2012 Tony Award Nominations

[Big Magilla]

I thought the best scenes were the highlights from the newly imagined Porgy and Bess and the soulful bit from Once . The intimacy of that scene worked better on TV than the frantic scene from Newsies.

Not only does the scene from Follies not work out of context, Danny Burstein's interpretation struck me as not nearly as good as Gene Nelson's in the original or for that matter, Mandy Patinkin in 1985's Follies in Concert, but Burstein is a hugely popular Broadway actor, he's married to the equally popular Rebecca Luker and he, unlike Bernadette Peters, whose songs work much better out of context, was a nominee which makes the decision to showcase him seem reasonable.

The worst, to me, was the amateurish cruise ship produciton of Hairspray, but all of the religious themed shows, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar and Leap of Faith looked embarassingly amateurish as well. The only good thing about the revival of Evita is that the new star, Elena Roger, unlike Patti LuPone or Madonna, looks amazingly like the real Eva Peron, but her singing sucks, and Ricky Martin's boyish singing as Che is all wrong. Granted, the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice score is not the greatest, but it dserves better than what sounds like a junior high school production.

I had seen a scene from Peter and the Starcatcher on some news show a couple of weeks ago which looked totally stupid. The scene they showed on stage at the Tonys didn;' strike me as much of an improvement. And what exactly does that guy from One Man, Two Guvnors do besides roll around on the floor?

I didn't have a problem with any of the speeches although some of them did go on too long. Jordan Roth was on Morning Joe on MSNBC with his Clybourne Park Tony and said pretty much the same thng, that he's a fan first. A pretty big one. He owns five Broadway theatres including the one playing The Book of Mormon. The trust-fund baby was the youngest producer ever nominated for a Tony - he was 24 when he was nominated for the revival of The Rocky Horror Show. He won his first Tony for the revival of Hair. His mother, Daryl Roth, won the Tony last year for producing War Horse .

[Mister Tee]

Also, I know that the Tonys (and the New York stage) are always seen as "gay" -- wasn't Harris's 50 Shades of Gay joke one of the very first -- but it's worth noting that almost all of the televised winners last night thanked opposite-sex significant others. (And it's not like the content of most of the nominated productions was very gay either.)

As one after another of the nominated best actors in a musical were shown with women beside them, I said to my wife, Good god, heterosexual are taking over musicals.

My wife will tell you that the producer problem at the Tonys is a reflection of producer problems on Broadway in general. As shows became more expensive (from the late 70s on), people who used to be known as Angels (i.e., investors who did nothing beyond putting up money and attending opening night) demanded to be listed as producers. Worse, some of them started to ACT like producers. There were people whose knowledge of theatre wouldn't fill a thimble who felt justified in giving Tommy Tune notes during Grand Hotel. You should be happy if a non-talent's transgressions are limited to hogging a spot on the Tony stage.

[Mister Tee]

Having watched Follies' years-long history of Tony disappointment -- starting in 1972, when the show won 7 awards, incliidng directing, choreography & score, but fell to Two Gentlemen of Verona for best musical -- I've concluded there's something sour in the show that just ultimately doesn't appeal to voters. Apparently that Burstein guy is thought to be the best in the show, and I always thought Buddy's Blues was a terrific number, but, as dws says, out of context it doesn't play. The two times I've seen the show, Who's That Woman? and The Story of Lucy and Jessie were the knockout numbers; I'd have highlighted one of those.

I feel like I've come full circle on the Tonys. In my early years watching (this goes back to pre-national broadcasts; I saw Hello Dolly! win on some local channel in 1964), I knew the shows only by reputation, not having seen any of them. As years went on, I saw more and more; in the 70s and 80s, I was almost as familiar with the contenders as I was with Oscar nominees. But, for various reasons, that's declined in recent times, and now I'm back to watching it as a competition between titles I know only seecond-hand.

That said, in principle I'm more inclined to support something delicate and ambitious like Once than a rousing thing like Newsies. Kazee's speech was indeed endearing, as were several others. (Though you have to ask: was there a plague of relatives dying connected to Tony season this year?) Peter and the Starcatcher looks interesting as well. You have to figure only the desire to once again honor Mike Nichols kept the show from a directing win on top of all its tech prizesl. (Unavoidable side issue: Nichols' speech tells us that getting old is a sadly universal affliction) As with dws, my far greater interest would be in seeing the plays -- Clybourn Park and Venus in Fur, particularly. (I was interested in Other Desert Cities, but a friend I trust has warned me off it in very harsh terms)

The show itself wasn't up to other Neil Patrick Harris appearances (though I did like his closing bit). The Patinkin/Lupone exchange was a bit on the precious side, but stayed just brief enough to be endearing.

