Did Jessie Mueller deserve the Tony?

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 7/3/24 at 11:20am

Every actress who plays this role comes out looking like a winner.  It’s something about the character and the music. I recently saw Beautiful at paper mill starring Kyra Kennedy, and she was excellent.  Katie Brayben also won the Olivier.  You don’t have to work hard, the material does all the work for you. 

[Huss417]

Posted: 7/3/24 at 11:30am

Broadway Flash said: "You don’t have to work hard, the material does all the work for you."

Another nonsensical statement.

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 7/3/24 at 11:34am

I'd say the opposite is true. I didn't see the Broadway run obviously, but based on the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre production I saw recently, the book material was so thin that it requires a really strong cast to give it any sort of weight.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 7/3/24 at 11:40am

I previously wrote a whole piece looking back at the 2014 Tony race for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. In it, I made some points I'd like to mention here:

As someone who is also invested in the Oscar race, I've seen countless people on Twitter complain about voters going for biopic performances over portrayals of fictional characters, arguing that it's even harder to pull off the latter as opposed to the former. Common examples they've used are Eddie Redmayne winning for The Theory of Everything over Michael Keaton in Birdman, Gary Oldman winning for Darkest Hour over Timothée Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name, Rami Malek winning for Bohemian Rhapsody over Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born, Renée Zellweger winning for Judy over Saoirse Ronan in Little Women, and Jessica Chastain winning for The Eyes of Tammy Faye over Penélope Cruz in Parallel Mothers. A great name I'd like to use for this scenario is "artistry vs. mimicry."

Playing a real-life person can usually be an advantage to winning an award. Voters who aren't as intimately familiar with the craft of acting tend to find it easier to recognize how a performer is nailing the real-life person they're portraying. Legendary actor Humphrey Bogart once said "How in the hell can you judge one actor over another? The only way to judge fairly is let each nominee do Hamlet." Which I can see his point there. Any acting race will always have different actors facing different challenges, resulting in different kinds of performances. Come to think of it, maybe all five of these nominees should've played the exact same character. Thus, they all at least would've had the same challenges.

I will say that had Kelli O'Hara won for The Bridges of Madison County, then it's likely that Kristin Chenoweth would've beaten her the following year for On the Twentieth Century. Although the latter at least has a Tony for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown back in 1999, so she's taken care of. Meanwhile, Jessie Mueller would eventually become overdue herself at this point. There was no way she was ever gonna win for Waitress up against Cynthia Erivo in The Color Purple. I don't think she would've prevailed for Carousel up against Katrina Lenk given how strong The Band's Visit was with Tony voters. So in the end, be glad things worked out the way they did.

You can read more about it in the link below.
https://www.karereviews.net/tonys-flashback-best-lead-actress-in-a-musical-2014.html

For the record, I thought Jessie definitely deserved the win.

Updated On: 7/6/24 at 11:40 AM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/3/24 at 11:50am

I didn’t see her but I agree with your point. I think a lot of people are blinded by the “they look and sound just like them” so it sort of stuns them. Much like Frost winning for MJ. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 7/3/24 at 12:37pm

I think she won because of how hard she worked. She was able to spin straw into gold. She elevated the very weak material and made it seem better than it was. The book has a Lifetime movie quality to it and only someone as skilled as Mueller can come off as earnest saying those words. She is excellent.


I would have loved to see her take on Mary in Merrily. And her Fanny Brice. And her Lovett.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 7/3/24 at 1:18pm

FWIW, I would've voted for Kelli O'Hara, but regardless BroadwayFlash's unhinged and ill-informed posts on this board are driving me nuts.

[binau]

Posted: 7/3/24 at 1:23pm

If Bridges were a hit and remained open Kelli could potentially have won. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 7/3/24 at 1:26pm

binau said: "If Bridges were a hit and remained open Kelli could potentially have won."

 

Story of her life. :(

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 7/3/24 at 1:36pm

To speak back to the original point (which may not be the case for Beautiful anyway), I feel like there are some roles where "the material does the work for them", which usually all but guarantees a nomination.  But even so the actor still has to put in a certain level of work and craft to really earn the award, and at the end of the day it does also come down to who their competition is.  

