Well, kids, it’s TONY time, and this morning, the nominations for the 2009 awards were announced, and there were a few shockers in the mix. That’s right, the TONYs, also known as ‘an even gayer Oscars’ and a celebration/desecration of all the theatre community has to offer. Whether or not you agree with my opinion, I can at least say I know what I’m talking about when I discuss this shit – I’ve seen every Broadway production this season except for “Waiting for Godot” (which I’m seeing tomorrow), so until tomorrow night, I can’t speak as to how deserving/egregious its Best Revival nomination, and lack of ones for Nathan Lane, Bill Irwin, or John Goodman, are. But everything else, I’ve seen, and is fair game.
Truth be told, I think this is the most pleased I’ve been with nominations in quite some time, akin to how I felt about the Oscars the year the Academy inexplicably removed their heads from their asses and nominated “There Will Be Blood” and “No Country for Old Men.” Anyway, we’re here to talk about theatre, so below, I’ll give my thoughts about the worthy nominees, not-so-worthy nominees, and egregious snubs (as well as the worthy snubs) contained within this morning’s TONY nomination announcements; considering the number of categories, I’ve just tackled the chief Play/Musical/Revival categories, as well as the acting ones:
Best Play
- Dividing the Estate
- God of Carnage
- Reasons to Be Pretty
- 33 Variations
Two great plays made the shortlist (“God of Carnage” and “Reasons to Be Pretty”) and two really good ones, so no complaints here. It’s tough to say who exactly I’d cast my vote for, as “God of Carnage” was easily my favorite experience at a play this season (I’ll confess, I’ve seen it thrice), but in terms of pure written word, “Reasons to Be Pretty” probably takes the cake. Also, “Carnage” with its A-list cast has been selling out for its entire run, while the nameless “Reasons,” which has been regularly struggling to fill more than 25% of the Lyceum theater, could really use the boost a TONY win would give.
It’s a tough call, but I have to give my vote (and my prediction for the win) to “God of Carnage” – it’s a vicious, dark-but-hilarious crowd-pleaser that’s been breaking the bank, and that’s tough to beat. In terms of snubs, the not-bad-as-reviews-said “Impressionism” was, as expected, completely shut out. Also completely ignored in every single category: the thoroughly lame and familiar Holocaust porn “Irena’s” Vow.” Expect a closing notice within hours.
Best Musical
- Billy Elliot, The Musical
- Next to Normal
- Rock of Ages
- Shrek The MusicalIf you’re like all my musical-loving friends and pretty much everyone on the BroadwayWorld.com and Broadway.com message boards, you’re probably still having a conniption fit right now. The queer-beloved (Justin included) “9 to 5” was shockingly – and deservingly, if I might add – left off the nomination short list for Best Musical, in favor of the insanely fun (and loathed by theatre fags everywhere) “Rock of Ages.”
Frankly, this has been a pretty shitty season for original musicals, and in my purview, there were only two that even deserved mention in this category (“Next to Normal” and “[title of show]”), so the fact that one of them made it in is good enough for me. I have no great hate for “9 to 5,” but it was just a big, processed, candy-colored, minorly fun musical machine with lame jokes and no memorable songs, so I’m kind of happy that the nominating committee showed some balls and left it off.
I’ll try my best to ignore that they gave my most loathed musical of the season (the soul-sucking, movie-tarnishing, insincere, grossly sentimental “Billy Elliot”) a record-tying 15 nominations. “Shrek” was nothing special, but significantly more entertaining than it had any right to be, so I’m not mad about it’s nomination – not much else to say about it really. “Next to Normal,” for my money, is by far the best thing on Broadway right now – play or musical – and deserves any and all accolades brought to it.
Not only the only one of these nominees that’s genuinely emotionally resonant, and an actual piece of art, "Normal’s" just insanely compelling, brilliantly acted, and jam-packed with awesome, beautiful, iPod-worthy music to boot. Though it’s more of a dark horse in this race, taking a backseat to the touring-friendly “Billy,” I think one would be wise to seriously watch out for its chances, and even if it doesn’t end up winning, I think these 11 nominations could go a long way towards bringing people in and finally getting the word-of-mouth the show desperately needs out there.
