Posted: 5/21/15 at 12:39am
What's interesting is the night I saw SR, I actually thought Borle was fantastic!
However, I have seen him do his thing in promoting the musical on various TV talk shows, etc. and didn't think he came off as great as he did on the stage. A little bland.
On stage though, he lit it up. At least when I saw him.
For me I'd be happy with a Borle or Karl win. They were awesome. Karl was a natural.
Posted: 5/21/15 at 6:46pm
I am going with Karl for a few reasons. First he holds his own against Chenoweth who is giving the performance of her lifetime. Second is the Rocky factor, he honestly deserved a Tony last year for Rocky, which will likely be his career defining performance. Adding to that this may be his O'Hara year, where he is no longer the bridesmaid. He has been on Broadway for 20 years now, and only recieved his first nomination last year. He has given a string of great performances with Drood, Rocky and now 20th Century, over the last 3 years as well. Since the feild is sonweak I think his track record brings him to the front of the pack, like how Ashford is the apparent front runner for Featured Actress.
None if the AIP roles are meaty enough to win an award, and the arugments being made for Von Essen can easily be applied to Karl.
Borle won 3 years ago for chewing the scenery in Peter and the Starcatcher so I dont see them rewarding him for the samething so soon.
I think may are misunderstood when they put Oscar's Number "A Musical" on par with other winning Featured Showstopping numbers such as Judy Kaye swinging from a Chandelier during "Looking for a Boy" in Nice Work, Andrea Martin's acrobatics during No Time At All in Pippin, or Iglehardt's Friend Like Me in Aladdin. All of their numbers were truly taxing and were truly lead by by their respective actors. A Musical is more of an expositionary ensemble number, yes Oscsar leads the number, but unlike the others mentioned above he is not involved in the song outside of vocals for the most part. Igelhardt was essentially going to to toe with the ensemble of dancers in Friend Like Me and led almost all ensemble numbers. On top of that I think we can all agree its all downhill forbAladdin after Friend Like Me, compared to A Musical being the the song that truly gets the audience in the mood for the screwball nature of Something Rotten.
Posted: 5/21/15 at 7:07pm
On top of that I think we can all agree its all downhill for Aladdin after Friend Like Me
Not everyone agrees with that. Especially if you factor in the Whole New World sequence.
Posted: 5/21/15 at 8:22pm
I think Andy Karl is terrific and I loved him in Rocky, but I don't think anyone feels like he's gonna win for OTTC because he was robbed for Rocky. If NPH hadn't won, I'm sure it would've gone to Jefferson Mays.
Posted: 5/21/15 at 8:48pm
Andy Karl for being the best in a somewhat blah category. There's no standout here, really. Reminds me of the category two years ago when Gabriel Ebert won. I think Karl/Oscar/von Essen and McCabe/Nivola/Parker are the ones in contention with Karl and Parker in the lead. (I'd personally throw a bone to Freeman, who is the heart of Airline Highway.)
Posted: 5/21/15 at 8:56pm
I agree, HeyMrMusic, Freeman is terrific.
Posted: 5/21/15 at 9:25pm
There's a nice possibility that he may win the Drama Desk since he's the only actor from the Tony shortlist to even be nominated at the Drama Desks.
Posted: 5/21/15 at 10:28pm
How DID we wind up with 6 nominees in the Featured Actor category, anyway?
Posted: 5/21/15 at 11:02pm
I think when there is a tie for the 5th spot they go with 6.
And what's with all this "bone" throwing?
Posted: 5/21/15 at 11:07pm
^That's right! They would normally take a second ballot as a tie breaker which in the past had resulted in Cry-Baby getting the Best Musical nomination over A Catered Affair, Tony Shalhoub getting into Best Leading Actor in a Play last year over Denzel Washington, etc.
Now whenever there's a two or three way tie in any of the acting categories, they're just gonna expand the numbers.
Updated On: 5/21/15 at 11:07 PM
Posted: 5/24/15 at 12:12am
Andy Karl please win... It would be the most thrilling award win for me since Bobby Cannavale won the Emmy for 'Boardwalk Empire' ... I love Andy Karl!
