10 Reasons why "Fun Home" will take home the Tony — Page 2

I think Fun Home will be a formidable contender for Best Score and Book.

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Fantod,

It's taken you a long time to arrive at that realization.

I pointed it out to you earlier.

I guess one has to learn certain things on one's own.

Updated On: 1/6/15 at 12:17 PM

"And I disagree with After Eight about plenty, namely The Wild Party and Merrily We Roll Along."

You should engage him on these topics, then, like you do with everyone else. You can talk about their virtues and he'll tell you flatly that they're ugly and if you like them, you must be ugly, too, like he does with everyone else.

But I actually bet it wouldn't go down that way.

No one is alone. Truly. No one is alone.

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According to Alison since she was 5 she felt absurd in a dress, by the time she was 10 or whatever she is not supposed to be a little bit certain she was different? And to see this woman, someone like her, was a formative moment in her life. Anything other than a beautiful awakening to be taken from this seems silly.

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There is one thing that could possibly work against Fun Home, which is what I will call the Matilda effect, of being the perceived frontrunner even opening on Broadway and embracing it.

As we all remember when the Royal Shakespeare Company announced in April 2012 that Matilda would open on Broadway in Spring 2014, most people in the theater community assumed it would win the Tony. Most of the critics 2012 Tony predictions even mentioned Matilda despite the show not opening on Broadway for another year. The show had immense buzz, which caused most producers of new musicals to put their shows on hold, so they would not have to face the juggernaut that was to be Matilda. The problem was Matilda's producers embraced that buzz, and seemed as to many that they expected to sweep the Tonys. This became clear to most, by how the producer's shoe horned Bertie Carvel into the leading actor category despite Miss Trunchbull clearly being a supporting role in a show called Matilda. Along with the producer's attempt to change the eligibility rules for shared roles. At the time a role was eligibly for a nomination was shared by less than 3 actors, the rule of 3, which Matilda want to be changed to 4. (Let it be known Billy Elliot was not the only show to exploit this rule, Dreamworks Theatricals used this rule for Shrek to submit both the 3 little pigs, and 3 blind mice, for joint nominations in the supporting categories.) The peacocking by the producers caused a backlash among many Tony voters, causing them to vote for Kinky Boots, whose producers Tony campaign exploited the turned up nose of Matilda with a humble Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein.

Updated On: 1/6/15 at 03:21 PM

Still mad at the producers for putting Bertie in lead, when he would have definitely and deservedly won Supporting. It's so upsetting that he doesn't have a Tony for that performance! They got greedy.

Anyway, I don't think Fun Home has the level of publicity outside the theatre community like Matilda did. People in my life who know nothing about Broadway were asking about and excited about Matilda. No one I know knows anything about Fun Home. It's very much still for NYC in-the-know people.

"The peacocking by the producers caused a backlash among many Tony voters, causing them to vote for Kinky Boots, whose producers Tony campaign exploited the turned up nose of Matilda with a humble Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein."

Actually, as Michael Riedel reported, after Matilda premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company, so many Broadway producers immediately went after it placing the best offer they can. The RSC left them dangling and dangling, until they went with The Dodgers at the last minute, and all those producers felt screwed by them!

Kad I did not use the word "forced" for that specific reason, and instead used "shoe horned" as it was the producer's choice to try and place Carvel in that category, but it was the Tony Committee that allowed that placement to happen. In my metaphor Carvel is the foot and best actor is the shoe, by shoe horning Carvel, they submitted him for best actor despite it not being a perfect fit, I was not saying he was forced into the category, rather they submitted him into that catagory.

Jeff, I agree with you in that when RSC picked the Dodgers out of no where it angered many broadway producers, who had been trying to woo RSC to get the Broadway rights. But RSC did not play Broadway politics because they felt Matilda was too good a show to force them to submit to the Broadway hierarchy. Picking the Dodgers as the transfer's producers was the first sign of that holier than thou problem. Not a alternative explanation, but rather an example of the larger problem.

Kelli won't have to worry about Judy Kuhn, who will probably be in the supporting actress category? (and with "Days and Days" I imagine she has a good chance of winning).

Kelli might have to watch out for Chita though.

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Updated On: 1/6/15 at 08:02 PM

Oy gevalt, After Eight...

"Also, it will be kind of crappy if Kelli is the first woman to lose the tony for playing Anna. Ouch."

Actually, that was Mary Beth Peil back in 1985.

Constance Towers also didn't get nominated and that was in '77

Updated On: 1/6/15 at 08:40 PM

Why do you say It Shoulda Been You is gonna be a flop? It sounds really good! I actually think its gonna be the upset of the season!

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