Welcome back to the final round of the 3rd Annual Marco Awards, this time for Excellence in Theatre. Looking at this year’s nominees we are getting a valuable lesson in the mindset of Broadway theatre. These awards arose two years ago as a comforting mechanism for all of us to deal with the way Covid affected our lives, especially the way we viewed the arts. Streaming TV platforms popped up all over the place. Movies were available for immediate streaming in our home, or at least a few weeks instead of months or a year later. And Broadway, the one industry that came to a sudden halt, saw the wisdom of the producers of Hamilton who arranged a successful deal to stream a filmed version of the show for free on Disney+. Suddenly the self-important unions who have greedily fought against streaming, demanding top dollar for performers, stage managers, and all other staff (who put no extra work into these production, just showed up for work as usual and allowed video cameras to film already scheduled performances, for which they would get royalties for work they’re already doing) relinquished their “pay per” attitude and encouraged free streaming of their filmed shows in the spirit of “our fans need entertainment” (i.e., “we need attention”).
Mind you, London has gratefully filmed and released their productions forever, both in movie theatres and on streaming platforms. As a matter of fact, most of the free theatre that was streamed over the lockdown was previously filmed London productions. Well, this year with theatre back in pretty full swing, American theatre obviously feels no need to continue with free streaming. Their attention needs must be getting met again. Ultimately, as a result this year, there are no nominees for any categories of streaming theatre, as the requirement is that it be free. The only free theatre stream was a London production of Sutton Foster recreating her Tony winning performance in Anything Goes that was, sadly, quite dismal. A musical farce with the best of Cole Porter’s music that was ultimately so unfunny and slow that I exercised the Tony Award escape clause that for a single nominee category, 60% of the voters must vote to give that nominee an award. Well, I, the single nominating and judging body, hated more than 60% of this production so cannot bestow any aspect of it with a Marco. But, as a glimpse of a brighter hope for the future, so far, going into next season, some stations are throwing a single free day of some filmed musicals, so we may have to take what we can get to be able to reinstate the categories again next year. For one day.
Several seasons in, the rules for theatre are being modified slightly as far as eligibility. As usual, any show I was able to attend in the nomination period is eligible, Broadway, notional tour, or regional. Replacement casts are eligible, making the Marcos the only Awards where all those categories can compete against each other. In the past, the current season Tony winners have been ineligible, like the Oscar and Emmy winners of that year, to avoid just rehashing those ceremonies. This year is the first time we have a distance from repeat shows, so the amended rules are that if a nominee has won a Tony for the previous season, they are ineligible. But the following year, all prior winners become eligible again, like in the Marco TV awards.
Now, what would any serious Theatrical Awards program be without an opening number by the host, but, darn it, covid restrictions prevented me from assembling the talent to produce one. So to open our show, pick your own adventure: one of the best Tony Award openings in this millennium (Neil Patrick Harris’ 2013 “Bigger”), or one of the even bigger messes on any awards show ever since Rob Lowe danced with Snow White (a mishmash of every show from the 2009 season, resulting in not only robbing every show of their best number to feature for their nomination, but also provided shenanigans like Brett Michaels taking headbanging to another level when he concussed himself on a set change, and the most bizarre mash-up ever with Aaron Tveit screaming “I’m Alive” at a likely drunk Stockard Channing warbling , and actually seeming to be, “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered”).
And with that, Welcome to the 3rd Annual Marco Awards for Excellence in Theatre. Let the festivities begin…
The 3rd Annual MARCO AWARDS 2023: THEATRE (LIVE and STREAMING)
BEST LIVE MUSICAL
Beetlejuice—Original Marco winner Alex Brightman returns with the relocated show that was closed over a contractual technicality by Broadway asshole producer Scott Rudin to make room for his oh-so-important Hugh Jackman Music Man. Although the new locale, the ultra modern Marquis Theatre, loses a little external atmosphere, the revived show is still funny, fresh, and off the rails with force of nature Brightman in the title role.
Into the Woods—The staple of every community and high school theatre that you’ve had to sit through 100 times gets a new fresh face-lift under the watchful eye of director Lear deBessonet, who plays the whole show for big, broad comedy, and turns out that’s what it’s been missing all along. I personally am over this show and this NY revival was amazing.
