Drama Desks on NOW(Theatermania.com) DISH HERE! — Page 17

Ugh. did muscle become a drama desk voter ?

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adamgreer, I'm glad we see eye-to-eye on this one. Happy to be on your side for once. :)

MEMPHIS will win the Tony for no other reason than it's the only musical nominated with an original score. It's a simple as that.

That didn't help Parade, Urinetown, Drowsy Chaperone, Ragtime... those musicals even won the Tonys for Best Book and Best Score in their respective years! And that's why I'm still hoping for a Fela! win. Even if you didn't like it, come on it's the lesser of two evils! (For the record, I did enjoy Fela! far more than the other nominees. Memphis would clearly be on the bottom.)

~Steven

I think every time Memphis won an award Patti LuPone killed a kitten backstage. Or my heart broke.

Memphis isn't bad, at all, it's just not interesting or new, and there's nothing groundbreaking about it. Just because a score hasn't been heard before doesn't mean it's award-winning or good.

I'm pulling, obviously, for American Idiot to come through and win Best Musical. Let Memphis have Best Lyrics and Music, it's the only thing out there right now that's eligible. Fine. But American Idiot at least does something new. It isn't the red-headed step child of Dreamgirls and Hairspray.

Sorry. /end rant

Good luck to all next month!

Having seen Memphis, Fela!, and Million $ Qtet (still trying to see Idiot), my gut is to reward Memphis. I thought it worked best of those three and was a solid entertainment.

ETA: I do find it hard to buy Glover following Ebersole, LuPone and Ripley into the Best Actress sisterhood though.

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Updated On: 5/24/10 at 05:11 PM

After seeing the show and meeting her I can't say enough how sweet, grateful, down-to-earth and appreciative she was

She probably is very sweet, no one is denying that. But I don't see what that has to do with her abilities as an actress. Lots of people in this world are very sweet. That doesn't mean they ought to win Tonys.

I really hope she pulls an upset as I bet she would have one of the most emotional and sincere acceptance speeches that we've seen in years from a best actress in a musical

So you want her to win because you'd enjoy her acceptance speech?????? Makes perfect sense...

At least you wouldn't have to worry about Montego's self-inflated ego getting in the way, like a couple of her other co-nominees (who can't even compare to giving the energy and electricity she brings to Memphis).

Again, what does someone's perceived "ego" have to do with whether or not they deserve to win an award? Patti LuPone has an ego the size of Alaska, but that doesn't change the fact that she deserved to win every award under the sun for Gypsy a couple of years ago.

Anyway, if she does win, it wouldn't even be half of the travesty that was awarded to Best Actor in a Musical last year (probably the most disappointing award ever to be awarded a male or female actor/actress in a best musical in the history of the Tony Awards) which was based on a "role" rather than a specific performance and was followed by a most boring and awkwardly embarrassing acceptance speech for a trio of pre-tween accomplished dancers who really couldn't act nor sing their way "out of a paper bag"

At least, on this point, we agree. But let's not re-open that can of worms.

Adamgreer,

I do remember our agreements about the best actor last year--I guess I shouldn't have brought it up but I couldn't help it, . Especially since we both seemed to be in the minority about that obvious fiasco.

I guess we just don't see eye to eye about Montego this year. I always like to see at least one very sincere heartfelt acceptance speech a year during the Tony telecast as a moment to remember. Not that I think that Montego has reached the height of her acting career or potential abilities yet, but for a breakthrough performance and unknown performer in a musical I think she is stellar. Where else are we going to start seeing the future stars who can grow into the amazing performers and theater names of the future?

After seeing the other nominees in the category, I didn't think they were stretched too much for their potential abilities (as a matter of fact if Last Five Years would be playing on Broadway now, then I would say it should be Sherie Rene Scott hands down but for Everyday Rapture, I think it's a totally different story). I think Montego shows tremendous promise and whether you've met her or not, it's always a thrill to see someone unexpected win an honor such as the Tony Award, especially if you follow theater year in and year out.

It's kind of like watching someone with raw talent like Gabourey Sibide in Precious. She gave one great performance with lots of raw talent but still needs to refine her skills. Unfortunately there is no equivalent of a Sandra Bullock (who gave a knockout performance in a seasoned career) in the other best actress nominees to substantially warrant the award over Montego this year. So I think best actress in a musical is really up for grabs at this point and would think it would be a great win for Ms. Glover, in the likes of Kathy Bates winning the best actress Oscar for Misery in the early 90's.

Especially when nobody thought she would win it!

Oh Steven, it looks like we disagree again . I know you didn't like Montego in Memphis, but I just thought she gave a great first time Broadway performance. Look at it on the bright side, I completely agree with you on getting to the theater on time. With having to see so many shows in a season, I always try to find the most inexpensive way to see shows as well! At least we agree on that .

No problem Steven, it's been a haul from Philly this year to see many of the new shows. I do agree with you on the snoozefest that it has been for new material. However, I am in your camp when it comes to Fitzgerald winning for Finnian's. He was about the only thing I liked about that show .

Updated On: 5/25/10 at 02:28 AM

I know you didn't like Montego in Memphis, but I just thought she gave a great first time Broadway performance.

Memphis is not her "first time Broadway performance." She appeared on Broadway in The Color Purple.