Was once on this island the right choice for Tony for best revival?

[Simón Bolívar]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 12:14am

Updated On: 6/11/18 at 12:14 AM

[S394206H]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 12:14am

Yes. The performance they gave tonight confirmed it for me.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 12:16am

Yes. I enjoyed it slightly more than MFL. Didn't care for Carousel at all.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 12:17am

I would have voted for My Fair Lady, but I do not begrudge Once on this Island's win at all. It really was a riveting and creative take on the piece and I'd love to see more creativity like that on Broadway. They were totally different approaches and to me, both succeeded. To me, both productions deserved more awards.

The only WRONG choice would have been Carousel.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 12:18am

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "I would have voted forMy Fair Lady, but I do not begrudgeOnce on this Island's win at all. It really was a riveting and creative take on the piece and I'd love to see more creativity like that on Broadway. They were totally different approaches and to me, both succeeded. To me, both productions deserved more awards.

The only WRONG choice would have beenCarousel."

100% exactly. I was rooting for My Fair Lady but I totally recognize what OOTI has achieved. Carousel is the only "bad" revival of the season.

[Big Apple2]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 12:27am

Yes.  Enjoyed it quite a bit. 

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 12:43am

Yes. Beautiful, inventive production.

[haterobics]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 12:49am

I think the right choice is always to give the award to the show that receives the most votes?

[vanbrig]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 12:51am

I'm happy for OOTI, and it was heartwarming to see how excited they were for their win. Like I said in another thread, I just hope it tours because I missed this one on Broadway. I believe they were discussing a tour, and I hope the award can give them some momentum. I doubt a tour will be staged the same, but I have faith they could still pull of something creative that works for the show. We'll see if it comes to fruition, though.

Updated On: 6/11/18 at 12:51 AM

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 1:09am

Yes. It does what so many revivals attempt to do yet fail at. It honors the original work yet does something to truly reinvent the work at the same time giving it a new life and vision that would make the original proud. It's small and intimate and a perfect example of immersive theatre done right. And I really think that it's a miracle, and a triumph, that speaks volumes of how wonderful this revival really is that the little show that could won tonight over the usual safe bets of big budget traditional options. It was, by far, the best of the season (revival AND new) and deserved to be recognized for it's wonder and it's heart. I did not expect it to win but I am elated that it did.

[teatime2]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 1:15am

Yes. This race was also fairly similar to the 15-16 Tony race. The Color Purple against She Loves Me. Both great productions but The Color Purple was truly reinvented. Same with OOTI

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 1:25am

Now, I'm going to ask a loaded question....do you think Once on this Island and maybe My Fair Lady deserved some of the awards The Band's Visit won?

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 1:27am

 

My Fair Lady was extraordinary (i saw it twice), with incredible acting, singing, staging, orchestrations, costumes and choreography, and a more modern ending. It's everything you could hope for in a revival of a golden age classic musical.

Once on this Island featured a caribbean beach party with sand, a goat and a chicken onstage. Haley Kilgore was very strong as the lead, lea salonga was great as always, and the rest of the cast was fine, but I didnt think that much of this show the first time around (very weak score-mama will provide the only standout song) but this revival just did not pop for me at all.

 

 

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 1:34am

I can’t remember the last time I was this thrilled at a Tony Award. I enjoyed My Fair Lady, but other than the very end it was a textbook Bartlett Sher revival. Not that I haven’t enjoyed all of his revivals, but this didn’t do anything for me that I wasn’t expecting when I walked in. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

But Once On This Island was bursting with creativity, and elevated the already beautiful material to a place I don’t think any of us expected it to go. I’m absolutely ecstatic that it was recognized tonight.

[haterobics]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 1:36am

broadwaysfguy said: "I didnt think that much of this show the first time around (very weak score-mama will provide the only standout song) but this revival just did not pop for me at all."

If you don't like the basic show, it doesn't seem like a restaging would be enough to change your mind.

[all_that_jazz]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 1:37am

Nope absolutely not.

[Broadway_Boy]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 1:56am

My Fair Lady should have won. Those who didn’t like Carousel, if you saw it early during previews, it majorly improved since then.

