Tonys!

[skynyc]

Here's a link to the listing on Playbill.com of the Tonys. They actually had it up before I could access the Tony's own website, but I also think the Playbill link will be interesting...on the Playbill Home Page, at the upper left there's a link called Awards Round-up which gives an overview of all the major awards, in NY and otherwise.

 

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/190529-68th-Annual-Tony-Awards-Nominations-Announced-Gentlemans-Guide-Leads-the-Pack

 

I must dash, and will add more thoughts later, things about which I am happy or disappointed...but I will say this:

 

I am outright ANGRY that the nominating committee didn't avail themselves of all possible slots for nominating shows.

 

This year it was determined that up to five shows could be nominated in each of the four categories: Best Musical, Best Play, Best Musical Revival and Best Play Revival.

 

I know that they Tony's try to pretend that there is some artistic merit in the whole function of the Tony Awards, but everyone knows that it comes down to one thing: MONEY. Shows that win Tony Awards generally can cash them in for boosts in the box office.

 

The fact that the committee could have nominated five new musicals and only nominated four seems almost negligent. There are four shows (all of which are running) which could have filled that fifth slot: Bridges of Madison County, Bullets Over Broadway, If/Then, and Rocky. All of these have their champions and their detractors, but the fact that the committee opted to ignore the opportunity to give one of them a shot in the arm just irks me.

 

Ditto the revival of Cabaret. Why not nominate it? Yes, it won this award in it's original production ten plus years ago, but give it the opportunity to use the Tony name to sell tickets again.

 

And in the Revival of a Play category, why not add the fifth nod? Two terrific revivals came from the Roundabout Theater Company (Winslow Boy and Machinal), who can always use the nominations to recruit subscribers. Or nominate Of Mice and Men which is playing in hopes of getting James Franco (yes, I know he's a pain,) to come on the program as a presenter. His name might add a few viewers on June 8th. Ditto if they had nominated either revival of No Man's Land or Waiting for Godot.

 

Just fill the open slots folks!!!!

 

(An appropriate sentiment on this board, no?) /;-p

[MrMiniver]

Daniel Radcliffe snubbed again. He has appeared on Broadway 3 times in 3 completely different roles and given outstanding performances all 3 times. What does he have to do to get nominated?

 

I think the Tonys have truly lost all credibility. I'm thinking I'm not even going this year I'm so disgusted.

[Cooper]

Tony Nominations 2014

 

I think the Tonys have truly lost all credibility.

 

I couldn't agree more... Just seeing "Casa Valentina" nominated as a "Best Play" shows how much clout Harvey Fierstein has over this committee. Truly, that was the worst play I've seen all season... I was happy to see that Chris O'Dowd, "Of Mice and Men", was nominated for Best Actor. Well deserved.

 

Coop

[MrMiniver]

I couldn't agree more... Just seeing "Casa Valentina" nominated as a "Best Play" shows how much clout Harvey Fierstein has over this committee. Truly, that was the worst play I've seen all season... I was happy to see that Chris O'Dowd, "Of Mice and Men", was nominated for Best Actor. Well deserved.

 

Coop

 

I'm with you on that one. That play really SUCKED a**. And not in a good way

I think they've decided to be totally insular and just year after year mostly nominate what they think of as "theater people." It's silly.

Audra McDonald could fart for an hour on stage and get an award for it. She is totally overrated. To think she has as many Tonys as Julie Harris and Angela Lansbury and MORE than Mary Martin or Ethel Merman or Jessica Tandy is simply ridiculous ... or a sign of how dumb the Tonys have gotten.

[+ Gar1eth]

Daniel Radcliffe snubbed again. He has appeared on Broadway 3 times in 3 completely different roles and given outstanding performances all 3 times. What does he have to do to get nominated?

 

I think the Tonys have truly lost all credibility. I'm thinking I'm not even going this year I'm so disgusted.

 

As I posted on the Cripple of Inishmaan Thread, that play just started. Is it eligible for the Tony's this year? I would have thought it wasn't eligible until next year.

 

Gman

[MrMiniver]

As I posted on the Cripple of Inishmaan Thread, that play just started. Is it eligible for the Tony's this year? I would have thought it wasn't eligible until next year.

