Fela will win best musical- Page 2

[lull89]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 11:23pm

I think in a year with so few original scores, they'd want to nominate at least one of them for Best Musical, and although I haven't seen it, I can't imagine Addams Family not being better than Memphis in every aspect. I didn't HATE Memphis, but it was so mediocre that I don't really see it as Best Musical material, while Addams seems more that speed.

And as for Fela!, I did enjoy it, but I'm not entirely comfortable with calling it a Musical because all of the songs, except for the dream sequence near the end, are straight out performance numbers. With a musical I want a few more book songs, and Fela! doesn't deliver on that front.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 11:25pm

Indeed, FELA! is not even a musical I thought. More like a play with songs...and a bad one for sure!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 11:34pm

Fela, with the aggressive backing of Ben Brantley and the NY Times, will surely be nominated.

I think ljay's list (American Idiot, Addams Family, Fela, and either Sondheim on Sondheim or Memphis) is accurate as well.

[cglaid]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 11:35pm

Fela's a musical? Could have fooled me.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 11:36pm

I think the Fela! will be lucky to be nominated. The fourth(and final) spot is tricky, but I feel the three locks are: Addams Family, American Idiot & Memphis.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 11:39pm

Memphis is not a lock by any stretch of the imagination.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 11:51pm

I don't think Addams Family can be considered a lock until after it opens. It could still go the 9 to 5/Legally Blonde route of getting several nominations in major categories but being shut out of the big prize. That will also depend on the reception (critical and popular) of Million Dollar Quartet and Sondheim on Sondheim.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 11:56pm

Fela is certainly getting nominated. At this point (obviously there are still some I haven't seen), I really have a hard time seeing anything else win (including AI).

[massofmen]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 12:02am

i love how so many people on this board say that AI is a lock to win and its amazing and I would be hard-pressed to find 10 people on this board who have actually seen the show.
Speculation is not a strong point among insufficient facts.

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 12:44am

I really do hope Addams Family is nominated. I even hope it wins. I know that idea is not highly looked upon on here, but I am entitled to an opinion.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 12:51am

Fela's a musical? Could have fooled me.
--------
Indeed, FELA! is not even a musical I thought. More like a play with songs...and a bad one for sure!
--------
And as for Fela!, I did enjoy it, but I'm not entirely comfortable with calling it a Musical because all of the songs, except for the dream sequence near the end, are straight out performance numbers. With a musical I want a few more book songs, and Fela! doesn't deliver on that front.


BAM!

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 12:54am

You didn't have to look all the way back to the 70s! JERSEY BOYS?

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 12:55am

CONTACT?
FOSSE?
JEROME ROBBINS' BROADWAY?
Updated On: 3/15/10 at 12:55 AM

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 12:55am

But Ain't Misbehavin' is quite literally a concert.

[joe5]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 8:42am

Ina fata Fela, yakan ci mafi kyau na bushe-bushe.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 10:40am

I always thought of Ain't Misbehavin' as more of a revue than a concert. Still, I see your point tf4.

There have lots of successful (and lots of unsuccessful) revues on bway:

Swinging On A Star
Swing
Play On!
Black And Blue
Five Guys Names Moe
A Grand Night For Singing
Blues In The Night
Jerry's Girls
Side by Side By Sondheim
Putting It Together
The seven "New Faces" shows

And I'm sure there are many more.

[followyourbliss23]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 11:08am

i find this thread hilarious. it's a perfect example of how some purists & fanatics can't except any different types of music and narrative on a broadway stage.

god forbid broadway evolve and experiment...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 11:14am

Play On was actually a jukebox musical using an adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night set in Harlem in the 1940s with the songs of Duke Ellington.

Speaking of Duke Ellington, you forgot Sophisticated Ladies, another revue starring Gregory Hines nominated for 8 Tonys and winning two (Featured Actor for Hinton Battle and costumes). And Broadway's longest-running catalog revue, Smokey Joe's Cafe. That was a show nobody expected to run for nearly 5 years.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 11:24am

followyourbliss23, you are 100% right.

But what most confuses me is how people are decrying that Fela "isn't a musical" or whatever, and then saying that they hope Sondheim on Sondheim gets nominated.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 11:27am

D'oh! I can't believe I left off those two out, Matt!

[followyourbliss23]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 11:40am

talkinload: hahaha, yep, that's how it goes. sadly, it will NEVER makes sense. just do your best to rise above.

[Trainwreck]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 12:45pm

@massofmen

I agree. So many people think American Idiot is a lock to win the Tony, and how many people on this website have seen the show?

[Brick]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 1:21pm

The nomination process hasn't changed, so they will still nominate less commercial. The prospects of them winning, though, is unlikely.

And FELA will be nominated, no question. It's a critically acclaimed show that unique, though polarizing, and needs the national TV coverage. It will be nominated.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 8:30pm

I haven't seen any of the shows, but I'm predicting:

Fela!
American Idiot
Addams Family (unless it gets clobbered by the press)
Sondheim on Sondheim

It's been a while since the Tony was actually based on artistic merit. If it was, that little ballerina wouldn't have taken it last year.

[Will O'Donnell]

Posted: 3/15/10 at 8:40pm

If this wins the Tony's will lose what little credibility they have left for me. Ugh, that would be worse than Gavin Creel's loss to the Billy Elliot boys.