New York Times TONY voter poll?- Page 2

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 5:55pm

adamgreer said: "I have a feeling, based on nothing scientific, that Joshua Henry is going to win."

I was talking to a Tony voter this morning who voted for Henry. Took everything in me to just smile and nod. 

(FWIW, I happen to really like Joshua Henry... just not in this. And not compared to Slater or HHP.)

[R. GreenFinch]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 6:03pm

I'm still so underwhelmed by Band's Visit. I really wanted to love it, and of course it should win compared to the competition (though I didn't hate Mean Girls nearly as much as everyone else on here does). I don't know,  I'm just not the audience for it, I guess.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 6:03pm

Henry is the only of the four that I truly believe does NOT deserve the award. There was a lot he could’ve done better with his Billy. The other three lead actors were masterful and I can see arguments made for them all. Just not Henry this year.

[msmp]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 6:05pm

I'm surprised the Best Musical Revival race is (apparently) so close. I kind of expected My Fair Lady to run away with it. Happy that OOTI is in the mix, though (and personally, and I know it's a very minority opinion, I'm glad to see Carousel get some recognition).

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 6:24pm

I'm not surprised. There's a ton of passion for Once on this Island, and it took a musical that was received well at the time, and did something really inventive and creative with the staging. My Fair Lady revival has a lot to live up to being called one of the greatest pieces of musical theatre ever written and some people think it didn't do so. Sher also took a creative approach to the show, it was a lot more subtle since it dealt with tone and re-focusing rather than looking totally different. I think both shows and productions are so different so it's hard to compare. One seems more emotional with songs that have a lot more bombast while the other really is Shaw and Lerner/Lowe all the way, which is a style many are not used to these days.

Updated On: 6/7/18 at 06:24 PM

[Robbie2]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 8:39pm

BroadwayConcierge said: "ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "Sad to see Harry Hadden-Paton looking like he has no chance to win Best Actor in a Musical as I thought he gave an astounding performance as Henry Higgins and changed my standard of how Higgins should be portrayed as I much preferred his portrayal to Rex Harrison's classic portrayal."

Part of me wonders if he'll be this year's "upset" or surprise. If I were a Tony voter, I'd be voting for him in a heartbeat. He's generating such little awards attention—and yet I think he can still pull it off.

I also still wish Lenk and Ambrose could tie, somehow!"

 

Me too...2 of my favorite performances this year! Lenk-Mesmerizing...Ambrose-Luminous!

 



 

Updated On: 6/7/18 at 08:39 PM

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 10:12pm

I think a good gage is "Can you imagine this show without ____?" I can't imagine The Band's Visit without Lenk. I wasn't a fan of the show but I thought her soulful voice and stage presence made the show. I thought Ambrose was mostly wonderful but I could picture the show without Ambrose.

 

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 10:15pm

I’m very pleasantly surprised to see Once On This Island is in the mix. There’s really no contest for me in that category; it is far and away the most successful revival given the individual productions and the material they’re all working with. I wonder if at least this means Michael Arden could win Best Director, like Christopher Ashley for directing the show people were emotionally invested in last season. I just don’t want to see this gorgeous production go home empty-handed.

Best Actor in a Musical will be a nailbiter. Could we see a tie? I wish they would share voting results for this one.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 10:17pm

poisonivy2 said: "I think a good gage is "Can you imagine this show without ____?" I can't imagine The Band's Visit without Lenk. I wasn't a fan of the show but I thought her soulful voice and stage presence made the show. I thought Ambrose was mostly wonderful but I could picture the show without Ambrose.

"

I can’t imagine SpongeBob without Ethan Slater. I’d be very happy if he won. (I’d be satisfied with any of them winning, to be honest.)

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 10:41pm

I think it’s hard for people to imagine the show without Lenk because it’s an original character and we haven’t really seen anybody else do the role. If we were to use that as a gauge than anybody doing a revival would be at a disadvantage.

Updated On: 6/7/18 at 10:41 PM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 10:43pm

I'd be thrilled with Shalhoub and Lenk both winning.  I saw the show quite a while ago and their performances have stayed with me so very deeply.

Also, the alternative to a Lenk win would be yet another epidemic of Ambrosephobia, a disease as loathsome as it is inexplicable. 
Still, a tie for Lenk and Ambrose would be as delightful as it is unlikely.  

Updated On: 6/7/18 at 10:43 PM

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 10:45pm

From the Times article:

"Many voters went out of their way to tell us how much they loved “Angels” as a feat of playwriting."

