The Tony Awards are rapidly approaching, with the telecast scheduled for 8/7c on June 10. Since I did pretty well last year, I decided to make some predictions about who will take home the big prizes this year. My predictions are below.
Best Play
- Nominees: Clybourne Park, Other Desert Cities, Peter and the Starcatcher, Venus in Fur
- Liz's pick: Venus in Fur. I've heard great things about the show, and it also stars Tony Award nominee Nina Arianda.
Best Musical
- Nominees: Leap of Faith, Newsies, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Once
- Liz's pick: Anyone notice that this category is almost entirely made up of musicals that were based on movies? I think it'll be a close race between Newsies and Once, but I think Once might squeak by with a win.
Best Book of a Musical
- Nominees: Lysistrata Jones, Newsies, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Once
- Liz's pick: Lysistrata Jones. I think this one might come out of the woodwork to win. The plot is hilarious and I'm guessing the book is, too.
Best Original Score
- Nominees: Bonnie & Clyde, Newsies, One Man, Two Guvnors, Peter and the Starcatcher
- Liz's pick: Newsies. Gotta love Alan Menken.
Best Revival of a Play
- Nominees: Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Gore Vidal's The Best Man, Master Class, Wit
- Liz's pick: Death of a Salesman. It has been one of the top-selling Broadway shows on TicketNetwork.com for its entire run, plus it stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield.
Best Revival of a Musical
- Nominees: Evita, Follies, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, Jesus Christ Superstar
- Liz's pick: Follies. The musical had so many great stars and kept getting extended. I haven't really heard anything positive or negative about Evita or Jesus Christ Superstar, and Porgy and Bess got a lot of criticism for their changes to the original musical.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
- Nominees: James Corden, One Man, Two Guvnors; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman; James Earl Jones, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man; Frank Langella, Man and Boy; John Lithgow, The Columnist
- Liz's pick: Philip Seymour Hoffman. He's just got what it takes.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
- Nominees: Nina Arianda, Venus in Fur; Tracie Bennett, End of the Rainbow; Stockard Channing, Other Desert Cities; Linda Lavin, The Lyons; Cynthia Nixon, Wit
- Liz's pick: Nina Arianda. She was nominated last year in the same category for her role in Born Yesterday, and I predicted that she would win. Now that she's been nominated two years in a row, I think it's her year. Though Cynthia Nixon could put up a good fight.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
- Nominees: Danny Burstein, Follies; Jeremy Jordan, Newsies; Steve Kazee, Once; Norm Lewis, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; Ron Raines, Follies
- Liz's pick: Again, I think this is between Newsies and Once. Not having seen Once, I have to go with how amazing Jeremy Jordan was in NJ previews and pick him for the win.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
- Nominees: Jan Maxwell, Follies; Audra McDonald, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; Cristin Milioti, Once; Kelli O’Hara, Nice Work If You Can Get It; Laura Osnes, Bonnie & Clyde
- Liz's pick: Audra McDonald. Despite criticism for the show as a whole, McDonald has received lots of praise for her part.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
- Nominees: Christian Borle, Peter and the Starcatcher; Michael Cumpsty, End of the Rainbow; Tom Edden, One Man, Two Guvnors; Andrew Garfield, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman; Jeremy Shamos, Clybourne Park
- Liz's pick: Tom Edden. Since he came to Broadway from England, no one has probably heard of him, but he basically makes the entire show.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
- Nominees: Linda Emond, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman; Spencer Kayden, Don’t Dress for Dinner; Celia Keenan-Bolger, Peter and the Starcatcher; Judith Light, Other Desert Cities; Condola Rashad, Stick Fly
- Liz's pick: Judith Light, because I love her. (Yes, this was my exact prediction last year. Deal with it.)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
- Nominees: Phillip Boykin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; Michael Cerveris, Evita; David Alan Grier, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; Michael McGrath, Nice Work If You Can Get It; Josh Young, Jesus Christ Superstar
- Liz's pick: Michael Cerveris. He's a veteran stage performer, and the two actors from Porgy and Bess could split the P&B fan base.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
- Nominees: Elizabeth A. Davis, Once; Jayne Houdyshell, Follies; Judy Kaye, Nice Work If You Can Get It; Jessie Mueller, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever; Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ghost the Musical
- Liz's pick: Jessie Mueller. I saw her in the show, and she was just amazing. I'm really hoping she gets some recognition.
