Tony Award Nominees And My Predictions

My predictions are in blue, although I'm really just guessing for most of them [UPDATE: Bill Cissna rightfully chastizes me in the comments section for writing "Oh, who cares" under lighting design.  Bill, 100% correct.  To be honest, I was frustrated about my ignorance about the nominees by that point in the post.  I too would like to see August win.]

Best Play

August: Osage County
Author: Tracy Letts

Rock 'n' Roll
Author: Tom Stoppard

The Seafarer
Author: Conor McPherson

The 39 Steps
Author: Patrick Barlow

This one is easy.  Tracy Letts' play was triumphant.

Best Musical

Cry-Baby

In The Heights

Passing Strange

Xanadu

Okay.  The important thing to note here is that the absence of Young Frankenstein, which has the obnoxious official title "The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein".  Also, no Disney musicals  (Take that, Walt!).  In other words, The Little Mermaid got stiffed.

I have absolutely no idea about Passing Strange other than its a jazz showpiece.  I'm not familiar with Cry-Baby (save the general plot).  I don't think an "ethnic" musical like In The Heights will win.  So that leaves Xanadu, which I saw and loved more than I expected.  Xanadu shared the Outer Critic Circle Award for Best Musical with Young Frankenstein.

Best Book of a Musical

Cry-Baby
Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan

In The Heights
Quiara Alegría Hudes

Passing Strange
Stew

Xanadu
Douglas Carter Beane

Well, I liked the book of Xanadu, but I just have a feeling it'll go to Cry-Baby.

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Cry-Baby
Music & Lyrics: David Javerbaum & Adam Schlesinger

In The Heights
Music & Lyrics:  Lin-Manuel Miranda

The Little Mermaid
Music:  Alan Menken
Lyrics:  Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater

Passing Strange
Music:  Stew and Heidi Rodewald
Lyrics:  Stew

A guess....

Best Revival of a Play

Boeing-Boeing

The Homecoming

Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Macbeth

I've heard good things about Boeing Boeing and MacBeth, but The Homecoming got great reviews.

Best Revival of a Musical

Grease

Gypsy

Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Sunday in the Park with George

Definitly NOT Grease, probably not Gypsy.  I think South Pacific, which hasn't graced Broadway in decades will edge out Sunday in the Park with George which seems to be revived every 4 years.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Ben Daniels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing
Rufus Sewell, Rock 'n' Roll
Patrick Stewart, Macbeth

I'm going to give it to Fishburne.  It's a one-man play.  Gotta respect that.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Eve Best, The Homecoming
Deanna Dunagan, August:  Osage County
Kate Fleetwood, Macbeth
S. Epatha Merkerson, Come Back, Little Sheba
Amy Morton, August:  Osage County

Another easy one, assuming that Dunagan and Morton don't split the vote.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Daniel Evans, Sunday in the Park with George
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In The Heights
Stew, Passing Strange
Paulo Szot, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Tom Wopat, A Catered Affair

Oh, hell.  A guess.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Kerry Butler, Xanadu
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Kelli O'Hara, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Faith Prince, A Catered Affair
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park with George

Love to give it to Kerry (sorry, Emily!), but I think it's between Patti and Faith.  And I'll put my money on Patti.

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

Bobby Cannavale, Mauritius
Raúl Esparza, The Homecoming
Conleth Hill, The Seafarer
Jim Norton, The Seafarer
David Pittu, Is He Dead?

What?  No James Earl Jones in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof?  Oh, well.  I'll guess Raul.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Sinead Cusack, Rock 'n' Roll
Mary McCormack, Boeing-Boeing
Laurie Metcalf, November
Martha Plimpton, Top Girls
Rondi Reed, August: Osage County

You know, of all the great performances in August, I thought Rondi Reed's performance (as the sister of the main character, Violet) was not that stand-outish.  I'm going to go with Laurie Metcalf.

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange
Danny Burstein, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Robin De Jesús, In The Heights
Christopher Fitzgerald, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

Guess.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

de'Adre Aziza, Passing Strange
Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Andrea Martin, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Olga Merediz, In The Heights
Loretta Ables Sayre, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Guess.

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps
Scott Pask, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County
Anthony Ward, Macbeth

Guess.  It's my sentimental favorite.

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

David Farley and Timothy Bird & The Knifedge Creative Network, Sunday in the Park with George
Anna Louizos, In The Heights
Robin Wagner, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Michael Yeargan, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

A guess.

Best Costume Design of a Play

Gregory Gale, Cyrano de Bergerac
Rob Howell, Boeing-Boeing
Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps

Love 60's costumes.

Best Costume Design of a Musical

David Farley, Sunday in the Park with George
Martin Pakledinaz, Gypsy
Paul Tazewell, In The Heights
Catherine Zuber, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

A guess

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps
Howard Harrison, Macbeth
Donald Holder, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Ann G. Wrightson, August: Osage County

Oh, who cares...

