So it’s Tony night again, which marks the end of Awards Season here. What used to be a the Superbowl of Broadway has devolved into a 3-hour commercial for whatever the Tony Committee wants to promote any particular season, and for this season, it’s not much. Pop superstar Pink, whose sole connection to Broadway is that the Tony Winning Moulin Rouge opens with her collaborated megahit “Lady Marmelade”, has been selected to host. It’s an odd choice, as she’s known more for her musical prowess than her personality but the job has been filled by almost nothing but odd choices since Covid break. We’ll keep an open mind. At least it’s not another year trying to make Ariana de Bose happen or the forever uninspired hiring of Hollywood allies Neil Patrick Harris or Hugh Jackman
The story this year isn’t so much as the Awards, it’s been a hugely disappointing season with very few bright spots and the always dependable to be shitty Tony voters enacting their power and showing their superiority by omission. Again, they have not let us down underestimating their petty behavior. It’s a mildly by-the-numbers evening with minimal nominees in the Musical categories. It’s actually that kind of year where it’s more interesting and more competitive in the Revival categories than in the original ones. They, of course, snubbed Benny Andersson, Bjӧrn Ulvaeus, & Tim Rice’s modern cult favorite Chess, mostly in protest of Danny Strong’s horrible book rewrite, but taking down the show and stellar co-stars Aaron Tveit and Lea Michele with it, however I suspect for other condescending reasons.
The most egregious oversight (as always, many thanks to Dame Julie Andrews for inserting that incredibly useful phrase into our Broadway vernacular 30 years ago), is the total snub of every original musical score except the mildly successful shows 80s movie turned musical The Lost Boys, Apple TV cult hit series turned musical Schmigadoon, and British import Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York . Instead of any other musical this season, and there were some high profile names in less successful shows, they showed their snobby asses again and filled the category out with background and scene change music from two straight plays. Not cool, Tony Committee. [More elaboration in the Score discussion below.]
Broadway needs support drastically these days for any show to break even let alone succeed, and your shitty attitude is doing the artform zero help. Once again, I call for a complete housecleaning of all the dinosaur voters to get more contemporary and supportive members to reward what we see instead of what they want us to see. Of course, from what I see on the internet, maybe the next generation is no better equipped to make those decisions.
Rant over. Let’s enjoy the evening as best we can under the circumstances. Ratings have been slipping–no freefalling–every year since the misguided Covid half-season awards we had to have ASAP a year and a half later. Any further down the toilet and we’ll be watching them on YouTube from Grand Central Station next year. Pink, who may be a perfectly adequate host, is not the answer to ratings. If I had any influence, I’d have hired last year’s diva battle Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald to cohost. Imagine the two of their larger-than-life selves entering from the back of the theatre singing a duet of “Bosom Buddies” from Mame for an opening number for the ages. The ratings numbers they could rake in this year for the first 15 minutes alone…..
As usual, we’ll focus on the Musical half of the evening, as that’s what I’m better versed in , and what my audience is more interested in. The plays are all about who fliess in from Hollywood anyhow. So let’s get started, This year, the Tony Awards (should) go to…..
BEST MUSICAL
SHOULD WIN: The Lost Boys; WILL WIN: Schmigadoon
POTENTIAL SPOILER: Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York
This is the hardest category because the season is so weak there are candidates that would normally not be considered. The Lost Boys seems like the logical winner for the whole package award, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it did, but it’s a big, special effects laden pop/rock/power ballad musical made from an 80s movie, what the voters consider a big empty vessel all dressed up with no place to go. It got good enough reviews but it doesn’t seem like the artistic vehicle the dinosaur Tony committee want to think Broadway still is. The absolutely superior Mean Girls, with a razor sharp book by Tina Fey, went home 0 for 12 because of this prejudice. How desperate are the voters to make Broadway seem commercial again? Schmigadoon wouldn’t normally be a candidate, but it’s smart, funny, and a great valentine parody of the Golden Age of Broadway, so the nostalgic factor should creep in. Also, it’s a production that originated in the Kenedy Center’s sorely missed Broadway Center Stage series, the most amazing regional theatre company in the nation. That alone, under today’s bullshit Trump takeover of the sacred arts space may be enough to salute the powers that once created great art there, and rub the new board’s faces in their subsequent failures. But don’t count out Two Strangers. It’s the kind of small, charming piece that they tend to love to reward to create a name for the eventual touring company that plays all their regional houses–think Maybe Happy Ending or Avenue Q. Plus it’s the only one that is totally original.
