NYTimes' Brantley & Green Make Their 2017 Tony Award Predictions — Page 3

''To be clear, this is Mary Beth Peil's second Tony nomination. She was nominated for Best Feautred Actress in a Musical in 1985 for The King and I (she was below the title).''

True, Peil was below the title. But that was also that skimpy season where the Tonys did away with the categories of Leading Actor and Leading Actress in a Musical. Otherwise, she would've been petitioned or bumped up to Leading. ... Gertrude Lawrence, Donna Murphy and Kelli O'Hara all won the Tony for playing Anna in Leading. ... While Peil has a resume worthy of a Tony winner, it would be disappointing (to me) to see her win one for such a skimpy role in ''Anastasia.'' It would be a disservice to the other featured actresses in this category who have meatier and more substantial roles.

Updated On: 5/12/17 at 01:26 AM

I would hardly think this would be a pity Tony. Peil is the emotional driving force of act two of Anastasia and arguably has the largest character arc in the show. She performs the role with such grace and ferocity and is still in good voice. If we're comparing quality of roles on paper, that may be another story, but Mary Beth Peil isn't just strolling through the park; she steals the entire show.

The argument of "she's on Broadway a lot, it won't be long until she wins one" is a stronger argument for the other four nominees and much less probable for an actress of Mary Beth Peil's age, even if we're just talking about available roles for her to play.

The producers of Band's Visit are shoppinq around for a theater do next season now that both critics ridiculously included an off b'way show in Broadway catagories. What exactly were they trying to say?

I was so hoping for Circle in the Square but that's been taken.

evic said: "The producers of Band's Visit are shoppinq around for a theater do next season now that both critics ridiculously included an off b'way show in Broadway catagories. What exactly were they trying to say?"

A transfer was being worked on way before this article.

The Band's Visit was in a good position to transfer anyway- picking up awards and great reviews.

Although it ends up seeming like a bad joke when it is repeated so often, Ben's inclusion of Off-B shows is rooted in a very specific point and one that is at the core of his perspective on the theatre, viz., that there is way more to NY theatre than Broadway and that he does not want to be fully complicit in the corporate/media elevation of the Tonys and thus Broadway to so prominent a place in the assessment of what deserves recognition. Green obviously agrees and presumably do does the Times editorially.

Mary Beth Peil ''steals the entire show.''

I thought if anyone deserved a Featured Actress nom in ''Anastasia,'' it's Caroline O'Connor, who WAS nominated by the Outer Critics.

Jenn Colella scored Featured Actress nominations from the Outer Critics, Drama Desk and the Tonys. One, because she's wonderful in the show. Two, she's the focus of attention as the pilot, and has a big solo. Colella just won her category at Outer Critics, and three of her fellow nominees (Baldwin, Block and Peil) are also her Tony competition. Will she repeat at Drama Desk, where she goes head-to-head with the same 3 (and Nora Schell from ''Spamilton'' )?

But at the Tonys, they all square off against Rachel Bay Jones, whom many pundits say is the one to beat. Stay tuned.

Updated On: 5/12/17 at 10:41 AM

True, there is often little overlap among the OCC, Drama Desks and Tonys, and their winners could vary greatly, but at least in Featured Actress in a Musical, they agree on 4 of the 5 nominees.

Updated On: 5/12/17 at 10:51 AM

I don't thinks it's necessisarily wrong that Come From Away could win. Clybourne Park won Best Play without winning anything else that night. That being said, it's going to be a battle to the ends between Comet and DEH for score and orchestrations. Set, Lights, and director for Comet and DEH taking home something in the acting catagories. I also think the fight for book is between CFA and DEH. Both really strong, but we will see what the voters think.

I think Orchestrations will solidly go to Malloy for Comet. Book and Score are the real wild cards.

Sauja said: "I'm surprised no one thinks Zaks could get Director for Dolly. It just feels like enough of a juggernaut that I wouldn't be surprised if it came through with a bit of a sweep (costumes, scenic, lighting, direction all feel possible to me with actress, featured actor and revival being locks). I'm not basing this on which awards I think it deserves. I just have that strange kind of hunch that while everyone's debating Comet vs. Hansen vs. Come from Away, Dolly could surge and take home a bucketful of Tonys.

I agree, Zaks's did Dolly perfectly.

Earlier today, BroadwayWorld did a comparison of Ben Brantley's and Charles Isherwood's Tony predictions from 2012-16, and figured out their accuracy rate. Brantley got 64% of his predictions right, and Isherwood did only slightly better with 68%. ... What's more, if this year's Tony predictions are any indication, they didn't even predict all 24 categories. Brantley and Jesse Green just made the call in 16 categories, skipping the design ones, orchestrations and choreography. Of course, those latter categories often make all the difference in who wins a Tony pool.

Here's how I see the Best Musical race at this point...

If Come From Away ends up winning, it would be the third time a show won Best Musical, but wasn't nominated for Best Orchestrations (the other two being Contact and Avenue Q). I think two other possible wins for them would be Featured Actress and Book.

If Dear Evan Hansen wins, it could also receive Lead Actor, Featured Actress, Book, and Score.

If The Great Comet wins, it could also receive Featured Actor, Director, Score, Orchestrations, Lighting, Sets, and Costumes. If The Great Comet doesn't win, it could mark the first time since 2002 that a show lost Best Musical, but still won Director (which was Urinetown). Could The Great Comet also set a record for the most Tony wins by a production that ended up losing Best Musical?

Updated On: 5/13/17 at 02:30 PM