Into the Woods Best Actress 1988 Tony Awards

If Bernadette Peters as the Witch would've been nominated for the Witch in Into the Woods, do you all think she could've won the Tony over Johanna Gleason as the Baker's Wife? And do you think Bernadette performing in the show for a short amount of time hurt her chances at being nominated?

I wholeheartedly agree. Gleason was magical and the beating heart of that production. Absolutely marvelous.

Love Bernadette, but her performance, which was fine, got a little campy. Still, I'd rather see her do that part over Vanessa Williams. (Hell, I'd rather see Bernadette try to attempt Tosca over Vanessa Williams.)

Gleason was magnificent. Thank heaven it's on DVD for all to see.

I think It would have been close, could have gone to either one.

Bernadette would not have won for that performance. The role isn't nearly as well written as the Baker's Wife.

Updated On: 6/28/13 at 10:47 PM

As I recall, and I admit it's vague ... LuPone was considered the frontrunner that year, mostly due to the "love letter" in the Times review.

I wasn't "shocked" that Gleason won, but she wasn't anywhere near a lock or even the frontrunner (as I said).

All that aside, I adore her performance in the show, and I'm so glad it was preserved on DVD.

I do think that all Baker's Wives have been and will be compared to her. She set the bar extremely high.

I will also say that when I saw the Los Angeles cast with Mary Gordon Murray in the role, she was equally good. Her acting and singing were both fantastic.

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She's already won two for doing more than that. Good enough for ya?

From a report in Variety at the time it was explained that since Peters had left WOODS after only a brief run (maybe 5 months) there had been a mutual agreement that her name would not be submitted and that Joanna Gleason would be entered as the leading (above the title) actress nominee for WOODS. It was never a snub, although several writers at the time suggested that had Peters stayed with the show longer she would have been a contender. Peters gave a great performance and attracted a lot of attention when the show was in its early weeks.

INTO THE WOODS was never a sell-out but it did strong business while Peters was in it. It tapered some when she left and Variety deemed teh show's box-office as "nervous." After teh Tony Awards (with Phylicia Rashad as the new Witch) business picked up over the summer of 1988 and was strong (but not capacity) through the following summer as well.

The producers of WOODS felt that Gleason's well-received performance had a good chance of winning, and hoped that her being the only nominee representing WOODS in the category might give them a good chance at the award. Apparently,. they were right.

Lupone's ANYTHING GOES performance was highly controversial at the time, many feeling she was too "tough" in the role and her diction was either poor or hampered by the theatre's sound system. (Check out the FORBIDDEN BROADWAY parody..."I Get a Kick out of ME.")

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5 months?? It's interesting how the video recording and legacy of INTO THE WOODS makes it seem like Bernadette had a larger contribution to that production than she did. She probably did more performances as Sally than The Witch.

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Exactly. These are the same people who gave an award to Idina Menzel over Tonya Pinkins.

And the same people who gave an award to THE SOUND OF MUSIC over GYPSY (actually nvm they're all probably dead now LOLOL).

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Sondheim himself never considered the Witch as a leading role and didn't think Bernadette would be interested when they were casting the role originally. Cinderella has a lot more to do than the witch, but the Baker's wife is the role that wins awards. Imelda Staunton and Julia McKenzie both got great notices for Into the Woods in London and both were nominated for the Olivier Award that year, but it was Staunton as the Baker's Wife who won.
As for the 1988 Tonys, the main competition was between Phantom and Into the Woods, so the real 'scandal' was the lack of a nomination for Sarah Brightman. (hahahaha) Also Judy Kuhn and Patti Lupone were both giving great performances that are still being discussed 25 years later, so it was one of the strongest fields in that category for many years. Nominations for both Bernadette and Joanna could have split the vote, leading to who knows what outcome...

Of all the actresses I have seen or heard portray the Baker's Wife, the only one that approaches Joanna Gleason in terms of quality is Jenna Russell. Her "Moments in the Woods" is really quite touching and funny.

But it says a lot that all these years later, Gleason is still the only comparison point.

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