Understudy Joined: 2/20/15
The Lortel nominations come out tomorrow! Predictions?
I imagine we'll see nominations for Eclipsed and The Humans in multiple categories. I'd also love to see some recognition for Dot, Smokefall, and Invisible Thread.
Featured Actor Joined: 9/26/15
Will Dear Evan Hansen be eligible for nominations this year?
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Breaking-News-Lortel-Award-Nominations-Announced-THE-HUMANS-and-FUTURITY-Lead-20160330
Nominations are out. Initial thoughts
1. I'm surprised The Humans didn't get a Best Play nomination, though I'm don't personally object to this turn of events.
2. VERY happy to see Futurity get so much love.
3. Surprised to see no performance nods to Eclipsed
4. Very happy to see recognition for Mary Testa, Alison Fraser and Leslie Kritzer (TWICE in the same category!)
5. I wish Invisible Thread could have been nominated for more, but I'm glad and surprised to see Michael Luwoye nominated. Though I have to say I wouldn't have expected him to be in the leading category.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/16
Not sure how The Humans got shut out of play and Joe Mantello in directing.
Broadway Star Joined: 1/24/16
Very surprised the Humans didn't get into Best Play. I'm also surprised Lazarus wasn't nominated for Best Musical.
I can understand The Humans being left out of Best Play, since the script is probably the most divisive thing about it, but I am very surprised not to see Joe Mantello nominated. His work is subtle to be sure, but it's great direction. Also very surprised to see Mother Courage nominated for Revival, and bummed that Hir was completely shut out- Kristine Nielsen should have at least been remembered for her work.
Also bummed that Hungry wasn't recognized at all.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/9/04
SO happy for Leslie Kritzer. She deserves so much more success than she's had over the years.
I agree that HUNGRY's absence is a real shame. Especially Maryann Plunkett, who is one of the most mesmerizing and REAL performers I've ever seen. It's hard to believe she's even acting when you watch her.
No Sam Gold for directing John. I would have chosen him over Anne Kaufman for Marjorie Prime.
The Humans was a far superior play to The Christians.
No nominations for Incident at Vichy which was one of the best pieces of theatre on or off Broadway.
I would have liked to have seen First Daughter Suite nominated over Southern Comfort.
Understudy Joined: 6/8/09
When I saw there were no acting nominations for Eclipsed I thought it must be because it was given an ensemble award; it's inexplicable to me how none of the amazing actresses were nominated.
Broadway Star Joined: 12/20/15
If anybody should have been nominated from Lazarus, it should have been Michael Esper.
Marjorie Prime was deadly dull.
I'm very upset the mediocre Southern Comfort was nominated over the gorgeous First Daughter Suite. However, sending much love to Alison Fraiser and Mary Testa - hopefully one of them will clinch the award!
I didn't love Southern Comfort, but if I were going to bump any of those nominees it'd be Iowa. I'm still trying to figure out what the hell I saw.
I'm really surprised than neither Hir nor The Humans were nominated for Best Play but I love that The Christians and John were. It doesn't seem like the Lortels liked Hir at all.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
Broadway Star Joined: 8/5/13
I really loved Southern Comfort and hope it wins Best Musical. I was very disappointed that Aneesh Sheth wasn't nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. She lit up the stage.
The Lortels will always be weird- the pool of eligible shows is HUGE (easily over 100 productions qualify per season) and the nominating process sees each of the dozen or so nominators choosing just two-three picks from each category, and then the nominators voting down from that list.
A friend of mine was a Lortel nominator this year. She's a professor of theater, and apparently they have rotating academics among the nominators, in addition to creative artists and industry professionals. The nominating committee changes pretty regularly, so potential nominations are really dependent on the taste of whomever comprises the committee last year. And as Kad said, there are significantly more potential shows to choose from than the relatively small sample that open on Broadway each year.
There is also a strange but very real possibility of major or notable productions happening to get shut out- if each nominator only gets to name two picks from each category, it would make sense that a nominator would not choose an obvious selection (like, say, a Hamilton) because they would assume someone else would do so, and why waste a precious slot on a redundant choice?
MARY TESTA! I was literally reading the nominations with bated breath for that reason alone. It was the only thing I really wanted out of the Lortel Awards this year. I'm so happy for her.
Understudy Joined: 2/20/15
The awards are tonight! Yay! Anybody know if it's possible to live stream them?
theateraddiction said: "The awards are tonight! Yay! Anybody know if it's possible to live stream them?"
They aren't being live streamed, but the winners will be live tweeted from @OffBroadwayNYC.
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