2018 Featured Actress in a Play

[MrPeach]

Posted: 5/9/18 at 11:20am

Debates and discussions for the category of Featured Actress in a Play. I also included some contenders that didn’t get nominated.

FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
- Susan Brown [as Hannah Pitt, et al], ANGELS IN AMERICA
- Noma Dumezwini [as Hermione Granger], HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD
- Deborah Findlay [as Hazel], THE CHILDREN
- Denise Gough [as Harper Pitt, et al], ANGELS IN AMERICA
- Laurie Metcalf [as B], THREE TALL WOMEN

10 contenders that didn’t receive nominations:
Francesca Annis [as Rose], THE CHILDREN ... Laura Benanti [as Laura], METEOR SHOWER ... Tammy Blanchard [as Cora], THE ICEMAN COMETH ... Blair Brown [as Jeanette], THE PARISIAN WOMAN ... Anna Camp [as Hazel Conway], TIME AND THE CONWAYS ... Alison Pill [as C], THREE TALL WOMEN ... Bel Powley [as Dawn], LOBBY HERO ... Phillipa Soo [as Rebecca], THE PARISIAN WOMAN ... Celia Weston [as Ruth], MARVIN’S ROOM ... Olivia Wilde [as Julia], 1984

Updated On: 5/12/18 at 11:20 AM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/9/18 at 11:32am

Gough will win.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 5/9/18 at 11:33am

I think Denise will win as well. Partly for consideration of her zenith performance in People, Places and Things too.

[little_sally]

Posted: 5/9/18 at 11:34am

I hope it's Gough but I could see it going to Dumezweni. Interesting that the OCC went to Metcalf (and I wouldn't be mad if she won either.)

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/9/18 at 11:36am

I don't think this is a runaway category for anyone. I could easily see Gough, Metcalf or Dumezweni winning.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/9/18 at 11:39am

I think if Metcalf didn't just win a Tony, she'd be the frontrunner.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/9/18 at 11:44am

AC126748 said: "I don't think this is a runaway category for anyone. I could easily see Gough, Metcalf or Dumezweni winning."

I liked their performances quite a bit more than Gough’s but I think this will be her year.

She was pretty remarkable in People, Places & Things though.

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 5/9/18 at 3:58pm

I've seen both Gough and Noma, and there's no way Noma can win this. Gough's final monologue at the airplane is just perfection.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 5/9/18 at 4:38pm

I would personally vote for Metcalf, but I think it’ll go to Gough, partly (as someone mentioned) as an acknowledgment of her ineligible performance in People, Places, and Things. I don’t think the voters will ride the Potter wave of love in the same way the Olivier voters did, so while Dumezweni’s performance is wonderful, she’s up against some fierce competition in more intense, meatier roles.

[MrPeach]

Posted: 5/11/18 at 7:49pm

The factor that makes me think Metcalf will prevail is because this category has a recent trend in costars splitting the vote.

2017 - Cynthia Nixon [“The Little Foxes”] wins over Jayne Houdyshell / Condola Rashad [“A Doll’s House, Part 2”] and Johanna Day / Michelle Wilson [“Sweat”].

2016 - Jayne Houdyshell [“The Humans”] wins over Pascale Armand / Saycon Sengbloh [“Eclipsed”] and Megan Hilty / Andrea Martin [“Noises Off”].

On the contrast, one costar managed to avoid vote-splitting and win over another costar in 2014 [Sophie Okonedo over Anika Noni-Rose for “A Raisin in the Sun”] and 2010 [Scarlett Johansson over Jessica Hecht for “A View From the Bridge”].

Gough could lose votes to Brown, paving the way for a Metcalf win as she’s the clear alternative in a category that’s practically a two-horse race.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/11/18 at 8:26pm

No one is voting for Brown.

[A Director]

Posted: 5/12/18 at 4:02am

TotallyEffed said: "No one is voting for Brown."

Have you polled all the Tony voters?

 

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 5/12/18 at 11:34am

It's not rocket science, Gough is the clear MVP of the play for many. Among her and Brown, there's no competition.

[TexanAddams18]

Posted: 5/12/18 at 11:47am

I just wonder if this is the category voters give HP Acting recognition because Jamie Parker and Anthony Boyle's odds are slim to none. I think Garfield and Lane are much more memorable than Gough (Even though she is bloody brilliant) and if they want to spread the love I think there is a good chance Noma could slip in for the win. I'm also with others that Metcalf would be super competitive had she not won last year. 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 5/12/18 at 12:28pm

it will probably go to Gough although tbh I wasn't really that fond of her Harper. I saw People, Places and Things and was disheartened to see the same tics and mannerisms as she used in that play show up in her portrayal of Harper. She also didn't really make me feel for Harper. 

Laurie Metcalf on the other hand absolutely holds her own with Glenda Jackson and IMO is the worthier winner.

[MrPeach]

Posted: 5/12/18 at 5:24pm

I’ve noticed several posters say that Gough’s performances in “People, Places, and Things” and “Angels in America.” I ask this sincerely: What does that matter and, more importantly, why should it matter in terms of enthusiasm for voting for a performance?

In film: Morgan Freeman and George Clooney have made a career out of playing shades of similar characters. Octavia Spencer has been Oscar nominated three times for similar characters [winning on her first for “The Help”]. Even Meryl Streep recently showed that her performances of Julia Child and Florence Foster Jenkins were cut from the same cloth.

Again, I’m asking genuinely. I didn’t see PP&T and I won’t be seeing AinA until mid-June. If a percentage of posters that saw Gough in both shows feel this way, then maybe a similar percentage exists among voters. 

Updated On: 5/12/18 at 05:24 PM

[MrPeach]

Posted: 6/11/18 at 2:11pm

MadsonMelo said: "It's not rocket science, Gough is the clear MVP of the play for many. Among her and Brown, there's no competition."

Against my better judgment, I predicted Gough in my predictions pool. Once again, vote-splitting occurs in this particular category (something Lindsay Mendez avoided with Renee Fleming on the musical side). I wonder if Gough would have prevailed had Brown been left off and/or of Alison Pill had been nominated along with Metcalf. Oh well... Laurie Metcalf is now a two-time Tony winner and I don’t think anyone would say she isn’t deserving. She has truly become American Theatre Royalty.