Biggest Tony Award Snubs Ever — Page 2

NOWaWarning said: "I’ve never understood how Sherie Rene Scott was not nominated for AIDA."

Also how Aida could win 4 Tonys including Score and Lead Actress, but not even be nominated for Best Musical. (I mean, with all the backlash around Disney and that production when it opened, I get why they chose to snub it for Best Musical, but it still just feels so weird to give it that many awards without nominating it for the big prize).

The Bittersweets said: "Beyond that, Two Gentleman of Verona somehow beating both Grease and FOLLIES for Best Musical is a bit of a head scratcher. I’ve always wondered what the Tony voters were thinking that year."

That was just bad timing for Follies, with Company having just won the year before and Hair having been snubbed a few years prior. So this was a make-up for Hair while having already acknowledged the Sondheim musical the year before.

Updated On: 10/8/23 at 07:11 AM

Theatrefanboy1 said: "Julie. Andrews.


I do at the very least home they honor her with an honorary Tony"

IMO: She would have won if she had not taken herself out. Having seen both shows several times, there is no question in my mind that Donna Murphy deserved to won. I have never seen an Anna who brought as much to the role as she did. But that i just my opinion.



This is a really tough subject, since there are a lot that could qualify.

Re shows,

• The most incomprehensible ever to me is the Follies loss. The first time I saw Follies in a preview in Boston remains the single greatest memory in my theater going life, and it didn't even have I'm Still Here or Lucy and Jessie.
• I would second with Urinetown. It managed to win best direction, best score and best book, but it lost musical to the enjoyable but uninspired Thoroughly Modern Millie.
• I would also cite Wicked's loss to Avenue Q, but I will admit that I hated Avenue Q.
• Billy Elliott beating Next to Normal. Really!!
• To Kill a Mockingbird not even getting nominated. I know it was not original, but IMO Sorkin's adaptation was terrific.

In the acting categories, there are a lot of great performances that lost to people who also gave great performance. e.g., Streisand, Rosemary Harris in The Royal Family). My list is for people I strongly believe should have won in their category.

• Jason Robards for A Moon for the Misbegotten lost to Michael Moriarty in a showy role in a very boring play. Moriarty either gave an excellent or a very affected performance, depending on your perspective. Robards gave a performance for the ages.
• Laura Linney for The Little Foxes. I have never understood the appeal of ADH2 or Laurie Metcalf in it, a fine actress who has given better performances.
• Antonio Banderas for Nine. Harvey Fierstein was wonderful in what was arguably a featured role, but Banderas was heartbreaking in a way that I have rarely seen, and didn't see at all in Raul Julia.
• Patti Lupone for Anything Goes. I am not a Lupone zealot, but I think her performance was one for the books. While I loved SF in the next revival, Lupone WAS Reno Sweeney. Ironically, the competition for the prior and subsequent seasons were incredibly weak, awful in fact.
• Joan Diener not getting nominated for Man of La Mancha when Julie Harris -- who could neither sing nor dance -- was nominated for a truly mediocre musical Skyscraper.
• Corey Cott not even getting nominated for Bandstand, in which I thought he was great.
• John McMartin not getting nominated for Follies. SInce I think Phil Silvers was comical gold in A Funny Thing, I can't say that he definitely deserved to win; however, IMO he deserved to be nominated before any of the other nominees.

Dustin Hoffman not being nominated for Death of a Salesman certainly looked like a snub. It marked his highly anticipated return to the stage and he received glowing reviews, but he wasn't nominated.

I personally didn't care for the production, but the lack of acting nominations (for Hoffman and Malkovich) was still a shock. (The production did win Best Revival.)

Matilda losing to Kinky Boots is the most egregious for me.

But also I get annoyed that for all the nominations the show did get (some undeserved), Kate Rockwell did not get nominated for Mean Girls.

Also Aida not getting nominated for Best Musical.

Broadway61004 said: "Jarethan said: "To Kill a Mockingbird not even getting nominated. I know it was not original, but IMO Sorkin's adaptation was terrific."

That was definitely all about the voters sticking it to Scott Rudin and Sorkin was unfortunately collateral damage from it. But yeah, 9 nominations including all the designers, 3 of the actors and the director, but not Best Play? Definitely a statement made by them.

I've also always found the Art / Beauty Queen of Leenane year strange. Beauty Queen wins direction and 3 acting awards, but then Art wins (only) Best Play? Regardless of personal preference (admittedly I find Beauty Queen to be a far better play), it just seems odd that you would give one show all that love and then suddenly give best production to a different one."

I agree with you, in that I have always felt that Beauty Queen was a much better play, but I didn’t see it’s losing as a snub, since ART got great reviews, won the NY Drama Critics award, and was a big hit. Same way I felt about Billy Elliott vs. N2N. I thought it’s win was ridiculous, but didn’t see it as a snubbing of N2N, just a close race, which the wrong musical IMO won.

Lucie Arnaz not being nominated for THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG.

VICTOR/VICTORIA not receiving nominations for Rachel York, Scenic Design and Lighting Design. I guess the show itself was considered disappointing but nominations for CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD (32 Performances) and SWINGING ON A STAR (96 Performances) as Best Musical were puzzling to me.

