Is Patina Miller the frontrunner for Lead actress right now? — Page 6

So I finally saw Annie yesterday, and all I have to say is that if the Matilda's win or are even nominated for Best Actress in a Musical it is outrageous. Now I am not saying that I think Lilla will win, nor do I think she deserves it over Patina Miller, Laura Osnes, or even Carollee Carmello.
What I am trying to say is that Lilla may be 2-3 years older than the Matilda's, but she is still a child doing 6 to 8 performances a week, compared to their 2. When in the "Am I the Only One who disliked Matilda?" thread, someone stated it must be so difficult for a 9 year old to play a child abused by their parents, did they not realize that Annie is an ORPHAN who is abused by her caretaker. Miss Hannigan is running a sweatshop, is that not considered abuse. The sole difference between the two characters is Annie is eternally optimistic, while Matilda is a pessimist, believing things will never get better unless you are a "little bit naughty". Yes Annie does get the help of Mr. Warbucks as her guardian angel, but Matilda has her magical powers along with Miss Honey and the librarian.
Annie is just as difficult a role if not more so than Matilda, its just we've seen everyone and their daughter play it, while Matilda is just newer. Especially since as many have suggested and I agree, that the committee would be nominating the role and not the actress if they nominated the Matildas. The fact that 4 actresses can share a role, points to the fact that the actresses are somewhat interchangeable. Best Actress in a Musical is supposed to mean you cannot miss this woman/girls performance, it is essential to the production, but if 4 people can all play the role equally as well it is not so essential than is it. Look at Patti Lupone in Evita and Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls, they shows all have flaws, but their performances cause many to be able to overlook them because of their performances. Their performances were essential in making the shows successful, akin to Patina Miller and Laura Osnes this year.

Back to the point though, the fact that Lilla does 6+ shows a week, should cause the nominating committee to rule the Matildas as a group ineligible for a nomination.

I just have a feeling that they won't repeat the Billy gimmick with the Matildas, however deserving.

Yes, she *carried* the show but she didn't make it work. No nom, sorry.

I'd love to see Carolee get in. Maybe she'll get the sympathy vote for being a tremendous talent trapped in a bad vehicle, and she is much loved in the community. But, still, I doubt it.

Anyone who thinks Carolee deserves a nomination is fooling himself. She might have been better than the show she was in, but she was by no means good. Her acting was atrocious, and she sounded good (as always) but that didn't aid her in rising above the material. She was mediocre at best.

I really don't see SJB getting a nomination for her role in Drood. I like her but she was overshadowed by most of the rest of the cast. There was even a part that she leaves the stage before intermission since she had nothing else to do and came back at the very end. Carolee carried a horrible show on her back and I feel deserves a nod for that.

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I wasn't suggesting Carolee shouldn't be nominated over SJB. I think she shouldn't be nominated at all, no matter who it is who takes "her" slot.

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If awards were given out based on will power or who is working physically the hardest, we would be seeing a lot of different nominees and winners. I have seen many performers who were working their butts off onstage and giving their all, but I found nothing in their performance to be worthy of an award. (Or, there would be awards singling out ensemble members as they are often, arguably, “working harder” than the leads if we are determining merit by will power or how physically challenging a role is.) Because of this, I don’t think that just because the Matildas only perform two days a week should deem them unworthy of the award. I believe it should be based on the quality of the performance they are giving as opposed to the will power of the performer or how often they are performing (not that will power is not something to marvel at or be impressed with, I just don’t think that should be included in the criteria for Best Performance).

For example, if Patti had only been doing two shows a week in “Gypsy” I still think the performance she was giving in those two days would be worthy of the Tony over any other actress that year who was doing 8 shows a week (I know others might disagree with this example).

I also disagree with those talking about the role being rewarded as opposed to the actor. I recognize that this may, occasionally, seem to be the case, but don’t think it happens as often as others feel it does. Sure, a meaty role offers the ability to show off more chops, but the actor still has to successfully fulfill that role. If awards were based on how great the role is, I think Elena Roger would have been nominated for “Evita” (I agree with her not being nominated, for the record).

I have yet to see “Matilda” or “Pippin,” so I have no opinion on who should win, but I don’t think it’s right to completely rule out the Matildas based off of only performing twice a week. Also, for those saying that if all 4 deserve it, then how can their performances be outstanding/special: I think it’s also possible that all 4 girls can be equally terrific and still better than anyone else nominated. Just because 3 other people can do the role equally well doesn’t mean that all 4 of those performances aren’t, still, better than all other performances in the category.

I am not sure how I feel about clumping all 4 Matildas into one nomination, but I don’t think that sharing the role should deem any of them less worthy of recognition.

For the record, I predict the nominees will be the Matildas, Patina, Laura, Lilla, and Stephanie J. Block. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if Carolee snuck up and got a nom over SJB.

As I stated, I have not seen it, so I have no opinion on who I think SHOULD be nominated, but I predicted what I THINK will happen (which is that I believe the Matildas will be nominated together…not saying that is something I agree or disagree with). I have no idea if the Matildas are giving equal performances or not, all I was saying is I think it is perfectly possible for 4 people to give equally terrific performances in the same role, yet still be better than everyone else in the category (in response to some feeling that if there are 3 other people who can do a role equally as well it is not deserving of the award).

I am not sure what you are confused about with my use of the word “they”. By using the word I never meant to imply that I think the Matildas should be judged as one unit (as in, one Matilda’s strengths can make up for another’s weaknesses). I fully believe that if they are nominated together each individual Matilda’s performances should have to be deemed better than all other nominees for all 4 to win. However, in my original post I was only arguing the point that, whether they are put into one nomination or not, playing only 2 performances a week should not affect the worthiness of being awarded the Tony. I would be arguing the same point if they decided only one Matilda could be up for nominations or all 4 could be up separately.

Just so we're clear, regardless of whether or not the Matildas are ruled eligible as a group, a Matilda WILL be nominated, even if it's just Sophia since she was on during the opening night show.

I believe the last meeting is on the 26th (this Friday).

Yes, Pippin is the last show to open, so they can't meet, officially, until that point. They will (obviously) be quick in releasing that info.

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Laura got all around rave reviews from the critics, Patina got good to not good from those same critics.

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Updated On: 4/29/13 at 10:59 AM