I don't think Lauren Ambrose was going to beat BWW most popular female performer this season Katrina Lenk, but if she had a chance I think it has decreased by quite some way with Ambrose missing four performances in a row so far. Didn't that hurt Donna Murphy in Wonderful Town after she won all the awards? (yes I know there's like no overlap between the OCC and Drama Desk with the Tonys). Regarding Best Revival, it seems OoTI is more popular with the Twitter and Tumblr crowd so maybe that enthusiasm will carry it through. I know Ambrose missing some performances has some of the OoTI fans who seem to have it out for MFL online salivating as with fans of certain other performers who got a "hard no".
I still think Ambrose was a revelation in the role but it seems Lenk is simply tailor-made for her role. Tony or no Tony, I'm glad I saw it and hopefully will see it again in July. I am certainly looking forward to the cast recording. True, no actress has won a Tony for playing Eliza, but dislike it or love it, Ambrose doesn't play Eliza the typical way it's usually done nor does she come from the same cloth as so many of the more popular names that posters here were trotting out to play Eliza in that Who Will Play Eliza thread. That could have been the difference if this was a year without Lenk, but it's not and it's hard to beat a perfect performance of such a great role that seems so perfectly suited to a performer like with Lenk. Whatever happens come Tony time, Ambrose got some of the most glowing reviews we've seen from the top theatre critics and won a OCC award and this is after so many doubted her ability. I know some here didn't like her rendition but I'm glad to see the critics seemed to love it for the most part as do most people who've seen it.
Mike66 said: "I hesitate to ask this -- please don't jump all over me -- did anyone other than me think that Lauren Ambrose 'looked too old' for the part? She was excellent, as others have said, and I thought the re-consideration of the original worth the visit, and the music and staging was top notch. But I just had a teensy weensy bit of 'suspend reality' about the (apparent) age of the character. (Or maybe it was just that Higgins looked young????)"
I think Ambrose at times read a lot younger and other times looked closer to her age (but not 40). Hadden-Paton, I thought read older, in pictures and such, but seeing it live, I thought he and Eliza were well-matched in looks and in age and it brought something exciting to the Eliza/Higgins dynamic.
Updated On: 5/22/18 at 11:36 PM