Tony Predictions, Because Why Not?

Well, it is that time of year again. The 76th Tony Awards will recognize theatrical achievements on Broadway for the 2022-23 season. Who will win? Below are Show Showdown's guesses.

Clip from New York, New York

Best Book of a Musical

Liz: Kimberly Akimbo

Wendy: Wow, one I’d finally bet on: Kimberly Akimbo, David Lindsay-Abaire.

Sandra: Ditto (I submitted my predictions last … so you might see this a few times).

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Liz: Kimberly Akimbo

Wendy: Kimberly Akimbo, Music: Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire

Sandra: Ditto

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Liz: Wendell Pierce, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Pierce was revelatory as Willy Loman and richly deserving of the award. I thought Stephen McKinley Henderson was also brilliant in Between Riverside and Crazy, and I’d be delighted if he took this, but I suspect it’ll go to Pierce.

Wendy: Tough, tough, tough category to guess. I guess this is kinda cheating, but I predict the two men from Topdog/Underdog. I just hope that Sean Hayes doesn’t win; his winning would seem just too #TonysTooWhite

Sandra: The fate of Willy Loman and his family is always wrenching, but particularly so in this version … and Wendell Pierce’s take on the iconic role ups the ante.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Liz: Jodie Comer, Prima Facie. I confess I’ve seen none of these, so this is a shot in the dark, but Comer apparently gives a mesmerizing, scenery-chewing, shape-shifting, mountain-moving, buckets-of-sweat-spill-your-guts-out performance, which is just total Tony bait.  

Wendy: This category should have five nominees! That being said, I think Jodie Comer, Prima Facie, has got it. Her performance is astonishing, and the role is full of the dramatic opportunities that nab trophies. If Comer wasn’t in the list, I think Jessica Chastain, A Doll's House, would have been the winner. Truly, this category sums up the weirdness of awards: four nominees instead of five for no real reason, and comparing apples, oranges, kumquats and motorcycles.

Sandra: Let’s make this lucky number seven for Audra McDonald.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Liz: J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like It Hot. Ghee’s performance as a trans jazz musician who discovers their true self as Daphne was by equal turns hilarious, graceful, beautiful to watch, and deeply moving.

Wendy: Everyone but Borle would be a legit winner here (I thought he was miscast and not all that interesting). I predict J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like It Hot, because their performance is lovely and something new.

Sandra: J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like It Hot. This was my favorite show of the season and part of that is because of Ghee who brings joy to this role and glorious tapping.

Some Like It Hot

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Liz: Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo. Diamond could take this instead, but she never quite nails the southern accent; Clark makes what could have been a cliché of a character into a deeply nuanced, believable, lovable one.

Wendy: Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo, is a shoo-in.

Sandra: Ditto. I have adored Victoria Clark since The Light in the Piazza and my admiration for her intensified after reading this New York Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/10/theater/kimberly-akimbo-victoria-clark.html

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Liz: Brandon Uranowitz, Leopoldstadt. Uranowitz was memorable in a very crowded cast of characters. That said, I’d be pleased if any of the nominees ended up winning this category.

Wendy: I’m going with Jordan E. Cooper, Ain't No Mo'. Fabulous performances!

Sandra: David Zayas, Cost of Living. I just loved this show … and he was wonderful — steadfast and moving.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Liz: Katy Sullivan, Cost of Living. This is total wishful thinking, but in both the original production and the Broadway one, Sullivan was funny and raw in the role of a paraplegic woman struggling to adjust to her new disabilities, and a life without her ex-husband.

Wendy: Katy Sullivan, Cost of Living. Though, once again, how can anyone possibly compare these performances?

Sandra: Katy Sullivan, Cost of Living. Who didn’t gasp during that bathtub scene? What a compelling and brave moment.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Liz: Alex Newell, Shucked. Newell stopped the show mid-act when I saw it, and apparently continues to do so every damn time with her barn-raiser of a solo number.  

Wendy: Kevin Del Aguila, Some Like It Hot, is a total crowd pleaser.

