75th TONY Award Upsets!! — Page 2

“Tomorrow’s performance of strange loop is sold out!”



yes this usually happens to the best musical for a week or so

Regarding those who are calling out the alleged Sharon D. Clark loss to Joquina Kalukango an upset, this definitely comes down to voter having to see all performances in order to vote in a category. Caroline or Change played during the peak of Broadway covid, so I can imagine many voters skipping it. Then the announcement of the upcoming revival of Death of A Salesman, that would in previous years likely create a bandwagon effect for voters, especially for those who didn't see the production wanting to support the upcoming Death of a Salesman revival by casting a vote for Clarke. I didn't see Clarke's performance, but Kalukango is not undeserving, she is the saving grace of the mess that is Paradise Square. The fact that Kalukango was able to give such a powerful performance with such weak material, where her character is sidelined for much of the second act then reclaims the show with a roof shaking eleven o'clock number is most definitely awards worthy.

In truth this debate is an interesting one, what is more deserving of an award:

a) a great performance of a meaty well written iconic role

or

b) an mesmerizing performance where an actor elevates weak material

In my opinion if the performances are even slightly on par with each other, I would award the later for the amount of work it takes to accomplish such a feat, especially in the leading actor/actress category where they have to carry the productions on their backs.

Yeah no body sounded great.


Was Macbeth not elligible? And didn’t realize that POTUS got shut out so much.

Feel bad for Jaquel. I don’t know how many opportunities the guy will get for such a showcase again, but here’s hoping he’s up for gold before too long.

UncleCharlie said: "Nobody wuz robbed. Nobody "deserved" anything. Theater is subjective and people have different reactions to the same piece of theater. More people voted for something else. That's the way it goes."

You know no one is using the word literally. Like, nobody on this thread thinks Frost went backstage and put his name in the envelope. It’s a hyperbolic way to express disappointment; let people vent.

binau said: "Can anyone who has seen both comment/advocate on why Sharon didn't win? (I'm a bit skeptical of course and wonder if Caroline was open now the outcome would be different)."

I saw Caroline, or Change three times and I refuse to sit through Paradise Square again so I'm obviously biased. It was definitely was more nerve-wracking to see shows in the fall than it has been recently (though I'm still skipping Broadway since they dropped the vaccination checks), but I can see an acting-based argument for Joaquina winning. Sharon's performance was grounded and fully realized. Caroline felt like a real person burying her feelings, swallowing her pride, carrying her exhaustion and disappointments. But it wasn't a very showy performance apart from Lot's Wife and some other moments. It was more like the performance you might give in a play, rather than a musical.

The relationship between Matt Bogart (can't remember his character name) and Nelly was laughable and so none of those plot developments held any weight for me and the show refused to meaningfully engage with the complexity of the conflicts it introduced (e.g. choosing Washington/Joah over Owen, what does familial loyalty truly mean and what supersedes that... I'm being vague because the show doesn't put it into words). But when she sang Let It Burn, she dragged the audience into carrying about the characters and even if the song sounds like a lot of other 11 o'clock numbers, it did have the power that they often do and it brought the audience to their feet.

I keep seeing people saying that certain people might not have won because not everyone saw their performance, but in the very same posts and sentences they say that you have to have seen all of the performances to vote in that category.

Doesn't that make the point that not everyone saw some performances moot and just mean that there is a smaller voting pool for that category?

jkcohen626 said: "I keep seeing people saying that certain people might not have won because not everyone saw their performance, but in the very same posts and sentences they say that you have to have seen all of the performances to vote in that category.

Doesn't that make the point that not everyone saw some performances moot and just mean that there is a smaller voting pool for that category?"

Yes, but:

1) We all know the system is not failsafe and I guarantee there were instances where people voted even though they didn't see the performance.

And 2) I think the point is that if less people saw a performance, there's more of a chance that some of a show's ardent supporters may have missed it. What I mean is, using Jaquel Spivey as an example: I think we can all agree that A Strange Loop was divisive among Tony voters. Let's say for argument's sake that 60% of them voted for it and 40% voted against it. That obviously makes it enough to win Best Musical. But now let's say only half of that 60% saw Jaquel in it and only half of them can vote for Best Actor. Now all of a sudden, he probably only has about 30% of the vote whereas he likely would have gotten enough had he been in the show more (and that other 30% could have voted for him as well). Again, this is just a completely made up example numbers wise, but just to illustrate how missing performances and not having as many voters see you could cost someone a Tony.

Updated On: 6/13/22 at 04:54 PM

I don’t think Six suffered from not being fresh in people’s minds. In fact, I feel like the show actually benefitted from being around for awhile, as it helped establish the score and get them that win.

Broadway61004 said: "Actress in a Musical reminds me a lot of 2000, when Kiss Me Kate opened in the Fall and Marin was running away with the Tony until mid-Spring when the world discovered Heather Headley in Aida (another poorly received show which her performance was strong enough to make up for) and there was no stopping her from the Tony."

Marin also missed a LOT performances. I returned tickets 3 times before managing to see her. She was perfect in the role when o finally did see her.

Dionysus3 said: "It wasn’t a surprise or an upset, as everyone knew Patti was going to win (and she’s great), but Jennifer Simard’s performance in Company was a lot more interesting…"

Couldn't agree more. Simard was a riot and hers was the performance I was thinking about and laughing about as i left the theater but there was no chance she was ever going to be able to take down Patti especially being in the same show.