BEST ACTOR
SHOULD WIN: Joshua Henry (Ragtime); WILL WIN: Joshua Henry (Ragtime)
POTENTIAL SPOILER: Nicholas Christopher (Chess)
GOT ROBBED: Aaron Tveit (Chess)
This category is one of the guaranteed locks. Christopher really isn’t a potential spoiler in anyone’s eyes but mine. He gave an amazing performance, the breakout of the season, but Henry is so strong and will get a first time award for a longer career and the favored show. The voters hate Chess all around. Hence, as usual, the most current of a career long snub for Tveit, one the most dependable leading men on the modern stage. I swear he would not have his single Best Actor Tony if he was not the only male in a female heavy half season during Covid. It killed them to reward him and I’m sure they took that committee vote to make sure the required 60% of the voters necessary to keep the category. No mistake, he would beat neither, and Christopher stole all the Chess thunder form his costars, but a gratitude nomination in a weak season for a lifetime of slights would have been nice.
BEST ACTRESS
SHOULD WIN: Cassie Levy (Ragtime); WILL WIN: Cassie Levy (Ragtime)
GOT ROBBED: Lea MIchele (Chess)
Yes Lea Michele has a bad reputation, some of it earned (not the best off-screen behavior during Glee), some if not (not the best on-screen behavior during Glee), but it is undeniable she has grown as a vocalist and as an actress since her Rachel Berry days, and she has without a doubt the most challenging women’s role of the season. But it’s in Chess, which Danny Strong’s horrible new book made seem more trivial than ever. One would think the shitty Broadway community would be more grateful to Michele when she swallowed her vast pride and entered the failing Funny Girl revival that they went so far out of their way not to cast her in originally (mostly due to her 4 season campaign for the role on Glee), saving the show and allowing it to turn a profit, leaving a lot of producers and voters with egg on their faces. But Levy, an unbelievable first time nominee, has a critically acclaimed past including stellar turns in Hair and Frozen and is, again, in the favored show. Look for her to be a bigger contender next season if her London Next to Normal transfers as planned. Screw you Tony voters. Michele deserved the nomination.
BEST FEATURED ACTOR
SHOULD WIN: Ben Levi Ross (Ragtime); WILL WIN: Andre de Shields (CATS: the Jellicle Ball)
POTENTIAL SPOILER: Layton Williams (Titaníque)
I know it’s sacrilege choosing over Baltimore’s pride, but youngster Ross (Dear Even Hansen) gives the more nuanced performance in the favored show. However, the CATS reboot is getting a ton of attention, and Broadway legend de Shields, who has made a career on anything but nuance, is his usual showy, commanding self in a concept role that gives into his big, gay, over-the-top persona. Plus he’s over 80 and how many more high profile roles does he have left. His win in this category for Hadestown was his triumphant return to Broadway, Cats is his lifetime achievement Tony for a long distinguished career dating back to his Ain’t Misbehavin’/The Wiz days. Williams again is not really a potential spoiler in anyone’s eyes but mine, but how can one not love a performer who steals a parody of the movie in a cameo as the Iceberg (, Bitch) carrying on wailing Dion’s version of “River Deep, Mountain High” in iceberg drag a la Tina Turner. Do I love you, my oh my!
