Is Kelli O'Hara On Track To Win Her Second Tony?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRzrHCLlHdI



The video is gorgeous as always but it makes me wonder- is Kelli the favorite right now for Best Leading Actress In A Musical? I personally wouldn't mind if the waiting time was longer(the longer the wait, the sweeter the victory) and for an original musical, but do you think she can pull it off? Or is this Stephanie J. Block's year?

Updated On: 11/7/18 at 04:44 PM

She deserves a second Tony anyway to make up for the one she should've gotten for Bridges of Madison County.

BroadwayConcierge said: "She deserves a second Tony anyway to make up for the one she should've gotten forBridges of Madison County."

THIS is the most accurate statement. She was so incredible in Bridges

Let's all keep in mind as well that last season Joshua Henry was the Tony front runner.... until his show actually started performances. Then things turned round REAL fast. No matter how amazing the PAST work of a performer is, missteps can and will happen.

Perhaps she is but it may be too early to tell (though I loved the youtube video the OP posted here).

I still remember watching this Kelli interview from 4 years ago with Paul Wontorek and it's amazing where she is now! She starts talking about the Tony Awards at 7:50 and later in the interview she talks about having 8 call backs to be NessaRose in Wicked and how it always seemed like she was against Patti or Audra for that Tony BTW, is it really true she did the first lesbian kiss on daytime television?!? I

I think we are all going to need to see how she handles the acting on it before getting a REAL grasp of is she is the front runner or if it's another year of "Kelli is amazing, BUT..." like so many other years. She really needs to do something out of the box that elevates the material or her performance above and beyond the same old safe and expected to be flawless O'Hara performance.

Light in the Piazza and Bridges were not far enough off the beaten path?

But I see your problem with choosing Kiss Me, Kate for her next production, especially after she had said in one or two interviews that her remaining Broadway runs would be in shows that had something meaningful to say about our existence here.

One of the named creatives for Kate has been tagged as having the job of working on the book. Perhaps they have been thinking about major surgery for this show from back two years ago when Roundabout honored Kelli and Bart at its gala. Perhaps they will reinvent this show.

OlBlueEyes said: "One of the named creatives for Kate has been tagged as having the job of working on the book. Perhaps they have been thinking about major surgery for this show from back two years ago when Roundabout honored Kelli and Bart at its gala. Perhaps they will reinvent this show."

Doesn't sound like the book update is major surgery. Maybe just toning down some of the sexism?

"Green will not be writing new music nor changing the structure of the show, according to a press representative, but her contributions are meant to add a more modern sensibility to the musical."

Gorgeous. What distinguishes her voice from all the others, for me, is that she is clearly so well trained and, at the same time, has an utterly natural, unaffected voice. Her vowels are gorgeous, not exaggerated or pretentious. Perfection.

(double post, sorry)

Updated On: 11/7/18 at 10:33 PM

OlBlueEyes said: "Light in the Piazzaand Bridges were not far enough off the beaten path?"

Light and Bridge had some dramatic moments that challenged her, true, and really she SHOULD have won her Tony for Bridges but at the end of the day both of those characters were still, at their base, sweet women with hearts of gold going through some very tough trials and tribulations.

Lilli is unlike anything she has yet to do because Lilli is... well Lilli is a bitch. Of course there is more to her under the surface but ON the surface she is, like the character of Kate, a shrew that needs to be tamed. I don't really know if O'Hara is capable of letting herself get genuinely ugly when she needs to for the sake of comedy. While her "So In Love" is simply lovely, will her "I Hate Men" be as impressive when she can't rely on her strong and pretty singing to sell the number but must play is harsh, bold, and brassy and CAN'T play the nice girl?

Kelli O'Hara is better at acting than about 95% of Musical Theatre performers working these days, most of whom, while very talented, seem to think that acting = emoting while belting high notes, and maybe throwing in a quirky attitude.

Updated On: 11/8/18 at 12:14 AM