A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris
Broadway Star Joined: 1/28/04
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#1
Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:17am
Or Bryan Cranston either.
Just one man (or woman's) opinion, but interesting.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/04/a-tony-voter-on-bryan-cranston-s-overrated-lbj-neil-patrick-harris-s-underwhelming-hedwig.html
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/24/09
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#2
Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:21amI saw that article and can say they are surely entitled to their opinions. (It seemed they were trying too hard to go against the grain for its own sake. I did happen to agree with their assessment that "Lady Day" was a musical. But I thought Cranston was amazing. I guess I think what made Cranston's performance so amazing was that he did exude the person he was playing despite not looking like Johnson-that is a very difficult feat. Looking like someone isn't acting-you should BE the role, not just look like it or imitate someone. That's my two cents.)
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#2
Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:29amLady Day IS a musical. I'll never understand that decision.
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#3
Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:29amWhat an awful person that Tony Voter sounds like.
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#4
Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:31amI give very little credibility to someone who seems so unfamiliar with the nominees.
Broadway Star Joined: 10/13/06
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#5
Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:35amThis person doesn't seem to have a clue. I'm assuming they are referring to Jefferson Mays when they say "what's-his-name" in GG. And not knowing that Bullets doesn't have a featured actress nom or that Rocky does have a scene design nod. Knock, knock--hello? Anybody home?
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#6
Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:44amI haven't gotten to see LADY DAY yet so I have a question. Are any of the songs character numbers or are they all "on stage" songs?
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#7
Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:46amThey are "on stage" songs, but some do have a connection to moments in Holliday's life.
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#8
Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:54amIf CONTACT is a "musical", than LADY DAY sure as hell is. These committees make no sense.
Joined: 12/31/69
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#9
Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:57amI'm always amused by people who judge the portrayal of a real person on how much the actor looks like the person being depicted. That's the least important part of a performance to me.
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#10
Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:00pm
They call Beautiful a "pastiche." Uh...
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#11
Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:03pmEveryone is entitled to his opinion, but I don't understand why this ONE Tony voter is more worthy of one whole story, over the other 800 voters. It's just one guy/gal's whims. I just hope his fellow voters are more informed than this person seems to be. (The Post and the Times probably will do a story like this, but they'll sample more people.)
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#12
Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:06pmI doubt I would have categorized Lady Day as a musical. The show definitely straddles the fence, but to me, what I saw did not look or feel like a musical at all. The text was so much more vital than the music in defining the play and kept it from simply being a revue or biographical musical.
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#13
Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:08pmI totally see why Lady Day is categorized as a play. It's essentially a concert with monologues, with no arc or development for the character.
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#14
Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:16pm
I went back and forth on that. Kelli’s gonna suffer from opening too soon, but I thought that musical did a pretty decent job of expanding that book. They did a good job, but people will forget it.
The mystery voter is talking about the musical itself, not Kelli's performance. Argh.
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#15
Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:23pm
Except there's an arc to the show itself, which is, basically, that she's preparing to die.
I think the subtlest, most devastating aspect of Audra's performance is that she is so attuned to the development of Billie Holiday's development as an artist and as a human being is what she does with her voice.
At the beginning of the show, Audra's voice is Billie circa 1947: more seasoned and mature than the piping, sweet voice of 1930s Billie singing with Teddy Wilson and Count Basie and Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman.
But as the 90 minutes goes by, her voice gets more ragged, as Billie's did after her arrests for heroin, as the drugs and alcohol took their toll on her body, spirit, voice and soul.
By the end of the show, Audra is singing the way Billie did at the end of her life, as you can hear on her final recordings with Ray Ellis and as you can see on her 1957 television appearance on The Sound of Jazz with Lester Young.
It's a subtle choice on Audra's part, noticeable only if you've listened to enough Billie to know the difference between the sound of her voice in the different periods. But for the average audience member, it devastatingly dramatizes her decline.
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#16
Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:28pm
Assuming this interview is valid, it greatly annoys me. This person clearly has very little respect for the position he/she is in. I'm sure most of us here would LOVE to have the power to vote for the Tonys (and especially get to see every show for free). There's a sense of entitlement to his/her tone that really bugs me.
If these are the types of people voting, then I just lost a lot of respect for the Tonys as a whole.
Updated On: 6/4/14 at 12:28 PM
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#17
Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:36pm
"If these are the types of people voting, then I just lost a lot of respect for the Tonys as a whole."
These are the type of people who give interviews to people like Musto who can make things about them in a public albeit anonymous way. I wouldn't extrapolate further than that.
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#18
Posted: 6/4/14 at 1:01pm
"But as the 90 minutes goes by, her voice gets more ragged, as Billie's did after her arrests for heroin, as the drugs and alcohol took their toll on her body, spirit, voice and soul."
I actually prefer Billie's voice in this time period. The ragged voice gave more poignancy to the songs.
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#19
Posted: 6/4/14 at 1:02pmIf this incident isn't a joke in the opening sequence or a running joke throughout the program, then the writers aren't doing their job. It has the potential to top the Patti LuPone lawnmower gag.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/11/14
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#20
Posted: 6/4/14 at 1:19pmThese are the times I question why some people are Tony voters...
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#21
Posted: 6/4/14 at 2:02pm
"These are the times I question why some people are Tony voters..."
Only now?
Have you had the privilege of actually meeting or knowing any Tony voters?
They are pompous because they are Tony voters and cheaper than sin. Doubt many would actually pay to see a show if it wasn't handed to them for free. Because they have a ballot in hand they are the all powerful all knowing authority on theater too!
Just because they hand a Tony (or multiple) to a show does NOT mean I actually go to see it!
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#22
Posted: 6/4/14 at 2:03pmI love how snotty he is.
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#23
Posted: 6/4/14 at 2:06pm
"I love how snotty he is."
Or she. 
A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris#24
Posted: 6/4/14 at 2:10pmI think that interview is a complete fabrication.
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