Moulin Rouge—Back in the running as a replacement cast show after it’s 2021 Tony, the second cast shows no sigh of letting up. The show is still the biggest spectacle on Broadway in all the best ways.
Phantom of the Opera—The longest running show in the world sadly just closed after a well-earned 35 year run to packed houses for just reasons. The current casts are better and stronger than the originals and the rest of the show hasn’t lost a step. Sets, costumes, and original staging are still as thrilling as ever.
Sunset Boulevard—The Kennedy Center scores the biggest hit of their Broadway Center Stage “Concert” Musical series with Andrew Lloyd Webbers masterpiece with the inspired casting of then incomparable Stephanie in the iconic role of Norma Desmond. Ina production more elaborate than the 2017 London? Broadway revival and the first time American audiences have truly heard this glorious mocj Old Hollywood score done justice and this was more impressive than either Broadway incarnation of the opus.
Tina—Even without Tony Winning dynamo Adrienne Warren in the title role, the road company of the life of the most inspirational story in rock and roll is still a thrill ride through her 5+decade career.
Wicked—The behemoth show that is almost 20 years old is still fresh, funny, and moving, even on tour.
WINNER: Sunset Boulevard. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterpiece is given grand new life by a vigorous reconception by the staff at the Kennedy Center Broadway Center Stage folks and an inspired and long overdue performance by Stephanie Block giving new life to the glorious leading lady showstoppers he composed for Patti LuPone. America finally got to see this show in all the glory it has deserved from its controversial start.
BEST LIVE PLAY
Change Agent—A world premiere play commissioned by Arena Stage in DC concerning the life of Mary Pinchot Meyer, former espionage agent for the CIA who carried on a clandestine affair with a young JFK from his PT109 days until his assassination. Between info she obtained from Kennedy and her ex-husband (who was in the notorious CIA inner circle with the shady Allen Dulles and even shadier George Bush), came to the right conclusions about the assassination that ended with her dead body on the paths of Rock Creek park 11 days later, her murder still “unsolved”.. Yeah, Oswald was the lone gunman…..
Doubt—John Patrick Stanley’s account of internal politics at a Catholic school when an old-school, by-the-book nun raises suspicions of inappropriate conduct of a charismatic, popular young priest with a student. Not a story of guilt or innocence, but the process of suspicion and allegations within the political structure of the Church is as timely and gripping as ever (The Keepers, anyone?). Produced at the amazing Fulton Theatre in Lancaster PA, the best regional theatre you’re not attending (better than any of the Baltimore/DC “premiere” regional theatres you’re used to)
Take Me Out—The Broadway revival of the hit 2002 Best Tony Play about homophobia and interracial relations in MLB. When a biracial all-star shortstop decides to come out, everything comes to a high boil in the locker room. Sadly 20 years after the show was written to reflect then-current attitudes, very little seems to have changed in the halls of sports.
A Soldier’s Play—The National Tour of the Broadway revival of Charles Fuller’s masterful account of black-on-black bullying and violence in the military at a rural southern base still drives home a powerful message.
WINNER: Change Agent. When is the government just going to tell the truth? It’s a shame we have to rely on entertainment to give us the facts and confirm what we all know, which allows the government to blame it on “Hollywood”.
BEST ACTOR in a LIVE MUSICAL
Sebastian Arcelus (Into The Woods)—Known for his TV roles in House of Cards and Madame Secretary, he is known in Broadway circles as Mr. Stephanie Block. But Arcelus proves he’s no first gentleman to his wife playing the overwhelmed Baker with a heart in the Into the Woods revival. He was a perfect match for Block and secured his own Broadway star.
Ben Crawford (The Phantom of the Opera)—Unlike original star Michael Crawford, Crawford possesses a legitimate powerful tenor that brings all the melody, chills, and heartbreak out of the role. The music has never sounded so good. A strong improvement over the original Tony winning production/actor.