Updated On: 10/8/23 at 12:49 PM

Daniel Radcliffe never being nominated is truly bizarre. Equus, How to Succeed…, Cripple of Inishmaan, Lifespan of a Fact —-ALL were nomination worthy. If the nominators fail to acknowledge him this year for Merrily it will be a travesty.

PennClassic said: "Lucie Arnaz not being nominated for THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG.

VICTOR/VICTORIA not receiving nominations for Rachel York, Scenic Design and Lighting Design. I guess the show itself was considered disappointing but nominations for CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD (32 Performances) and SWINGING ON A STAR (96 Performances) as Best Musical were puzzling to me."

Broadway snobbery towards "outsiders" at its worst. Fortunately this has mellowed quite a bit in recent years, but Lucie in particular should have been a nominee.

AEA AGMA SM said: "I have to state that I can’t get behind the idea of someone getting nominated but not winning (ala Esparza in 2007) a snub. A snub would be not getting nominated at all..."



I can agree with this to a point. I am sure someone can, and will, correct me if I am wrong on this but there are kind of two bodies of voters for the Tonys. The smaller nominating committee and then the large group of voters. Regarding my comment on Caroline or Change, I think the musical was snubbed by the voters, not the nominating committee (And we pretty much know what happened that year). As far as Pinkins, I will say that she probably was not snubbed. I think a lot of people thought votes were split between her and Chenoweth which gave Menzel the win.

uncageg said: "AEA AGMA SM said: "I have to state that I can’t get behind the idea of someone getting nominated but not winning (ala Esparza in 2007) a snub. A snub would be not getting nominated at all..."



I can agree with this to a point. I am sure someone can, and will, correct me if I am wrong on this but there are kind of two bodies of voters for the Tonys. The smaller nominating committee and then the large group of voters. Regarding my comment on Caroline or Change, I think the musical was snubbed by the voters, not the nominating committee (And we pretty much know what happened that year). As far as Pinkins, I will say that she probably was not snubbed. I think a lot of people thought votes were split between her and Chenoweth which gave Menzel the win.

Whether a show or performance is snubbed ultimately comes down to personal preference (which we all know). I saw Caroline three times (the original production, the revival, and at the Guthrie). I was bored all three times, and went back the second and third time only because people on this board think it is a masterpiece, and I keep thinking I am going to get it this time if I see it again. I have officially given up. So, to me, it wasn’t snubbed. To me, there was something better than it.

Similarly, I think the original production of Follies was egregiously snubbed in favor of a far inferior (to me) 2 Gentlemen. Yet, how can anyone, I.e., me, say it was snubbed when it won 7 or 8 Tonys. Was it snubbed or did the voting body actually conclude that, despite the brilliant work of all but one of the creators, the book was so lflawed that they were not going to give it the big prize. I also do not believe the book was terrible, ergo my egregious snub comment) (I will also argue with anyone that McMartin who IMO had the toughest role was snubbed).

JSquared2 said: "Daniel Radcliffe never being nominated is truly bizarre. Equus, How to Succeed…, Cripple of Inishmaan, Lifespan of a Fact —-ALL were nomination worthy. If the nominators fail to acknowledge him this year for Merrily it will be a travesty."

It's a big whiff on the part of the nominators. I remember the talk pre-nominations was that the Best Actor race in 2011 would probably come down to Tveit or Radcliffe and then neither got a nom. And then in 2014 two of the big candidates didn't get nominated (Denzel and Radcliffe), leading Cranston to win in a cakewalk.

Assuming he gets nominated this year, I think he pretty much wins in a landslide unless there's some other crazy-good supporting performance that comes out of nowhere. He's made money for a lot of Tony voters on the producer side, and his dedication & commitment to the stage is obvious and admirable.

Depending on what category Mendez goes in, I could see MERRILY getting acting noms in all 4 categories, assuming DR goes Featured. I didn't realize Krystal's performance was divisive but I'd absolutely nominate her.

Ensemble1691149078 said: "I have quite a few!!! Hmm...Lets see...Ah: -Andrew Rannells in everything, especially Falsettos. Like, can someone tell me why he hasn't won A tony. Criminal.

Oh, and speaking of criminal lets talk about Will Swenson (Passionate Rant incoming):

Will didn't win in 2009 for Hair, which I don't understand because he was lowkey amazing and his performance was so full of energy.

HE WASN'T EVENNOMINATEDFOR LES MIS IN 2014 which is actually wrong because his perfrmance was so amazing and enchanting.

Now, this last one I can kind of see why Will wasn't nominated, but it still wasn't fair. Also this is about A Beautiful Noise.

Last season was really stacked in terms of talent and I feel like Tony voters were trying to give Bio-Jukebox musicals a "break" but Will as Neil in A Beautiful Noise was so good (so good, so good!! No? Ok)! He had so much stage presence and really looked like he enjoyed the role. I also feel like ABN deserved better because the choreography, the set, and Robyn Hurder were both amazing and I feel like the show was robbed.

Ok, im done!"

I thought that Swenson should have won for Hair — based on his reviews, looks and charisma, I thought he’d really take off, which sadly didn’t occur. On the other hand, I don’t think he was snubbed with ABN. It is a lousy musical with one role that benefited from solid acting, and that was the role assigned to Mark Jacoby. Swenson had nothing to do but sing the songs he was assigned. Not a snub, just not a deserved nomination.