Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Tony Award Predictions 2018


LIZ: Were I to take awards seasons seriously, I’d join with the city’s professional theater critics in wringing my hands over the purported death of Broadway at the end of this weirdly inconsistent and ultimately disappointing season. But I don’t take them seriously, and I’m not a professional theater critic. Yay for me! Also, since critics have been bitching off and on for at least a century over the imminent death of Broadway, I can leave the histrionics to them. Sure, whatever, it’s not been the most thrilling season, but then, it still beats the daylights out of reality lately, so there’s that. I’m just as eager as I always am to watch the awards, and to catch up on shows I’ve missed—whether on, Off, or Off Off Broadway—this summer. While I haven’t seen as much on Broadway as I usually have by this point in the year, I’ll venture my most educated guesses below.

SANDRA: The Tony Awards are fun to watch, and they do recognize theatrical talent ... but not every person who deserves a Tony wins one. Laura Linney, Victor Garber and Judy Kuhn are statue-less (all nominated four times!). So, here are my predictions/preferences for the prize ... submitted with me wishing that occasionally you could have two individuals win the same category.

WENDY: When people argue about who will win an award, they often leave out a tricky wild card: math. If you have five nominees, someone could win with as little as 25% of the votes—far from a majority. Is it likely? No, but it’s absolutely possible. And this is an interesting year, in that a number of categories have no shoo-in winner.

Best Play
The Children
LIZ: Again, no clue—I haven’t seen a single one. But of the list, the one I regret never catching was the one I chose
Farinelli and The King
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
SANDRA: Saw none of the nominations but Harry Potter could win – especially since it will probably sweep design awards. 
WENDY: People seem to like the production more than the play, but since there’s no separate playwright’s award (which I think there should be), I think this will indeed go to Harry Potter,
Junk
Latin History for Morons




Best Musical
The Band's Visit
LIZ: It really could go to SpongeBob, frankly—but considering the wailing in the press right now about how corporations have taken over and destroyed Broadway (where the hell have these journalists been since the early 1990s?!), I suspect the vote will reflect the concern.
SANDRA: While the other musicals offer often clever and fun lyrics, this one had real heart. 
WENDY: I’m not 100% confident this will win, but I loved it.
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical

Best Revival of a Play
Angels in America
LIZ: This could go to any one of them except Iceman, I suspect. 
SANDRA: Angels in America. It still resonates. 
WENDY: This feels like the clear winner to me.
Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
Lobby Hero
Travesties




Best Revival of a Musical
My Fair Lady
LIZ
Once On This Island
WENDY: Strange year for musical revivals, with controversies and complaints, yet also with much love and enthusiasm. I’m betting that My Fair Lady and Carousel cancel each other out, and Once on This Island squeaks through.
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
SANDRA: Beautifully cast, all leads perform brilliantly and the choreography is divine.

Best Book of a Musical
The Band's Visit: Itamar Moses
Frozen: Jennifer Lee
Mean Girls: Tina Fey
LIZ: Come on, now, Fey’s a comic mastermind. Also, while all four of these plays are adaptations from something else, Lee and Fey wrote the damn movies and adapted them as musicals, because women are badass like that. Still, I see Mean Girls winning over Frozen if only because the former translates to the stage somewhat better than the latter. 
SANDRA: A tough call. I want it to be Itamar Moses (A Band’s Visit) but I think Tina Fey (Mean Girls) put together a witty extension of the movie that offers a darker take and more character context. 
WENDY
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical: Kyle Jarrow




Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Angels in America
The Band's Visit
LIZ: What’s this nonsense about Angels getting a nod here? Seriously, it’s a great revival, but I don’t remember a damn thing about the music. Not a snowflake’s chance in Hell. Give the prize to Yazbeck, please—the show’s sweet, the tunes are catchy, the score isn’t assembled by committee, what’s not to love? 
SANDRA: Music and lyrics by David Yazbek (A Band’s Visit) will best the others’ fun, campy sounds. 
WENDY: Yazbek did a gorgeous job here.
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Andrew Garfield, Angels in America
LIZ: It’s tough to reinvent Prior Walter, even 25 years after Stephen Spinella more or less broke the mold, but Garfield did it, and is richly deserving. 
SANDRA 
WENDY
Tom Hollander, Travesties
Jamie Parker, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Mark Rylance, Farinelli and The King
Denzel Washington, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh




Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Glenda Jackson, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
LIZ: I eagerly await Condola Rashad’s richly deserved awards, but this one belongs to Glenda Jackson. Holy moly, her rip-roaring performance has been harboring all the energy and fire the rest of the season lacks. 
SANDRA: Amy Schumer doesn’t have a shot in hell, but I’m glad she was nominated. Her turn in Meteor Shower was hilarious, spontaneous and unexpected. 
WENDY: I think this is the closest thing to a lock of all the acting awards.
Condola Rashad, Saint Joan
Lauren Ridloff, Children of a Lesser God
Amy Schumer, Meteor Shower

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady
Joshua Henry, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
SANDRA: Loved Tony Shalhoub (A Band’s Visit), but I think Joshua Henry in Carousel will get it. Too bad there can’t be a tie; they both deserve it.
Tony Shalhoub, The Band's Visit
WENDY: In truth, I don’t have a clue on this one.
Ethan Slater, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
LIZ: Yeah, you heard me right. The dude works incredibly hard and breathes life, energy and incredibly sweetness into….a sponge.




Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Lauren Ambrose, My Fair Lady
Hailey Kilgore, Once On This Island
LaChanze, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Katrina Lenk, The Band's Visit
LIZ: The upset here could be Ambrose, but Lenk is wonderful and I don’t think the show would be quite the same without her. 
SANDRA 
WENDY: I didn’t think she was superduper or anything, but I think a lot of other people did.
Taylor Louderman, Mean Girls
Jessie Mueller, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Anthony Boyle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Michael Cera, Lobby Hero
Brian Tyree Henry, Lobby Hero
Nathan Lane, Angels in America
LIZ: I’ve heard great things about Morse, and I LOVE Brian Tyree Henry. But Lane is not someone I’ve been consistently impressed with over the years, and I was absolutely gobsmacked by the intensity of his performance as Roy Cohn. 
SANDRA 
WENDY
David Morse, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh




Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Susan Brown, Angels in America
Noma Dumezweni, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Deborah Findlay, The Children
Denise Gough, Angels in America
LIZ: I actually didn’t love Gough in this, but she seems to be favored, and I either haven’t seen or was not hugely impressed by anyone else. This could go to Dumezweni, which would be lovely, too.
Laurie Metcalf, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
SANDRA 
WENDY

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, My Fair Lady
SANDRA: Norbert Leo Butz (My Fair Lady) or Ari’el Stachel (A Band’s Visit). I’d like to see Stachel get it, but NLB is a bigger name.
Alexander Gemignani, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Grey Henson, Mean Girls
Gavin Lee, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
LIZ: A game and winning showman—with double the legs and tap shoes! 
WENDY
Ari'el Stachel, The Band's Visit




Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Ariana DeBose, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Renée Fleming, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
LIZ: Actually, I have no idea, and since I love Mendez in everything, I hope it goes to her. Still, I think Fleming is favored and I have big money riding on this (actually I don’t). 
SANDRA: Seeing her perform “You’ll Never Walk Alone” was worth the ticket price even if you spent the remainder of the show in the bathroom.
Lindsay Mendez, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Ashley Park, Mean Girls
Diana Rigg, My Fair Lady
WENDY: This is arguably a dumb guess, what with the size of her role, but people love her. A lot.

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
Christine Jones, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
LIZ: All the tech awards are going to this monster, no question. 
SANDRA: Magic will beat everything else. 
WENDY
Santo Loquasto, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce, Angels in America




Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Dane Laffrey, Once On This Island
Scott Pask, The Band's Visit
Scott Pask, Finn Ross & Adam Young, Mean Girls
SANDRA: Scott Pask, Finn Ross and Adam Young (Mean Girls). Those video sets were remarkably lifelike and I loved the desk-turning choreography.
Michael Yeargan, My Fair Lady
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
LIZ: The set had me at the enormous clusters of pool floaties. 
WENDY

Best Costume Design of a Play
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
Nicky Gillibrand, Angels in America
Katrina Lindsay, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
LIZ 
SANDRA 
WENDY
Ann Roth, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Ann Roth, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Mean Girls
Clint Ramos, Once On This Island
Ann Roth, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
LIZ: Those pink and green sardines!! 
WENDY
Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady
SANDRA

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Neil Austin, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
LIZ 
SANDRA 
WENDY
Paule Constable, Angels in America
Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
Paul Russell, Farinelli and The King
Ben Stanton, Junk

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
WENDY
Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Once On This Island
LIZ: This might be way off, but hell, it’s deserving: the lighting of that show stayed with me, which is not at all a weird thing to say about lighting once you tune in to how important it is.
Donald Holder, My Fair Lady
Brian MacDevitt, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
SANDRA
Tyler Micoleau, The Band's Visit

Best Sound Design of a Play
Adam Cork, Travesties
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Angels in America
Gareth Fry, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
LIZ 
SANDRA 
WENDY
Tom Gibbons, 1984
Dan Moses Schreier, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada, The Band's Visit
SANDRA
WENDY: Sat in the 2nd-to-last row and could hear perfectly. That’s good sound design to me!
Peter Hylenski, Once On This Island
Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Brian Ronan, Mean Girls
Walter Trarbach and Mike Dobson, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
LIZ: For Squidward’s squeaky footsteps alone. Also, a continued yay for the reinstatement of this important award!

Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott, Angels in America
Joe Mantello, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
SANDRA
Patrick Marber, Travesties
John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
LIZ: A shoutout, though, to Joe Mantello for his work on Three Tall Women.
WENDY
George C. Wolfe, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh

Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, Once On This Island
David Cromer, The Band's Visit
SANDRA
Tina Landau, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
LIZ: Landau’s direction made what could have been trashy garbage into a genuinely imaginative, playful, and engaging production.
WENDY
Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls
Bartlett Sher, My Fair Lady

Best Choreography
Christopher Gattelli, My Fair Lady
Christopher Gattelli, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Steven Hoggett, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls
Justin Peck, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
LIZ: I loved, especially, the emulation of ocean waves.
WENDY
SANDRA

Best Orchestrations
John Clancy, Mean Girls
Tom Kitt, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Annmarie Milazzo & Michael Starobin, Once On This Island
Jamshied Sharifi, The Band's Visit
LIZ: Truly, no clue; this was a total guess. May the best orchestrator win.
SANDRA
Jonathan Tunick, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
WENDY: I don’t really have a clue, either, but Tunick is regularly brilliant, so he seems a good guess.

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