Sean Grandillo (Oklahoma)—As the newly conceived Curley as toxic bully in David Fish’s reinterpreted, dark Oklahoma, Grandillo provides the conflict as we watch how he actually is more of the villain than scapegoat Jud Frye. With a charming presence to beguile everyone except his intended Laurie. It’s all there in Hammerstein’s words. Not a word or lyric was changed.
Derek Klena (Moulin Rouge)—Klena nails down a second nomination for his superior job replacing Tony Winner Aaron Tveit. Having seen both, as an avowed Tveiter Tot, I may have to admit that Klena was slightly better…
Derek Klena (Sunset Boulevard)—Broadway’s current “It Boy” for pop musicals (Jagged Little Pill, Anastasia, Moulin Rouge) stepped out of town and even further out his comfort zone, getting his second nomination, and emerged a bona fide leading man in William Holden’s role of the jaded, cynical Joe Gillis.
Aaron Levigne (Jesus Christ Superstar)—As a thankfully non-Ted Neely Jesus in Superstar (once the definitive, but that time has absolutely passed). Levigne brings a contemporary rock sound to the role in a welcome new interpretation.
Eli Meyer (Ride the Cyclone)—As a (deceptively older, age lost in the orphanage transfer) Ukranian exchange student in Arena Stage’s critically acclaimed pre-Broadway production, Meyer steals the show with his edgy, darkly hilarious portrayal, in stark contrast to his white bread Canadian classmates.
Ineligible: Original Marco Award winning Best Actor in a Musical, force of nature Alex Brightman, still wrecking havoc in Beetlejuice
WINNER: Derek Klena (Sunset Boulevard). Klena, like costar Block, utilizes this vehicle to make a career-defining upgrade in value and ability, from pop musical go-to, to star leading man. Total level up performance.
BEST ACTRESS in a LIVE MUSICAL
Stephanie J. Block (Into the Woods)—Block also competes with her self in a role that would have been a sure winner any other year, bringing humor and sympathy, and strength to Stephen Sondheim’s Baker’s Wife in the spectacular new re-envisioned revival of Into the Woods.
Stephanie J. Block (Sunset Boulevard)—Block proved to the world what I’ve known for years—that she is s superstar. As we watched her sink her teeth into the meatiest role Andrew Lloyd Webber has every composed with big showstopping ballad after big showstopping ballad as she belted the iconic role of Norma Desmond to the back of the 3rd balcony at the Kennedy Center and treated America to the most glorious, complete interpretation of the role we have ever been graced with. This run not only merited Block her second nomination this season but cemented Block’s role as the reigning Queen of American Musical Theatre.
Montego Glover (Into the Woods)—If the sublime Stephanie Block wasn’t enough, other leading lady Glover (Memphis, splitting the role with Tony winner Patina Miller) brings new depth and bigger vocals and significantly broader comedy to the role of the Witch, with a strong line of predecessors including original Bernadette Peters, Phylicia Rashad, and Vanessa Williams. Glover is a most worthy successor.
Nadina Hasaan (Mean Girls)—Strong and intimidation as Regina George in the national tour, Hasaan, in her professional debut still marvels with all the vocal acrobatics demanded of the cold-hearted queen bee.
Julia Udine (Phantion of the Opera)—Here’s one for the books. The understudy for today’s Christine in Phanton is a glorious upgrade from the original production. Again with no ill will towards Sarah Brightman, Udine’s voice is pristine and strong from top to bottom. I can’t imagine what the actual Christine is today if Udine is her second.
Zurin Villanueva (Tina)—While no one will be Tina as much as Tony-winning dynamo Adrienne Warren was, the touring company leads (splitting the demanding role between two actresses) do the role justice and carry on the tradition of a showstopping “Proud Mary”.
Danielle Wade (Mean Girls)—As awkward, homeschooled Cady Heron navigating her way through the jungle of American high school, Wade is winning with a powerful voice and confident demeanor in the national tour.
WINNER: Stephanie J. Block (for Sunset Boulevard). Of course. There should be no mystery here, when the actress I have just deemed the reigning Queen of American Musical Theatre should win for this performance of a life time (so far). Just when I thought she had delivered that in her (long overdue) Tony Award winning performance as older, wiser Cher in The Cher Show, then she gives me the most thought-provoking Baker’s Wife I’ve ever seen in Into the Woods straight into the heartbreaking Norma Desmond at the Kennedy Center. Miss Block has arrived and is perhaps the most worthy winner of a Marco in anything to date.