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 1:35am

Showbiz awards are so subjective, so who ''deserves'' to win is always up for debate. If I were a Tony voter back then, I would've voted for Kelli O'Hara to win for ''Bridges of Madison County'' and the following year for Kristin Chenoweth to win for her tour de force in ''On the 20th Century.''

O'Hara has said that she's grateful she won for ''The King and I,'' but she wishes she really won for ''Bridges,'' which meant more to her. Had O'Hara won for ''Bridges,'' I bet Chenoweth would've won the following year for ''On the 20th Century.'' Instead, O'Hara was seen as overdue to win a Tony, when she won for ''The King and I.'' In that season, it might be remembered that the Drama Desk didn't even nominate O'Hara for ''The King and I,'' and Chenoweth had won both the Outer Critics and Drama Desk prizes for ''On the 20th Century.''

That's the tricky thing about awards. In order to someone to win, it means others must lose. And so much of it is timing, too. If ''Days of Wine and Roses'' were still running at Tony time, O'Hara might've won her 2nd Tony. That role was so much more demanding and stretched her more than Anna in ''The King and I.'' Oh, well. At least she has a Tony.

Which is something her ''Days of Wine and Roses'' co-star Brian d'Arcy James, a 5-time nominee, deserves someday. In my alternate universe, James would've opened as Dan in ''Next to Normal'' on Broadway and won his Tony for THAT show (instead of doing ''Shrek''), and the boys from ''Billy Elliot'' should've never been Tony-eligible as a trio for Best Actor. Updated On: 7/4/24 at 01:35 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 1:35am

RippedMan said: "I didn’t see her but I agree with your point. I think a lot of people are blinded by the “they look and sound just like them” so it sort of stuns them. Much like Frost winning for MJ."

Yes, the Tony went to them just because they were the best look-alikes. 🙄

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 1:42am

TotallyEffed said: "I think she wonbecauseof how hard she worked. She was able to spin straw into gold. She elevated the very weak material and made it seem better than it was. The book has a Lifetime movie quality to it and only someone as skilled as Mueller can come off as earnest saying those words. She is excellent.”

I quite enjoyed Beautiful when I saw it for the first time — though I must echo your comments about the book — but you’re making me jealous I missed Jessie by a couple of months, if her Tony win hadn’t done so already. 

I’ve yet to see any of the Von Muellers in a show as of right now. Talent clearly runs in that family. 

 

Updated On: 7/4/24 at 01:42 AM

[tomwsjr]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 2:05am

This person makes many ignorant/nonsensical statements. 

Updated On: 7/4/24 at 02:05 AM

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 9:47am

WiCkEDrOcKS said: "FWIW, I would've voted for Kelli O'Hara, but regardless BroadwayFlash's unhinged and ill-informed posts on this board are driving me nuts."

Flash has been driving people nuts on here for quite some time! They've even resorted to DMing people who call them out now! 

[Huss417]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 10:53am

Dylan Smith4 said: "WiCkEDrOcKS said: "FWIW, I would've voted for Kelli O'Hara, but regardless BroadwayFlash's unhinged and ill-informed posts on this board are driving me nuts."

Flash has been driving people nuts on here for quite some time! They've even resorted to DMing people who call them out now!"

And even their DMs are "Nonsensical."

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 2:50pm

I saw her performance, she was stellar.  I was a teenager in the middle of all the middle aged ladies in the audience, weeping during the title number.  I just feel like every actress who has played this role gets amazing reviews, it’s more about the material I think. 

[Dolly80]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 3:41pm

The original post is so freaking dumb. Cant believe anyones actually dignified it with a proper response.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/5/24 at 9:28am

What a dumbass question!  She was selected by a Tony committee for a nomination and honored with a trophy by her peers.    

[Owen22]

Posted: 7/5/24 at 1:59pm

So maybe we stop responding to Flash's nonsensical postings. We are giving him or her exactly what they want. A reaction. They are getting off on the many responses they are getting to their stupid opinions.