Sandra: Gotta go with Wendy on this one. You have to love Osgood Fielding III … if only Elon Musk was so open-minded and jovial.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Liz: Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo

Wendy: Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo, is a crowd pleaser.

Sandra: I feel like Sweeney deserves some acknowledgment this season and Ruthie Ann Miles is its best shot, bringing a seething fury and sadness to the beggar woman.

Kimberly Akimbo

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Liz:  I had some other guess here, but I totally just changed it because I too think Wendy had the better guess. What she says: 

Wendy: Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding, Life of Pi

Sandra: I’m with Wendy. Look what they did with a boat …

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Liz: Beowulf Boritt, New York, New York. New York, New York is not as genuinely terrible as most of the reviews imply…but then, the scenic design really did stand out as a particular strength.

Wendy: Beowulf Boritt, New York, New York

Sandra: Beowulf Boritt, New York, New York. I loved the subtle sketching of a city neighborhood that no longer exists — with its balconies overlooking everyone’s business.

Best Costume Design of a Play
Liz: Emilio Sosa, Ain't No Mo'. For Peaches’ glorious getups alone….

Wendy: Emilio Sosa, Ain't No Mo'

Sandra: Ditto

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Liz: Gregg Barnes, Some Like It Hot. I would happily wear the same pair of jeans and ratty t-shirt every day of my life if I could, and yet I coveted every damn outfit worn in this show.

Wendy: Gregg Barnes, Some Like It Hot

Sandra: Ditto

& Juliet

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Liz: Bradley King, Fat Ham

Wendy: Jon Clark, A Doll's House

Sandra: Tim Lutkin, Life of Pi

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Liz: Natasha Katz. No idea who will win, so I’m guessing Katz because she’s nominated twice. For which show? Dunno.

Wendy: Ken Billington, New York, New York

Sandra: Natasha Katz, Some Like It Hot

Best Sound Design of a Play
Liz: Ben & Max Ringham. See "lighting design" above.

Wendy: Ben & Max Ringham, A Doll's House. Rarely has sound design had such a significant role in the ambience, meaning, and success of a play.

Sandra: Carolyn Downing, Life of Pi

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Liz: Gareth Owen, & Juliet

Wendy: Scott Lehrer & Alex Neumann, Into the Woods

Sandra: I’m with Wendy with this one.

Shucked Broadway Recording of "Corn."

Best Direction of a Play
Liz: Saheem Ali, Fat Ham

Wendy: Aargh! How to choose? I’m going with Stevie Walker-Webb, Ain't No Mo', for his breathtakingly energetic, theatrical directing.

Sandra: Patrick Marber, Leopoldstadt

Best Direction of a Musical
Liz: Lear deBessonet, Into the Woods. I was never a huge fan of this particular show, but deBessonet’s bubbly, joyous production was thoroughly delightful.

Wendy: Lear deBessonet, Into the Woods.

Sandra: Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot. That chase scene alone deserves a Tony.

Best Choreography
Liz: Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot. Call me a sucker for an old-fashioned tap-heavy musical, but come on, now.

Wendy: Another tough category. Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot.

Sandra: Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot. I haven’t seen such exciting tap since 42nd Street--and did I mention that chase scene?

Best Orchestrations
Liz: No clue, truly. May the best orchestrator win.

Wendy: Jason Howland, Shucked. Total guess!

Sandra: Bill Sherman and Dominic Fallacaro, & Juliet. Because I just want them to win something.

Best Play
Liz: Leopoldstadt. Stoppard’s legacy and the fact that this show keeps getting described as “probably his very last” will result, I think, in a symbolic win. That’ll be fine with me, but then, so would it be if any other show nominated wins for best play instead.

Wendy: I adore Stoppard, and I think he's going to win, but I'd love it to be Fat Ham.

Sandra: What Liz said.

Best Musical
Liz: Some Like It Hot. Big, splashy, sweetly subversive, lotsa tap dance.

Wendy: I predict Kimberly Akimbo.

Sandra: Some Like It Hot. Really fun, exuberant, well-staged musical.

Best Revival of a Play
Liz: The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. I really loved this production and this play, even as I suspect I’m wrong and it won’t win.

