Laura Osnes and the Tony

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?

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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!