Final Tony Eligibility Rulings?

Does anyone know when these are set to come out? It's hard to predict much without knowing how the performers from Hair, West Side Story, and 9 to 5 will be ruled. They're really getting down to the wire- less than two weeks till nominations come out!

Updated On: 4/22/09 at 10:11 PM

I believe they have till April 30th/May 1st to be officially open.

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The final meeting(which will be for every show that wasn't covered in the last meeting) will take place on April 30.

With Carol Lawrence and Josie de Guzman both being nominated as a featured actress the odds of the committee deciding that Josefina can be considered as a lead are considerably lessened, since precedence does play a part in the consideration when dealing with revivals.

And quite honestly, I just don't see Mr. Cavenaugh getting nominated, no matter which category he is considered in.

If TSOML was still open, I would say Will Chase and Malcolm Gets would be major Best Actor contenders.
But who knows now...

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Concerning 9 to 5, is everyone thinking Block and Janney will be lead and Hilty featured? Yes, no?

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The committee met on April 2, exactly two weeks after opening night of West Side Story. I guess it's possible that the producers waited until the very last minute to submit any petitions that they may have had, and thus missed that morning's meeting, but it wouldn't be a bet I would be willing to lay money on.

InfiniteTheaterFrenzy, I disagree.

Really, all three of them should go in Lead. They all split the final bow, all appear on the cover art for the show, and all have equal significance to the storyline.

That being said, if there is going to be any division amongst them, the only thing that makes sense to me is to put Janney in Lead and Block and Hilty in Featured (alongside Kathy Fitzgerald.)

Janney's character is the veteran of the office, the leader of the trio, has the big monologue at the end, has the most direct plot significance, and seems to anchor any scene and situation she is involved in. For those reasons, I could see a semi-plausible reason to argue that her role goes above the other two women in size.

Outside of that scenario, I see no justification to split them up in any other way. While Block is terrific, her character is not on-par by a long shot with Janney's in terms of stature, regardless of her big eleven o'clock number.

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Updated On: 4/23/09 at 10:17 AM

No, it doesn't. Donna McKechnie won the Tony Award for creating the role of Cassie as Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Charlotte d'Amboise played the same role in the revival and was nominated as Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

wasn't there some resentment among cast members of the OBC because Donna won for Leading Actress as opposed to Featured?

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givesmevoice-
Actually, in that instance there wasn't. If they hadn't pushed Donna into Actress (Which, arguably, the role is the largest female role, and typically the most coveted), she would have been going head to head with Kelly Bishop and Priscila Lopez (who should have been declared a tie), which would a) have diminished their awards and b) probably caused more drama.

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There was also some talk at the time that Chita and Gwen were upset that Donna was in that category since her name was not above the title as theirs were for CHICAGO. I can't imagine Gwen Verdon who already had like what 4 TONYs by then, sitting around complaining, but the producers of CHICAGO on the other hand knew they were up against A CHORUS LINE and needed any award they could get that year.
I say stick with the rule, if you want a leading Man or Woman in that category when the TONYs come up, put their name above the title!
It's probably a $$$ thing anyway.

I say stick with the rule, if you want a leading Man or Woman in that category when the TONYs come up, put their name above the title!
but then people would be entitled to a refund when that actor is out, and producers might not want to take that chance on an actor.
[although I definitely agree with your line of thinking]

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Good question. Obviously you hear about the successful petitions, but I don't think I've ever seen them release a "so and so was denied." They just throw out the blanket "all other nominations will be consistent with opening night billing" statement. So who knows how many petitions are received and denied.