It's That Time Again - Tony Nom Hopes/Predictions!

I can't believe it's that time of year again!  It just seems to fly in sooner and sooner every year.  In looking over my notes, I have to say up front that these predictions will most likely be the worst ever.  I haven't seen a lot of Broadway this season and a lot of what I HAVE seen isn't what I would want to nominate.  That's being mean, I know.  I'll try to keep specifics to myself.  I probably should've done a Drama Desk Award nomination prediction post, since I've seen and enjoyed so much more Off-Broadway recently.  Ah well.  Live and learn.  As usual, I will share the names I hope to hear tomorrow morning.  The performances are the ones I'll be unsure about, since I haven't seen so many of the shows, though that won't stop me from mentioning a few names because I love them (not because I've seen their shows, ha ha).  But to be serious for a moment:  my thanks and gratitude to everyone who put themselves and their talent out there for all the world to see.  I hope they find the joy in the process, even if we don't hear their names tomorrow...


PLAY

Farinelli and the King, Claire van Kampen
Junk, Ayad Akhtar
Latin History for Morons, John Leguizamo
Terms of My Surrender, Michael Moore

My heart is breaking a little, typing the above names while remembering the four wonderful plays nominated last year.  Any one of last year's nominees would kick the pants off any of these four plays.  It's so unfair that none of them are still running.  Moving on.  Oh, and full disclosure: I didn't actually see John Leguizamo's play, but he is so smart and funny, and the other eligible plays kinda weren't, so I put him here.  Of course, I haven't seen Harry Potter yet, so there's that...

MUSICAL

The Band's Visit
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants, the Musical

OK, so I've only seen two of these musicals, sue me.  The others have friends involved, so I want to hear their names announced on tv.  For the record, if The Band's Visit doesn't win, I will be heartily perturbed.

REVIVAL OF A PLAY

Angels in America
M Butterfly
Three Tall Women

I realize that I am probably the only person who will be jotting down anything about M Butterfly and the Tony Awards in the same sentence, but I think the play is beautiful.  So there.  I'm hoping to get to Travesties and Lobby Hero at some point, and I guess I have to see Iceman Cometh because my goodness that cast (most of whom will be nominated, I'm thinking), but I'm pretty sure this race is between Angels and Three Tall Women, both of which are sublimely devastating, wonderful and deserving.  


REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

Once On This Island

I haven't seen any of the other musical revivals yet (I think a handsome Tony voter pal is taking me to My Fair Lady, but the jury's still out on that), but I'm sure that even if I had, Once On This Island would be my top (and probably only) choice.  It's THAT good.  Note to self:  go back and see it again...


ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Glenda Jackson, Three Tall Women
Condola Rashad, Saint Joan
Lauren Ridloff, Children of a Lesser God

This seems like a slam-dunk for Jackson, who is beyond amazing in Three Tall Women, and she would be my vote even if I had seen and enjoyed other performances.  I haven't seen Saint Joan yet, but I am a big fan of Rashad, so I would like to see her get recognized.  I didn't really enjoy this production of Children of a Lesser God, but Ridloff was beautiful and I'd love to see her on stage again soon.


ACTOR IN A PLAY

Andrew Garfield, Angels in America
John Leguizamo, Latin History for Morons
Michael Moore, Terms of My Surrender
Mark Rylance, Farinelli and the King

We all know I adore Rylance, so hello.  I thought Garfield was terrific in Angels, so I think he's my choice.  Michael Moore and his show really surprised me, so even though I don't think he belongs in this category, I'll put him here.  And I mentioned my fondness for Leguizamo above.


FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Blair Brown, The Parisian Woman
Denise Gough, Angels in America
Laurie Metcalf, Three Tall Women
Allison Pill, Three Tall Women

I can't imagine anyone other than Metcalf or Gough winning this award, though Blair Brown has the only good scene in The Parisian Woman and she makes the most of it.  She's actually always grand, so I'm really hoping to hear her name.

photo credit: Matthew Murphy

FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY

Sam Crane, Farinelli and the King
Gabriel Ebert, Time and the Conways
Jin Ha, M Butterfly
Nathan Lane, Angels in America
John McGinty, Children of a Lesser God

Here's where I start to go a little nuts.  I actually don't think any of the above people will be named tomorrow except for Nathan Lane (who is a lock).  But I enjoyed all of these performances very much, so I'm typing them for my own enjoyment.  👩   Though Bill Irwin, David Morse and Frank Wood (all in Iceman Cometh) are also personal favorites, so I'd be happy to hear any of their names as well...

photo credit: Matthew Murphy

ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Hailey Kilgore, Once On This Island
LaChanze, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Katrina Lenk, The Band's Visit

I am on Team Lenk all.the.way, especially since she should've won LAST year for Indecent (and the fact she didn't even get nominated still ticks me off)!  But she is spectacular in The Band's Visit.  I did think that Kilgore was enchanting in Once On This Island and I am a huge fan of LaChanze (oh, hey, from the original cast of Once On This Island - symmetry!), so I hope to hear them be recognized tomorrow.


ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Joshua Henry, Carousel
Tony Shalhoub, The Band's Visit

Yeah, missing so many shows is hurting me here.  I actually haven't seen Carousel, but I've loved Joshua Henry for years, so I had to type his name.  Shalhoub is fantastic, though, as he always is.  I'm rooting for him.  I'm pretty sure Henry Higgins and SpongeBob will find themselves on this list, too...

FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Merle Dandridge, Once On This Island
Kenita R. Miller, Once On This Island
Ashley Park, Mean Girls
Kate Rockwell, Mean Girls
Lea Salonga, Once On This Island

Kenita Miller has been so wonderful in so many shows, I am rooting for her nomination tomorrow the absolute most.  She's also terrifically moving in Once On This Island, so it's a deserving nom.  The other gals in OOTI are also fabulous, so I'm hoping they'll be included on the list.  I believe I mentioned in my Mean Girls post that I found the performances to be the best part of the evening - these two gals, part of the mean girls pack, were grand.  It's probably not a coincidence that they have two of the best songs of the night.


FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Philip Boykin, Once On This Island
John Cariani, The Band's Visit
Quentin Earl Darrington, Once On This Island
Alex Newell, Once On This Island
Ari'el Stachel, The Band's Visit

Gosh, it's not too hard to see what my two favorite musicals of the season have been.  I'll be happy with any and all of these wonderful gents.  

oh, hey, genius composer/lyricist here!

SCORE OF A MUSICAL

Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, Frozen 
Nell Benjamin & Jeff Richmond, Mean Girls
various songwriters, SpongeBob SquarePants, the Musical 
David Yazbek, The Band's Visit

This isn't a hard category to predict, since I think these are the only original musicals this season.  They all have friends involved, so good luck to all and I hope to hear these names.  Of course, I've been listening to The Band's Visit CD on repeat for months now, so...that's my choice.  But I haven't seen them all yet, to be fair.






BOOK OF A MUSICAL

Tina Fey, Mean Girls
Kyle Jarrow, SpongeBob SquarePants, the Musical
Jennifer Lee, Frozen
Itamar Moses, The Band's Visit

Again, friends on teams.  Hope to hear names.  Rinse and repeat.


OTHER MISC THOUGHTS

As usual, I'm not good at picking directing or design categories, though I hope to hear Michael Arden's name for his wonderful direction of Once On This Island, Joe Mantello's name for directing Three Tall Women, and all of the designers of Farinelli and the King (that physical production was gorgeous) and Three Tall Women (ditto).  Interestingly, most of the sets I saw this year were primarily video, so I'm guessing that there will be a lot of video people recognized this year.  Randomly, I wish Bernadette Peters and Victor Garber could get awards for their loveliness in Hello, Dolly, but the replacement cast Tony never really got off the ground.  I'll be interested to see how Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban do as hosts of the broadcast this year - they are both genial and pleasant personalities, so perhaps this is a reset year.  The productions this year seem to be going for brand-name-familiarity, so it makes sense to have hosts in the same mold.  I hope to be surprised by shocking originality moving forward...