Best Direction of a Play
- Nominees: Nicholas Hytner, One Man, Two Guvnors; Pam MacKinnon, Clybourne Park; Mike Nichols, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman; Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, Peter and the Starcatcher
- Liz's pick: Death of a Salesman. See rationale for Best Revival of a Play.
Best Direction of a Musical
- Nominees: Jeff Calhoun, Newsies; Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It; Diane Paulus, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; John Tiffany, Once
- Liz's pick: Jeff Calhoun, Newsies. It takes something special to take a Disney flop from the '90s and turn it into a huge Broadway hit.
Best Choreography
- Nominees: Rob Ashford, Evita; Christopher Gattelli, Newsies; Steven Hoggett, Once; Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It
- Liz's pick: Christopher Gattelli, Newsies. I saw the previews, and the choreography was crazy cool.
Best Orchestrations
- Nominees: William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; Bill Elliott, Nice Work If You Can Get It; Martin Lowe, Once; Danny Troob, Newsies
- Liz's pick: This one's trickier because all of the shows were based on musicals (stage and screen) or already-written music. Actually, half of the category (Porgy and Bess and Nice Work) uses Gershwin music. So I'll pick something out of a hat and go with Once.
Best Scenic Design of a Play
- Nominees: John Lee Beatty, Other Desert Cities; Daniel Ostling, Clybourne Park; Mark Thompson, One Man, Two Guvnors; Donyale Werle, Peter and the Starcatcher
- Liz's pick: Donyale Werle, Peter and the Starcatcher.
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
- Nominees: Bob Crowley, Once; Rob Howell and Jon Driscoll, Ghost the Musical; Tobin Ost and Sven Ortel, Newsies; George Tsypin, Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark
- Liz's pick: George Tsypin, Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark. Comic book chic.
Best Costume Design of a Play
- Nominees: William Ivey Long, Don’t Dress for Dinner; Paul Tazewell, A Streetcar Named Desire; Mark Thompson, One Man, Two Guvnors; Paloma Young, Peter and the Starcatcher
- Liz's pick: Paloma Young, Peter and the Starcatcher.
Best Costume Design of a Musical
- Nominees: Gregg Barnes, Follies; ESosa, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; Eiko Ishioka, Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark; Martin Pakledinaz, Nice Work If You Can Get It
- Liz's pick: Eiko Ishioka, Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark.
Best Lighting Design of a Play
- Nominees: Jeff Croiter, Peter and the Starcatcher; Peter Kaczorowski, The Road to Mecca; Brian MacDevitt, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman; Kenneth Posner, Other Desert Cities
- Liz's pick: Brian MacDevitt, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
- Nominees: Christopher Akerlind, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; Natasha Katz, Follies; Natasha Katz, Once; Hugh Vanstone, Ghost the Musical
- Liz's pick: Natasha Katz, Once.
Best Sound Design of a Play
- Nominees: Paul Arditti, One Man, Two Guvnors; Scott Lehrer, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman; Gareth Owen, End of the Rainbow; Darron L. West, Peter and the Starcatcher
- Liz's pick: Gareth Owen, End of the Rainbow.
Best Sound Design of a Musical
- Nominees: Acme Sound Partners, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; Clive Goodwin, Once; Kai Harada, Follies; Brian Ronan, Nice Work If You Can Get It
- Liz's pick: Clive Goodwin, Once.