectful to the teacher and it's hard to hear him over it all,'" she recounted in a post titled, "."

"It was quiet after that," she continued. "And they probably all hate me now, but F**K IT."

The actress has also used the blog to post encouraging feedback she's received from other students - including fellows late-starters - and e-mails she's received from fans thanking her for the inspiration to go back to college themselves.

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