BEST ACTOR in a LIVE PLAY
Patrick J. Adams (Take Me Out)—As the best friend of Williams’ outed player and the de facto narrator of the story, Adams brings the sport’s all-American appeal to the show.
Norm Lewis (A Soldier’s Play)—As the military lawyer sent to investigate the death of a black officer at a southern army base, Lewis keeps the action moving with a strong, imposing performance as he solves the crime.
Luis Vega (Change Agent)—as John Kennedy in this tale of secrets and espionage on the world stage and in the bedroom, Vega gives us a glimpse inside not only the secretive world of the CIA and the White House, but also into his marriage which may have been more for convenience than we ever knew. We knew about Marilyn. We know about the Gangster’s moll. But very few beyond the DC insiders knew about Mary Pinchot Meyers who met a similar fate as her paramour for being smarter than his average mistress.
Jesse Williams (Take Me Out)—The Grey’s Anatomy heartthrob inhabits Daniel Sunjata’s Tony winning role as the shortstop who throws MLB into a tail spin when he reveals his sexuality. Williams has the easy comic delivery to keep the show from being too preachy and still relevant.
WINNER: Jesse Williams. Williams makes a big jump from TV and shows off his stage acting chops, and dry comic ability (and a whole lot else), impressive in this ensemble piece
BEST ACTRESS in a LIVE PLAY
Andrea Abello (Change Agent)—As Mary Pinchot Meyer, Abello gives us insight into the bright rising espionage star whose career-long fling with JFK flies her too close to the CIA sun.
Monica Moran (Doubt)—The reality TV star and staple of Everybody Loves Raymond plays it way serious as Sr. Aloysius, a stern, by-the-books nun who has it in for a charismatic young priest whom she is convinced is sexually abusing an underprivileged student—until she has doubt.
WINNER: Andrea Abello. In a year dominated by male-centric shows, the battle of the two sole actresses goes to Abello for her strong portrayal of a woman who in her career shed even more light on the government machinations behind the Kennedy assassination than any investigation to date, at the cost of her life. Abello plays to all our justified sympathies.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR in a LIVE MUSICAL
Christopher Barrow (Oklahoma)—Barrow injects usual assumed villain Jud Frye with our sympathy, portraying him as a sad loner who is bullied and driven to drastic measures.
Jason Forbach (Into The Woods)—An understudy who went on for Tony winner Gavin Creel as Cinderella’s Prince, one would never have known it. His preening, comic buffoonery brought big laughs and even a little eeriness in his dual role as the Wolf.
Nathan Gunn (Sunset Boulevard)—The world renowned Grammy-winning operatic baritone was intimidating and chilling as Max von Meyerling, Norma’s manservant protector.
David Josefsberg (Beetlejuice)—Dare I say that Josefsberg was a step up from original co-star Rob McClure? Josefsberg had more of the underdog quality that played better in the way the show is adapted for Alex Brightman to push around his character of struggling new ghost Adam Maitland.
Jordan Litz (Wicked)—A standout as Fiyero on the national tour, funny, charming, and hot, all the things a love interest torn between two leading ladies should be.
John Riddle (The Phantom of the Opera)—As love interest Raoul, another superior performance in an almost 40-year-old show,
Garrett Turner (Tina)—Turner was chilling as Ike Turner on the tour, and didn’t shy away from the abuse and ugly side of the character. Imagine if the show contained the infamous “Eat the cake, Anna Mae!” scene.
WINNER: Jason Forbach. For the first time in Marco history, an understudy wins the category. Makes that walks away with the category. Forbach was so precise with his broad physical humor and comic timing, one would never have know he wasn’t Cinderella’s Prince full time. Making the win even more impressive, while understudying all the male leads in Woods, he was simultaneously the vacation replacement across the street for Phantom of the Opera. Forbach may be the hardest working replacement on Broadway period.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS in a LIVE MUSICAL
Kerry Butler (Beetlejuice)—She got her start as a Disney Princess in Beauty & the Beast, but Butler changed gears after displaying her comic talents as a character actor Hairspray and it’s been no turning back since. Another quirky leading lady, the unready ghost coming to terms with her unanticipated death.
