Kelli O’Hara’s Tony Nominations- A Look Back - Page 2

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 2:08am

OlBlueEyes said: "Jarethan said: "I have always felt that she had a beautiful voice, but lacks charisma on stage. I thought she deserved the Tony for Piazza hands down, but did not feel she deserved a win for anything else. I thought Donna Murphy and Faith Prince were more charismatic Anna’s, as was Marin Mazzie.

I just don’t see her as being in the same league as Foster, Murphy, Lupone, Peters, MacDonald, or Clark…or, based on only one show, Michele."

I agree with you on Kiss Me, Kate. There is very little to it, as evidenced by the great importance given to the spanking scene. Cole Porter's score and perhaps the colorful costumes keep bringing it back. I did not see the Marin Mazzie / Brian Stokes Mitchell production, but I fell in love with the back-to-back "Wunderbar" and "So in Love" and one day just tweeted Marin that I loved her performance.

Flinging opinions is pretty pointless, especially when there has been no preparation, but I love Sutton Foster and you love Sutton Foster and Joel Grey loves Sutton Foster but the roles of Millie and Reno Sweeney do not approach the role of Nellie Forbush in difficulty. No acting is required. I can't see Sutton moving an audience to tears. Or even moving Alan Alda to tears, which isn't difficult. Yes, you have seen her in many other 

Two points:

1.  I assume you did not see Sutton Foster in Violet…she gave a heartbreaking performance in a small production produced by Roundabout 5 or 7 years ago.  I also thought she gave a terrific dramatic performance in the mediocre Little Women production.

2.  I am not an actor so I ultimately don’t know which role is harder; I actually would assume that the Reno Sweeney role Sutton executed was at least as difficult a role as Nellie Forbush, which always seemed to me a pretty straightforward role.   I can’t remember the exact words, but there is some expression about the difficulty of comedy being underappreciated.  

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 3:17am

It's all subjective. I forgot I even saw O'Hara in "Kiss me, Kate" because I think the show is stupid, but clearly it resonated with plenty of people. 

"Bridges" is a masterpiece. I think the production on Broadway was awful. There's a fantastic show there. It needs to get stripped down the core 4. No nosey neighbor song, etc. 

LOVE O'hara, and she should have won for "Bridges," but I get how awards work. 

[Ke3]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 9:33am

I didn't see her performance but I wouldn't say the role of Nellie is at all straightforward. She's a sunny person who you very much like and then you discover that she's also a racist. You have to find the balance of keeping her in the audience's favor without diluting the racism element because it's essential to the story being told. A hard thing not just for the actor playing her, but for the director too.

[The Other One]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 11:15am

Ke3 said: "I didn't see her performance but I wouldn't say the role of Nellie is at allstraightforward. She's a sunny person who you very much like and then you discover that she's also a racist. You have to find the balance of keeping her in theaudience'sfavor without diluting the racism element because it's essential to the story being told. A hard thing not just for the actor playingher,but for the director too."

Much of the magnificence of South Pacific lies in the fact that two people who wouldn't consider themselves racist or hurtful at all discover that bigotry isn't only the property of Nazis and the KKK but that it exists within them and, by extension, within all of us. 

 

Updated On: 1/1/23 at 11:15 AM

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 3:44pm

Do people think there are any other classic roles in musicals in Kelli's future? Kiss Me Kate was a kind of unexpected choice at that time in her career, but I get the feeling it's the last classic MT kind of role we'll see her do for a while... 

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 5:21pm

I did not see her in Violet, but I heard about it and people said it validated her acting ability and I was glad to hear it. That first act closer Anything Goes was a spectacular tribute to old-time Broadway dancing. I remember Sutton saying that the trick to singing when you were so dry from dancing was to bite down hard on your tongue.  I didn't try it.

It's funny, but I think when Matthew Morrison cancelled, Sutton and Kelli went together out to Long Island's Stony Brook University for a concert and they had a great time. You wouldn't think so right off to look at them, but they are about the same age.

