1998 Tony's

As much as I'd like to say it was a close race, I think Natasha was a lock. Alice and Emily were not as favored by many of the voters.

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"You would be foolish, first of all, to miss the extraordinary Ms. Richardson...who is here giving what promises to be the performance of the season. Her Sally Bowles is a dazzling example of how star power can be harnessed to create a devastating portrait of someone who is definitely not a star."

"When Sally sings, 'Maybe this time I'll win,' the hope is purely artificial, and she is more eloquent about a doomed culture's masochism than anything in the show around her. Born-to-lose characters can be tedious, but Ms. Richardson turns this one into an electrifying triumph."

THEATER REVIEW; Desperate Dance at Oblivion's Brink

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Updated On: 7/8/06 at 12:06 PM

Natasha was def a lock, she, along with Alan, was the hit of the town!

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I've always felt that if Peter Friedman had been nominated as best supporting actor for "Ragtime" (instead of best actor), that Brian Stokes Mitchell would have won the best actor Tony for "Ragtime" instead of Alan Cumming.

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Brian should have won Best Actor and Ragtime should have won Best Musical!

Marin Mazzie was fantastic as Mother in "Ragtime." I was a mess during the entire show the first time I saw in back in June of 1998 in NYC. It's no secret, there was such a backlash from the Broadway Community due to the fact that "Ragtime" debuted in LA and not on Broadway. Many people, myself included, have always felt that the Tony Voters wanted to "stick it" to "Ragtime" for not opening in LA by not giving the show Best Musical in 1998.

It got Best Book and Best Score in addition to Audra's 3rd Tony Award.

I could be wrong, who knows? But, it was no secret back then.

Look at what happened this year, too. Once the show got to all the major awards, all of a sudden, suprises everywhere........dark horses winning, shows that shouldn't have won, won......

Why was opening in LA such a big deal? Lots of shows have done it, Evita and Sunset come to mind(maybe it's just ALW shows though)

My error if "Ragtime" debuted in Canada. My friend Brian is a Tony Voter, and I heard it straight from the horses mouth that many Tony Voters didn't like the fact that "Ragtime" didn't come to Broadway first. Now it's quite common that shows play elsewhere before coming to NYC. Look at "The Producers," "Hairspay" and a few other. Brian told me a few months before the Tony Awards, that "Ragtime" wouldn't win because of this. I'm just the messenger.

And, to the other person who wrote that "Sunset Blvd" didn't open on Broadway first, that's true. Remember what it was up against as Best Musical in 1995........"Smokey Joe's Cafe." Can you imagine if that had won over SB? YIKES!!!!!

If Brian and the rest of the 1998 Tony voters really think the way he did, no wonder some on this board think the Tony voters are ignorant.

As for your comment:

"Now it's quite common that shows play elsewhere before coming to NYC."

Now? Almost ALL Broadway shows opened elsewhere for decades and decades. Check the theatre seasons for Philadelphia, New Haven, and Boston since the early 1900s...most of the shows playing in those cities were pre-Broadway. From 1962-1964 when I was a student in Boston, the shows I saw there, among others, included the following:

Mr. President
Come On Strong
Tchin-Tchin
The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore
Photo Finish
Tovarich
My Mother, My Father And Me
Rattle Of A Simple Man
Jennie
110 In The Shade (with a white Lizzie, of all things
The Girl Who Came To Supper
Funny Girl
High Spirits
Hamlet
Fade Out-Fade In


And I had no idea that these pre-Broadway engagement were so rare

nearly every show has an out of town tryout. that's not a legit reason. also, ragtime debuted in toronto, not la.


back to the point though, i think marin had a better chance than emily/alice and should have won. as should brian and as should have the show. peter friedman was definitely a lead actor, not a supporting. but i was pretty surprised that judy kaye, mark jacoby, steven sutcliffe and lynette perry were overlooked that year in the supporting categories.

Tom, I certainly do appreciate your passion for the theatre. Like I said earlier, I'm just the messenger. When my friend Brian who's a Tony Voter told me that, I thought that was odd, too. What difference does it make where a show opens?

Like anything else in life, many award shows can be popularity contests. Who's hot, who's not, etc....... Most people don't remember who wins the award a few months or a few years down the line. What we remember is the work....the musical....the play.......that moved us.

We could all go back and forth here, like a tennis game voicing our opinions. Which is what the board is all about.

Tons of Broadway shows open out of town......always have. Some of the last big Tony winners have...."The Producers" and "Hairspray" come to mind. Perhaps, in 1998, The Tony voters got a bee in their bonnett and wouldn't let it go?

Who knows??

I think the fact some of the supporting cast of Ragtime, especially Steven Sutcliffe, didn't get a nomination was due to the fact only four nominees were allowed in each category. Well, I still don't get how Samuel E. Wright got a nod over Sutcliffe but that's a whole other issue.