Can We Finally Talk About Who Will Win The Tony For Best Musical?- Page 3

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/10/13 at 10:54pm

I think there is a difference between having an alternate and sharing a role. Anything with the Tonys comes down to billing, opening night performances, and petitions from the producers. Patti LuPone was billed as Evita with a matinee alternate. The four girls in Matilda are not alternates; they are all playing the role. Just like with Patti in Evita, the producers will have to petition the Matilda girls as leading actresses since they are below the title. Would it be more fair for the opening night Matilda to be solely eligible and not the others? It does get sticky, but the Billy Elliot decision was how the Tony committee decided to handle the situation the last time this happened (and also showed how the opening night performer alone would get the nomination if not petitioned otherwise, as was the case with David Bologna in the same show).

Also, the Tony committee saw all three Billys and deemed that each was of equal quality and together created one performance. The category is listed as Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, and they as a unit were the leading actor in the musical. Again, that's how they decided to do it that year.

Since there is already precedence for the Matildas to be "bundled" together for awards contention, I can't see that a similar petition wouldn't happen here.

Also, it's not the fault of the production for the Tony committee to rule the way they do. If they see one girl (or two or whatever) not having an equal performance as the other girls, I don't think they'd consider "the idea of 'bundling.'" Of course, that's their prerogative, but that's what they seem to stand by.

That said, if two (or more) adult actors equally shared a role, I think the Tony committee would recognize that with this "idea of 'bundling.'" Honestly, I thought that's what they'd do with the principal cast of La Bohème, but alas, they decided to "bundle" them all together in a special Tony.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/10/13 at 10:59pm

jacob, I believe they've only had fewer than four nominees in a production category when there weren't enough productions eligible. I think it would be the default to nominate at least four if there were four eligible. Then again, the Tony committee can do whatever they want, like bumping up a featured actress to leading just so Julia Roberts wouldn't get a nomination.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 3/10/13 at 11:19pm

The Constant Wife ran over the summer of 2005, which means Lynn Redgrave's eligibility would have been determined by September or October. Are you saying the committee had even then already decided that Julia Roberts wouldn't deserve a nomination for Three Days of Rain and therefore kept Redgrave as a lead since she was billed above the title? Or are you saying she was eligible as featured but the nominators broke the rules and made her a lead?

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/10/13 at 11:39pm

Sorry, I was mistaken. I didn't realize she was above the title.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 12:02am

"I think it would be the default to nominate at least four if there were four eligible."

I would hope that if there are only four productions that they decide to nominate only three, or even two, rather than nominate all four and make it akin to "everybody gets a ribbon" day.

[roadmixer]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 12:14am

jnb... I get what you're saying however unless the producers of MATILDA are going to offer the 700 Tony voters 4 tickets to their show (8 in reality since they give them pairs), in order to see all 4 of the girls perform, AND all 4 of the performers are better than the rest of the nominees, I still feel that bundling is unfair.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 12:17am

Isn't that what they did for Billy Elliot during Tony season? Or did the voters all see different Billy's and voted based on the one they saw?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 12:39am

I believe Tony voters were invited to the show up to three times, to see each boy play Billy, but they didn't have to see all three. So most, if not all, probably didn't and just saw the show once. I honestly may be making that up but I could've sworn I read or heard it somewhere legit during that Tony season.



Updated On: 3/11/13 at 12:39 AM

[nsguy45]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 1:14am

Rob McClure had better be nominated for Chaplin: The Musical.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 1:39am

They only needed to see one Billy to vote fairly. (There were three, by the way, not four.) This meant the committee deemed the three performances of equal value and quality.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 2:05am

'They only needed to see one Billy to vote fairly.'

I saw all 3 Billys, and didn't find them equally Tony-worthy at all. One was a better dancer. Another was a better singer, etc.

But regardless of my tastes, how 'fair' is it for a performer to win an award when arguably two-thirds of the Tony voters probably didn't even see their performance? How 'fair' is it for an adult performer who does ALL EIGHT SHOWS a week to have to compete against a cute child actor who does 2-3 shows a week?

The '3 Billys' Tony ruling was idiotic. And it wasn't even consistent within the same show. Two actors shared the role of Billy's best friend, but only the actor who performed it on opening night was Tony-eligible. So how 'fair' was that?

The year after, the producers of 'Fela!' petitioned the Tonys so the two men who shared the title role would share a Tony nomination for Best Actor. But their request was rejected.

Why was 'bundling' OK for 'Billy,' but not for 'Fela'?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 2:10am

Because they were kids and were just so darn cute.

[Up In One]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 2:43am

It's Best Actress in a role not best role by an actress. If a production wants to float four actresses in a role all four should be eligible separately or one should be put in contention and the voters will need to see that one actress. Irene Ryan made quite a stir in the Andrea Martin role got nominated and did not win. I have a problem wasting supporting awards on five minute cameo appearances.

