More Tony Eligibility News - Morton, Dunagan Lead, Perez Featured

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 11:11am

Per Playbill:

Max Crumm and Laura Osnes will be considered in the Leading Actor and Actress in a Musical categories for their performances in Grease.

Rosie Perez will be considered in the Featured Actress in a Play category for her performance in The Ritz.

Boyd Gaines and Jay O. Sanders will both be considered in the Featured Actor in a Play category for their performances in Pygmalion.

Daniel Sunjata will be considered in the Featured Actor in a Play category for his role in Cyrano De Bergerac.

Brian Cox and Rufus Sewell will both be considered in the Leading Actor in a Play category for their performances in Rock 'n' Roll.

Roger Bart will be considered in the Leading Actor in a Musical category for his performance in Young Frankenstein.

Martha Plimpton will be considered in the Leading Actress in a Play category for her performance in Cymbeline.

Deanna Dunagan and Amy Morton will both be considered in the Leading Actress in a Play category for their performances in August: Osage County.

Norbert Leo Butz will be considered in the Leading Actor in a Play category for his performance in Is He Dead?

Raúl Esparza, Michael McKean, James Frain and Gareth Saxe will all be considered in the Featured Actor in a Play category for their performances in The Homecoming.

All other decisions were consistent with the opening night credits.

[obsessedjb]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 12:05pm

Wow that Leading Actress in a Play race is going to be interesting.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 12:26pm

Out of the plays ive seen so far this year:
S.Epatha Merkerson
Deanna Dunagan
& Amy Morton

are the 3 that deserve a nomination IMO so far. I'm sure Laura Linney and Francis McDormand, if they bring their always wonderful work to the stage, will also be big competition. Depending Plimpton may get in, but she might also for her supporting work in TOP GIRLS.

Also glad that all the MAURITIUS folk are elegible for Supporting. Bobby Canavalie and Allison Pill could possibly get nods there as well.

Does that mean Sutton, Megan, and Andrea are all considered Featured as well?

[mikem]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 12:30pm

Two shows I don't see mentioned are Farnsworth Invention and Mauritius, which I assume means that they are both following Opening Night credits -- does anyone know if there are above-the-title actors in either show?

Interesting that Rosie Perez is in Featured. Strategically, it makes sense -- she has a legitimate shot at a nomination in that category, while I would say she had no chance in Lead with the amount of competition.

I am surprised Brian Cox and Rufus Sewell didn't split categories, as well as Deanna Dunagan and Amy Morton. I'm especially surprised with the A:OC women, since if they split I think they would be prohibitive favorites in both categories, although now they might cancel each other out. On the other hand, I'm not sure which one of them should have been moved down, and the placement of both of them as leads is probably appropriate.

I assume having Raul Esparza in Featured is strategic -- he and Ian McShane seem to have roughly the same size part.

Does anyone know if there was a ruling as to whether A Bronx Tale is a new Play, a Revival, or a Special Event?

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 1:23pm

Does anyone have a clue how The Seafarer nominations would work? Is everyone featured?

[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 3:34pm

So... What about Eve in The Homecoming? Is she considered Lead or Featured? Because she's listed above the title, but so are Raul and the rest of them in the playbill.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 3:47pm

Best and McShane will both be considered Lead.

FYI -- when Dunagan and Morton went up head-to-head against each other for Lead Actress at the Jeff Awards in Chicago, Dunagan won.

Since it was already a film and well known nationally, I assume A BRONX TALE will be a Revival under the Tony "classics" rule.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 3:47pm

Everything not mentioned is consistant with the opening night credits.

Eve Best is above the title, so she's a lead (Mistake, IMO).
The Seafarer - all featured (Jim Norton has a sure-shot at a nod)
Mauritius - all featured (that works for me, since Bobby Cannavale has a sure-shot at a nod)
The Farnsworth Invention - Azaria and Simpson above the title, considered leads

[mikem]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 3:48pm

My personal feeling is that David Morse should have been moved to Lead as well as Raul Esparza. I also think that Alison Pill and Bobby Cannavale should be Leads as well.

