Posted: 5/4/17 at 1:45pm
DeVito received considerable praise and press for his performance, yes.
Posted: 5/4/17 at 2:13pm
Many people were predicting Blanchett would win earlier in the season. I think she was worthy of a nomination based on performance, and I didn't even care for The Present.
I would've nominated Janney over Field though.
Updated On: 5/4/17 at 02:13 PM
Posted: 5/4/17 at 2:35pm
I'm torn about Blanchett. I didn't like her acting in the deadly, relentless first scene at all; but loved her in the rest of the play.
Roxburgh, on the other hand, was by far the best thing in the play. I'm really shocked he didn't get Tony buzz.... or I would be if it weren't that he's not a celebrity. Not that being a celebrity guarantees Tony consideration, but...
Updated On: 5/4/17 at 02:35 PM
Posted: 5/4/17 at 5:33pm
I was so hesitant about Danny D. when we went to the show. I was really, happily surprised that he was so very, very, good. Yes, he really does deserve to win.
It's such a coincidence that (my movie history numbers may be off)...that both Danny DeVito and Bette Midler are "probably" going to be rewarded on Broadway this year, so many years after a movie called "Ruthless People".
Bette played Danny's kidnapped wife that Danny didn't want to pay the ransom to kidnappers Bill Pullman (?) and maybe, I remember Anita Morris also.
"we go round and round and round in the circle game"
Posted: 5/4/17 at 5:50pm
Just came back from a trip to the Tony noms and I am over the moon for the love Groundhog Day received. While it is unlikely, I'm hopeful that Andy Karl will get the Tony. Comedy is much harder than drama, in my opinion. I'm so very pleased for the love Oslo is getting too. What a magnificent piece of the theater.
Slightly annoyed with The Great Comet and Come From Away getting so many noms as well. I'm just not a Comet fan and found Come From Away extremely hokey and cliche. Jennifer Colella's nomination is, quite frankly, a bit of a joke to me as well. She talk/sings her way through that bore of a song and yells toward the end. Watched some of the red carpet round up and her faux personality was just as bad as her haircut.
Overall, I think this is an exciting batch. I had hoped for Gideon Glick to be nominated, but perhaps he will find a better show now.
Posted: 5/4/17 at 6:04pm
Stating up front, I have not seen Come From Away, nor known anything about it other than the premise and had only heard one song. I bought the download today and I'm kind of shocked.
IMO, ????, there's no "There" there...I expected so much more musically. Maybe the performances greatly augment the material. I don't see this as any "real" competition based on this.
Posted: 5/4/17 at 6:53pm
DamienV123 said: "Just came back from a trip to the Tony noms and I am over the moon for the love Groundhog Day received. While it is unlikely, I'm hopeful that Andy Karl will get the Tony. Comedy is much harder than drama, in my opinion. I'm so very pleased for the love Oslo is getting too. What a magnificent piece of the theater.
Slightly annoyed with The Great Comet and Come From Away getting so many noms as well. I'm just not a Comet fan and found Come From Away extremely hokey and cliche. Jennifer Colella's nomination is, quite frankly, a bit of a joke to me as well. She talk/sings her way through that bore of a song and yells toward the end. Watched some of the red carpet round up and her faux personality was just as bad as her haircut.
Overall, I think this is an exciting batch. I had hoped for Gideon Glick to be nominated, but perhaps he will find a better show now."
Like or dislike "Me and the Sky" all you want, but I can't hear any talk/singing in it.
Posted: 5/4/17 at 6:55pm
DamienV123 said:
"Slightly annoyed with The Great Comet and Come From Away getting so many noms as well. I'm just not a Comet fan and found Come From Away extremely hokey and cliche. Jennifer Colella's nomination is, quite frankly, a bit of a joke to me as well. She talk/sings her way through that bore of a song and yells toward the end. Watched some of the red carpet round up and her faux personality was just as bad as her haircut"
Your choice of words are a bit harsh, but I kind of agree with you about CFA. I agree with it, except for your personal attack of Jen Colella, who is a great performer and seems like a very good person. CFA is extremely hokey and somehow manages to use basically every overused, contemporary musical theatre cliché in one night of theatre and yet still get raves. Also, the score is pretty dreadful (just a whole lot of foot stomping) and War Paint really deserved their slot for best score simply based on the song "Pink" alone. Also, those characters are paper thin and I have no idea why some are considering it the frontrunner for best book. I honestly believe that it's the most overrated show this season.
Groundhog Day is probably the most underrated of the four. The score is funny and the staging energetic and the cast is wonderful. Karl is giving a great performance that is absolutely hilarious while not being overshadowed by Bill Murray's performance. It's a pretty great show.
I'm a big fan of the Great Comet, having followed it since off Broadway, and I think that it deserves all of it's noms and was even snubbed in the Best Featured Actress category. It will probably walk away with the most wins of the night as well. The show is very odd, but Chavkin's direction is phenomenal and the set design is probably my favorite of all time. I'm a very big fan of Malloy's bizarre and inventive score and it's cast is absolutely brilliant. What it comes down to with Comet is that I'm always happy to see artists take risks and be innovative while on Broadway. Broadway tends to play it safe and Comet most certainly doesn't.
