Aida

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 1:46am

So question. I've been listening to Aida for a couple years now and I got to see it the night before it closed. I thought it was great over all, though I know the book wasn't as strong as it could have been but why wasn't it up for best musical? What else was that year? My memory doesn't go that far back when it comes to the Tony's.

Posted: 3/4/05 at 1:50am

Musical Winner:
Contact. Produced by Lincoln Center Theater, Andre Bishop, Bernard Gersten

Nominees:
James Joyce's The Dead. Produced by Gregory Mosher, Arielle Tepper, Playwrights Horizons, Tim Sanford

Swing! Produced by Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, Steven Baruch, Tom Viertel, Lorie Cowen Levy/Stanley Shopkorn, Jujamcyn Theaters, BB Promotion, Dede Harris/Jeslo Productions, Libby Adler Mages/Mari Glick, Douglas L. Meyer/James D. Stern, PACE Theatrical Group/SFX

The Wild Party. Produced by The Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, George C. Wolfe, Scott Rudin/Paramount Pictures, Roger Berlind, Williams/Waxman

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 1:58am

I remember being SO surprised that SWING! was nominated over AIDA. I was so very happy - I really hated AIDA, where as I thought SWING was absolutely fantastic.

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 2:03am

I liked Swing! when I saw it but it's all good Heather won her Tony deservingly (is that a word?) and the lighting for Aida was wonderful and glad it won the Tony for that. Also, another question regarding Heather; who beat her out for nods for the Tony in the year of The Lion King.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 2:05am

I think it was Audra McDonald in RAGTIME, but I could be wrong. I would have given the award to Toni Collette (THE WILD PARTY) over Headley, hands down. Same for lighting and set design - TWP instead of AIDA.

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 2:09am

Didn't get to see Wild Party Hear it's a good show though. I think Audra won but who else was nominated? Headley sang "Shadowland" so well and from what I've heard gave amazing performances. However she was really young at the time. Graduated college in 1996 and Lion King premiered in '97...She's got time and room to grow...she's got years ahead of her on the Great White Way.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 12:10pm

catstagestud, I have the videotape of Adam's second Chatterbox appearance, and he talks a lot about the Tonys that year. He doesn't say that anyone ever figured out a legit reason why AIDA didn't get the best musical nod, but some of what he says is pretty interesting. He said that it was also an huge surprise that Sherie Rene didn't get a featured actress nomination (and I'm surprised he wasn't pissed that HE didn't get a lead actor nom...). But in terms of the dissent toward AIDA that year, he said that the theatre community seemed to decide it was going to hate this show long before they ever gave it a chance. I suppose that's partially his biased view, being pretty much torn apart by critics, but that some of it is true. He said the community sort of made a decision against Elton, against Disney and against the show, and gave it a sort of "f*ck them" attitude. It's a shame; I wish they'd at least gotten a nomination. They did win four Tonys, though, so not all was lost.


And now, this expression of my emotion:

Updated On: 3/4/05 at 12:10 PM

[NativeNewYorker]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 12:48pm

You know who was a really great Radames?

Cheyenne Jackson!

(Awe, it's just not the same randomly mentioning him now that he's this big star and everyone knows who he is :))

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 12:53pm

Don't get me started on Contact. The fact that a BALLET (and yes, that's what it is!) can win "Best Musical" when Aida isn't even nominated pretty much sucked the last bit of legitimacy out of the Tonys for me.

...and am I the only one who wants to see the rest of catstagestud's avatar??

[TGIF]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 1:13pm

Aww. NNY, its be SO long since I saw a post like that. Brought back some good memories!

Yes, it isn't the same, but thats a good thing! (You did your job :) ).

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 1:44pm

'...and am I the only one who wants to see the rest of catstagestud's avatar??'

No, you're not.

QM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 1:46pm

Definitely not. I just didn't want to be the first to say it. :-P

[gustof777]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 2:41pm

yeah personally i would have liked to have seen this as a nominee for best musical. but folks i am in the show right now in a community production as zoser and wow. I remember loving the show and the music and soo when people would say how bad it was i was always soo suprised and sad. Then once i was in it and i could just see the bare text and WOW its a peice of S***T! seriously it has a horrible book and the lyrics are AWFUL!! It really is a statement to that production though because they reallly covered the flaws of the material well and i think they are a really good show of doing the best with Crap for material

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 2:42pm

The show did as well as it did probably based mostly on the lavishness of the production. Yes, the book is pretty weak, but the score (including the lyrics, save for a few spots) was VERY strong, almost all around.

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 2:54pm

That's all there is to that pics, sorry!! :-P

[Jwei123]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 3:06pm

I <3 aida, and really wish it had at neast gotten a nod. I agree, the book is the weakest feature, but the talent, music, sets, costume, and choreography were all there!!!