How nice of them to go out of their way like that.

""Greatest American play ever written,” one voter said."

Is that all? When we were told by posters on this very site that it's the greatest play ever written in the English language???

"He’s a present day Shakespeare,”another said of Mr. Kushner."

Did Shakespeare write overblown soap operas?

"And a third voter explained: “‘Angels in America’ is just one of those plays for which you have to bow down and give full respect."

We have to?

We HAVE to?

Thus is it decreed.

 

 

 

 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 10:57pm

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "I think it’s hard for people to imagine the show without Lenk because it’s an original character and we haven’t really seen anybody else do the role. If we were to use that as a gauge thananybody doing a revival would be at a disadvantage."

Not necessarily ... for instance I couldn't imagine the current revival of AiA without Nathan Lane or Andrew Garfield. Like their performances or not but the revival is heavily centered on their extremely over-the-top performances.

Also couldn't imagine Hello Dolly! getting the revival it did without Bette Midler. And I wasn't even an unconditional fan of Bette's Dolly. But as I said, it was a dominant performance.

 

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 11:00pm

Well, it doesn’t matter what I think. All the performances you listed plus Lenk have ran away or are going to run away with the award.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 11:15pm

"Did Shakespeare write overblown soap operas?"

Yes.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 6/7/18 at 11:59pm

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "Interesting. The real race is in the revival category as it's close between MFL and OoTI."

Please keep in mind that the Times only surveyed about 110 out of 842 voters, so we don’t know if it’s as close of a race within the entire voting bloc. Plus, I think as much affection there is for Once on This Island, it’s kind of been losing momentum in recent weeks.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 12:17am

^ Yup. Plus, My Fair Lady has already won the Drama Desk, Drama League, and OCC awards for best musical revival. Yes, there are often big differences across the awards, but usually for best performances. Production awards often end up as general consensus.

[haterobics]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 12:22am

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "as much affection there is forOnce on This Island, it’s kind of been losing momentum in recent weeks."

The awards aren't based on box office, though...

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 1:42am

Updated On: 6/8/18 at 01:42 AM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 2:52am

We've seen some big surprises in this category. I remember being very surprised when Into the Woods, The Pajama Game, and Porgy & Bess won over consensus picks (Oklahoma, Sweeney Todd, and Follies, respectively).

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 7:36am

all_that_jazz said: "What the hell is with abstaining. Your a tony voter your job is to see the nominated musicals and vote on the ones eligible. How hard is that best of the 4 nominated. Spoiled pretentious idiot. If you cant handle the job decline it and let others do it."

 

Meh.   If they truly feel nothing was outstanding enough to warrant their vote, I actually have respect for their choice to abstain.  

 

I would be thrilled if TBV, Shalhoub and Lenk all took home prizes.   Having seen both Shalhoub and Kashani in the role, Shalhoub's performance is simply stunning.  (I liked Kashani, but when comparing the two performances, there is no comparison.)

 

Would love some suprises -- but having more than 10% of the voters partaking in this, that's a great sample.

 

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 8:14am

From the Times article:

"“It’s interesting, it’s new, it’s fresh — it’s the thing we all want when we go to the theater, to be surprised.”

That's what we all want? Well, I certainly did NOT want the most unwelcome "surprises" served up to us in the "reconstructed" "revivals" of Flower Drum Song, Cinderella, My Fair Lady, etc. And I pray fervently never to have to encounter such "surprises" again. Personally, what I want when I go to the theatre is to see good theatre. And I expect many others want no less. Alas, the critics' darling about to win the Tony Award fails to provide it.


"Several voters said they went with “The Band’s Visit,” at least in part, as a protest against the commercialism of the other entrants."

Is The Band's Visit not a commercial enterprise? Is it being presented on Broadway for charity?

"“The Band’s Visit,” one voter said, is “an adult musical exploring grown up themes, unlike the other nominees.”"

Well, whoop-de-do and a half! I guess the fact that it's a tuneless bore is irrelevant.

"Others said they weren’t sure what the fuss was about: “What a terrible year for musicals. This was the least worst choice.” "

Yipes.

 

 

 

 

Updated On: 6/8/18 at 08:14 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 9:56am

Disappointed there was no insight into the Featured performance races, which seem (to me) to be competitive across all 4 categories.

[ladypresent]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 10:26am

i find it funny that people who love the arts care about awards for art. 

[Kad]

Posted: 6/8/18 at 10:29am

I find it funny most of your posts on this board are about how you don't care about things.