Laura Osnes or Patina Miller for the Tony- Page 3

[BroadwayGirl3]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 10:09am

Laura Osnes, she is a super-star, both on stage and off :)

[broadway guy]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 10:20am

Patina. She is performing a triple threat part and she is stunning Broadway with it. The TONY is basically in her hands.

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 10:53am

Part of me thinks that Patina will get it, purely on the distinction that the Leading Player is an award-winning role and she's doing fantastic work with it. On the other hand, Laura's been generating quite a lot of buzz lately, and we all know how political the Tonys are. Besides that - she's absolute perfection in the show, and the producers have clearly been campaigning pretty hard for her. It'll be a toss-up.

[michellek45]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 11:20am

I love Laura Osnes; she's probably my favorite young actress working in musical theater. She's shown range in both her singing and her acting, and she even managed to make Hope Harcourt stick out for me. Her Cinderella was more well-rounded, I think, than Andrews' or Brandy's (I have never seen Warren, but I grew up with the Brandy version), and her voice sounds like it was tailor-made for the role. Her reaction to the Prince's opening lines of "Ten Minutes Ago" is one of the best "holy cow my dream is happening" bits of acting I've ever seen, and it will stay with me for a long time.

BUT

The role is still Cinderella. The role is still, for the most part, a dreamy girl whose one dream in life is to go to the ball. DCB's book tries to make her rebellion against the stepmother more compelling and complex, but I think it ultimately fails, as does the attempt at adding depth with the political situation. Make no mistake that Laura Osnes is wonderful in this role, but the role itself is too flawed for me to say that her performance was the Tony-worthy one of the year.

The Leading Player is a much more complex part in a much more complex show, and Patina gave an electrifying performance that brought me into Pippin's world and kept me grounded there. This is an accomplished feat, considering I generally can't stand shows that intentionally break the fourth wall continuously like Pippin does. I don't like to be reminded that I'm watching a performance, but the whole cast (led by Patina) managed to keep me invested in Pippin's fate, even as I was constantly told that the whole thing was staged.

EDIT: I can't spell Brandy, apparently. Updated On: 6/5/13 at 11:20 AM

[jnb9872]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 11:35am

You mean Brandy, I assume.

[michellek45]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 11:52am

Wow my whole childhood is a lie. I have thought it was spelled "Brandi" since I was like 6 years old.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 12:04pm

"You mean Brandy, I assume."

That is a great assumption. None of us would have known of whom she was speaking about. That really cleared things up.

I believe this is Patina's year. She is a triple threat, and genuinely thrilling to watch. While Laura does sing, act, and dance a bit, she is not a triple threat. The role is still just Cinderella. While she may play the role wonderfully; she does not bring anything new or exciting to it. Laura will get her day in the sun, but not this year.

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 12:07pm

I say Laura, she defined the role for future Broadway Cinderellas.
Patina while awesome had the role defined by Ben Vereen.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 12:15pm

I think the role of Cinderella has been defined for generations. There is nothing new here that hasn't been seen before.

[lenstersf]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 12:18pm

Patina Miller.

[ggersten]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 12:38pm

I haven't seen Osnes in Cinderella - so can't compare. I trust the people who felt that Osnes created a new "Cinderella" and so that could be deserving, and so it would not surprise me if she were to win.

Miller's LP is not Vereen's. To me, Vereen was a buddy to Pippin - there was a bromance going on. Vereen was more "magical"- a gentle wave of the hand and there was compliance. Vereen was seducing Pippin at all stages, so there was little sense of some ulterior motive about the finale until Catherine starts to stray from the script. Pippin's rebellion against the finale is a rejection of the love Vereen has showered on Pippin - and that is the basis of his anger.

Miller is a more coldly calculating Player - she "leads" Pippin and he follows. She "commands" the stage and it obeys and that is established before Catherine strays. Miller's cast is "in"on the plan from the beginning - at least the night I saw it. Miller's LP is dangerous - enticing but not seductive. She is never Pippin's friend or lover. She is used to being obeyed - and can't understand this Pippin's rebellion against the finale. So, she is angry not so much at Pippin - but at being cheated out of the finale she wants to see - needs to see. She really is more of a "Manson" type leading her family of acrobats who do what she wants to give her the joys of the "finale" she needs to see every day/night.