Wendy: Topdog/Underdog, but I wouldn't bet a lot of money on it.

Sandra: The Piano Lesson

Best Revival of a Musical
Liz: Parade. I’m really not a big fan of this show, even as I recognize that the production is solid. I would be delighted if Into the Woods upset the cart, but that’s no longer running and Parade is.

Wendy: Into the Woods. I have more faith in people's memories, but, hey, I could be wrong.

Sandra: Parade. A moving production that offers context about the true story

All video clips from YouTube

Blanche: The Life and Times of Tennessee Williams's Greatest Creation (book review)

I reviewed Blanche: The Life and Times of Tennessee Williams's Greatest Creation at Talkin' Broadway:

Blanche: The Life and Times of Tennessee Williams's Greatest Creation, by Nancy Schoenberger, is an odd little book. Saying that it runs some 193 pages of actual content is generous, as that includes a number of white pages, a faux obituary of Blanche DuBois, and four pages of sonnets, created by Schoenberger, that purport to be what Blanche's long-dead young husband might have written (!!!). Trimmed of its repetitions, the book could have made a fairly interesting long essay in The New Yorker or The New York Review of Books.

continue reading 

 Wendy Caster

Assassins

The Gallery Players production of Assassins is unfortunately not up to its usual standards. I admire the ambition of attempting Assassins, with its non-plot, odd politics, long swaths of spoken scenes, and challenging score. But: Some of the performers didn't sing well enough or act well enough. A few were completely miscast. The band lacked cohesion, and the sound design didn't help it or the performers. The sound effects didn't work: the noises of a bottle-making factory sounded more like someone snoring, and the gunshots were too low and distant to discomfort the audience as they should. Some of the costumes didn't work; in particular, John Wilkes Booth's suit seemed more appropriate for a comedian than a dashing serious actor. The lighting was occasionally murky.

Weirdly enough, however, I would not dissuade you from going. Despite its many flaws, the production was ultimately disturbing in the right way.

Wendy Caster

Some Numerical Thoughts on the Tonys

Entertainment awards are silly and they're also endlessly fascinating. Part of the allure is the fashion, pomp, and party atmosphere. A bigger part, for me, is the speeches--at least, those speeches that show some personality, humor, and emotion. Add exciting numbers from nominated musicals, and a good time is had by most.

However, what drives me the most crazy, personally, about the Tonys comes down to numbers. For example, with four nominees, someone could win with only 31% of the vote, with the other three nominees receiving an average of 23% each. With five nominees, the winner might only have 24% of the vote, with the other four nominees averaging 19% each. (At least the Tonys have nothing as silly as the 10 nominees for best picture, in which the winner could have as little as 20% of the vote, with the other nominees averaging 8.9% each.)

While the examples I have given are extreme, the point still stands that someone can win a "best" award without even getting a majority of the vote.

Then we get to the odd rules set by the Tonys. For example, if a category has nine or more potential nominees, there will be five nominations (barring any ties). But if it has fewer, there will be four nominations. What has that got to do with the quality of the productions or performances? In cases where there are four nominees, is there a lessening in quality for the potential fifth because he/she/it/they had fewer competitors? If another show opened at the last minute, bringing the total to nine in various categories, would that fifth potential nominee suddenly improve?

In the other direction, are there always four or five performances/productions that definitely deserve to be nominated? There have been many times where the fourth nominee definitely came across as filler. And that's not even mentioning painful years such as 1995 when Sunset Boulevard won a slew of awards with only one competitor or none! Does that make Sunset Boulevard's Tonys worth less? I guess it depends on how you feel about Sunset Boulevard. (IMHO, worse shows have won, but not many.)

The final numberical issue is the total number of nominations for a particular show. Yes, Some Like It Hot is an amiable and enjoyable musical, but ads screaming "13 nominations!" suggest the show is brilliant. Four of the noms are design nominations, and, yes, it is a beautifully designed show. But that doesn't make it a great show. Another four are performance nominations. And, yes, it is a beautifully performed show. But that doesn't make it a great show either. It's a nice show. I would have certainly voted for it had it been against Sunset Boulevard! But great, no.