BEST FEATURED ACTRESS
SHOULD WIN: Shoshanna Bean (The Lost Boys); WILL WIN: Shoshanna Bean (The Lost Boys)
This is a leading lady season, supporting roles are not nearly as showy. Bean is the industry and audience favorite who has never had the right role to win, and in an extra slight category (they even included Hannah Cruz, the weakest link of Chess in a show they hate), this is a win/win for the voters and the fans.
BEST REVIVAL
SHOULD WIN: CATS: The Jellicle Ball; WILL WIN: CATS: The Jellicle Ball
POTENTIAL SPOILER: Ragtime
GOT ROBBED: Chess
No one will argue that Ragtime isn’t the superior show, but an industry that hates Andrew Lloyd Webber and has spawned two generations of “fans” brainwashed to do the same (I’m so over the toxic fandom of the artform), even haters who detest the Tony winning musical in its original form are raving about the Jellicle Ball and giving it all the praise no one saw coming. With Chess arranged to be out of the picture (huge shock there) there has been more talk about the technical downgrades of Ragtime than there is praise for the new vision for CATS. Back to back wins for Sir Lloyd Webber. But don’t count out the fact that in today’s political climate, Ragtime hits differently than it once did and, like many shows this season, is more relevant than ever.
BEST DIRECTION
SHOULD WIN: Zhailon Levingston & Bill Rasch (CATS: The Jellicle Ball); WILL WIN: Zhailon Levingston & Bill Rauch (CATS: The Jellicle Ball)
POTENTIAL SPOILER: Lear de Bessonet (Ragtime)
By the same correlation, de Bessonet could win for guiding the weightier piece, but if the sole reason for CATS success is its creative new reinvention, credit goes to the directors who came up with and executed the innovative concept. Yet Broadway does love its Ragtime and this could be an easy win. And even if he hadn’t been nearly canceled over the Maybe Happy Ending replacement casting debacle, Broadway’s former Golden Boy Michael Arden has punted this season. After a glorious debut with his Once on This Island revival reinterpretation and the sweet and gentle Maybe Happy Ending, Arden has had two high profile sell-outs this year, between the vacant, bloated disaster of Queen of Versailles and the less vacant but tech heavy Lost Boys, he’s falling from grace.
BEST SCORE
SHOULD WIN: Cinco Paul (Schmigadoon); WILL WIN: Cinco Paul (Schmigadoon)
POTENTIAL SPOILER: Jim Barne & Kit Buchan (Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York)
GOT ROBBED: The Avett Brothers (Swept Away), Stephen Schwartz (The Queen of Versailles) and every other musical that debuted this season.
This category is infuriating and is judgmental Tony superiority at its worst. Yes it’s a weak season. Yes the best scores are ineligible revivals and there’s the usual ineligible jukebox musicals, but two of the five spots for Best Original Score have gone to scene change music for straight plays, which is just insulting and infuriating. They’ve even changed the official category name to Best Original Score Written for the Theatre to allow for such nonsense. But, I’m sorry, any score written for a musical is more effort and better quality than scene change music for a play. This is just the judgy Tony bitches punishing everyone else this season who wasn’t up to their “quality”. It’s offensive. The Avett Brothers in particular were robbed because their bluegrass folk score to Swept Away is surprisingly tuneful, moving, and effective, regardless how the show sold. And I’m sorry, but even if Queen of Versailles was the most expensive bomb of the decade, and even if it’s not up to his standards of his trifecta of Wicked, Pippin, and Godspell, how are you telling Broadway legend Stephen Schwartz his music isn’t as good as Nathan Lane’s scene change music. They are out of control. Any other two musicals should have filled those spots, but these two in particular were offensive choices to send messages to shows they didn’t like.