As for “Rock of Ages,” well… no, this isn’t a “good” show. And I won’t lie, both times I’ve seen it, I went drunk – but for anyone with an affinity for ‘80s music, the show’s a sincere blast, and I know I had a fuck of a good time with it. I probably wouldn’t advise anyone pay $100 to see it ($26.50 orchestra lottery 90 minutes before curtain is the way to go), but if you do, it’s a good, fun, trashy, silly time at the theatre. It maybe doesn’t deserve the title of “TONY Nominee for Best Musical” that it’ll get to brandish years from now, but I’m kind of glad it’s in here – at the end of the day, I’d rather see it take the big prize than “Shrek” or “Billy.”
Best Revival of a Play
- Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
- Mary Stuart
- The Norman Conquests
- Waiting for Godot
This was always the category that was going to be a bloodbath. Where certain categories had a dearth of quality (see: Best Musical), this one had an embarrassment of riches. No matter who made it in, at the end of the day, there just had to be unfair productions getting the chop. I think it’s fucking ridiculous that there’s no mention of “The Seagull” or the brilliant “Exit the King” here, but it’s tough to argue with the choices.
Like I mentioned, I haven’t seen “Godot” yet, but “Mary Stuart” is terrific, and “Joe Turner” is one of the better productions of August Wilson I’ve ever seen. That said, the trilogy of “The Norman Conquests” deserves to win this (and probably will). The plays are right up my alley, both enormously sad and brilliantly funny – often within the same line of dialogue – and infinitely rewarding for anyone looking for either entertaining works or theatre with some meat on its bones. Frankly, I'm just grateful the wildly overrated "Blithe Spirit" was left off the short list.
Best Revival of a Musical
- Guys and Dolls
- Hair
- Pal Joey
- West Side Story“Hair.” Nuff said. This is another shit-show of a category, with barely anything to choose from. “Guys and Dolls” was awful, and “Pal Joey” was mediocre (I’m being generous). “West Side Story” was a solid production, but hindered by a number of problems; chief among them,
(a) an infinitely boring leading man in Matt Cavenagh, and
(b) Sharks and Jets who looked like they might whip out the poppers and lube and start fucking each other at any moment. “Hair,” on the other hand, was perfection, making a show that’s often been ripped for being dated and a very specific product of its time period, into something wholly relevant and riveting. There’s really no other option here.
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
- Jeff Daniels, God of Carnage
- Raúl Esparza, Speed-the-Plow
- James Gandolfini, God of Carnage
- Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King
- Thomas Sadoski, Reasons to Be Pretty
You really couldn’t ask for a better group of nominees. While Gandolfini’s the only one here who I’d deem less than “excellent,” I still have no issue with his nomination (we’ll see how I feel after I see Bill Irwin in “Waiting for Godot” tomorrow). Esparza, Sadoski and Daniels did tremendous work, but at the end of the day, Rush gave one of the best performances I’ve ever had the pleasure to see on a stage, and it’d be borderline-criminal to give the award to anyone else.
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
- Hope Davis, God of Carnage
- Jane Fonda, 33 Variations
- Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage
- Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart
- Harriet Walter, Mary Stuart“Irena’s Vow’s” lone shot at a TONY nomination, lead actress Tovah Feldshuh, was ignored here in favor of five glorious performances that I’m pleased as punch with getting recognized. I worried that Hope Davis’s work in “God of Carnage” would get overlooked in favor of the showier Gay Harden, and similarly I thought “Mary Stuart’s” Walter might get ignored in the shadow of the “bigger” performance by McTeer, but much to my delight, both women in each show were recognized here.
That said, I’d have to go with Harden or McTeer for the win here, with a slight edge to Harden. Not only is she a big star and Oscar-winner, she’s giving a performance completely unlike anything anyone has ever seen her do before in her film work, and seamlessly teeters from “big” to “small” moments, mixing humor and sadness, subtlety and grandiosity. I think she’s your winner.
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
- David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish – Billy Elliot, The Musical
- Gavin Creel, Hair
- Brian d’Arcy James, Shrek The Musical
- Constantine Maroulis, Rock of Ages
- J. Robert Spencer, Next to NormalIronically, Spencer replaced d’Arcy James (who played his part off-Broadway) in “Next to Normal,” and gives, without a doubt, the best performance among this group, though the scales are tipped a bit given that he’s the only one who has complex emotions to play – and man, what a voice. It helps that it’s kind of a weak category (also see: every single Musical-related category), but he really deserves to take this.
