THE TONY AWARDS!

It's that time of year when the Broadway community honors it's own and handful of us care so much we'd rather watch the Tonys than the last episode of The Sopranos. Ha!

The following are not my predictions but who I hope will win. My votes in bold and red.

Best Play

The Coast of Utopia
Frost/Nixon
The Little Dog Laughed
Radio Golf

This show is long closed but I cannot get it out of my mind. I really feel it was one of the best plays I have seen in quite some time. Perfectly paced, hilarious and witty. It doesn't stand a chance next to mega-epic Utopia though.


Best Musical
Curtains
Grey Gardens
Mary Poppins
Spring Awakening

Having just seen Grey Gardens this week, which is more fresh in my mind, I still have to go with Spring Awakening. The music is just so fantastic and the performances are outstanding. I loved Grey Gardens but I think Christine Ebersole makes or breaks it.


Best Book of a Musical
Curtains, Rupert Holmes & Peter Stone
Grey Gardens, Doug Wright
Legally Blonde The Musical, Heather Hach
Spring Awakening, Steven Sater
I know I am flip-flopping in a way here but the one thing that really holds me back when it comes to Spring Awakening is the book, which I find it's weaker element. Grey Gardens wins this one for me.

Best Original Score
Curtains
Music: John Kander
Lyrics: Fred Ebb, John Kander & Rupert Holmes

Grey Gardens
Music: Scott Frankel
Lyrics: Michael Korie

Legally Blonde The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin

Spring Awakening
Music: Duncan Sheik
Lyrics: Steven Sater
On the way home from Grey Gardens this past Tuesday I ran into Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater and had the opportunity to wish them luck on Tony night. They win this one hands down.


Best Revival of a Play
Inherit the Wind
Journey's End
Talk Radio
Translations
How can it not? And with Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy? C'mon!


Best Revival of a Musical
The Apple Tree
A Chorus Line
Company
110 in the Shade
If you read my blog at all this will be quite a shock. (I am being sarcastic.) Obsessed much? :o)

Best Special Theatrical Event
Jay Johnson: The Two and Only
Kiki & Herb Alive on Broadway
Sorry - no opinion here! Well I guess Jay Johnson, even though dummies are creepy. And I just don't think KIki and herb are funny!

Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Play
Boyd Gaines, Journey's End
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Brían F. O’Byrne, The Coast of Utopia
Christopher Plummer, Inherit the Wind
Liev Schreiber, Talk Radio
Again - please! How can he not win?!?

Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Play
Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Swoosie Kurtz, Heartbreak House
Angela Lansbury, Deuce
Vanessa Redgrave, The Year of Magical Thinking
Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed
Sigh - I know she was widely recognized for her breakout performance in this show - she was truly outstanding - but this is some ridiculous competition! I still hope Julie wins. She brought the house down.



Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, LoveMusik
Raúl Esparza, Company
Jonathan Groff, Spring Awakening
Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins
David Hyde Pierce, Curtains
I have been a fan of Raul Esparza since Rocky Horror and Tick Tick Boom and have seen him in virtually everything he has done since. This is definitely his year. Company was a mediocre revival but Raul makes the entire show worth it. His "Being Alive" is astounding. In one song he wins it.

Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Musical
Laura Bell Bundy, Legally Blonde The Musical
Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens
Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade
Debra Monk, Curtains
Donna Murphy, LoveMusik
I don't know how Christine Ebersole can possibly lose. Her portrayal of Edith and Little Edie Beale is really the role of a career. I was completely transfixed by her from beginning to end. She pulled me into the lives of these women and made me forget I was watching a show. It would have been very easy to turn these characters into characitures but she breathes real life into them. Unbelievable. It will be a real upset if she doesn't get it. (But she will!)

Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Play
Anthony Chisholm, Radio Golf
Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia
Ethan Hawke, The Coast of Utopia
John Earl Jelks, Radio Golf
Stark Sands, Journey's End
This is a total guess here. Not just because he is cute and I sat next to him a restaurant a couple months ago. And not because I love Reality Bites.

