Laura Osnes and the Tony

[jacksonpotter]

Posted: 2/24/18 at 11:26pm

There is no denying that Laura is one of the best and most talented performers of her generation which begs the question as to when she's going to be winning a Tony. She's been nominated before, but do we ever see her as ever winning? 

There are many divas of her calibre or even higher who haven't won. What do you guys think?

 

[bwaylyric]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 12:29am

Maybe in 15 years when she plays Anna in another revival of The King & I. 

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 2:03am

Depends on the project. She does the traditional musical theatre roles well, but I’d like to see her tackle something like BONNIE & CLYDE again.

[msmp]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 2:14am

IdinaBellFoster said: "Depends on the project. She does the traditional musical theatre roles well, but I’d like to see her tackle something like BONNIE & CLYDE again."

I agree with this. I'd like to see her break out of her comfort zone a little bit; she's done a lot of either ingenues or (for lack of a better term at 2am) wholesome characters, but her performance in B&C implies she is capable of so much more.

[jacksonpotter]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 2:39am

I agree, Bonnie and Sandy despite being at the start of her career are completely different from her roles now. 

So curious as to what her role on that HBO pilot was 

[SidebySidebyLogan]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 3:01am

Asking if a performer will win an award... someday... is a bit absurd. I mean people probably assumed Julie Andrews would undoubtedly be a Tony Award winner this late in her career and we know how that has turned out... I'm not saying I'm not guilty of it myself. I always assumed Jan Maxwell would ?? Even after she announced she was quitting stage work I was kinda like "Oh some amazing role will bring her back..."

I will say this. Laura Osnes suffers from the Kelli O'Hara syndrome. Tony voters seem to take classic sopranos less seriously. Also composers are writing for those voices less. Not that her voice isn't versatile. But awards voters tend to put performers in boxes and for whatever reason singers with legit voices tend to have to prove more

[Soaring29]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 3:50am

She's good, but  when she sings legit stuff, her voice  is too   thin for my taste.  Honestly, she's  a rather cookie cutter performer to me.

On the plus side, I overall think her voice is very beautiful though. And her  work in Bonnie And Clyde is fantastic. 

[ohhiccup 2]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 5:09am

Would love to see her in a role more like Bonnie or just something different to the role she usually plays. Beautiful voice, her acting is sometimes lacking but she has also really impressed me (acting wise) in the past.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 10:52am

She is still young at 32 and will due roles of more substance. I think people were suspicious of her acting ability due to her odd way of reaching Broadway via reality television. And roles like Sandy, Hope and Cinderella are not going to get you much attention. I never saw her in South Pacific or read any review, but Bartlett Sher, after initially using her when Kelli was on maternity leave, brought her back after Kelli left the show for good. Its run continued for another six or eight months before closing.

Critics will start to come around. Charles Isherwood in his review of Bandstand:

Osnes, too, deserves some major love for revitalizing what might be a plain-Jane ingénue role. She has become a reliably excellent musical theater actor, her gifts sometimes underrated or taken for granted. (Guilty as charged.) With fresh faces bursting onto Broadway every year, it’s easy to forget how rare her combination of talents is. She sings with beautiful purity and tone, acts with a fine simplicity, and here gets a chance to prove that her dancing chops are in fine working order, too. Osnes never pushes her character’s feelings on the audience; she reveals them slowly, as people do in life, allowing us to discover them for ourselves.

I think that the highly trained voices of Audra, Kristin and Kelli gain them an instant respect with critics not to be had by others such as Laura.

Having said that, it appears that her next long run will see her as Polly in Crazy for You, a role not to be confused with Lady Macbeth.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 12:11pm

jacksonpotter said: "There is no denying that Laura is one of the best and most talented performers of her generation”

 

looks like some of the posts in this thread have proved you wrong on that point. 

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 3:43pm

She's really vanilla. I put her alongside Sierra Boggess. Pretty, nice voice, boring actress. I don't think she'll win a Tony anytime soon.

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 4:14pm

This sounds like the name of a new children's book. "Laura Osnes and the Tony"

Updated On: 2/25/18 at 04:14 PM

[binau]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 4:32pm

I find that almost every Broadway 'star' of this generation is particularly boring/vanilla/plain. At one stage Broadway had people like Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Betty Buckley, Donna Murphy, Marin Mazzie, Victoria Clark, Christine Ebersole, Alice Ripley, Bebe Neuwirth, Chita Rivera, Kristin Chenoweth, perhaps even Idina Menzel. All very unique in personality and style. It doesn't feel like we have a cohort of very unique talent waiting in the wings to replace. There are always some exceptions, especially by 'women of colour' (e.g., Karen Olivo, Cynthia Erivo, Patina Miller). But I don't find generic light soprano voices or the homogenous pop 'Wicked' style of vocalist that seems so common today the kind of thing that could lead to a very unique 'star'. I don't quite understand why this has happened. Are quirky girls no longer cast? 

Updated On: 2/25/18 at 04:32 PM

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 5:48pm

I was hoping she would sing "Glitter and Be Gay" in New Years Eve Bernstein concert with the NYPhil, but she didn't sing it. But then I wondered: does she even have the vocal range for it? Maybe not. (That could have totally been an artistic decision, also, since the song is done so much.)

