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May 12, 2008

Tonys In The Morning

The Tony Nominations will be announced tomorrow morning. I have been enjoying the Broadway season without foisting it on the blog. There was always whining about pieces… so your loss. Some of you might want to expand your game.

In any case…

I have decided to throw together a list of what I see coming tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, without a NY trip in the last six weeks or so, I am short a bunch of shows that turned up late in the season: Boeing-Boeing, Cat In A Hot Tin Roof, Gypsy, In The Heights, Les Liasons Dangereuses, Macbeth, Passing Strange, Thurgood, and Top Girls.

Easily the most competitive category for a nomination – really the only category that will be really hard to get into – is Lead Actor in a Play. It’s brutal. You have The Seafarer, with a bunch of great performances and no clear lead. You have to wonder whether Tony voters will write off Nathan Lane for doing a somewhat familiar turn – brilliantly – in November. (Also, a great show that has no chance against Osage.) Terrence Howard comes to Broadway. Can they really pass on Brian Cox, great in Rock-n-Roll… or Kevin Kline, albeit miscast in Cyrano… or Morgan Freeman, a great actor having some discomfort on stage this time? There’s also The Homecoming to consider.

You’ll notice some open slots below. Hard to know where they will land. It was a season with just enough great shows to count on one hand.

And now, some picks –

NEW MUSICAL
In The Heights
Passing Strange
Young Frankenstein
Xanadu

MUSICAL REVIVAL
South Pacific
Sunday In The Park With George
Gypsy

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Daniel Evans
Boyd Gaines
Paulo Szot
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Stew

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Christopher Fitzgerald
Danny Burstein
Harvey Feirstein
Colman Domingo

ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Kerry Butler
Jenna Russell
Patti Lupone

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Mary Testa
Andrea Martin
Laura Benanti
Jackie Hoffman


BEST NEW PLAY
August: Osage County
Rock-n-Roll
The Seafarer
November

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
Boeing Boeing
The Homecoming
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

BEST ACTOR / PLAY
Brian Cox
Nathan Lane
Ben Daniels
Patrick Stewart
Mark Rylance

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR / PLAY
Micheal Maguire
David Pittu
Dylan Baker
James Earl Jones
Jim Norton

BEST ACTRESS / PLAY
Amy Morton
Sinead Cusack
Jennifer Garner
Christine Baranski
Anika Noni Rose

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS / PLAY
Deanna Dunagan
Rondi Reed
Laurie Metcalfe

Posted by poland at May 12, 2008 07:19 PM

Comments

i don't remember the last time so many of the probable musical nominees weren't available on cd by nomination day....i could be wrong but it seems unusual.....

Posted by: scooterzz [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 12, 2008 08:03 PM

David: Boeing-Freakin'-Boeing? The dinner theater staple of yesteryear? Hey, look, I haven't seen the revival -- and, yes, I've heard it is quite well done -- but, well, sheesh. Can this mean a star-studded revival of Come Blow Your Horn is inevitable?

Posted by: Joe Leydon [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 12, 2008 08:18 PM

No Tony darling Norbert Leo Butz for "Is He Dead?"

And if you're going with Rondi Reed, how about some love for Francis Guinan?!

Posted by: SJRubinstein [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 12, 2008 08:23 PM

I don't see a lot of shows because of the expense, but In the Heights is really pretty excellent (and this is coming from someone who often *wants* to love musicals but rarely actually does).

Posted by: jesse [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 12, 2008 08:29 PM

I hate live theater. So sue me.

Posted by: Wrecktum [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 12, 2008 08:35 PM

"Some of you might want to expand your game."

Not everybody has the luxery of jetting off to New York City multiple times a year, Dave.

Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 12, 2008 09:48 PM

Posted by: Joe Leydon [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 07:05 AM

"Not everybody has the luxery of jetting off to New York City multiple times a year, Dave."

That's exactly the point. Practically no one in the U.S. has the ability to see these shows. Broadway is not only regional, it's outrageously expensive. It's the most elitist of all elitist entertainments and it makes total sense that most people don't want to talk about it.

Plus, I hate live theater, so sue me.

Posted by: Wrecktum [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 09:22 AM

Three piddling noms for YOUNG FRANK? Only one--lighting!--for NOVEMBER? Nothing for the two guys from 39 STEPS? The Tonys are now officially dead to me.

Posted by: Cadavra [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 10:18 AM

Is an Abba musical really elitist? It seems most Broadway shows are aimed at tourists looking for spectacle. But BOEING BOEING? Don't Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis already own those iconic roles forever?

Posted by: christian [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 11:25 AM

It's true the stuff at the Tonys isn't practical for most people to see, but a lot of them do end up as part of the Broadway Series that travels across the country and others, so in that sense it's not completely elitist.

Posted by: brack [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 13, 2008 11:32 AM

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