 

Gman

 

It was eligible and was nominated for several Tonys ... just not Radcliffe.

[ted]

Sky

As I understand the rules its not just up to the nominators to nominate 5 instead of 4. In order for there to be 5 nominations the 5th place show has to be within 3 votes of the 4th place nom. Apparently that condition was not met, so no 5 nominations.

[+ WilliamM]

Audra McDonald could fart for an hour on stage and get an award for it. She is totally overrated. To think she has as many Tonys as Julie Harris and Angela Lansbury and MORE than Mary Martin or Ethel Merman or Jessica Tandy is simply ridiculous ... or a sign of how dumb the Tonys have gotten.

 

I do not completely agree with you about Audra McDonald. But, you are right about Martin, Merman and Tandy. People forget that the Tony Awards were established in 1947, so performances in earlier years were not recognized. Merman's first Broadway show was in 1930, Martin's in 1938. Merman starred in so many Broadway shows before 1947 that it is impossible to guess how many Tonys she might have won. Martin is a little easier. She won three Tony awards. Depending on the competition, Martin might have won a supporting actress award for "Leave It To Me" (1938) and a best actress award for "One Touch of Venus" (1943). Both shows were hits and Martin received excellent reviews. She also did another musical that was not a hit: "Lute Song" (1946) with Yul Brynner. I believe Tandy's career on Broadway started after 1946, but I can not be sure. I would not have been so aware of the timetable if the Times had not published an article on "The Glass Managerie" never receiving a Tony nomination (until this year). Of course, the main reason is that the original production opened before 1947, a fact that the Times buried in the fifth or sixth paragraph.

 

I agree with your basic point. Five Tony awards is wonderful until you examine the history of the awards, when the Tonys started and how competitive the awards were in the years McDonald (or anyone else) won.

[MrMiniver]

I don't dislike Audra McDonald. I just think she's been giving basically the same performance for around a decade. It no longer seems like a character to me, it seems like "hey, look, it's Audra McDonald playing, well, Audra McDonald." She's been coasting and I think this is borne out somewhat by the fact that whenever she makes a foray into other media (film or TV) it really sort of fails. I don't think her range is really what her fans would have you believe.

 

She's a wonderful performer, don't get me wrong, but I just haven't found her a very interesting or compelling one for quite some time.

[foxy]

Critics of Lady Day have all praised Audra's singing but what moved me was her acting and often her silences when you could just see the pain in her eyes. Perhaps she doesn't physically look like Billy Holiday but I really felt she captured her tortured soul. For me Audra completely disappeared. I think I've seen her in everything she's done on Broadway and I think her range is enormous vocally. I think she's earned every one of her Tonys and I hope she gets another (even though I'm losing respect for them).

[MrMiniver]

Critics of Lady Day have all praised Audra's singing but what moved me was her acting and often her silences when you could just see the pain in her eyes. Perhaps she doesn't physically look like Billy Holiday but I really felt she captured her tortured soul. For me Audra completely disappeared. I think I've seen her in everything she's done on Broadway and I think her range is enormous vocally. I think she's earned every one of her Tonys and I hope she gets another (even though I'm losing respect for them).

 

I'll disagree with you and the critics. To quote Dorothy Parker, her range runs the gamut from A to B. I don't dispute that she gives good performances. I just dispute that one performance (lately at least) is any different from another. Her Bess is the same as her Billie Holiday (and no she didn't for a second remind me of her in the way that say Joaquin Phoenix reminded me of Johnny Cash).

 

I've seen her since her student days and every single one of her mannerisms was present back then. But she is completely critic-proof. The opera equivalent used to be Dawn Upshaw. A limited singer with a very white voice who sang a limited number of roles. The critics thought she was the greatest thing since Callas. I found her dull as dishwater and always exactly the same and with a voice that I couldn't pick out of a line-up.

 

I think at this point she should take a page from John Larroquette's book and refuse the nominations. He won 3 years in a row or something (an Emmy for a show I never saw) and even he thought it was ridiculous and decided to withdraw his name from consideration.

 

I think she should do the same.