BEST MUSICAL RACE 2014- Page 8

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 10:22am

^ They're not.
http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/about/nom_comm.html

[dreaming]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 10:22am

I think After Midnight has it for that touring reason. I think Beautiful is all but assured of a spot now, however, After Midnight has some really good tour potential (they could get names in different places to step in as guests). The tour votes are going to decide this and I think Aladdin and Beautiful have to be pretty happy this morning as does After Midnight. Those three I think are in for best musical locks.

[newintown]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 10:28am

I hope Gentleman's Guide gets acknowledged - it's the show this season with most integrity; a good, funny book, a terrific original score, theatrical, truly adapted (not just copied from a source). Easily the Broadway musical that entertained me most this year.

After Midnight is fun and fine, but compared to a really great revue like Ain't Misbehavin', it seems like little more than a good variety show; Beautiful is fine for what it is, but what it is is a TV-show-level bio featuring Carol King's great songs - all of which sound good here, but also sound better on older recordings. Nothing new, nothing different - it copies the Jersey Boys formula (which copies the old Leader of the Pack formula).

Bridges has its fans, but clearly not many (I'm certainly not one, finding it banal, boring and derivative). Rocky is a desperate grab for cash, a mere attempt to squeeze some more dollars out of a popular movie. Seeing Bullets this weekend, but I go in giving it a strike because of the non-original score - I know, many don't give a damn about that, but I do.

[dreaming]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 10:37am

Gentleman's Guide is based on a film, newintown. It's not truly original. (The score is, but not the source. The only original musical (at least if we're to believe the creatives) is If/Then.)

I like the score for Bridges, but think Gentleman's Guide will take it. (I would not be surprised to see After Midnight take book to justify its winning best musical.)

I think there won't be one big winner. I'm interested to see how Lena Hall is reviewed for Hedwig as much as Neil Patrick Harris-she's the best Yitzak I've ever seen. I could see Hedwig taking the most awards. (It sure deserves to. As I've said, I wish they'd allow revivals under the classics rule to be eligible for book and score seeing how they haven't played on Broadway.)

[Up In One]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 10:39am

Dunno Sauja, Gentleman has been running six months grossing an average of $460K a week in New York City arguably the best market for a smart, clever, witty show like it. If I were a road presenter I wouldn't book the show without a major star above the title. The Tony's promote Broadway and I don't see them giving their prize to a show that's can't draw sellout crowds in New York. It's not brilliant enough to demand the crown. Same with After Midnight, is it a uniquely theatrical revue that raises it above variety show status the way Ain't Misbehavin did? In a year like this I see them going for something more commercial.

Updated On: 4/11/14 at 10:39 AM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 10:42am

Up in One, I agree completely.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 10:43am

I feel like people generally *like* Beautiful more than some of the other contenders for that slot. It's safe. If/Then, Rocky, and Bullets have their fans but also people very much against them. Beautiful is totally inoffensive as a show.

Plus, I'm sure they'd hope to have Carole King make an appearance on the broadcast. I doubt she would, but still.

[Sauja]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 10:51am

Thanks for the info neonlights. And I don't know, Up In One: might the ability to call it the Tony winning Best Musical be enough to make it tour well? I'm thinking of Memphis--a show that putted along for awhile before winning and then ran for a few years and launched a huge tour. Admittedly, I don't know how the tour DID. The other advantage to Gentleman's Guide is that it would be a cheap show to produce! Relatively.

[newintown]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 10:54am

"Gentleman's Guide is based on a film, newintown. It's not truly original."

You'll notice, dreaming, that I only used the word "original" for the score; I noted that the piece itself is a true adaptation, not a slavish copy of a film (like Rocky).

[djoko84]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 10:58am

I think it will easily be A Gentleman's Guide for best musical. Hopefully for best actor too.

[dreaming]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:01am

I think Neil Patrick Harris has the Tony unless Benny is as nasty to Hedwig as he was to Bullets.

I think Aladdin, Beautiful and After Midnight will be the top three contenders. Gentleman's Guide is not road material-I lived in a tour city briefly and the best sellers while I was there were Movin' Out and Evita. These people aren't going to go for Gentleman's Guide.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:14am

I don't know dreaming. Jefferson Mays is stiff competition.