So, the numbers work against the significance of the Tony Award.

I'll still be watching on June 11th.

Wendy Caster

 

Iolanthe

Once again, MasterVoices has provided an evening of charm, joy, and fabulous music. In this case, it was Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe, not one of their best, but still great fun. (There are fairies, there are humans, there are misunderstandings, stuff happens.) 

Ashley Fabian
Photo: Toby Tenenbaum

The cast was amazing: Christine Ebersole (glorious), David Garrison, Santino Fontana (having a grand time in a supremely silly wig and demonstrating a gorgeous legit voice), Jason Daniely, Ashley Fabian (combining excellent comic chops with truly stunning singing), Phillip Boykin (adorable, with a bass that vibrated Carnegie Hall), Shereen Ahmed, Schyler Vargas, Nicole Eve Goldstein, Kaitlyn LeBaron, Emy Zener, and Tiler Peck.  

Christine Ebersole, Shereen Ahmed
Photo: Toby Tenenbaum

And then there are the MasterVoices singers and the MasterVoices Orchestra, doing their usual fine work, led by the incomparable Ted Sperling.

Ted Sperling
Photo: Toby Tenenbaum

And, although this performance was a staged reading, it was given an extra dimension by Tracy Christensen's beautiful and clever costumes. Also, the supertitles were clear, informative, and witty.

Santino Fontana, David Garrison
Photo: Toby Tenenbaum

As always, reviewing MasterVoices is frustrating, because their one-night performances are always gone by the time I write about them, and I can't urge you to go, go, go. However, I can give you a link to their website so that you can catch the next wonderful show: MasterVoices.

Phillip Boykin
Photo: Toby Tenenbaum

Wendy Caster

The Knight of the Burning Pestle

The rollicking, deeply silly, remarkably funny production of the The Knight of the Burning Pestle currently at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, brought to us by Red Bull Theater and Fiasco Theater, has moments so seemingly contemporary that one has to wonder how much of Francis's Beaumont's 400-year-old play remains. The answer is, quite a lot. And it's wonderful.

The cast of The Knight of the Burning Pestle
Photo: Carol Rosegg

Considered to be the first whole play of its sort--that is, a parody (satirical) crossed with a pastiche (loving). While the main object of the parody--chivalric romance--is no longer a popular genre, The Knight also parodies theatre, actors, and audiences, all of which, I am happy to say, are still  with us. While not exactly like any of the following, The Knight shares at least some DNA with, to name a few, Pyramus and Thisbe (the play within the play in A Midsummer Night's Dream), Noises Off, Story Theatre (and story theatre), and various farces.

The Knight of the Burning Pestle presents us with two plays. In the outer play, a grocer complains to a company of actors that his profession is not well-represented in theatre. With the help of a fair of amount of bribery, and the logic/illogic of his wife, the grocer gets the company of actors to agree to add a Knight Errant to their play (The London Merchant). This character is to be performed by the grocer's assistant (who refers to the character as a Grocer Errant). As the original actors try to act their original play, the grocer and his wife object, interject, and correct, making very amusing pains of themselves.

The fabulous cast carries off these shenanigans with great energy and aplomb, and they surely must enjoy getting to play, for example, a horse, an idiot suitor, an aggressively happy man who sings rather than talks, a ghost, a mother who plays favorites, and so on. The cast includes Jessie Austrian, Royer Bockus, Tina Chilip, Paul L. Coffey, Devin E. Haqq, Teresa Avia Lim, Darius Pierce, Ben Steinfeld, Paco Tolson, and Tatiana Wechsler.

The direction, by Noah Brody and Emily Young, is endlessly creative and filled with the love of theatre, seamlessly merging modern and Jacobean tropes. 

Fiasco Theater has committed to practicing sustainability in their shows, and parameters were set to limit waste in all aspects of design. This frugality in no way restrained the creativity of the designers: scenery, Christopher Swader & Justin Swader; costumes, Yvonne Miranda; lighting, Reza Behjat; props, Samantha Shoffner.

By Wendy Caster