VERY HAPPY to see nominations for Arian in Bengal Tiger and Elizabeth Rodriguez in Motherf**ker!!!! They were the HEARTS of those productions. Also thrilled to see Colman Domingo, Mark Rylance, Yul Vazquez, John Benjamin Hickey, all 4 best Play noms, all 5 Best Actor and Best Actress noms. An incredible year for broadway!
I was surprised that Sister Act didn't get nominated for sound design. I was really impressed that I was actually able to hear 98% of the lyrics to the songs. I was pretty impressed with that.
As far as Radcliffe, I haven't seen all of the nominated performances (I think his is the only one I saw actually) but when I walked out of the theater I thought he did a nice job but even without seeing the other performances I didn't think it was Tony worthy. He was cute and didn't flub the choreography but it was evident that he isn't a dancer. That's just my opinion.
Only based on what I have heard of the two shows, I am hoping there is a shocker and Scottsboro Boys takes the top prize. Mormon will run no matter what. It is kind of like a "Wicked". It doesn't really need the Tony to sell and I don't think it needs it to tour. Parker and Stone's names alone should sell it on the road. Again, just my opinion.
I too, am pretty shocked that Radcliffe was not nominated. Granted, he didn't seem that impressive to me based on the footage I saw (and I know, it's different when you see the whole show), but I assumed he would be nominated for giving what many considered a charming performance.
Not surprised about Tveit though- his reviews weren't that positive, and though he has a great voice and carries the show, most critics found him bland.
Good for Scottsboro- I didn't expect them to get so many nominations, but it's nice to see that the show wasn't entirely forgotten.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
I find the whole book of Mormon phenomenon absurd. Appalling subject matter aside I feel the show was just amateur. Camp has been done so much better than this crap. Shows the state of the world we live in. what happened to real art? And now they have validated itcwitj do many nominations. I thought spiderman was even better.
Twelve nominations would be a highly respectable number for any show in any year, but for a show that closed 6 months ago that is truly remarkable. What is the record for number of nominations for a closed show?
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
I'm thrilled for all the Mormon and Scottsboro love! Shocked about Radcliff but not surprised about Aaron Tveit. He's a pretty face with a decent voice, that's about it. Also shocked about the no score nom for catch me if you can.
We all knew that Best Actor in a Musical was the super-tight category this year. That said, I am quite surprised that Benjamin Walker didn't make the cut, given the reviews he received.
Also, I can't remember a year in which ALL of the Best Choreography nominees were also nominated for Best Director. I don't mean the shows, I mean the actual people!! Has this ever happened before?
And congratulations to Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company for the Regional Theatre Tony Award. That brings the number of honored Chicago theaters up to FIVE!!
Im curious why you dont think SBB deserved its Set design nom. I always thought the sign of a good set is to be completely transported to the world of the play. SBB managed to do this effortlessly and with minimal materials.
"... I am looking forward to The Normal Heart movie. Ryan Murphy who does GLEE has optioned the rights and announced that Mark Ruffalo will be playing Ned Weeks, so I hope that I can be a part of that process, too."
- From Larry Kramer's Tony reaction. Was this news that was previously announced that I completely missed?!
Some trivia from this year's nominations, just for fun:
Sutton Foster and Donna Murphy now join Gwen Verdon as the only women to have received 5 nominations for Best Actress in a Musical. The only women to be nominated more than 5 times are Bernadette Peters (6) and Chita Rivera (7, plus 2 nominations for Featured Actress).
Sutton Foster made it to 5 nominations in the shortest amount of time: 10 years. Chita Rivera did it in 11 years.
Laura Benanti has now tied Andrea Martin for most nominations in the Featured Actress in a Musical category, both having been nominated 4 times.
If War Horse wins Best Play, it will be the first winner in 40 years to receive no acting nominations. The last time it was Sleuth in 1971.
Im curious why you dont think SBB deserved its Set design nom. I always thought the sign of a good set is to be completely transported to the world of the play. SBB managed to do this effortlessly and with minimal materials.
Like I said before, I don't feel like it was the set that did that. It was a bunch of chairs. I thought it was the lighting, direction, and choreography did that. What's impressive is what Susan Stroman DID with the set (which was really nothing more than a series of props). That's what was so good about the direction. The set on its own was not impressive, but I feel like the Tony committee didn't make the distinction and double counted.
I feel like, even with a very crowded season, they got most things right this year. My one minor quibble would be Priscilla in Best Musical over Catch Me (by just a tiny hair), but, overall, I'm not mad like I usually am each year!
"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim
I think Benjamin Walker should have been nominated and won. He gave a stellar performance, and brought so much natural charisma to that role. THAT was a leading performance.
Glad Verge got nominated for score. It really does have a great score.
I really want Gaad to win for Book of Mormon. I really thought he was giving one hell of a comedic performance!
Weird that "Catch Me" beat "Priscella." Priscella got better reviews, and is doing better at the box office. Hm.
WesternSky2 - It was first announced about a year ago, at the end of June, that Ryan Murphy would direct a film version of The Normal Heart starring Mark Ruffalo with a script adapted by Larry Kramer himself. It was confirmed in August. It's supposed to start filming next month during Murphy's Glee hiatus, though that may no longer be the case considering no other casting has been announced.
Joshua Henry did not deserve to be nominated. His performance was so bland and unmemorable, as compared to Brandon Victor Dixon, who made the same role the heart and soul of the Vineyard Theatre production. Henry was amateur and forgettable. Radcliffe has star quality AND genuine stage presence, which I found lacking in Henry's performance. I think Domingo deserved his nomination, but Henry and the other guy (who was so unmemorable that I can't even remember his name) were just lucky.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body