I remember really liking the book of To Kill a Mockingbird when I was a kid. To date, I haven't seen the current production.
It sounds like the production itself is wonderful, but the coverage about Rudin going after small theater companies, combined with the ridiculous pricing, has really left a bad taste in my mouth.
RippedMan said: "I think Cher show messed up by having 3 Chers. Should have just been SJB. And make it a tour-de-force kind of part."
Agreed. It made it far to easy to compare and contrast each ones portrayal of Cher. Yet I don't see how it could have been done any other way. One person playing the whole show would be far to much on the shoulders of just one performer to tackle, even a great performer like SJB. And Diamond does things with her dancing that SJB and even Teal Wicks could never be able to do. Perhaps that's why I was so impressed with her. She was just a spitfire ball of energy and light. Wicks got some great dramatic bits towards the end of her relationship with Sonny to work with and then SJB got the rest which didn't seem as impressive at times as what the other two got to work with.
I’m surprised no one, in discussing the Mockingbird omission for the top category, has not mentioned that incredibly condescending piece of Sorkin in New York magazine when the show was opening. I think Sorkin and Rudin can share the blame for any negative feelings toward rewarding the play in the category that goes to them.
I'd love to be a fly on the wall when Sonia Friedman and the FERRYMAN team realized MOCKINGBIRD was left out.
Not shocking that the elements OKLAHOMA! was snubbed for were the most non-traditional - Jones, Vaill, and the choreography.
I still think Block is winning the Lead Actress category. No one is clamoring to give O'Hara a second one for KISS ME KATE. Her only competition is Leavel.
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards
IdinaBellFoster said: "I still think Block is winning the Lead Actress category. No one is clamoring to give O'Hara a second one for KISS ME KATE. Her only competition is Leavel."
And with Kinneon now in there as well, that will split some of Leavel's votes. I would think that Block now has the clear edge on this one.
We all know that there is a certain amount of politics in all award nominations but the idea that the committee would punish Sorkin and Rudin at the expense of recognizing good work means that we have really fallen far.
There were numerous surprises this year and it does seem that every few years the committee goes temporarily insane and no one can make sense of their nominations
Like most of you, I am surprised that TKAM did not get nominated for best play. I'm glad Celia Keenan-Bolger was nominated.
I'm also surprised that Beetlejuice got a lot of nominations - but with all the noms received, Leslie Krtizer wasn't one of them? I thought she was the best performer in the show.
I thought The Cher Show deserved more or at least the same noms as Beetlejuice or Ain't Too Proud.
I don't think it's necessarily a swipe at Rudin, although I doubt his behavior helped. I think it's more about the nominators erring on the side of originality. Choir Boy, Gary, and What The Constitution Means To Me are all very unconventional, very original plays, and it seems like the nominators put more weight on that than on productions like Mockingbird and Network, which while solid, are much more commercial.
Caitlin Kinnuen and Lilli Cooper were both on my predictions as longshots, so I'm thrilled to see them both get in for non-flashy work, which it feels like the acting categories can fall into sometimes. Thrilled for the ladies of Gary as well, it's fantastic that they managed to give these performances on such short notice.
Glad Hadestown and Tootsie both got lots of recognition as they're both really strong shows. The amount of love for Ain't Too Proud and Beetlejuice is kind of mind-boggling, though. It was a strange year to have forced expansions for Musical/Book/Score because it led to some weird nominations (see Eddie Perfect now being a Tony nominated composer/lyricist...)
I cheered when I heard Robin DeJesus' name called. When we saw Boys in the Band last year I told my partner "I hope the voters remember him." He was so memorable and dynamic in that role. Yay! You go Robin!!!
Fionnula Flanagan gave me chills in The Ferryman. The way she delivered an ominous line towards the end. So happy she made the cut. I wish more actors from The Ferryman made it in--it's truly one of my favorite productions. I said "holy BLEEP" out loud at the end. It blew me away.