[ballet_broadway_&books]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 2:38am

JudyDenmark said: "I can’t remember the last time I was this thrilled at a Tony Award. I enjoyed My Fair Lady, but other than the very end it was a textbook Bartlett Sher revival. Not that I haven’t enjoyed all of his revivals, but this didn’t do anything for me that I wasn’t expecting when I walked in. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

But Once On This Island was bursting with creativity, and elevated the already beautiful material to a place I don’t think any of us expected it to go. I’m absolutely ecstatic that it was recognized tonight. "

Completely agree here-- While I could see where some would think My Fair Lady was snubbed, I think it ultimately came down to a preference for a revival that brought something really fresh and creative to the source material. It's worth mentioning that many of the amazing things about Once on This Island that got it the nomination and ultimately the win-- interactive staging, costumes, and just pure heart and passion for storytelling-- probably wouldn't have worked with a show like My Fair Lady. Once on This Island is indeed a more basic show to begin with, which I think made it a better canvas for the revival elements that this particular Tonys wanted to see. I was personally pretty ecstatic to see them win, though my feelings wouldn't have been hurt if My Fair Lady had won. (Carousel's a whole different story, its choreography was amazing though)

[BJR]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 9:52am

I've been saying since I saw it early in the run it was going to win. Yes, I was like everyone else and thought MFL would take it ultimately, but everywhere I go, and especially people in the industry, simple love this production wholeheartedly. I think that mattered in the end.

(I also hear frequent wtf of Alex Newelle not being nominated.)

[DannyZuko]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 10:05am

Island Setting's been done with South Pacific and Margarittaville. My Fair Lady deserved better.

[Fetus]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 10:08am

DannyZuko said: "Island Setting's been done with South Pacific and Margarittaville. My Fair Lady deserved better."

Do you really think Escape to Margaritaville did the Island Setting better than Once on This Island or are you just talking out your ass?

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 10:11am

I think what put Once on this Island over the edge in this close race (and it was close according to the NYTimes survey) was that there was a real passion and excitement behind it and its supporters were "ride or die" meaning they were not going to support any other show or waver from it. I think Carousel and My Fair Lady ended up splitting enough votes to hand MFL's defeat AND there wasn't the same passion or excitement behind MFL for various reasons I already stated (it being more expected, Lincoln Center being targeted as the giant Goliath v. the small David, Sher competing against himself, some industry backlash for hiring an outsider in Lauren Ambrose and they seem very protective of their Broadway actresses, etc.). 

I said this in the other thread, but I was taken aback that for a show that was really second in Best Revival and received a lot of praise from the critics and in the nominations and people have been writing positive things about, there was certainly a lack of support at Radio City Music Hall. The performance seemed to garner a lot of support, but when they were handing out Tonys, MFL's nominees did not get the same screaming reaction the other nominees received. It was a lot more subdued. I wonder if there were some real anti-MFL bias going on. Earlier, GeorgeandDot asked why did people hate OoTI, but I think the real question is, why did people in the industry at the Tonys seem to have it out for MFL? I think it was for reasons really beyond MFL's control.

[Wick3]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 10:12am

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "Now, I'm going to ask a loaded question....do you think Once on this Island and maybe My Fair Lady deserved some of the awards The Band's Visit won?"

My vote for best direction of a musical would have gone to Michael Arden. He made it all work in such a refreshing way in the OOTI revival. 

One of my favorite musicals of all time is My Fair Lady and I would have been happy if either My Fair Lady or OOTI won. I even saw the 2001 production of MFL in West End (I was a college student studying abroad at the time) and will admit I preferred that production more than the current revival on Bway. 

[msmp]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 10:18am

DannyZuko said: "Island Setting's been done with South Pacific and Margarittaville. My Fair Lady deserved better."

Because after all, Edwardian London hasn't been done to death in musicals...

As for the question in the thread, I would say it was the right choice. The staging was innovative and different, and the acting/singing was top-notch even if individuals rarely stood out (Hailey Kilgore is an exception, and I still think Alex Newell deserved a nomination for Featured Actor). The show also felt like what Broadway should be: an escape away from the real world for 90 minutes to someplace where stories have beginnings and endings and leave you better for having seen them. I very rarely see a show more than once, but after seeing this one, I had to come back a second time so I could focus on performances I missed.

I also agree Arden should have won Best Director; I think it's the only one of the awards last night that I'd take away from The Band's Visit.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 10:20am

I know it's not fair to compare a live experience with YouTube low quality videos, but I didn't like Martine McCutcheon as Eliza and I thought the ending was too unsatisfying. Hand on the hip and side-eye to Higgins. The 2001 version does seem like a more classic version of the piece with the higher energy and with the jokes landing. Sher for some reason thinks having jokes landing takes away the more grounded and "realistic" tone he often goes for in his productions. Some shows lend itself better to that than others. 

For example, nobody matched Ken Watanabe's star power and sheer ferocity and passion as the King for me (and yes I'm including Yul Brynner), but I've seen videos of regional performances that went for the more classic approach and of course the King was funnier and the comic timing the King had there really made those lines land and added to the experience. One thing gets sacrificed for the other and Sher goes for one approach and sticks with it.