If I were judging careers, I would have to take into account that Sutton since Anything Goes has been off doing television, only returning at the request of Hugh Jackman. Kelli since that time has been in three or four shows and two operas. And countless benefits.

I would not quarrel with preferring Sutton to Kelli, but this statement is simply not rational. 

I just don’t see her as being in the same league as Foster, Murphy, Lupone, Peters, MacDonald, or Clark…or, based on only one show, Michele.

We have no discussion beginning from this.

So Kelli hadn't been surpassed by Mueller yet, or did you forget to include her.

I think Kelli has even won over the opera world to now take her seriously when she is in an opera and not as an adornment.

Lincoln Center Theater and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization and Bartlett Sher must have put her within shouting distance of Sutton they entrusted one of Broadway's most lush and important and expensive revivals to her in 2008.

I'm not really upset about this, as I may have come over. Unusual opinions provide spice.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/1/23 at 7:30pm

South Pacific. She was flawless in a flawless production. 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 1/2/23 at 6:27am

For the die-hard Kelli fans, you may enjoy listening to Bart Sher interview her as part of Westport Library’s Malloy Lecture in the Arts.  She discusses her career and performs Cockeyed Optimist, part of an Italian opera and To Build A Home.

 

 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 1/2/23 at 10:16am

Melissa25 said: "For the die-hard Kelli fans, you may enjoy listening to Bart Sher interview her as part of Westport Library’s Malloy Lecture in the Arts.She discusses her career and performs Cockeyed Optimist, part of an Italian opera and To Build A Home.

Thank you for providing the link and a very Happy New Year to you! :)

 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 1/2/23 at 9:09pm

Happy New Year to you too and all!

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 1/3/23 at 4:07am

''Something similar happened to me with Kristin Chenoweth, I think her performance in The Apple Tree was her very best, and she didn't win the Tony.''

Chenoweth not only didn't win the Tony for ''The Apple Tree.'' She wasn't even NOMINATED. And Ben Brantley's Times review of her was a love letter. Go figure!

It happens. As it did to Kelli O'Hara's incredible co-star in ''The Bridges of Madison County'': Steven Pasquale. How the Tonys FAILED to nominate him is ridiculous. His rendition of ''It All Fades Away'' should've made him a shoo-in for a nomination.

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

Updated On: 1/3/23 at 04:07 AM

[MCW1227]

Posted: 1/4/23 at 5:45pm

I’ve seen a number of Kelli’s shows and she never disappoints. I totally agree that she deserved the Tony for Bridges. It was a fabulous performance and her chemistry with Steven was fantastic.

I’m probably in the minority here but my favorite Kelli performance was in Nice Work. Loved seeing her do comedy as a change of pace and that,  along with her wonderful singing voice, was such a great performance outside of her comfort zone. Such a fun show all the way around!

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 10/29/23 at 11:10pm

Sorry to bring back a year old thread but fingers crossed that we see Kelli pick up her second Tony award in June!

What I find comical about Kelli's award career that the Tony award is the only award she's ever won even with numerous nominations. Crazy!

Updated On: 10/29/23 at 11:10 PM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/30/23 at 6:19am

Kelli is doing some of the finest work of her career in WINE AND ROSES. I really think she has a VERY solid shot at taking home a second Tony next year.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 10/30/23 at 6:55am

I think we should wait and see how Gayle Rankin fares in Cabaret first.

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 10/30/23 at 7:08am

bwayphreak234 said: "Kelli is doing some of the finest work of her career in WINE AND ROSES. I really think she has a VERY solid shot at taking home a second Tony next year."

I really hope so. Her work in the show is stunning.

[OhHiii]

Posted: 10/30/23 at 10:55am

With Eden in the race in Lempicka, the Kelli/Gayle/Eden competition is going to be stiff. And who knows if we're going to be throwing Nicole Scherzinger in that mix too if Sunset comes in this season.