Biggest Tony upset of all time? — Page 4

BroadwayNoob said: "I went to theAvenue Q reunion panel atBroadwayCon this year and the actors had even said how astounded they were that they won best musical. They had even said that Nathan Lane had read it funny because literally, no one was expecting it. I think they had even said that the screens announcing who had won best musical lit up Wicked for a split second before they were changed"

The look of shock on Lane's face and in his voice is indeed noticeable and he even does a kind of "Well how about that" raise of the eyebrow before the camera cuts to the audience. Even Sarah Jessica Parker's face is pretty "wait what" beside him as she looked at the winner's name before Lane did. You just see her kind of smiling through it https://youtu.be/ypf7DhKWgKs?t=88

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "The true upset for me was Raul Esparza losing to David Hyde Pierce. I mean, Raul Esparza kinda began fading into obscurity after that and that could have been a huge moment for him and him starring in stuff going forward. "

He hasn't been back to Broadway in a while, but if being a series regular on one of the hottest shows on TV for 6 seasons is fading into obscurity, then I'm more than willing to fade into obscurity.

Me, when Raul Esparza lost in 2007. In fact, I'm still upset.

Vinosippycup2 said: " I 100% agree that Kinky Boots over Matilda was a terrible decision for Best Musical. For it to win Best Music and Lyrics over Matilda - it was a crime."

I've long been a fan of both Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper, and while I really wanted to love Kinky Boots, I thought it fairly forgettable, aside from the conveyor belt choreography. On the other hand, I went into Matilda knowing very little about Tim Minchin and I was blown away. His music and lyrics were simply brilliant and I became an instant fan.

Kad said: "Looking back at the articles from 2004, it seems like it's easy to forget that though Wicked was considered the favorite, Idina Menzel was not the favorite to win to Best Actress. And that Assassins, which ended up being the most awarded show that year, was not the favorite to do so well, either."

I was gonna bring this up as well. Donna Murphy was the favorite all season long and as I recall won all the awards of the season leading up to Tony's night. So.... one has to wonder it the Idina win could be possibly drawn back to the Avenue Q campaign as well as a side effect. If some voters decided to vote for Avenue Q because of the influence they were exposed to BUT still wanted to give Wicked SOMETHING, they might have voted for Idina when they might not have otherwise to give Wicked some credit.

darquegk said: "At the end of West Side Story, when Doc says that Maria is dead and Tony freaks out, that's probably the biggest Tony upset I've ever seen."

This made my day.

Pippin said: "Bernadette losing to Marissa is my biggest personal upset.

Close second goes to jersey boys winning over drowsy chaperone. "

YES! Both of these!!

Soaring29 said: "Was Avenue Q favored to beat Wicked in both the book and score categories? I've seen predictions from back then predicting a split between them for the most part and it seems that odds were tipped in favor of Q winning book but Wicked winning Score?"

I think it was actually closer to the opposite of that. Wicked was favored in both categories, but there was some thought that Q could win Score as a way to recognize the show (presuming that it wasn't going to win Musical). But Winnie Holtzman was heavily favored for Wicked's book, and if there was an upset, many people thought it would be Tony Kushner for Caroline or Change.

Updated On: 5/7/19 at 08:18 AM

Wick3 said: "South Fl Marc 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 saw both performances and Tony Shaloub deserved the award."

I'm happy Tony won. However, the main reason I think a lot of people thought it was an upset is because no one was expecting him to him. If you watch any of the paul wontorek/broadwaycom or theater talk youtube videos on 2018 tony predictions, they mostly talked about Ethan Slater or Joshua Henry winning (it was rare to hear Shalhoub in the conversations.)Also, Tony only performed a handful of times in the month of May and I doubt all Tony voters got to even see him perform. Even Ben Brantley and Jesse Green from NY times both predicted Ethan Slater would win the Tony."

Many voters saw the show before Shalhoub left (very few productions wait until after nominations to begin offering invites to the voters, especially those that open in the fall) and those handful of performances he did in May were scheduled specifically to make those the performances that the remaining voters who had not seen the show yet were invited too.

yankeefan7 said: ""The look of shock on Lane's face and in his voice is indeed noticeable and he even does a kind of "Well how about that" raise of the eyebrow before the camera cuts to the audience.Even Sarah Jessica Parker's face is pretty "wait what" beside him as she looked at the winner's name before Lane did. You just see her kind of smiling through ithttps://youtu.be/ypf7DhKWgKs?t=88"

Just a question. Should it have been that much a shock to them since "Avenue Q" had already won "Best Score" and "Best Book" earlier in the evening?"

Winning Best Score and Best Book doesn't usually guarantee a Best Musical win at that time. Just a few years before, Urinetown won Best Score and Best Book yet Thoroughly Modern Millie won Best Musical.

A few years before that, Parade won Best Score and Best Book yet Fosse won Best Musical.