Biggest Tony Upset for Acting Awards of all time?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:21am

Best Leading Actress in a Musical-

1960: Mary Martin (THE SOUND OF MUSIC) over Ethel Merman (GYPSY)

2000: Heather Headley (AIDA) over Audra (MARIE CHRISTINE)

2004: Idina Menzel (WICKED) over Tonya Pinkins (CAROLINE, OR CHANGE)

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:22am

You mention Idina over Tonya, and not Bernadette Peters losing to Marissa Jaret Winokur?


WOW. Woooow.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:23am

Idina over Pinkins and Chenowith!!!!
Loved it

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:23am

I think Marissa deserved to win over Bernadette.

[jam_man]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:27am

Alan Cumming over Stokes in '98. C'mon!

[focusingonmoviesmatt]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:27am

donna murphy(the king and i)over julie andrews(victor/victoria).

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:29am

well Julie said she didn't want it
Donna was Great in that show.

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:29am

2000: Heather Headley (AIDA) over Audra (MARIE CHRISTINE)

2004: Idina Menzel (WICKED) over Tonya Pinkins (CAROLINE, OR CHANGE)


YUP, YUP

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:31am

Bill Irwin over Brían F. O'Byrne, Billy Crudup, and James Earl Jones.

~Steven

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:31am

I think the Alan Cumming win over Stokes in '98 is a scenario similar to what we'll have in 2006. They both gave amazing Tony worthy performances, but Cumming's was just so groundbreaking it couldn't be ignored. In 2006, I think John Lloyd Young will be considered the Alan Cumming while Michael Cerveris will be considered Stokes, and Young will win.

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:33am

Jeff Goldblum - Pillowman!

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:33am

I know Sara Ramirez was pretty much the frontrunner, but I still think it's an upset. Well, upsetting at least. Kelli O'Hara anyone?

~Steven

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:36am

Oh Kelli definitely deserved it, but that's just my personal opinion and I never saw Sara in Spamalot.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:38am

Kelli deserved it. Or even Celia deserved it. And all of these are just opinion anyway, right? Or mostly so at least.

~Steven

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:38am

Kelli O'HAra's lack of a Tohny for Piazza is pretty disappointing.

[RustyJusty830]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:48am

I cannot even believe that someone would mention Menzel winning over Pinkins as an UPSET.
Menzel was fantastic in that role and totally deserved the honor.
On another note, I hated every second of CAROLINE OR CHANGE and thought that Pinkins' performance was flat and uninteresting. And I'm usually not one to pass judgements on vocal ability, but she just seemed tired and rarely sang on pitch without cracking. I realize that some of that "raspy" quality is required of the character, but c'mon.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 12:55am

Sara Ramirez totally blew me away in SpamAlot! I really didn't like the show at all, but her performance got me through that show! She is just electric onstage.

As amazing as Kelli was in Piazza, I still would have given the Tony to Sara. Kelli doesn't need the featured actress award, because she'll have her own best ACTRESS award soon enough.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:00am

Aw, I don't think that's fair to say that Kelli doesn't need a Featured Actress Tony. Featured actress and leading actress are two different categories and mean two different things. Two very different bodies of work. One isn't better than the other in my opinion. A Tony is a Tony.

~Steven

[CompanyGuy]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:01am

My friend saw Tonya in Caroline, or Change and he said that her songs, specifically Lots Wife, she sang with such emotion that it didn't matter that she wasn't ALWAYS on pitch. But her acting came through and he said she was amazing. NOW, I saw Idina and was wonderful, truly. But I think that Tonya acted the hell out of that song on the Tony's. It just didn't come across as "vocally" good because without seeing the show, you don't know all that has gone on. And to start off by going straight to a powerful number, she did really well.

I still think that Bernadette was robbed. But what are we going to do about it.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:02am

Thank you, HeyMrMusic--

I thought Bill Irwin was AWFUL as George. It absolutely blew my mind that he won a Tony for it. I guess it means I don't know anything.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:02am

"On another note, I hated every second of CAROLINE OR CHANGE and thought that Pinkins' performance was flat and uninteresting"

I second, third, and fourth you for that one. I have said it time and time again that I wanted to kill myself with my Playbill during that show and I saw it before everyone was lauding it so it was hardly some sort of bizarre backlash on my part. I may not be an Idina fan, but I'd have given the Tony to any nominee who was not Pinkins.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:04am

About the Marissa/Bernadette thing...they were each good in their own respective ways. Wasn't there something about it was a time when Bernadette missed a lot of performances because of family issues, so it affected the Tony voters' chances at seeing her sometimes?

Updated On: 2/27/06 at 01:04 AM

[Composer9]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:13am

I totally agree with HeyMrMusic. Kelli should have won for Piazza, and, in my opinion, it doesn't matter that she will most likely have a Tony very soon. Her work in that show should be honored because she was breathtaking. Sara was good in Spamalot, but she had no where near the part or impact that Kelli had in Piazza, IMO.

Eh, what you gonna do? What's done is done.

I personally think Donna Murphy should have won instead of Idina, but I'm a diehard Donna fan, and her portrayal of Ruth is the stuff of legends despite the controversy surrounding the situation.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:15am

By saying Marissa winning the Tony over Bernadette is not to say that Marissa didn't do a nice job in her role.It's just that the nature and demands of Rose are so much greater; she requires much more depth, vulernability, versatility and endurance, and Peters absolutely rose (no pun intended) to every challenge and mastered the role to creat a riveting performance. I think that no matter WHAT anyone did with Marissa's role, it just can't compete.

As far as Tonya v. Ms. Menzel, I think it's borderline absurd to say that this was one of THE "biggest upsets of all time." People seem to forget that good material will make you look better. Taking a well-written role like Caroline and showing her layers is not nearly as difficult as taking the sad excuse for a character that the creators of Wicked made for Idina Menzel and turning it into something incredibly layered, complex, dynamic, real, and powerful. And she did it. Perhaps you felt Pinkins deserved it, but there is no denying the level of work that Menzel did with that role.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:24am

Yeah, but what I'm asking is...how many Tony voters saw Marissa vs. Bernadette? Maybe to the Tony voters, they found Marissa had a better impact upon them? Yes, Bernadette had such a demanding role, but, how much did she "capture the hearts" of the Tony voters. Maybe Tracy did...she's someone that probably all people can relate to at one point in their lives.

Updated On: 2/27/06 at 01:24 AM