August: Osage County- Violet vs. Barbara

I recently saw the touring production of August: Osage County, which was superb. Estelle Parsons as Violet and Shannon Cochran as Barbara were both unbelievably good. Now, I know that the original Violet and Barbara were nominated for the same Tony, and Dunagan eventually won. However, when I saw the show, I couldn't help but think that if I were choosing a winner for the award, I would've picked Barbara. I felt that though, in a lot of ways, the role of Violet is showier, I was ultimately most moved by Cochran's performance as Barbara. For anyone who saw the original production, I'm very curious to know if anyone felt the same way I did. Was Dunagan's performance that much better than Morton's (or, for that matter, Parsons's)?

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I always assumed it was because Violet (and especially her portrayal) gets all the funny/memorable lines. You walk out going "wow, that amy morton is an emotional power house, but dang that mother is funny and a great actress."

But I also was dying for Amy Morton to win. Badly.

This was an obsession with me...
They should have tied the two and awarded both....
The chemistry was what made the performances
so great.

I only saw Rashad and Morton. I felt like it was Morton/Barbara's show right until Rashad's final moments, and boy it sure ended as Rashad's show.

I might have to sneak up and see the Lincoln Center tape of Amy Morton because when I saw it with Estelle Parsons and Joanna Day....the show belonged to Estelle Parsons. No doubt. I was actually surprised when I realized that the play is much more about Barbara.

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What we should be judging really, is how did the entire cast present the
typical family in the addiction web.
Amy Morton was the classic "hero Child"
The role of Ivy was the "Mascot role.
and the role of Karen was the "lost child"....
The role of Violet was the actual person in crisis, the mother and father (deceased), what you get from his opening monologue the state
of their affairs..and you know there are huge problems.
Having said that, they all play a significant role in playing together the definitive dysfunctional family.
That is very hard to do and they excelled at it...it could have been laughably over the top, or too understated...
I like Estelle the least, because i think she was trying to hog the show and make everybody laugh, and whatnot.
Deanna & Phylicia, dug deeper and Deanna was not tipping her hand the way Estelle did...
Phylicia, on the other hand, was subtle and more "@#$%^& up" in appearence...because you see in the that type of family dynamic, there is constant blame and "shush!!! she is in the other room" she will hear us" type thing, when the addicted person, usually knows EVERYTHING and is the "Slick" one...
Amy Morton and Deanna Duganan portrayed this dynamic the best...
Barbara stays as she wants to take over the father role when she realizes to her horror, she is becoming her mother...
I come from that back round and in my family setting I am Violet...so believe ...i loved this play....it was psycho-drama at its best.....
Who was best? Who cares...it moves you and makes you feel...
Who could ask for more...