Man In Chair should win Tony

[Amneris]

Posted: 5/20/06 at 11:55pm

My 2 cents is: That "Man In Chair" in Drowsy was outstanding. He made the show.. the show could have been a one man piece and you would have believed all those other people were up there. I laughed with him, I cried with him. thank you Man In Chair.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 5/20/06 at 11:57pm

You mean Bob Martin?

I love Bob.

[Amneris]

Posted: 5/20/06 at 11:58pm

Yes, Bob Martin =) He makes the audience feel like they knew him forever.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 12:20am

Well after Cervaris,
I would like to see Bob get it.
He is the Heart of the show and Broadway Musicals!

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 12:25am

He was the best part about the show [which isn't saying much], but he's not gonna take the Tony..

[jsand25]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 12:44am

He doesnt sing! Nobody should win the best actor in a musical if they do not sing. That is the point of the musical!

[Kevinoes]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 12:51am

It will be up to Tony voters to decide whether a non singing role wins a Tony. Technically, he DOES sing at the end of the show. But I think your singing in the show has very little to do with the win. Look at Harvey's win in HAIRSPRAY. It's the most grating voice ever, but it's his characterization that wins us over. So, take that Tony voters.

On an unrelated topic (just cuz its a CHAPERONE thread) who's the super near the end the show? I want to say it's Joey Sorge but I'm not sure.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 1:01am

I have a problem with the fact that he's nominated as actor in a musical when he barely sings; I just feel like it's unfair to compare, or something.

But it's sort of moot, anyway, because that's a race between Cerveris and JLY; and if Cerveris doesn't win, there's no justice.

[BwayBaby18]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 1:15am

Best Actor not singer.......

Plus he caries the show

Don't role him out just yet

[timote316]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 1:17am

I agree with emcee. I also agree with the Cerveris pick, but I wouldn't rule out Connick, Jr, either.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 1:31am

it's best Actor in a musical.
Dancers have gotten noms and deserved them
Harry Connick is a Contender for sure
No one sings for him or Cervaris off stage.

[Jon]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 1:37am

Title of thread sound like line from old "Tarzan, Tonto and Frankenstein" sketch on SNL.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 1:54am

Rex Harrison and Robert Preston have won for "sing-talking" in My Fair Lady and The Music Man, respectively. The category is called Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, so to me, Bob Martin should very well be deemed eligible for the nomination and the win if voters decided to give it to him. It's a performance by an actor, not necessarily a performance by a triple threat who can hit a high B-flat and do a bazillion fouette turns. Kudos to him if he can. Just like at the Emmy Awards, you can win a Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy if your role happened to be very dramatic. For example, Cynthia Nixon won over the voters for her dramatic work in the final season of Sex and the City even though the show is deemed a comedy.

~Steven

[larry64]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 1:57am

Bob Martin will win the TONY for BEST BOOK of a MUSICAL.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 2:09am

The award is for best ACTOR in a Musical... not Best SINGER in a Musical... or best DANCER.

There is a reason for that.

Historically there have been performers who have won Tonys in the acting categories who have been dancers that have not sung one single note... Natalia Makarova in On Your Toes comes to mind. She was a brilliant dancer and comedienne in that show (I saw her in it), but the character doesn't sing AT ALL. She rightfully won the Best Actress in a Musical award, however.

And there have been several singers who have won Tonys in the acting categories without dancing a step as well.

[Songsstresss]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:11am

CurtainPullDowner, you have got to be kidding. The whole "singing off stage" thing has been clarified again and again, it is ridiculous for you to bring it up, and I won't even justify it with more of a response. John Lloyd Young derserves that award as much as anyone else in the category. I, for one, hope he wins it!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 3:15am

I'm not saying the rules should be changed, or that I don't understand nominating roles that involve little to no singing; I'm saying I don't agree with it. It's difficult enough to draw comparisons between two actors in very different musicals, and you make the measure that much more difficult when you measure people who sing and dance against those who do neither, but happen to be in musicals.

[tophertilson]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 6:46am

I suspect they're all right - he'll win for book and that will be his prize for the evening. Pity, because he is giving one of the best performances on Broadway right now. It's a tricky balance and it'll be interesting to see the show after someone else takes over the role. I'm betting that what he brings to the show won't be easily duplicated.

TT

[mrkringas]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 8:30am

Musicals and plays require different skills but the core skill for both are honest and exciting performances.

Sometimes musical theatre fans need to step back and look at the genre for what it is. A theatrical art that demands the same standards of "acting" as plays.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 9:05am

I never Kid...

[jv92]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 9:30am

Oh God, what the hell is wrong with some of you?
Just because its Actor in a Musical doesn't mean that the role must be a vocally demanding part. Bob Martin gives a performance filled with heart, humor and joy. If Ceveris looses the Tony, I hope Mr. Martin gets it.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 9:36am

He doesnt sing! Nobody should win the best actor in a musical if they do not sing. That is the point of the musical!

Thomas Mitchell won the Best Actor in a Musical Tony in 1953 for the non-singing, non-dancing role of Dr. Downer in HAZEL FLAGG. Are you saying that his award should be posthumously revoked because he didn't sing? Warped logic. That said, I am one of the few who DIDN'T warm to Bob Martin's Man in Chair, and I'll be roundly pissed if he wins over the revelatory Michael Cerveris.

[Suedenymes]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 9:52am

melissa errico fan, you are not alone. i did not "warm up to" bob martin's man-in-the-chair either. his stereotypical performance as a lonely theater queen sets back the gay agenda at least fifty years.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 9:57am

Glad to hear that I'm not alone. And yes, the Man in Chair was such a stereotypical queen that it made me want to hurl. It's obvious that the show was written by straight people.
Updated On: 5/21/06 at 09:57 AM

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/21/06 at 10:01am

I felt more like he was doing stand-up. Very funny stand-up, but not really acting. Someone mentioned Harvey's grating voice in Hairspray. While it wasn't beautiful to listen to, Harvey sang, danced and acted his butt off in that show. Sutton, Danny, Troy and the rest of the cast act rings around Bob Martin in my opinion. I would be pleased to see him take home the Tony for best book, as the book is very funny and clever, but I don't feel he's giving the best musical actor performance this year.

PS...Suedenymes, I hadn't thought of that angle, and actually, I agree with you.