Biggest Tony upset of all time? - Page 2

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 1:43pm

Any personal opinions aside, though, Kinky Boots over Matilda was in no way a big upset given who was expected to win. They were neck and neck for Best Musical and the vast majority were predicting both Porter and Lauper, even if they were predicting Matilda for musical. So I'd hardly call it an upset that it won all 3.

[usher2]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 1:49pm

Going way back to 1971:  Two Gentlemen of Verona over Follies for Best Musical.  Even the presenters and winners were stunned.  And while I love some of Galt MacDermot, how the hell did that happen?  How many revivals have there been of Two Gentlemen?  

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 2:00pm

There are also different levels of "upset" depending on the timeline of the season.

On the last day of the Broadway season, Matilda still seemed like the frontrunner over Kinky Boots. Leading up to the Tonys, Matilda won the Drama Desk and Kinky won the OCC. On the night of the Tonys, before Best Musical was announced, Kinky had 5 and Matilda had 3, so the wind was blowing in Kinky's direction.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 2:04pm

Not the biggest (or even an upset, really), but I was surprised that Nikki M. James received the Tony for Book of Mormon when Laura Benanti won every other theatre award for Women on the Verge that year. Good for her, but I was just taken aback, to be honest. lol. Both very funny performances.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 2:48pm

>Going way back to 1971:  Two Gentlemen of Verona over Follies for Best Musical.  Even the presenters and winners were stunned.  And while I love some of Galt MacDermot, how the hell did that happen?  How many revivals have there been of Two Gentlemen?< 

Steven Suskin, reviewing the CD for Two Gentlemen of Verona some years back at Playbill.com, gave his own explanation for why Two Gents won over Follies.

"Two Gents is best remembered in some circles as the show that bested Follies for the Best Musical Tony Award. Sondheim won the Tony for his score, as well he should have; but Two Gents, as a show, was infinitely more enjoyable and satisfying than Follies. I was a teenager selling orange drink in the balcony at the time, and let me tell you: People streaming out of Two Gents were for the most part ecstatic. (The exuberant finale, with cast members tossing Frisbees over the heads of the audience, contributed to the carnival-like atmosphere.) Audiences slinking out of Follies were for the most part sullen. Especially people over forty. While audience-happiness and entertainment value are not synonymous with quality — and while the Sondheim show has had far more of an afterlife — Two Gentlemen of Verona, in the theatre, in 1971, worked; Follies did not." 

 

 

[NYCblurb]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 3:05pm

CoffeeBreak said: "Definitely the Kinky Boots win over Matilda. Broadway politics screwed that one up."

I think Tim Minchin is not well liked, nor politic enough, to help himself win. I agree that this upset win was a stand out. The business is personal. Creative matters most def, while who and and HOW one interacts during the race to win, is important. 

[Midnight Radio]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 3:10pm

Smaxie said:

"Going way back to 1971: Two Gentlemen of Verona over Follies for Best Musical. Even the presenters and winners were stunned. And while I love some of Galt MacDermot, how the hell did that happen? How many revivals have there 
"Two Gentsis best remembered in some circles as the show that bested Folliesfor the Best Musical Tony Award. Sondheim won the Tony for his score, as well he should have; butTwo Gents, as a show, was infinitely more enjoyable and satisfying thanFollies. I was a teenager selling orange drink in the balcony at the time, and let me tell you: People streaming out ofTwo Gentswere for the most part ecstatic. (The exuberant finale, with cast members tossing Frisbees over the heads of the audience, contributed to the carnival-like atmosphere.) Audiences slinking out ofFollieswere for the most part sullen. Especially people over forty. While audience-happiness and entertainment value are not synonymous with quality — and while the Sondheim show has had far more of an afterlife —Two Gentlemen of Verona, in the theatre, in 1971, worked;Folliesdid not." 

So, 'Two Gents' worked because people felt they were leaving a carnival, and Follies was undoubtedly not. He says that happiness does not equate quality, yet that is the only justification he gives as to why the former "worked".

Clearly, time has proven that Follies "works" just fine.

 

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 3:24pm

Not sure if it would be considered an upset, but I was pretty shocked last year when Itamar Moses won over Tina Fey for Book of a Musical. Band's Visit obviously had the momentum of a sweep (deserved, imho), but I was pretty floored that Tina didn't take that one. Actual book aside, I thought it would be like Cyndi Lauper winning for the Kinky Boots score - all about the name. 

[laurensambrose]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 3:39pm

JudyDenmark said: "Not sure if it would be considered an upset, but I was pretty shocked last year when Itamar Moses won overTina Fey for Book of aMusical. Band's Visit obviously had the momentum of a sweep (deserved, imho), but I was pretty floored that Tina didn't take that one. Actual book aside, I thought it would be like Cyndi Lauper winning for the Kinky Boots score - all about the name."

Also a big surprise from last year: Once on this Island beating My Fair Lady for Best Revival. 

 

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 3:43pm

laurensambrose said: "Also a big surprise from last year: Once on this Island beating My Fair Lady for Best Revival."

Eh, that one didn't surprise me. I think they were pretty evenly matched going in, both very strongly reviewed, and I can understand voters wanting to reward the production that really reinvented its source material. Most of the people at my Tony party had OOTI winning.  

 

[Soaring29]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 4:57pm

1. Lachanze winning Best Actress was a big shocker. 

2. Wicked losing Best Musical. 

[Daddy Warbucks]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 5:44pm

Once on this Island

Why?