Auli’i Cravalho (Sunset Boulevard)—In her main stage debut, Cravalho (Moana, Rise) is winsome as the ingénue of the cynical piece who even trades up to advance her Hollywood worth when the occasion arises.
Lesley Kritzer (Beetlejuice)—Another highly regarded veteran character actor, Kritzer shines as a ditzy new age guru/girlfriend to Lydia’s recently widowed dad, Kritzer’s performance has grown even stronger than before in the revived production, even if the PC police shamed her into passing off the second act scene-stealing role of the dead Miss Argentina (the one scene cameo role that forced her to change her stage name officially to Lesley Rodriguez Kritzer and add she’s a “proud Jew-Rican” to her Playbill bio to shut them up…ridiculous).
Mary Kate Morrissey (Mean Girls)—Strong in the scene stealing role of goth outsider/best friend and dark center of the Mean Girls universe Janis Sarkasian, Morrisey nails the comebacks and blows the roof off the Kennedy Center with her 11:00 ode to false friends “I’d Rather Be Me” (in the iconic “She doesn’t even go here!” scene).
Krista Rodriguez (Into the Woods)—Philippa Soo’s replacement as an overwhelmed Cinderella who gets more than she bargained for with her simple request to go to the ball, even Rodriguez (Marco nominee for her role as Liza Minnelli in Halston) also find bigger humor in her role as a reluctant ingénue in her own story, with some great physical pratfalls thrown in for good measure.
Jonalyn Saxon (Mean Girls)—Saxon excels as plastic Karen Smith, “the dumbest person you’ll ever meet”, which she freely admits. Vapid yet lovable, she knocks her Halloween solo “Sexy” (a salute to slutty Halloween costumes everywhere, featuring everything from “Sexy Corn” to “Sexy Rosa Parks” and “Babe-raham Lincoln”) out of the park.
Roz White (Tina)—As Tina’s selfish and volatile mother Zelma Bullock, White is chilling as the villain adjacent who recommends her abused daughter stay with her toxic husband because of what she can get from him in return (a house, hospital bills……)
WINNER: Jonalyn Saxon. Saxon stands out among the strong supporting cast of Mean Girls, and was the only cast member missed when the replacement cast returned in the second leg of the tour, badly. (Note none of the second leg cast of the show was nominated)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR in a LIVE PLAY
Sheldon D. Brown (A Soldier’s Play)—Brown is moving as the slow but lovable country boy who can strum a guitar and swing for the fences as the star of the base’s baseball team
Alvin Crawford (Change Agent)—As Mary Pinchot Murray’s ex-husband and former intelligence cohort, Crawford becomes chilling when post-war he works his way to the top of the CIA and into the inner circle of shady leadership with George Bush and Allen Dulles.
Matthew Hydzik (Doubt)—Last seen in a great cameo as rocker Greg Allman in The Cher Show, Hydzik cleans up nicely as a charismatic, handsome young priest who becomes the victim of malicious gossip when his career is threatened with allegations of sexual abuse of a minor from an over-reaching, suspicious elder nun.
Eugene Lee (A Soldier’s Play)—Hard channeling veteran actor Adolph Caesar, who created the role on stage and screen, Lee is chilling as a black career officer who tolerates nothing short of excellence from his young troop of black privates.
Tarik Lowe (A Soldier’s Play)—As the militant private who has a deep-seeded hate for the murdered officer, Lowe excels in a slow burn performance that smolders all the way to the climax of the show.
Michael Oberholtzer (Take Me Out)—As the good ol’ boy star pitcher who is the homophobic presence in the locker room, Oberholtzer is vile and hateful, and sadly still too realistic a character twenty years after the piece was written.
Ineligible: Tony winner and TV star Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who I still maintain defeated co-star Jesse Williams not because he was better but because he was a bigger TV star. Tony voters are still worse star-effers than the overly rabid Broadway fandom. He would hot have won here.
