Audra McDonald - Another Tony?- Page 3

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 11:57am

I agree. If "Bridges" was selling better, I'd be more sure of her win, with Mueller a very close second. I believe she's giving the best performance by an actress in a musical this season. Of course, I would never count out Williams, who I expect to be terrific.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 12:01pm

I think Williams will truly be the wild card this season. If she knocks it out of the park she could be unstoppable.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 12:08pm

I'm really interested in seeing what she does. Whereas Richardson had a coltish quality that brought real tension to Sally, Williams has a fragile bird quality that could be heartbreaking. I'm dying. DYING, I TELL YOU!

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 12:14pm

Yeah, I agree. Williams' "Maybe This Time" could be a killer.

What an exciting season this is!!

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 12:22pm

Williams was superb when she stepped in to KILLER JOE Off Broadway back in 1999. She definitely has stage chops.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 12:25pm

I saw her in SMELLING A RAT.

OK...I'll admit it. I saw SMELLING A RAT because of her. I was way too old to be obsessed with Jen Lindley, but I was. And the joy I feel at her 3 Oscar nominations to Joey Potter's 0 is probably unhealthy.

I thought she was great as a British nerd.


Updated On: 3/19/14 at 12:25 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 12:30pm

Putting Mazzie in the supporting/featured category doesn't guarantee anything even if it gives her a better shot, which is probably a wise decision.

I'm reminded of Gone With the Wind in 1939, when much to her chagrin, Olivia de Havilland was put into the Supporting Actress category (which had only been around for three years at that point), even though she was starred above the title, just like Vivien Leigh. I personally agree that Melanie is a supporting role, but Olivia wasn't all that pleased (the nerve of that 23-year-old!). This was to give her a real chance at winning, since the odds-on favorite for leading actress was Vivien, of course.

Then Olivia lost to Hattie McDaniel in the supporting category.

[bobs3]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 1:26pm

It takes a really bad actress to screw up the role of Sally Bowles. Even Melina Kanakaredes and Molly Ringwald were good in the part and their combined talented isn't half the talent of Michelle Williams.

[madbrian]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 2:22pm

"It takes a really bad actress to screw up the role of Sally Bowles."

I saw Teri Hatcher in the role on tour.

[artscallion]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 2:48pm

Lady Day, the Musical was a completely different play, written by Stephen Stahl

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 3:05pm

Ugh, Olivia de Havilland always sounds insufferable. Thanks for the story, Besty.

MichaelBennett, good point bringing up Daniel Radcliffe, though he actually has never gotten in whereas Menzel has gotten the two times she has been eligible. I think the Tony committee likes to reward big star performances like hers, though the example I provided about Kristin Chenoweth shows that's not always the case. I guess we'll see when reviews are out.

[NewSynchopation]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 3:11pm

How do we think Lady Day will do at the Tony's aside from Audra? How IS the play itself? I've never seen it.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 3:14pm

"It takes a really bad actress to screw up the role of Sally Bowles." Not buying it, bobs3.

a) one would hope there's some daylight between screwing up a role and not giving an award-worthy performance, b) countless good performances don't get tony nominations; many outstanding performances have not gotten tony nomination; every year at tony time bww will be abuzz with talk of who got snubbed, c) Jill Haworth, the original Sally, failed to make much of an impression with the role; but I doubt everyone who was less than pleased with her Sally thought of her as a bad actress, and d) a great many great actors have given bad performances.

None of which is to suggest I expect Williams will be less than stellar; I have no reason to doubt that she will hit it out of the park.



Updated On: 3/20/14 at 03:14 PM

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 4:30pm

What's also interesting to me is that some categories feel EXTREMELY crowded and competitive and others really don't. Leading Actor in a Musical, for example, feels very slight compared to Leading Actor in a Play or Leading Actress in a Musical.

Andy Karl, Jefferson Mays, Neil Patrick Harris, Ramin Karimloo, Steven Pasquale, critical darling Norbert Leo Butz, Zach Braff and I may be missing one or two others could likely all make compelling cases as nominees. I agree it isn't as strong as the female category, but it's far from weak when you look at the pool from past years (Best Actress in a musical from 2011 comes to mind.)

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 7:27pm

I suppose the 2008 best musical actress category was pretty awesome - LuPone/Prince/Russell/O'Hara/Butler, although LuPone and O'Hara were the only two big contenders. Russell's performance was heartbreaking but she was too much a Broadway newbie at that stage.