I think it is reasonable that Eve Best is in Lead -- if Ian McShane is going Lead, then she should as well. I would agree though that she is going to have a hard time getting nominated, particularly if The Homecoming closes by the end of April as currently advertised -- unless someone underwhelms, the nominations in that category are almost certainly going to Dunagan and Morton, S Epatha Merkerson, Frances McDormand, and Laura Linney.

Updated On: 1/22/08 at 03:48 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 3:51pm

Do you think Morton and Dunagan could possibly cancel each other out and it could go to Eve Best? Just a thought. I know I would have a hard time deciding between Dunagan and Morton. Although I think I would lean toward Morton.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 3:55pm

If Alison Pill is featured she's got a damn good chance at a nod, if not a win. Other than Laurie Metcalf (assuming her role has expanded significantly since I saw November) and Rondi Reed (August: Osage County) I can't think of anyone else who would be competition for her.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 3:57pm

Actually, on second thought, since it's autobiographical, the Tonys may classify A BRONX TALE as a Unique Theatrical Event

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 4:03pm

uncageg - I think Morton has the best shot of a nomination (and a win), considering she carries Acts II and III of A:OC on her shoulders. The applause she got after she growled "I'm running things now!" at the end of Act II was unlike anything I've ever heard.

[mikem]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 4:14pm

Speaking strictly strategically, I think A BRONX TALE would be more likely to get nominated as a Special Event rather than in the Revival of a Play category, which is chock full of worthy candidates. (Although I think it would be the only Special Event this season, which might mean elimination of that award.) Assuming Special Event is a category this year, the main downside to being in that category for A BRONX TALE would be that it would no longer be eligible for Lead Actor, although I think Chazz Palmintieri is likely to be left on the sidelines regardless (my personal guess is that Kevin Kline, Morgan Freeman, Nathan Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Norbert, and the Rock n Roll guys are all more likely to be nominated than Palmintieri is.)

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 4:20pm

My jaw just dropped to the floor at the end of Act II and then I said "whoa" out loud before I could stop myself!

[mikem]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 4:35pm

Just a small request to avoid even mini-spoilers for the plots of the shows we're discussing, if possible. Thanks.

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 4:44pm

Or put spoilers in the post title.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 5:08pm

Yeah I wish I hadn't read Yankee's post, it may seem insignificant to some people, but to some of us it kinda creates some mini-spoilers.
Anyways, I'm surprised none of the YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN actresses were considered leading, I figured it would go to either Sutton or Megan. I doubt either one will be nominated though.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 5:11pm

There is absolutely no spoiler in my post. It just leaves you wondering what the quote is in reference to. Like "WHAT IS THAT THING?" in the commercials for Cloverfield.

[MungoGypsy8232]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 5:26pm

Does anyone know if the Grinch petitioned for eligibility even though they are ineligible because they are a return engagement? I'm glad Megan Mullally is going in as featured (not that she has much of a chance with her competition, but I don't want a surprise happening in the Leading category).

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 5:36pm

Yankee, unless the play is COMPLETELY twisty and unexpected, one can pretty much imagine what the line means if you already know Morton plays the middle-aged daughter to Dunagan's pill-popping, alcoholic matriarch. I just wish I hadn't read your post, that's all.
I feel Laura Osnes and Max-Can't-Never-Remember-His-Last-Name have been screwed by being placed in the leading categories, now they really DON'T have a chance of anything.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 5:39pm

Leo and Max never had a chance, leading, featured, etc.

[MungoGypsy8232]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 10:48pm

Bloom and Bialystock?

[bwaygal1]

Posted: 1/22/08 at 10:56pm

Personally I don't care which lady from August was moved into featured, they should have done it. They stand a chance of cancelling each other out unless there's a tie. (I suppose there could be?)
Also, I'd vote for Dunnagan ever so slightly over Morton but I loved both performances and want the show to win all the awards it can.