It was indeed a break from recent years to see so many theatre-folk winning over the bus-ed in Hollywood names (the trend had been for even egregious interlopers like Zeta-Jones to triumph). Even Judith Light has a pretty decent NY stage pedigree, despite many of us knowing her mostly from crap TV. No-names winning over Hoffman and Garfield was a refreshing change.

[The Original BJ]

A frenemy of mine won a Tony last night as a "producer" in one of the top categories -- and by "producer," I mean an assistant who basically did no actual producing but got a vanity credit. (Said "producer" also has a reputation for sleeping with anyone he can to get ahead -- my friends and I literally cringed when his enthusiastic face appeared on camera after the show's victory.) But, personal annoyance aside, it got me wondering why, say, at the Oscars, only three producers can win Best Picture, but at the Tonys, umpteen people and companies (and the slew of producing partners at those companies) can ALL win a Tony in one of the top categories. It seems to minimize the actual achievement of the small few who actually PRODUCED the damn thing, when anyone who contributed a dime or two can walk off with a Tony for far less effort.

Yeah, the Follies number seemed odd out of context. But it's not like a lot of the others were special either. Some were actively bad (Ghost, especially), and others just boring (Evita). I thought Newsies and Porgy and Bess came off the best.

Alan Menken is now an Emmy away from an EGOT.

In general, I didn't think Neil Patrick Harris was nearly as funny as he was last year. And from a production/writing standpoint, there was also something schizophrenic about the overall attitude of the show. Elements like Harris's song featuring lines from tons of classic musicals seemed to celebrate Broadway's history, as the telecast often likes to do, albeit in an overly-revered, "isn't Broadway AWESOME?!" kind of way. But then there were fairly extreme cases of ignoring the New York stage's legacy -- presenting Bernadette Peters's award OFF the main telecast, and, most shockingly (to me), omitting an In Memoriam section.

Also, I know that the Tonys (and the New York stage) are always seen as "gay" -- wasn't Harris's 50 Shades of Gay joke one of the very first -- but it's worth noting that almost all of the televised winners last night thanked opposite-sex significant others. (And it's not like the content of most of the nominated productions was very gay either.)

[OscarGuy]

I really liked the number from Once. I think it looks like a departure from the grandiose stage musicals I've been familiar with. I also happen to love that song, so it helped.

But notice how the only BIG, outside-of-theater name that received an award was Judith Light. Everything else, I think, went to people those not in the theater community probably wouldn't know.

[dws1982]

None of the performances exactly made me want to hop a plane to New York, although most of the plays looked interesting. I wasn't very charmed by Once, but I was totally won over by Steve Kazee's acceptance speech. Poor Audra McDonald though! In general, I thought she came off really badly--especially her half-joke about being raped onstage, which achieved a level of cringeworthiness that I haven't seen on an awards show in quite some time. Worst speaker, though, was the producer of some winning show (can't remember what) who went on and on with some unbearably pretentious statement about what theatre is.

The Follies number didn't play well at all out of context. If you're going to just do a number showcasing one or a few cast members, they would've been better off with something like "Too Many Mornings", or maybe "Could I Leave You?" I think the fact that it's been gone so long hurt it; Sondheim's trashing of Porgy and Bess probably didn't help either.

[The Original BJ]

Saw the revival of Follies last week. I understand it's considered to be a strong competitor in the Musical Revival race, and I'd have no problem with it winning (at least, having not seen any of the other contenders). It's such a sad, human show, with an excellent cast performing one showstopper after another. (At the performance I saw, a handful of numbers received scattered standing ovations from pockets of the audience.)

Both leading ladies were absolutely fantastic. I'd thought the Lead Actress Tony was Audra McDonald's to lose (and I still think it probably is), but Maxwell's ferocious rendition of "Could I Leave You" could provide some strong competition. And Victoria Clark's "Losing My Mind" was just heartbreaking -- had she been eligible for a Tony and snubbed, I'd have been hugely disappointed.

The leading men were both quite good too -- I understand Danny Burstein is seen as in the race to win for his hugely energetic performance, and it's nice to see someone who's really more of a character type get a chance at a strong leading man role. And Ron Raines, something of a surprise nominee, clearly merits his mention for what he does with that wondrous voice alone.

Featured nominee Jayne Houdyshell's "Broadway Baby" was a real crowd-pleaser, though I can't say I necessarily thought her any more of a standout than Terri White (with the "Who's That Woman" tap number) and, especially, Elaine Page, whose "I'm Still Here" was, for much of the audience, one of the show's highlights. I'm honestly a little surprised Page didn't get a nomination.

On a tech level, I'd also like to give a shout-out to the lighting, which wonderfully (and, subtly, I might add) gives different looks to the actors in the flashback sections, allowing them to appear like ghosts haunting the protagonists in the present-day thread.