It's undoubtedly between those two though.

And supporting actor could be a tight race as well if Igleheart and Cordero both end up in that category.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:16am

It's sad how the winner depends on the national tour. Like how Wicked only lost to Avenue Q because AQ needs publicity for the tour or whatever. If you like a show better than the others, just vote for it as Best Musical. Don't let politics ruin that for you!

And yeah, I think it's going to be A GENTLEMEN'S GUIDE too.
Updated On: 4/11/14 at 11:16 AM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:20am

I don't know if Gentleman's Guide would succeed on tour BUT I do think it's a perfect show for regional theaters.

[dreaming]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:28am

You're forgetting one thing, tazber: there are 2 eligible leading actors in Gentleman's Guide: Bryce Pinkham and Jefferson Mays. They may well cancel each other out.

Also, Neil Patrick Harris has never won. He's actually really, really good in Hedwig. Unless Brantley has the same vendetta against Hedwig that he did against Bullets, I could see Hedwig being the biggest winner on Tony night.

In a dismal season like this, I think the touring votes are even more important. That percentage of the vote may make the difference here. Sad but true. (Are there really that many REGIONAL theater voters??? Those aren't the same as touring ones.)

[newintown]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:28am

I think that old saw about the tour presenters being the deciders on the Best Musical award is pretty much a myth that's been discredited. Several of the recent past winners have been not so successful on the road (Billy Elliott, Memphis, Spring Awakening), and there have been many years when the more obviously "regionally-commercial" show lost to something perhaps considered more artsy or daring (Once vs. Newsies, Book of Mormon vs. Sister Act, Billy Elliott vs. Shrek, Spring Awakening vs. Mary Poppins, etc., etc., etc.).

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:30am

Strictly speaking, "Gentleman's Guide" is not based on a film. It's based on the 1907 novel "Israel Rank: the Autobiography of a Criminal" by Roy Horniman, which was, yes, also the source for the film "Kind Hearts and Coronets."

[Kad]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:36am

"Like how Wicked only lost to Avenue Q because AQ needs publicity for the tour or whatever."

That's not what happened.

[Steve721]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:44am

"Like how Wicked only lost to Avenue Q because AQ needs publicity for the tour or whatever."

Avenue Q won for the simple reason that it's a much better and more original show than Wicked.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:48am

And it ran a campaign that focused on exactly that along with positioning itself as an underdog and charming voters with performances of original songs at award season events.

[dreaming]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:51am

I hated Avenue Q's shameless campaign and found it dirty and manipulative. It left a foul taste in my mouth. It seems charming now, but at the time it really didn't do much to make me cheer it on.

Also, they promised to tour...and that was to lure the touring voters...and they took that touring money and went to Vegas...

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:56am

'I go in giving it a strike because of the non-original score - I know, many don't give a damn about that, but I do.'

I've never been more angry in my theatrical life than I was slogging through BULLETS and thinking, 'The fact that this doesn't have an original score is the laziest, stupidest thing I've encountered in the theater in a looooong time.'

And, much to my surprise, I also agreed about the racial issues brought up. To have a bunch of white people singing T'Ain't Nobody's Business and Hidey Hidey Hey without the slightest bit of self-awareness was shocking in 2014. I wouldn't call it 'racist,' but it was certainly tone deaf when it came to the racial implications of the moment.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 12:02pm

The demograph of the Tony voters has changed a bit since 2001, with the power of the road presenters's votes (always blown out of proportion) being somewhat diminished. I wouldn't look to the ideology of 'what is going to tour best' for your Best Musical winner. ALADDIN, BRIDGES, GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE, AFTER MIDNIGHT will all likely have either tours and/or a strong life in regional theater. From the traditional "road presenter" influence theory -- they would largely cancel each other out.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 2:59pm

Strictly speaking, "Gentleman's Guide" is not based on a film. It's based on the 1907 novel "Israel Rank: the Autobiography of a Criminal" by Roy Horniman, which was, yes, also the source for the film "Kind Hearts and Coronets."

Thank you, Reggie. I was just about to post that myself.

I have the same reaction every time someone says this musical is based on the film: It irritates me.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 4:33pm

But it's still a TRUE adaptation, right?