"Best Musical 2010 goes to...."- Page 2

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/9/10 at 2:39pm

Yankee, did you see FELA! and MDQ?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/9/10 at 2:42pm

Saw FELA, not MDQ. I have a lot of shows to catch up on, including that, La Cage, S on S and Red.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/9/10 at 2:42pm

What'd you think of FELA?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/9/10 at 2:50pm

Really liked it, in the PASSING STRANGE way. Didn't affect me as much, though.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/9/10 at 3:04pm

Let's make this interesting.

Let's have a bet: Anyone who wants to, can predict the winner but if you are wrong you agree not to post again until the day after the 2011 nominations are announced.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 5/9/10 at 7:50pm

Frontrow: I'll take the bait, but only if you agree to do the same. I don't necessarily know
if it will win, but I believe Fela! is the most deserving. So, sir, that is my choice for Best Musical of 2010.

Now then Frontrow, place your bets!


(Edited for sloppy BlackBerry use.....) Updated On: 5/9/10 at 07:50 PM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/9/10 at 9:53pm

I would love AI to get this
Yes ive heard all the 'it's not originl blah blah, the book is weak blah blah blah' but i loved the show, the opera style of the book worked for me and the music cast and design were brilliant

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/9/10 at 10:07pm

This has, all around, been one of the weirder seasons Broadway has seen in a while.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/9/10 at 10:12pm

Not weird...uneven.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/9/10 at 10:24pm

Frontrow: I'll take the bait, but only if you agree to do the same. I don't necessarily know if it will win, but I believe Fela! is the most deserving. So, sir, that is my choice for Best Musical of 2010.


I will..but (unlike SOME Tony voters) I can't vote until I have seen all the nominees. I saw MEMPHIS last November but June 5-12 I will be in New York seeing all the new shows (and recording interviews with the performers) so my predictions will have to wait until I am back home the morning of Sunday June 13.

Have you seen all the nominees as yet?

Updated On: 5/9/10 at 10:24 PM

[PReeves2]

Posted: 5/9/10 at 10:34pm

Yero -

Sorry if my opinions seem to point toward one side. Like I said before and to be more clear it seems to me that this year doesn't have a clear winner across the board for the nominations of Best Musical. However, I did notice that in the Best Actor categories for musical and play most all of them are bigger/more recognized names of the television and movie world. That would be one of my main reasons for pointing out that Fela! COULD be (and in my humble opinion) the winner for Best Musical. Remember this, I am NOT a Tony voter nor do I try and pretend to be one. I'm only stating my opinion and hoping for a conversation about the topic.

[PReeves2]

Posted: 5/10/10 at 12:44am

Frontrow -

you really wait until the last minute to see all the shows. Won't most of the voters have cast their vote yet? What type of interviews will you be recording? do you work for BWW or something?

[fanadu1996]

Posted: 5/10/10 at 2:29am

i'd be shocked if The Smiths and The Jay-Z's even show up at the Tonys.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/10/10 at 2:43am

Oh, I am not a TONY voter. (I wish - sometimes) I do a radio program (see below) and come down a few times a year to see the latest shows and record interviews with the performers.

The week before the Tony Awards is a great week in NYC - lots of great buzz in the air. And they used to do a free concert in Shubert Alley on the Wednesday (I don't see any word on if there is one this year.)

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/10/10 at 10:31am

fanadu, I am betting they will be there.

As far as Jay-Z providing exposure, the Tonys really don't get the kind of promotion that the other award shows get across the country on entertainment shows. I have caught coverage but not the constant coverage like the Oscars, Grammys or Globes. I live in the west and have to go online to see most of the coverage before the show. So a lot of Jay-Z's fans probably don't even know about Fela! unless they follow him closely. Now if he were IN the show, they would most likely know. On the flip side because of who they are, we may see them on Entertainment Tonight or Extra one time talking about the show. Just my thoughts.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/10/10 at 12:15pm

However, this year had a couple of wanna be "musicals" with Fela!, Come Fly Away, and American Idiot.

Fela and American Idiot are musicals. Come Fly Away is essentially a ballet, but the Tonys categorize it as a musical as they did with Contact and Movin' Out. None of them are "wanna bes", but "currently ares".

it seems to me that Will Smith and Jay-Z would be the obvious choice to show popularity and validity to the Tony's if they gave the award for Best Musical to Fela! sense they are now among the lead producers and are above the title.

No, because celebrities have never sold the Tonys (no apostrophe) on television and awarding the producers, who are not appearing in the musical, will have little effect on Will Smith and Jay-Z fans in terms of ticket sales. And I'm not sure how it would add validity to the Tonys since (not sense) awarding another show would not invalidate the broadcast or the awards and if Will Smith and Jay Z are only there to possibly accept an award, not perform, then what are they validating?

Let us not forget the one musical that was trying so desperately to be something bigger than all of them which was Everyday Rapture.

How is it trying to be bigger? It's a one-woman show.

Everyday Rapture seems to make more sense for a touring production as do most of the other tony nominees for best musical than Million Dollar Quartet.

A one-woman show about a woman who is unknown to the majority of the country is a better touring option than a show about rock and roll legends performing classic songs? Have you been to America?

It's all going to boil down to who needs what award to capitalize most in a touring market.

Or not. Sometimes the show that needs the least boost wins like Spamalot, Billy Elliot, Jersey Boys, Hairspray or Thoroughly Modern Millie. It's all speculation, just as it is every single year.

The Tonys have always been about commerce, much more so than "art."

Depends on the year. Passion winning Best Musical had nothing to do with commerce.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 5/10/10 at 3:31pm

How is it trying to be bigger? It's a one-woman show.

I'm going to nitpick for a moment, Mister Matt, just because I know you appreciate being as accurate as possible.

EVERYDAY RAPTURE has three cast members in addition to Sherie, so I don't know if you can technically call it a one-woman show. It's not like WISHFUL DRINKING.

Updated On: 5/10/10 at 03:31 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/10/10 at 3:34pm

Are they back-up singers, or do they do more than that?

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 5/10/10 at 3:42pm

Two female back-up singers and one boy who plays the YouTube kid. He has lines and a solo dance number (lip-syncing to Sherie's singing). I'd call him a character, not just a back-up singer.

He might even sing himself at one point, I honestly don't remember.

Updated On: 5/10/10 at 03:42 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/10/10 at 3:53pm

So, I'm still wondering how Everyday Rapture trying desperately to be bigger than all the other shows this season. Is there a virtual chorus of 20 who insinuate there are huge sets and hundreds of costumes? Do they diss Fela and Memphis in the script to try and prove their superiority? How is this happening?

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/10/10 at 6:19pm

I having a hard time predicting what I think will win this year.

AMERICAN IDIOT and FELA! are the only two that even deserve to be nominated. If I were a voter, I would pick AMERICAN IDIOT.

[Hokosho2]

Posted: 5/10/10 at 9:44pm

Has anyone thought of a tie between memphis and Fela

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/11/10 at 2:39am

There has only ever been ONE tie for Best Musical. (SOUND OF MUSIC and FIORELLO! in 1960)

I haven't seen AI as yet...juts wondering why some people think it will win? Reviews were mixed an it hasn't exactly set the box office on fire.

munkustrap178, are you saying that there should only have been 2 nominees this year?