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 5:53pm

She doesn't NOT have the range (acting or singing wise) to sing Glitter and be Gay.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 5:56pm

It seems that many posters here think some performers deserve awards because they’re nice. Laura Osnes seems very nice. I’m sure she’s just lovely at the stage door. I don’t think shehas real star quality. A perfectly serviceable performer. But she’s a bit on the bland side.

[222disneyland]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 6:46pm

jacksonpotter said: "There is no denying that Laura is one of the best and most talented performers of her generation which begs the question as to when she's going to be winning a Tony. She's been nominated before, but do we ever see her as ever winning?

There are many divas of her calibre or even higher who haven't won. What do you guys think?

"

Jessie Muller is the best actress of her generation

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 6:54pm

Mildred Plotka said: "It seems that many posters here think some performers deserve awards because they’re nice."

 

Do you mean on this board in general, or in this thread? Because nobody in this thread has implied anything remotely like that as far as I can tell. 

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 7:07pm

I think Laura is sweet and talented, but I’d love to see her do a dramatic play to really stretch herself.

She’ll likely get a tony nomination for Crazy for You but that’s more of the same for her.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 7:08pm

I think these two videos exemplifies why Laura will probably never be a Tony winner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiyFSqHDJ6k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4DMX1IT-PQ

Laura has a beautiful face, beautiful voice, but she approaches both songs like winsome teenagers. There's no fire, no spunk, no sense of a real character. I've seen Christy Altomare as Anya and Sara Bareilles and Betsy Wolfe as Jenna and all of these ladies did not just have a pretty voice. They had personality and character. 

[EllieRose2]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 7:17pm

She was so perfect in Bandstand.  If it were more successful, she would probably have gotten a nomination.  But, she has many years ahead of her of beautiful shows she can be in.  

[Elegance101]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 8:59pm

qolbinau said: "I find that almost every Broadway 'star' of this generation isparticularly boring/vanilla/plain. At one stage Broadway had people like Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Betty Buckley, Donna Murphy, Marin Mazzie, Victoria Clark, Christine Ebersole, Alice Ripley, Bebe Neuwirth, Chita Rivera, Kristin Chenoweth, perhaps even Idina Menzel. All very unique in personality and style.It doesn't feel like we have a cohort of very unique talent waiting in the wings to replace. There are always some exceptions, especially by 'women of colour' (e.g., Karen Olivo, Cynthia Erivo, Patina Miller). But I don't find generic light soprano voices or the homogenous pop 'Wicked' style of vocalist that seems so common today the kind of thing that could lead to a very unique 'star'. I don't quite understand why this has happened. Are quirky girls no longer cast?"

Honestly, yes. There's a mold that girls are taught to fit nowadays. I actually Laura does a great job with taking classical ingenues and still being interesting with it, but most young women who find success fit a mold that they were taught to fill.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 9:05pm

From these exchanges I suppose most agree that Osnes is not ready for the Broadway Hall of Fame. Given time and the right role, who know? For those who saw Bernadette Peters in Dames at Sea way off Broadway, I don't think that they anticipated what she would become.

Enjoyed qolbinau's take on the lack of quirkiness in today's stars. Is there no room on Broadway anymore for a Patti Lupone or a Chita Rivera (see her at 54 Below next month)? Or even an Ethel Merman? Is Laura Benanti quirky? Is that what is holding her back from more and better roles?

How about two of the legit Hall of Fame members: Audra and Kelli? Quirky? No. Two highly intelligent women with extraordinary voices formed by countless hours of practice.

Is there still room for quirk on Broadway. No doubt, but it may have to enter through the side door as did Peters and Dames.

[Elegance101]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 9:16pm

OlBlueEyes said: "Enjoyed qolbinau's take on the lack of quirkiness in today's stars. Is there no room on Broadway anymore for a Patti Lupone or a Chita Rivera (see her at 54 Below next month)? Or even an Ethel Merman? Is Laura Benanti quirky? Is that what is holding her back from more and better roles?

How about two of the legit Hall of Fame members: Audra and Kelli? Quirky? No. Two highly intelligent women with extraordinary voices formed by countless hours of practice.

Is there still room for quirk on Broadway. No doubt, but it may have to enter through the side door as did Peters and Dames."

I think by "quirkiness," the original poster meant a magnetism, perhaps? I don't want to speak for them, but what I was thinking of in my response was an overall originality or unexplainable secret ingredient that makes them so singular in their abilities. I really find that to be lacking in many successful younger performers (obviously some amazing examples (whom I've also noticed have been women of color)), but it is an interesting idea.

[jacksonpotter]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 10:22pm

222disneyland said: "jacksonpotter said: "There is no denying that Laura is one of the best and most talented performers of her generation which begs the question as to when she's going to be winning a Tony. She's been nominated before, but do we ever see her as ever winning?

There are many divas of her calibre or even higher who haven't won. What do you guys think?

"

Jessie Muller is the best actress of her generation"

Jessie Mueller for sure has that star quality that everyone has been talking about!