I’ll hold my tongue on the Billys, given the fan base. Creel is solid, if unspectacular, in the central role of the “Hair” ensemble, Claude, but his chances might be helped that he’s an extremely likable presence on and off-stage, and he’s a huge advocate for equal rights among the gay community. d’Arcy James is fine as the big green ogre, and Maroulis, well… I enjoy the show, but what the fuck is he doing here as a nominee?
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
- Stockard Channing, Pal Joey
- Sutton Foster, Shrek The Musical
- Allison Janney, 9 to 5: The Musical
- Alice Ripley, Next to Normal
- Josefina Scaglione, West Side StoryLook, Alice Ripley gives one of the best musical performances of all time in “Next to Normal,” requiring an outpouring of emotion, subtlety and breathtaking singing, and she will without a doubt, absolutely no question, win this award, but I wish, just wish there was some actual competition for her to half to fend off to add some weight to the win, y’know? Channing, Janney and Scaglione were very good (while Foster gave yet another soulless, money-grubbing performance is a monster cash-machine of a show), but Ripley is going to take this in a cakewalk.
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
- John Glover, Waiting for Godot
- Zach Grenier, 33 Variations
- Stephen Mangan, The Norman Conquests
- Paul Ritter, The Norman Conquests
- Roger Robinson, Joe Turner’s Come and GoneI’m glad to see the “Norman” guys here (Mangan’s ‘Norman’ in the trilogy, and Ritter is ‘Reg,’ for those curious), but I’m a little sad to see ‘Tom,’ a.k.a. Ben Miles – the best of the ensemble, in my opinion – left out in the cold here. Also unfairly ignored: Steven Pasquale as an asshole incarnate in “Reasons to Be Pretty.”
I had no real issue with Grenier (also known as Edward Norton’s boss in “Fight Club”) in “33 Variations,” but the only impression he really left on me was how much he shouted. Robinson’s terrific in “Joe Turner,” but I think I’d have to cast my vote for Ritter. Either way, someone from “Norman” should be winning this award.
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
- Hallie Foote, Dividing the Estate
- Jessica Hynes, The Norman Conquests
- Marin Ireland, Reasons to Be Pretty
- Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit
- Amanda Root, The Norman Conquests
Hallie Foote grated on some people in “Dividing the Estate,” but I loved her work, so I’m happy to see her recognized here. Same goes for the very, very good Ireland in “Reasons to Be Pretty,” who gets to deliver the centerpiece monologue of the play – all I’ll say is it takes place in the middle of a mall food court, and it’s worth the price of admission. Again, both the “Norman” ladies are fantastic, though I’d have to slightly tip the scales towards the supremely wonderful Amanda Root, who lent enormous shading to the abrasive prude Sarah.
In addition, it would've been nice to see Andrea Martin here for her broad-but-awesome work in "Exit the King." Either way none of this matters, because the award’s going to go, in a sentimental favorite nod, to Angela Lansbury. Look, we all love Lansbury, but come on, she has enough awards that we don’t need to reward her again for this fun, kooky performance that’s really nothing to write home about.
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
- David Bologna, Billy Elliot, The Musical
- Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot, The Musical
- Marc Kudisch, 9 to 5: The Musical
- Christopher Sieber, Shrek The Musical
- Will Swenson, HairJbara and Kudisch do more with their roles than others might have, and I would have no issue if they took this award, but Sieber and Swenson each transcended the material with their portrayals as a midget king and the charismatic leader of a tribe of hippies, respectively. I’d be perfectly happy seeing either of them take this, though I have a feeling it’s Swenson’s for the taking – Berger has always been a crowd favorite. If only the staggeringly beautiful Aaron Tveit had been included for his stunning, nuanced work in “Next to Normal,” this might have been a real horserace.
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
- Jennifer Damiano, Next to Normal
- Haydn Gwynne, Billy Elliot, The Musical
- Karen Olivo, West Side Story
- Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey
- Carole Shelley, Billy Elliot, The MusicalPlimpton and Olivo both stole the respective shows in largely unmoving productions, and as a result, I think one of the two is going to be taking the win here. I’ll be totally fine with either scenario, but once again, truly best in the category is the one involved with “Next to Normal,” Jennifer Damiano. Turning a character who’s a sarcastic pain-in-the-ass on paper into the one we most identify with is no easy feat, but Damiano manages to turn Natalie into a full-fledged human being, truly a rarity for a musical. As you can see, I have trouble saying anything positive about “Billy Elliot,” but I admit Gwynne was pretty good – even so, Shelley’s nomination is an embarrassment.
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