And when I saw The Prom Caitlin Kinnunen charmed me so much. She keeps the show grounded with her delightful performance. So happy for The Prom in general.
I have two trips happening in May and I'll be catching a lot of the nominees: King Lear (not hearing Glenda Jackson's name called was a big surprise), Burn This, Kiss Me Kate, Hadestown, Hillary and Clinton, Gary, Ink, and What the Constitution Means to Me.
I have seen Tootsie (happy for all involved), The Waverly Gallery (where's Joan Allen's nomination?), Torch Song (was hoping for a Mercedes Ruehl), The Prom, Boys in the Band, and the not-nominated Landscape of a Fact (which I enjoyed but didn't exactly seem like a Tony contender despite the enjoyable actors).
Wish I had picked up tickets for Ain't Too Proud but I don't really like jukebox musicals.
While I am utterly shocked by the MOCKINGBIRD shutout for best play, I am not upset about it. Aside from the extremely poor handling of other local productions on Rudin's end, I found the play itself to be extremely weak. I know I am in the minority on this, but I thought that both MOCKINGBIRD and NETWORK were two of the most overhyped and pretentious pieces of theatre I have seen on Broadway in years...
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
The nomination that shocked me the most was Caitlin Kinnunen for Best Leading Actress. In my opinion, she didn't deserve it: her performance was fine, it wasn't particularly bad, but it seemed to me like the epitome of an average performance. I would have MUCH preferred the nomination go to Rebecca Naomi Jones for Laurey in Oklahoma. I thought her performance was much more unexpected (I mean, it is this new revival of Oklahoma).
victoriafr said: "The nomination that shocked me the most was Caitlin Kinnunen for Best Leading Actress. In my opinion, she didn't deserve it: her performance was fine, it wasn't particularly bad, but it seemed to me like the epitome of an average performance. I would have MUCH preferred the nomination go to Rebecca Naomi Jones for Laurey in Oklahoma. I thought her performance was much more unexpected (I mean, it is this new revival of Oklahoma)."
COMPLETELY agree here. I found both Caitlin Kinnunen and her role to be entirely bland.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
I haven't seen Cher Show yet, but as of now, I'd give it to Leavel. I think she holds that whole show together and knocks her songs out of the park. Why the marketing team isn't playing up the camp and the 4 character-actor leads is beyond me. That will get butts in the seat - the older crowd who can afford tickets - instead of hyping up this lesbian romance, which is a subplot.
Just came from seeing Aint Too Proud with Glenn Close. I have to say I freaking loved the show. It deserves all of its Tony noms. I would even give Derrick Baskin the win. It’s skyrocketed to my second favorite of the year behind Hadestown and just ahead of The Prom. Meeting Glenn was the icing on the cake.
djoko84 said: "Just came from seeing Aint Too Proud with Glenn Close. I have to say I freaking loved the show. It deserves all of its Tony noms. I would even give Derrick Baskin the win. It’s skyrocketed to my second favorite of the year behind Hadestown and just ahead of The Prom. Meeting Glenn was the icing on the cake."
Did the image of Glenn Close being in the cast of Ain't Too Proud flash through anyone else's head?
djoko84 said: "Just came from seeing Aint Too Proud with Glenn Close. I have to say I freaking loved the show. It deserves all of its Tony noms. I would even give Derrick Baskin the win. It’s skyrocketed to my second favorite of the year behind Hadestown and just ahead of The Prom. Meeting Glenn was the icing on the cake."
Did the image of Glenn Close being in the cast of Ain't Too Proud flash through anyone else's head?
SamIAm wrote: "There were numerous surprises this year and it does seem that every few years the committee goes temporarily insane and no one can make sense of their nominations."
"Insane?" I think cold, calculating, and relentless would be more apt. They know exactly what they want, and having the power to do so, they get it.
One can thus only too easily make sense of their nominations.
The thing that makes me happy about the Best Play category is that all five are five well-written scripts. In recent history, we’ve seen several big, flashy productions with okay scripts win. I think all five playwrights here are richly deserving of their nomination.