BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL - Page 3
BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
#50BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 12:31am
I think Porgy and Bess's chances of winning Best Revival are slim at best. Winning the revival award implies that the new production itself is stellar. The only thing stellar about "The Gershwin's" Porgy and Bess are the performances given by Audra and Norm (the score goes without saying of course). This revival is worth seeing because the material is just so good. It succeeds in spite of the lackluster decisions made by the creative team, not because of them.
Updated On: 3/24/12 at 12:31 AM
#51BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 12:35am
Is the issue with FOLLIES really that the voters haven't seen it? They'd have a second chance in LA and because it was a limited run it would make sense if they invited Tony goers early.
But even if every Tony voter has seen it, I thought the Tony Awards seem to be bias towards things that are currently running, and that have some commercial value. If EVITA is decently received, hyped and a hit at the box office it seems plausible they have at least a chance at taking the award to me..
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 3/24/12 at 12:35 AM
#52BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 12:38amI think what Follies has going for it everything else is kind of a disappointment. I think if Diane had been more careful with her words they might have a better chance at Best Revival.
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#53BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 12:48am
I predict FOLLIES could get the most noms for a closed show:
REVIVAL
DIRECTOR (undeserved)
Best ACTRESS (maybe 2)
Best Actor (at least 1)
Featured Actress (possibly 3)
COSTUMES
LIGHTING
SET (meh)
Etc. Etc.
It will be remebered.
#54BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 12:52amI think it will get around the same amount of nominations of the Ragtime revival with a good possibility of more. I really hope I don't eat these words nominations day.
#55BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 12:53amYes. I think the SCOTTSBORO BOYS show that the nominating comitee will remember shows. But when it comes to the voters...
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#56BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 1:48am
If EVITA is decently received, hyped and a hit at the box office it seems plausible they have at least a chance at taking the award to me..
My thoughts exactly. I can easily see Evita taking home the award for best musical if it is received well. I hope I don't have to eat my words here. Time will tell!
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#57BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 8:11am
oh..bjh2114....how naive you are..
a TON of out-of town producers? really? perhaps more like decent amount. "Easy way to make it here"? Now you are really losing any sense of credibility. Have you heard of airplanes?
No need to talk down to me. I have been around these parts far longer than you have and I have seen what happens every Tony season. You may disagree with me, but I am just stating the facts based on what has happened in past years.
I predict FOLLIES could get the most noms for a closed show
Yes. I think the SCOTTSBORO BOYS shows that the nominating committee will remember shows. But when it comes to the voters...
EXACTLY. I am not denying that it will be nominated for things. The nominating committee is very small and will definitely have seen Follies, loved Follies, and want to recognize Follies in every way possible. But the voters are a COMPLETELY different story. How many awards did the almost universally loved Scottsboro Boys win last year? NONE! And they even had the sentimental draw of it being Fred Ebb's "last" show. People predicted a Best Score win for it at least, but it didn't even get that. It's like we go through this discussion every year. The Tony Awards do NOT always go to the best quality show or best performance. It's very political. Whatever is open/fresh always gets the slight edge unless there is literally nothing else to choose from. And while Porgy and Bess had controversy BEFORE THE SHOW EVEN STARTED, it was received very well here by the critics. I'm not saying that Follies won't get any votes... a LOT of people will vote for it to win. But to win, you have to have the clear majority of the votes. And with so many other things open, Porgy and Bess will pull enough votes away from Follies to give it the win.
Updated On: 3/24/12 at 08:11 AM
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#58BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 10:23am
"Because some of us knew Porgy & Bess before Diane Paulus disemboweled it."
I said I didn't want to debate the point, but here goes.
I knew Porgy and Bess before this production. I disagree that she disemboweled it. I think the production was a mixed bag, but I still found it extremely moving and beautiful with three out of four extraordinary lead performances (McDonald's, Grier's and Boykin's), the intimacy and editing well suited for the immediacy of a contemporary Broadway performance, and I felt I was experiencing this show with an audience that was generally enthralled with it. In fact I found I was more critical of it (I found Lewis lacked passion) than most of my friends who saw the production.
I knew Follies before this production. I think Follies was always a mess. And this Follies was especially a mess. Peters is by all account giving an extremely uneven performance, some nights great, according to some, some nights faltering. A testament to her being a trooper and always going on and at times being ill no doubt. I found her constant beyond neurotic take on Sally to make this distant show antiseptic. Raines was good. Maxwell very good. Burstyn superb. Houdyshell and White standouts. I loved Elaine, not everyone did, and she is said to be giving an erratic performance. The audience was not nearly as enthralled as the Porgy and Bess audience for what that's worth the night I saw it (of course the audience is older).
More importantly, judging the production, apart from Peters odd take on the role, and her not having what I call the kind of voice Sally needs for this beautiful, soaring score (one certainly can't say that for the singers in P&B), and I do think one reason one goes to see both of these shows is to see a great singer, a Collins or a Cook, a Price or a Dale, sing roles made to be sung beautifully, the show had one major added deficit:
(btw I understand that Peters ballsy interpretation of the role is loved by many, and found to be justified - I give her a lot of credit for going there, but i don't think it helps to make Follies a better show about everyman middle-aged angst (which, sorry, to me, is and will always be its theme and cause d'être) to make its heroin a complete loon, just my opinion).
It was clear to me that if I didn't know Follies, there are moments at the beginning, during the Broadway Baby/Ah Paris/Rain on the Roof set up, that if I didn't know this musical, I wouldn't have a clue who these people are or why they were bursting into song. A testament to the first act's direction being inept. And a huge problem for a show already burdened with characters that, except when they are singing, are extremely difficult to give a crap about. To give it credit, the second act, was much better than the first.
Finally, if Porgy and Bess, had nothing more than Audra's last scene, when she confronts her addiction, it would still have one scene that will remain one of the indelible moments of my theater going experience. As it happens, as I've stated, I think Porgy and Bess had a great deal more to offer than that one scene. Nothing in Follies comes close to being one of the indelible moments of my theater going experience.
As has been said, neither is what I would call a revival I can be unconditionally glowing in reviewing. But I have no question that I agree that Porgy is leagues beyond Follies.
Updated On: 3/24/12 at 10:23 AM
#59BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 10:32am
"Is the issue with FOLLIES really that the voters haven't seen it? They'd have a second chance in LA and because it was a limited run it would make sense if they invited Tony goers early."
Really, qolbineau! Do you expect Tony voters to haul themselves three thousand miles to LA to consider what now will be a Los Angeles production? Or do you expect the Kennedy Center to underwrite such an undertaking? (Tony voters don't live in LA, as a rule.)
HONEST, LOUISE!
Well-well-well-what-do-you-think-of-that-I-have-nothing-here-to-pay-my-train-fare-with-only-large-bills-fives-and-sevens....
Updated On: 3/24/12 at 10:32 AM
#60BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 12:18pmBut Follies doesn't have a huge critical and financial hit in its way unless Evita surprises us all with their reviews.
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#61BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 1:12pm
If you run or own a regional theatre, you make regular trips to NYC and other big Theatre cities to see what shows are out there and what shows might tour, that's part of your job. And in most cases the threatre pays for it.
There are only, what 700 voters all together, maybe at the most 1/4 are out of towners. Correcr my numbers if you KNOW better.
#62BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
Posted: 3/24/12 at 1:26pmUnless there is one nominee, nothing is a lock.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
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