Happy Day Before Tony Nomination Day!

Sorry for the renewed radio silence.  I'm not scheduling myself very well lately.  I did have some terrific dinners with friends recently, and I saw two shows, one of which I didn't like as much as I wanted to, and I couldn't really find anything to say about it except that I was jealous that everyone on stage got to kiss a particular actor and I wished I could, too, which isn't a very insightful review.  The other show was the one-night only concert staged reading of Charles Busch's Red Scare on Sunset and it was SUBLIME. It brought me so much happiness, I could hardly contain myself.  As Charles always does, so I didn't want to repeat myself.  But I do think he should revive the play in a full production - if not now, when?!  I do have quite a few more shows coming up, as is ballet season, so you will probably be hearing from me more in the coming days.  I hope that's a good thing.  Moving on to today's post...

Yikes - award season madness has begun!  And tomorrow is the big daddy madness of them all, the day the Tony nominations are announced. The older I get, the quicker this time of year comes around. Every year I try to tell myself to remain calm, awards don't matter, the world will keep spinning.  But!  But! What if people I know don't get nominated?! What if shows close that should still be open?!  It's so dumb to get all worked up, but...I do.  I can only hope that all the good work that's out there is recognized, but if it isn't, I hope the creators realize that the good work has had an effect on people (namely me), which is worth more than awards.  Sort of.  

So many musicals opened this season, maybe because they waited for the Hamilton juggernaut to die down. There's no way that one show will dominate the awards the way Hamilton did.  At least I don't think there's a way.  I guess Hello, Dolly (which I haven't seen yet) could get a ton of noms, but I don't think it's quite the cultural game-changer. And it probably won't get the Best Book and Best Score Tonys onto the actual broadcast (which will definitely tick me off, of course).  Anyway, here are my completely unscientific, and wholeheartedly biased thoughts/hopes for names I hope I hear tomorrow morning:


PLAY

A Doll's House, Part 2 - by Lucas Hnath
Indecent - by Paula Vogel
Oslo - by J.T. Rogers
Sweat - by Lynn Nottage

OK, for once, I've actually seen all of these plays that I think should be nominated!  Woo hoo!  And I loved ALL OF THEM.  All would be worthy winners - they're smart and well-crafted and about important topics.  But I could be rooting ever so slightly more for one of the plays over the others.  I leave it to you to suss out which play I mean.  :)

MUSICAL

Amelie
Dear Evan Hansen
War Paint

There are ten other new musicals that opened this season (I saw one of them, but I didn't review it and I can't put it on my list - don't make me tell you which one), but these three musicals (that I did see) seem worthy nominees to me.  I hope to maybe see Anastasia, Great Comet or Groundhog Day (three possible nominees) eventually, but actually, I'm already on Team Dear Evan Hansen all the way.  We all know how much I loved that show.


REVIVAL OF A PLAY

Jitney
Present Laughter
Six Degrees of Separation

I wish I could see The Price, but it's too costly for me.  I also want to see Little Foxes, but that probably won't happen, either.  I did see Glass Menagerie, but I didn't enjoy it all that much as a production (you'll see I mention parts of the production later in my nominees hopes), so I can't include it on my Revival list.  I'm seeing Six Degrees next week, but I can't imagine a circumstance where it wouldn't be one of my top choices - it's one of my very favorite contemporary plays and I love the cast.  Oh, I also saw Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Just. No.


REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

I didn't see any of them.  Oops.  Obviously, if Sunday in the Park with George had made itself eligible, it would've been my choice, regardless if I'd seen anything else.

ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Jennifer Ehle, Oslo
Allison Janney, Six Degrees of Separation
Laurie Metcalf, A Doll's House, Part 2

I haven't actually seen Janney yet (see above), but I think she's wonderful in everything, so I went ahead and included her.  I actually think this award is Metcalf's to lose, though I hear Laura Linney is wonderful in Little Foxes.  