Drama Desk Award: My Fair Lady
Drama League Award: My Fair Lady
Outer Critics Circle Award: My Fair Lady

[LuPita2]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 5:44pm

Tony Shalhoub winning over Joshua Henry.  He had one song that he spoke, what a joke. Joshua was the only good thing about Carousel (besides the choreography). His "Soliloquy" alone made him deserving.  Laziest year for the American Theater Wing I have ever seen.  

[Impossible2]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 6:22pm

LuPita2 said: "Tony Shalhoub winning over Joshua Henry. He hadone song that he spoke, what a joke. Joshua was the only good thing about Carousel (besides the choreography). His "Soliloquy" alone made him deserving. Laziest year for the American Theater Wing I have ever seen."

I didn't see Shalhoub in the role, but the part itself was fantastic and I'd have given the Tony to the actor I saw playing it as well.

[LuPita2]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 6:36pm

You didn't see him in the role. Could have just stopped right there.  Everything else after that does not matter.

[7thbighero]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 7:18pm

To this day it makes my blood boil that Will Rogers Follies won Best Musical over Secret Garden, Miss Siagon, and most of all Once on this Island

[Impossible2]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 7:29pm

LuPita2 said: "You didn't see him in the role.Could have just stopped right there. Everything else after that does not matter."

Not really, you were slagging off the fact that in your (wrong) opinion the role wasn't important enough because he only sang one to warrant winning a Tony award for playing it. It was an award for best performance in a musical, it wasn't for best singing in a musical.

Of course you are clearly wrong as it did win and you now have to suffer in your bitter wrongness for an eternity of wrong x

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 7:31pm

There is a very good MsMojo video on Youtube about now classic musicals that lost to others for Best Musical. In some cases it was just a matter of falling a LITTLE short or two now classic shows running against each other in the same season (See: Into the Woods vs. Phantom of the Opera, Chicago vs Chorus Line, OR West Side Story vs The Music Man) but the one that stands out to me is the 1991 Tony season. 

The losing shows were... Miss Saigon, Once on This Island, and The Secret Garden. And the winner of Best Musical that year was....The Will Rogers Follies. I mean, 1991 is a few years before I started following theatre closely so I can't say for sure if AT THE TIME it was a shocker but looking back now, in 2019, it FEELS shocking.

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 8:10pm

7thbighero said: "To this day it makes my blood boil that Will Rogers Follies won Best Musical over Secret Garden, Miss Siagon, and most of all Once on this Island"

Same here. I would have voted for Miss Saigon, but WRF was a distant fourth of that group for me. 

Updated On: 3/18/19 at 08:10 PM

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 8:14pm

Impossible2 said: "LuPita2 said: "Tony Shalhoub winning over Joshua Henry. He hadone song that he spoke, what a joke. Joshua was the only good thing about Carousel (besides the choreography). His "Soliloquy" alone made him deserving. Laziest year for the American Theater Wing I have ever seen."

I didn't see Shalhoub in the role, but the part itself was fantastic and I'd have given the Tony to the actor I saw playing it as well."

I saw Shalhoub and Henry and would have voted for Shalhoub in a second. Just watching him listen and react to his fellow actors was a master class. Henry sang well but never really made me believe he was Billy. That was most likely more the fault of the lack of meaningful concept in that unfortunate production rather than the actor, though. 

[Impossible2]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 8:21pm

carolinaguy said: "Impossible2 said: "LuPita2 said: "Tony Shalhoub winning over Joshua Henry. He hadone song that he spoke, what a joke. Joshua was the only good thing about Carousel (besides the choreography). His "Soliloquy" alone made him deserving. Laziest year for the American Theater Wing I have ever seen."

I didn't see Shalhoub in the role, but the part itself was fantastic and I'd have given the Tony to the actor I saw playing it as well."

I saw Shalhoub and Henry and would have voted for Shalhoub in a second. Just watching him listen and react to his fellow actors was amaster class. Henry sang well but never really made me believe he was Billy. That was most likely more the fault of the lack of meaningful concept in that unfortunate production rather than the actor, though."

Henry's vocal performance was amazing that can't be denied. His acting however....and the production itself was a total mess x

[haterobics]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 8:29pm

The biggest Tony upset has to be the Sopranos finale, when they just cut to black and it was left to the audience to decide what happened after that...

[Um Kulthum]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 9:33pm

LuPita2 said: "Tony Shalhoub winning over Joshua Henry. He had one song that he spoke, what a joke. Joshua was the only good thing about Carousel (besides the choreography). His "Soliloquy" alone made him deserving. Laziest year for the American Theater Wing I have ever seen."

That song is meant to be in classical Arabic style, and that is how it ought to sound. It's not just "spoken" like Tony Shalhoub is lazy or bad at it or something.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 3/19/19 at 12:13am

IMO, it was when 2 Gentlemen From Verona beat the original production of Follies for Best Musical. Going into the last award, Follies had 8 wins and 2 Gents had one.  Anyone remember 2 Gents

Other possibilities:

-- LaChance in Color Purple beating Patti Lupone in Sweeney Todd.

-- Joanna Gleason in Into the Woods beating Patti Lupone in Anything Goes.  (Note: I don't consider myself a huge Lupone fan -- I generally prefer BP...I just thought there was greatness in both of her performances, not their's.

-- Michael Moriarty winning over Jason Robards in A Moon for the Misbegotten.

-- Avenue Q beating Wicked for Best Musical.  I can't imagine anyone expected that.

-- Don't know whether it was upset at the time; however, with the benefit  of history, Gypsy losing to SOM and Fiorello.

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/19/19 at 12:19am

"Anyone remember 2 Gents."

Yes.