I prefer Vereen - but that didn't stop me from being wowed by Miller.

[jackieoh]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 8:26pm

I truly do not understand how Laura Osnes even got nominated. She is a beautiful performer, sure, but this is CINDERELLA. There is nothing new or exciting about her performance and it is certainly not Tony-worthy. I'm sure she will be nominated many times throughout her career, but this is not a Tony role.

It is, without a doubt in my mind, going to Patina. Deservedly so.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 9:00pm

Jackieoh, did you see Cinderella? I'm not suggesting that you didn't, it's just not clear from your post that you did.

[broadwaybabe1234]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 10:00pm

I'm just throwing this out there but i am totally team Carolee Carmello. I think she had the most awe-inspiring performance of the season. Too bad her show sucked...

i have talked to a few tony voters and looks like Carolee is getting a bit of a sympathy vote... Do you think that Patina and Laura might split the votes and Carolee ultimately triumph? just sayin'...

[welcometothetheater]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 10:51pm

It definitely seems like it's Patina's award to take. I honestly thought that was a general consensus. Patina is leading the hottest production of the season and giving a breathtaking performance. If she doesn't win on Sunday, I'll be shocked.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/5/13 at 11:20pm

I honestly don't know why people discount Laura's performance. She does everything right in Cinderella. How else would you prefer the role to be played?

Both Patina and Laura are giving everything they've got. Cinderella is a much less flashy role, which makes it more difficult to shine and stand out in the crowd. And I believe Laura does just that. She's overall lovely in the role.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 6/6/13 at 12:00pm

I think that that is where the problem is. It is Cinderella, there really aren't too many ways to play the role that haven't been done before. It is all very slight variations on a theme.

[ABB2357]

Posted: 6/6/13 at 12:38pm

I think Osnes is giving a Tony worthy performance, but the problem is the show doesn't feel constructed around her. As excellent as she was, the new book seems more interested in political jokes, subplots, and quippy side characters than in developing or deepening the role of Cinderella. I haven't seen PIPPIN, but the Leading Player is always a dominant character who sets the tone for every performance, so I think Miller has the edge.

[jetts7]

Posted: 6/6/13 at 12:38pm

I absolutely LOVE Laura and thought she was amazing in Cinderella, but I think Patina will win this time. If Bonnie and Clyde had opened this year, Laura would have easily won Best Actress then.

[Brick]

Posted: 6/6/13 at 12:39pm

Also, no one is talking about CINDERELLA anymore. I think Patina will ride the wave of PIPPIN love, since it's surely winning Revival, Director, Featured Actress, and possibly Featured Actor.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 6/6/13 at 2:37pm

Interesting piece in the NY Times suggesting its Laura's award.

http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/theater/theaterspecial/predictions-from-tony-award-voters.html?adxnnl=1&hpw=&adxnnlx=1370543955-ssAEKnSfTMjmnwKUAV3DdA

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/6/13 at 4:00pm

Remember when everyone on here was complaining that should the Matildas be nominated, they'd win because the voters were rewarding the role? Everyone is now defending Patina with the exact same argument. (No backlash towards Patina, just an observation.)

[kieranbec]

Posted: 6/6/13 at 5:15pm

Not really. They're commending Patina's amazing performance in an incredibly difficult role.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/6/13 at 6:01pm

...while many are saying Laura is amazing in a "Disney princess" role, so the Tony shouldn't go to her based on the role she's playing. The Tony should award the performance and not the role, which is what I'm getting at.

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 6/6/13 at 6:31pm

What I feel like people don't get is that the Tony race isn't actually a race. They're not all playing the same role, and can't really compete with one another on that level. This year, Patina and Laura both do incredible work. Patina, while doing great work in her own right, is helped along by a great role - Laura, meanwhile, has now made a habit of fleshing out boring, two-dimensional characters. My opinion is that she should be rewarded for it, because let's be honest; with the caliber of performance she's giving in that role, she'll be much harder to replace than Patina.

tl;dr - The Leading Player is a complex, powerful character by her (or him)self. Cinderella isn't, yet Laura transcends the limitations of the role.