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Play
Jennifer Ehle, The Coast of Utopia
Xanthe Elbrick, Coram Boy
Dana Ivey, Butley
Jan Maxwell, Coram Boy
Martha Plimpton, The Coast of Utopia
Again. I am guessing. And not just because she is a Goonie.

Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
Christian Borle, Legally Blonde The Musical
John Cullum, 110 in the Shade
John Gallagher, Jr., Spring Awakening
David Pittu, LoveMusik
This is an award for the truly exceptional and John Gallagher, Jr. is the most deserving of this award. His portrayal of Moritz in Spring Awakening is what stays with me most of all. It's haunting, funny, and his voice is really unique. Can't wait to see this show again just to see him.

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Musical
Charlotte d’Amboise, A Chorus Line
Rebecca Luker, Mary Poppins
Orfeh, Legally Blonde The Musical
Mary Louise Wilson, Grey Gardens
Karen Ziemba, Curtains
I think she has been overshadowed a bit by Christine Ebersole. Mary Louise Wilson is remarkable as the older version of Edith Beale. I can still hear here high-pitched shrill call "EEEEEEEDIE?????"

Best Direction of a Play
Michael Grandage, Frost/Nixon
David Grindley, Journey's End
Jack O'Brien, The Coast of Utopia
Melly Still, Coram Boy
Just guessing and I'm probably right. Directing an eight hour epic is quite a feat!

Best Direction of a Musical
John Doyle, Company
Scott Ellis, Curtains
Michael Greif, Grey Gardens
Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening
This a really tough choice here! But I have to give it to Michael Greif. (No - not because he also directed Rent!)

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, Curtains
Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear, Mary Poppins
Bill T. Jones, Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde The Musical
I didn't see Legally Blonde so this is just based on how much I have enjoyed Jerry Mitchell in the past. I LOVE Spring Awakening but didn't care much for the choreography.



Best Orchestrations
Bruce Coughlin, Grey Gardens
Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening
Jonathan Tunick, LoveMusik
Jonathan Tunick, 110 in the Shade
Again the music in this show is so powerful and lush and beautiful. No contest.

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Bob Crowley & Scott Pask, The Coast of Utopia
Jonathan Fensom, Journey's End
David Gallo, Radio Golf
Ti Green and Melly Still, Coram Boy
Have I mentioned that when it comes to many of the play categories I am just guessing?

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Christine Jones, Spring Awakening
Anna Louizos, High Fidelity
Allen Moyer, Grey Gardens
This nomination and my Tony pick may seem to come from nowhere but I haven't seen a set design like this in ages! Probably the only thing really awe-inspiring about this show - and I so wanted to love it! But the seemless changes, the transformations of the settings, the fact that the record store looked like they dropped a really authentic record store on the stage wins it in my opinion. Anna Louizos also designed the set for In The Heights which is transferring to Broadway. I hope they employ her talents there.

Best Costume Design of a Play
Ti Green and Melly Still, Coram Boy
Jane Greenwood, Heartbreak House
Santo Loquasto, Inherit the Wind
Catherine Zuber, The Coast of Utopia
La di da...

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Legally Blonde The Musical
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Susan Hilferty, Spring Awakening
William Ivey Long, Grey Gardens
Can we also give a nod to the late Little Edie herself who dressed up in sweaters over her head a scarves? Pantyhouse over the outside of her shorts? Took the drapes down from the windows and wore them as capes? Wow. See the lyrics to "The Revolutionary Costume For Today" here:
http://www.libretto.musicals.ru/text.php?textid=701&language=1

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, Coram Boy
Brian MacDevitt, Inherit the Wind
Brian MacDevitt, Kenneth Posner, and Natasha Katz, The Coast of Utopia
Jason Taylor, Journey's End
I have to admit ignorance here. I have no clue about lighting. How can I pick?

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, Spring Awakening
Christopher Akerlind, 110 in the Shade
Howard Harrison, Mary Poppins
Peter Kaczorowski, Grey Gardens
Again ...ummmmm....?

So those are my picks! We'll find out tonight who the real winners are!