ACTOR IN A PLAY

Chris Cooper, A Doll's House, Part 2
Gideon Glick, Significant Other
Kevin Kline, Present Laughter
Joe Mantello, The Glass Menagerie
Jefferson Mays, Oslo

It looks like Kevin Kline is getting a lot of love for his delightful performance in Present Laughter, and I would be totally fine with his winning.  I've loved him for many many many years.  But I did think that Gideon Glick was superb in Significant Other, even if I didn't completely love the play itself.  I know I'm in the minority putting Joe Mantello here, but sue me, I liked what he did as Tom.  And Jefferson Mays is always first-rate.  I can see Mark Ruffalo making this list, maybe instead of Cooper, but I feel pretty good about my five gents.


FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Jayne Howdyshell, A Doll's House, Part 2
Madison Ferris, The Glass Menagerie
Katrina Lenk, Indecent
Kristine Nielsen, Present Laughter
Condola Rashad, A Doll's House, Part 2
Michelle Wilson, Sweat

SO many wonderful choices, I could probably double this list without problem.  I know most nomination lists have Johanna Day from Sweat instead of Michelle Wilson, but my preference would be Wilson.  My inclusion of Madison Ferris is a big f*ck you to Rex Reed (plus I thought she was terrific).  Have you read his review of Glass Menagerie?  It's an affront to humanity.  Moving on.  After all that, I do think Jayne Howdyshell will again be the one to beat...



FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY

Richard Topol, Indecent
Khris Davis, Sweat
Michael Aranov, Oslo
Anthony Azizi, Oslo
John Douglas Thompson, Jitney

Another category that could be filled easily with another slate of five.  I mean, the entire cast of Jitney could fill the category themselves!  Or the entire ensemble of Oslo!  But these are the ones I like best.  If I had seen Little Foxes, I'm sure I would've put Richard Thomas on this list - I love him.


ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Christine Ebersole, War Paint
Patti LuPone, War Paint
Philippa Soo, Amelie

I'm sure this is Bette Midler's category all the way, but I haven't seen Hello, Dolly, and I loved these performances, so they get my nod.


ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen

That's it.  He's the only name I'm writing down.  I loved him, end stop.


FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Rachel Bay Jones, Dear Evan Hansen

Same here.  She is amazing.  "So Big/So Small" makes me cry just thinking about it, let alone hearing it...


FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Mike Faist, Dear Evan Hansen
Tony Sheldon, Amelie
Douglas Sills, War Paint

I adore Douglas Sills, so I will always put him on any 'best' list, though I admit his role in War Paint could do him a little more justice.  I also adore Tony Sheldon, so...ditto.  Not many people are mentioning Mike Faist, but I think the wrong (or not good) actor in the pivotal role of Connor in Dear Evan Hansen could practically sink the show.  And he's terrific.


BEST SCORE

Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, Anastasia
Kristin Anderson Lopez, James Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan & Sara Wordsworth, In Transit
Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, Dear Evan Hansen

Ohhhhhhhhh, these are the names I hope for most.  Please please please.  It's totally personal, I love these people and their work.  Though I did mention above I'm totally on the Dear Evan Hansen bandwagon, right??


BEST BOOK

Steven Levenson, Dear Evan Hansen
Craig Lucas, Amelie
Terrence McNally, Anastasia
Doug Wright, War Paint

These are four of my very favorite storytellers, so I hope they're all on the list.


OTHER MISC AWARD THOUGHTS

I'm not really good with picking directing or design nominees, but I will say I hope that we hear lots of names of women tomorrow, especially in the directing categories:  Rachel Chavkin, Kate MacKinnon, Rebecca Taichman, Kate Whoriskey.  And for the love of all that's holy, could Jane Greenwood finally WIN ONE OF THESE THINGS?!  I think she's been nominated 452 times and still hasn't won.  Come on!  There's so much I wish I had seen, but I have seen and enjoyed a lot of exciting work this season (especially in the new play category), so there's reason for a little optimism!  Maybe.  I'm not quite sure how I feel about Kevin Spacey hosting the show, but he's a smart guy.  He'll probably make it work. I just fervently hope that the writers' awards won't be presented off-camera again, now that the zeitgeist of Hamilton is behind us, and I fervently hope they come up with a way to feature and promote the extraordinary playwriting currently represented on Broadway. I'm probably going to be disappointed, aren't I...