WINNER: Matthew Hydzik. Although Stanley leaves the ending of his play obscure and up to audience interpretation, the fact that Hydzik overwhelmingly sways the audience heavily in his favor is a testament to his talent and natural charisma. And there’s no sympathy vote for being unfairly overlooked by the outdated dinosaurs of the Tony committee for The Cher Show, even if he was.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS in a LIVE PLAY
Abigail Isom (Doubt)—As the young idealistic nun who teaches the boy suspected of being abused, Isom is a warm and contrasting proponent for “innocent until proven guilty”.
Ché Lyons (Doubt)—As the working class mother of the boy at the center of the abuse allegations, Lyons is strong in her support of the priest who has helped her son, but is it because he can give him things she can’t? Lyons gives a moving, subtle poerformance.
Katheryn Terkl (Change Agent)—As Jacqueline Kennedy, Terkl brings an unexpected nonchalance to her role as the beloved First Lady, and the implication that her lack of concern over Jack’s dalliances are because they had an arrangement that allowed her the same secretive privilege in their political marriage. As well as the suggestion that, as I have always maintained, JFK Jr. was Onassis’ son.
WINNER: Ché Lyons. Again, in a male-heavy season, Lyons gives the most layered performance as the voice of reason in an emotionally charged story.
BEST SCORE of a MUSICAL
Beetlejuice—music & lyrics by Eddie Perfect
Into the Woods—music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
The Phantom of the Opera—music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Christopher Hampton
Sunset Boulevard—music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart & Richard Stilgoe
Wicked—music & lyrics by Stephen Schwartx
WINNER: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, & Christopher Hampton (Sunset Boulevard). Lloyd Webber’s masterpiece is unparalleled when it comes to grandeur, scope, and big time leading lady signature numbers, all set to the sound of an old time movie score, nothing beats Lloyd Webber at the top of his game.
BEST SCRIPT of a LIVE MUSICAL
Beetlejuice—music & lyrics by Scott Brown & Anthony King
Into the Woods—music & lyrics by James Lapine
The Phantom of the Opera— by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Richard Stilgoe
Sunset Boulevard— by Don Black & Christopher Hampton
Wicked—music & lyrics by Winnie Holzman
WINNER: James Lapine (Into the Woods). Now that we’ve seen it played for big laughs, they are there and they are effective. Clearly the one musical that reaches for depth and a lesson, and the only one solely based original material, Lapine’s Tony for the script is well deserved (even though I back the usually-wrong Tony committee that Phantom was the better show).
BEST SCRIPT of a LIVE BROADWAY PLAY
Change Agent—book by Joe DiPietro
Doubt—book by John Patrick Stanley
A Soldier’s Play—book by Charles Fuller
Take Me Out—book by Jennifer Lee
WINNER: Joe DiPietro (Change Agent) The only non-revival, this script is also an intelligent, multi-faceted, in-depth look into one of the many “unsolved” crimes of our government regarding the event that shifted the American conscience. DiPietro gives us alternate looks at iconic historical figures and as well as the truth we’ve never been allowed.
BEST STREAMED ONE-PERSON SPECIAL EVENT
David Byrne, Utopia—Although Byrne does have a full band with him on stage during his covid-era sold-out Broadway show, it basically is a one man celebration of American life through the stories behind the music of his American Utopia album and other hits from his tenure with the Talking Heads. While the only entry that fit this category this year, this one earned the award.
Interesting analysis of this season’s Marcos, where previous seasons have been virtual sweeps for New York Broadway musicals and plays. Of the ten major awards, this season New York Broadway claimed 3, a national tour 1, and regional theatre swept the other six (and half of those by the amazing Kennedy Center Broadway Center Stage concert series, which does Broadway better than most Broadway)! There is good stuff out there to be seen locally, and I, as always will maintain that the best of them are in Pennsylvania—The Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, and The Bucks Count Playhouse in New Hope. Check them out. My advice to you, New York–get it together. Your post-Covid theatre game is off. It would be wise to consider what your audiences want more than what you want them to want.
Thanks for entertaining another round of the Annual Marco Awards, a year long labor of love to the art form and my many fans who appreciate my recommendations. Check out the Movie and TV rounds if you missed them.