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Ken Billington, Sunday in the Park with George
Howell Binkley, In The Heights
Donald Holder, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Natasha Katz, The Little Mermaid

Best Sound Design of a Play

Simon Baker, Boeing-Boeing
Adam Cork, Macbeth
Ian Dickinson, Rock 'n' Roll
Mic Pool, The 39 Steps

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Acme Sound Partners, In The Heights
Sebastian Frost, Sunday in the Park with George
Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Dan Moses Schreier, Gypsy

Best Direction of a Play

Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps
Conor McPherson, The Seafarer
Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County
Matthew Warchus, Boeing-Boeing

Best Direction of a Musical

Sam Buntrock, Sunday in the Park with George
Thomas Kail, In The Heights
Arthur Laurents, Gypsy
Bartlett Sher, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Choreography

Rob Ashford, Cry-Baby
Andy Blankenbuehler, In The Heights
Christopher Gattelli, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Dan Knechtges, Xanadu

Gotta go with my relative....

Best Orchestrations

Jason Carr, Sunday in the Park with George
Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman, In The Heights
Stew & Heidi Rodewald, Passing Strange
Jonathan Tunick, A Catered Affair


*       *       *

Regional Theatre Tony Award
Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Special Tony Award
Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981), in recognition of his historic contribution to American musical theatre in the field of orchestrations, as represented on Broadway this season by Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific.

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Stephen Sondheim


*       *      *


Tony Nominations by Production

In The Heights - 13
Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific - 11
Sunday in the Park with George - 9
August: Osage County - 7
Gypsy - 7
Passing Strange - 7
Boeing-Boeing - 6
Macbeth - 6
The 39 Steps - 6
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - 5
Cry-Baby - 4
Rock 'n' Roll - 4
The Seafarer - 4
Xanadu - 4
A Catered Affair - 3
The Homecoming - 3
The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein - 3
The Little Mermaid - 2
Come Back, Little Sheba - 1
Cyrano de Bergerac - 1
Grease - 1
Is He Dead? - 1
Mauritius - 1
November - 1
Thurgood - 1
Top Girls - 1

Comments

[Bill Cissna]

Oh, that's OK, I was just picking. Somebody has to defend the techies. And I didn't personally see but one of the Plays nominated for Lighting Design, so I'm just going by what I saw on the "August" stage. And "Seafarer," "November" and "Homecoming," the other three shows I saw this year, didn't get too many nominations. Rightly so, as I already said, in the case of "November."

[Bill Cissna]

Well, you're not entirely off-track, and obviously, you saw some of the nominated shows, though you apparently failed to recognize that it was a terrible year for musicals on Broadway and they must have had a major struggle finding anything to nominate for those positions.

I thoroughly agree with you that "August: Osage County" should win Best Play, esp. as it already has its Pulitzer, but "The Seafarer" should be considered a close second, even though that won't matter. As for Best Musical, as noted above, "Who cares?" For Best Revival, I would pick "The Homeecoming," too, no matter how weird a play it is, though "Les Liaisons" is getting some good press, esp. for Laura Linney and Mamie Gummer. For Actor, I would have picked Patrick Stewart or Mark Rylance, but your guess is as good as mine. I've seen both of them in other shows, but not in these particular roles.

Couldn't agree more about Deanna Dunagan for Best Actress, though if there is a split vote, I'd have to hope Eve Best would get it instead. She was robbed last year when she didn't get it for "Moon for the Misbegotten," and she was pretty good in "Homecoming," too. Haven't seen Kelli O'Hara in "South Pacific," but if she was as good as she was in "Pajama Game," I might pick her for Best Actress Musical. You also picked Laurie Metcalf for Featured Actress, Play. Did you see "November"? I didn't think she was that great in the play, which wasn't that great, period. Unless you like hearing the "f-bomb" over and over and over again. Nathan Lane was fun to watch, though.

But I fear that you are dead to me when you noted after Lighting Design, "Oh, who cares...?" Naturally, hundreds of members of IATSE and similar unions, all of whom will be marching on your house tonight, care. If my lighting designer son wasn't busy in Charleston, I would ask him to join them. I'm going to pick Ann Wrightson for "August: Osage County," since lighting all of that house had to be a trick and a task.

Other than that, I can pretty much agree with your predictions and guesses.

Bill

[Heather]

Just putting in my two cents.

In the Heights will probably win almost every category it is in. Passing Strange will win anything that In the Heights doesn't. That's my thoughts on the musicals.

If Crybaby wins anything (other than potentially choreography), then I may never go see another Broadway show again. It was awful. I reviewed it on my blog. I would have seriously left in the middle of the first act if I hadn't been with a friend from out of town. The book was the worst part of the entire show. Horrid. Xanadu's book was much better. I wouldn't be surprised for Xanadu to win some things, but I'm not sure what.

I think Sunday in the Park will win any thing technical that it is up for and Daniel will win the best actor category. It may be revived often, but this is really a unique and new interpretation which relies a lot on exquisite technical work. It will probably win best revival as well although I wouldn't be surprised if South Pacific wins.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mermaid won the score category.

I'll get my full predictions up soon. Glad that Whorehouse is going well. I'm trying to get my mom to go see it next weekend so that I can "see" it through her.