Also...it's worth noting that THREE of this show's performers were (rightfully) nominated in the Lead categories (and, had, Bernadette Peters made the cut, she presumably would have been placed there as well.) Yes, Oscar, a story CAN have more than one lead role.

[flipp525]

Cinemanolis:

"Sleep No More" is one of the most thrilling theatrical experiences I've ever had. It's basically like being inside of an interactive version of The Shining. My advice: take full advantage of the bar before the show and be open to anything once you get inside the halls of The McKittrick Hotel. It's exhilarating! (And I managed to get a private show in an insane asylum with a very creepy nurse and a rickety wheelchair...) Oh, and you might want to brush up on your Macbeth before you get there.

I would also suggest that you see "The Lyons". I haven't been able to myself, but I've been a fan of Nicky Silver since college and have either performed or stage managed a couple of his plays in the past. He's hilarious and daring and I'm so happy that he's being recognized this year. His main female characters are always teetering on the edge. I'm sure Lavin rattles off his crazy dialogue with aplomb.

[Reza]

Any suggestions about productions currently playing in NY. I will be there next week and i plan to see around 15 productions.

Find this mind boggling.....15 productions !! An expensive NY trip but I do envy you. Enjoy!!

[Cinemanolis]

Actually Michael Cerveris is nominated.

Not suprised that B.Peters was snubbed, her performance in "Follies" was nothing special, while her co-star Jan Maxwell was fantastic.

I was thrilled about the "One Man, Two Guvnors" nominations. I saw it in London and it was hilarious.

Any suggestions about productions currently playing in NY. I will be there next week and i plan to see around 15 productions.

Already have tickets for
Evita
Clybourne Park
Other Desert Cities
Sleep No More
Gatz
Death of a Salesman
Medieval Play

and i also plan to visit TDF for tickets for
The Best Man
Venus In Fur
Once
Peter and the Starcatcher

for the remaining evenings/nights i was thinking a couple from the following
Lonely I'm Not
Nice Work If You Can Get It
The Lyons
How to Succeed
Porgy and Bess

I also decided not to go to Newsies, End of the Rainbow, Spider Man, David Rabe's new play Early History of Fire, and Tennessee William's premiere (! lol) "In Masks Outrageous and Austere").

Any suggestions/recommendations?

[Big Magilla]

Wasn't Bernadette Peters a pretty widely expected nominee for Follies? Even if she'd made it, would anyone be able to stop Audra from winning Tony #5?

From the litte I know Jan Maxwell was expected, with Peters considered a possibility.

I'm not so sure they're ready to make Audra MacDonald the third five-time winner along with Julie Harris and Angela Lansbury, though it's entirely possible. Maxwell and the girl from Once could give her some competition.

But, yes, Menken is a likely co-winner winner for Best Score for Newsies.

[anonymous1980]

Furthermore, there's an Original Score lineup made up of 50% straight plays.

How can a straight play get a score nomination? Did they just nominate background music with no lyric?

The plays nominated this year, I've been told, do have actual songs in them. One has original songs that are used a scene transitions and the other has incidental original songs not enough to be considered a musical. There are a fair amount of plays that have full original background scores in them and they are eligible to compete in the Original Score category.

Eiko Ishioka got a posthumous nomination for Spiderman. She has never won a Tony. I wonder if she can pull off a win.

[OscarGuy]

Peters received an honorary award. That may have had something to do with it.

[Greg]

Furthermore, there's an Original Score lineup made up of 50% straight plays.

How can a straight play get a score nomination? Did they just nominate background music with no lyric?

[The Original BJ]

I hit New York just before the nominations last year, so I'd seen a handful of the top productions recognized last season. This year, I'm completely in the dark -- though the revival of Follies transfers to LA this week, so I'll have a chance to catch that.

It says a lot about the current state of the American musical that 75% of the Best Musical nominees are movie adaptations, and the fourth is a jukebox show. And most of the shows that didn't make the cut -- Ghost & Spider-Man -- are film-based as well. Furthermore, there's an Original Score lineup made up of 50% straight plays.

Speaking of Original Score...Alan Menken would seem to be a shoo-in, right? Beloved songwriter, multiple Tony nominations but never a win, two shows nominated for Best Musical this year, competing against two plays and a musical that flopped...it would seem to be his time.

It's fairly rare at any awards show for a production to nab only one nomination and have it be the top category, but the poorly reviewed, box-office flop Leap of Faith did just that. Everyone I know who saw this in its LA run said it was absolutely atrocious -- apparently, it's been severely reworked since then, although reviews would seem to indicate it's only marginally better.

Wasn't Bernadette Peters a pretty widely expected nominee for Follies? Even if she'd made it, would anyone be able to stop Audra from winning Tony #5?