Best Musical - I defer until the end
Best Score - Kinky Boots
Best Book - Matilda
Best Actor - Billy Porter
Best Actress - Sophia Genusa
Best Supporting Actor - Bertie Carval
Best Supporting Actress - Annaleigh Ashford
Best Orchestrations - Cinderella/ Matilda
Best Costumes - Cinderella/ Matilda
Best lighting - Matilda
Best Sets - Matilda
Best Choreography - Matilda
Best Direction - Matilda/Pippin
Best Revival - Pippin
Best Musical - Kinky Boots / Matilda

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 3:53am

There is no such thing as small parts.

If someone is outstanding, why shouldn't they be recognized for their craft?

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 4:08am

Nowhere does it say that Tony Awards are for performers performing eight shows a week.

I just want to point out that the roles of Billy Elliot and Matilda are no walks in the park. Any child performing Billy Elliot eight times a week would badly injure himself, blow out his voice which is on the verge of changing, and ruin any kind of future career. Any child playing Matilda eight times a week would exhaust herself before the fourth show and hurt her voice before it becomes developed. These are nine- and ten-year-old girls who are asked to carry a show, the youngest leading actresses in Broadway history. These roles are mammoth for the children playing them and they should not ever be asked to perform it eight times a week. It has nothing to do with them being cute.

If the Tonys say that only the opening night Matilda is eligible, voters are voting on a performance, not the amount of times the actor performs the role a week.

Updated On: 3/11/13 at 04:08 AM

[nsguy45]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 6:12am

Of the three boys who played Billy, Trent Kowalik was far and away the best.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 6:18am

This^ .

Well, sort of. I can't tell you who was "best" as I didn't see all three. But my point is: if one is actually better than the others then they don't all deserve the award.

If all three were equally wonderful, then the performance cannot be considered OUTSTANDING.

TO ME, the award should only be given to the actor whose performance you cannot possibly imagine being played by anyone else. (That, of course, doesn't mean replacements can't surpass that.)

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 2:24pm

I think one of the primary reasons the Billy actors were bundled was to eliminate the domination of the category for three actors performing the same role and splitting the votes depending which voters ended up seeing which actors. It does make sense for child actors where there are laws that require the leads be performed by multiple actors whereas the same laws don't exist for adult actors (i.e. Fela). Though I'm not sure why the nominations weren't consistent with the actor who played Michael.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 2:51pm

Basically because for whatever reason the producers chose to not petition for the change and allowed the opening night/billing rule to determine the nomination. Always keep in mind that whatever differences from what is laid out in the rules happen because the producers of a show petition for an exception to be made.

What I'm most curious about is how many petitions get denied, since we typically only hear about the petitions that the committee chose to grant.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/11/13 at 2:54pm

We know they didn't grant the petition for One Man, Two Guvnors to be a revival.

[bdn223]

Posted: 3/12/13 at 11:46pm

I still think One Man Two Guvnors should of petitioned Best musical since it would have likely won, and it is more of a musical, in that its music actually propels the plot, than Once is and is better written than NEWSIES and ONCE combined. 1m2g would of likely won best musical, Cordon's performance still would have one, and best book would have been a shoe in.

Back to this year's race though. I think people are counting out Osnes by focusing on the Matilda's, when in reality I think she is the front runner, due to her Broadway Cinderella story. I also think Cinderella/Pippin will give Matilda some still competition in Best set and Cinderella being the odds on favorite for best costumes.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 3/13/13 at 7:51am

Ha! Guv'nors as a musical... that show barely had a plot (like any commedia piece, it was mostly an excuse to string together a series of lazzi, or comedic setpieces). And The Craze had pretty much nothing to do with that plot at all. If you wanted to make an argument like that, Starcatcher would be the more likely candidate, and that really only had two songs plot-related at all, if I recall correctly.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 3/13/13 at 8:10am

better written than NEWSIES and ONCE combined

Says the poster with a Newsies avatar. Under no stretch of anyone's imagination was One Man, Two Guvnors a musical, but there's no point talking about hypotheticals from last year.

If anyone is being largely overlooked for some reason for best actress in a musical I think it's Patina Miller. This could be a very interesting three-way race.

[jetts7]

Posted: 3/13/13 at 9:10am

Best Musical: Matilda (WINNER),Kinky Boots,Bring It On,Cinderella (maybe)
Best Leading Lady:The Matildas,Lilla Crawford (Annie),Laura Osnes (Cinderella),Patina Miller (Pippin)
Gent:Billy Porter (Kinky Boots),Rob McClure (Chaplin),Anthony Warlow (Annie); Cant think of anyone else
Best Featured Lady: Ryann Redmond (Bring It On),Keala Settle (HOAHB), Annaleigh Ashford (Kinky Boots),Victoria Clark (Cinderella)
Gent :Gabriel Ebert (Matilda),Bertie Carvel (Matilda); Cant think of anyone else

[suestorm]

Posted: 3/13/13 at 9:35am

Is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes that played at City Center eligible? If so Hilty was amazing!!