Back to the category at hand. The Tony voters surprisingly went out of their way to consider Schmigadoon eligible because of “substantially enough new material written for the stage show” (that’s how desperate they were for another entry in the field). Thank you for that, but honestly there is virtually no new material written for the stage show. The entire score of the Apple TV cult hit is intact with a few new reprises of existing songs and lyric changes. But I’ll take it. The score is smart and funny, perfect contemporary valentines to iconic songs by the masters (with a slight, fun edge), from “Oklahoma” to “Trouble” to “Always True to You Darling in My Fashion”, and they’re not just amazing parodies and salutes, they’re genuinely good songs. If the judges want to send a message to loud power scores (The Lost Boys), Schmigadoon is the way to go. But don’t count out the genuinely original score for Two Strangers. This could be a reward for the intimate show.
BEST BOOK
SHOULD WIN: Cinco Paul (Schmigadoon); WILL WIN: Cinco Paul (Schmigadoon)
POTENTIAL SPOILERS: Jim Barne & Kit Buchan (Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York), Marla MIndelle, Constantine Rousouli, & Ty Blue, (Titaníque)
The same philosophy for score goes to book, where Schmigadoon is a genuinely smart and funny parody of Broadway’s best, but if they want to reward the small romantic comedy that’s well done, here is the category to do it without going full on revolt sweep on the show. However, do not count out dark horse Titaníque, Mindelle. Rousouli, and Blue’s much funnier than it should be salute to the hit epic movie and the music of grande dame chanteuse Celine Dion. It’s the same vein as pre-Covid’s Disaster but better executed. In an impressive turn, Mindelle also stars as Narrator Celine Dion and Rousoui as Jack Dawson, with Blue as director. Part of me again wants to award it the win for the sheer genius of making the Iceberg (, Bitch!) as a drag queen dressed as ice blue Tina Turner caterwauling “River Deep, Mountain High” alone. But there are critics that are predicting the funny spoof neck and neck with the other contenders.
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
SHOULD WIN: Omari Wiles & Arturo Lyons (CATS: The Jellicle Ball); WILL WIN: Omari Wiles & Artruro Lyons (CATS: The Jellicle Ball)
This should be a lock. Again, when a generally underappreciated show becomes the darling, you have to reward the concept revisions. There really is no other contender.
BEST COSTUMES
SHOULD WIN: Qween Jean (CATS: The Jellicle Ball); WILL WIN: Qween Jean (CATS: The Jellicle Ball)
By the same philosophy, another virtual lock. The radically reinvented costume designs here are part of the new magic.
BEST SCENIC DESIGN
SHOULD WIN: Dane Laffrey (The Lost Boys); WILL WIN: Dane Laffrey (The Lost Boys)
POTENTIAL SPOILER: Rachel Hauck (CATS: The Jellicle Ball)
GOT ROBBED: Dane Laffrey (The Queen of Versailles)
The tech awards are undeniably The Lost Boys guaranteed wins, unless they go full on sweep for the CATS reboot. But again, we know they hated Queen of Versailles but that set was one of the most spectacular in years. On one hand, again screw the Tony committee for withholding credit for categories regardless of the show’s general reception, but on the other, it’s not a huge issue in this case, because it’s just Laffrey beating himself. Even if he would have split the vote with his other creation, he’d still win. He’s the king of visuals this year.
BEST LIGHTING
SHOULD WIN: Jen Schriever & Michael Arden (The Lost Boys); WILL WIN: Jen Schriever & Michael Arden (The Lost Boys)
Tony voters know nothing about lights and consider “Best Lights” and “Most Lights” the same. In this case they are indisputably the same and with no competition.
BEST PLAY
Liberation by Bess Wohl
BEST REVIVAL of a PLAY
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
BEST ACTOR in a PLAY
In a showdown between Hollywood legend John Lithgow as author Raoul Dahl in Giant and Broadway legend Nathan Lane as weary iconic Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman, despite significant praise and more exposure for a very worthy Lane, Tony is the ultimate star-F’er. But even without that boost, I expect John Lithgow to edge out the win as the quintessential actor he is.
Look for similar themed Hollywood victories Leslie Manville in Oedipus, and Laurie Metcalf in Salesman,