Did you see Dear Evan Hansen? This show has faced a lot of backlash, as did Hamilton and even Fun Home, so that most certainly is not the kiss of death. Dear Evan Hansen started with raves from the critics and wonderful word of mouth and now seems to be everyone's least favorite musical of all time on here. I have literally seen people on here talk about how much they hate the show after giving it raves a few months ago. It's just very odd. Ben Platt gives a wonderfully layered and brilliant performance that is both funny and tragic while also showing off some serious pipes while also having nearly perfect attendance. His performance is certainly among some of the best male performances of all time. Rachel Bay Jones is also touching in her role and deserves some Tony love after her Pippin snub. IMO, DEH is the most human of the three.
IMO:
Come From Away: 6/10
Groundhog Day: 7.5/10
Great Comet: 8/10
Dear Evan Hansen: 9/10
Updated On: 5/4/17 at 06:55 PM
Posted: 5/4/17 at 7:33pm
I saw DEH and wasn't impressed with that either - I think Next to Normal and Curious Incedent did it better. Ben Platt is a talented actor but his voice grates on me.
Posted: 5/4/17 at 7:54pm
DamienV123 said: "I saw DEH and wasn't impressed with that either - I think Next to Normal and Curious Incedent did it better. Ben Platt is a talented actor but his voice grates on me.
I don't understand what Curious Incident has to do with DEH..... I also think that DEH is quite a better show than N2N, which is a show that I find to not be particularly well-written at all. Also, "grating" is a word that I never thought I would hear to describe Ben Platt's voice, but it's all a matter of opinion.
I don't know if anyone else has this opinion, but I was a bit disappointed with Karl's singing. His voice seems to not be his strongest link. I was listening to the album again last night and this thought just occured to me. His singing just seems serviceable, even though his acting is great. Does anyone else share this opinion? I think this might be why I wasn't completely obsessed with his performance when I saw the show.
Posted: 5/4/17 at 8:09pm
i liked cfa
Updated On: 5/4/17 at 08:09 PM
Posted: 5/4/17 at 8:12pm
icecreambenjamin said:
"Your choice of words are a bit harsh, but I kind of agree with you about CFA. I agree with it, except for your personal attack of Jen Colella, who is a great performer and seems like a very good person. CFA is extremely hokey and somehow manages to use basically every overused, contemporary musical theatre cliché in one night of theatre and yet still get raves. Also, the score is pretty dreadful (just a whole lot of foot stomping) and War Paint really deserved their slot for best score simply based on the song "Pink" alone. Also, those characters are paper thin and I have no idea why some are considering it the frontrunner for best book. I honestly believe that it's the most overrated show this season. "
I don't really know where to begin with that, but let me just say that any score that contains "Prayer," "Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere" and "Me and the Sky" is neither dreadful nor overly reliant on foot-stomping.
Posted: 5/4/17 at 8:25pm
I don't understand what Curious Incident has to do with DEH.....
Both shows deal with someone who is on the Spectrum in some way (as I am) and I found Alex Sharp's portrayal better.
Platt doesn't allow the music to breathe, which is part of my problem with his singing. He's benefiting from a year where the roles for men weren't as great as they have been in years past - Leslie Odom Jr, Michael Cerveris, Billy Porter, and Neil Patrick Harris gave stronger performances as did people who didn't win - Danny Burstein (x2), Rob McClure, Tony Yazbeck....
Posted: 5/4/17 at 8:30pm
cam5y said: "icecreambenjamin said:
"Your choice of words are a bit harsh, but I kind of agree with you about CFA. I agree with it, except for your personal attack of Jen Colella, who is a great performer and seems like a very good person. CFA is extremely hokey and somehow manages to use basically every overused, contemporary musical theatre cliché in one night of theatre and yet still get raves. Also, the score is pretty dreadful (just a whole lot of foot stomping) and War Paint really deserved their slot for best score simply based on the song "Pink" alone. Also, those characters are paper thin and I have no idea why some are considering it the frontrunner for best book. I honestly believe that it's the most overrated show this season. "
I don't really know where to begin with that, but let me just say that any score that contains "Prayer," "Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere" and "Me and the Sky" is neither dreadful nor overly reliant on foot-stomping.
The lyrics, IMO, are very poor and the music isn't memorable at all. It is by far the weakest score of the four nominated shows. It is a bunch of Gaelic foot-stomping with a great, but teeny tiny band and the occasional bland ballad sung by a character we will probably never see again. The show is just so problematic from the boring score to the flat characters to the overacting and unbearable optimism. It's just so sickly sweet and disconnected. I'm shocked by the response that it has gotten.
Also, Evan is portrayed as having extreme social anxiety. He is not portrayed as being on the spectrum, nor does the show suggest him to be. Also, to say that Platt doesn't let the music breathe is ridiculous and makes absolutely no sense. I'm wondering what you mean by that.
Updated On: 5/4/17 at 08:30 PM
Posted: 5/4/17 at 8:40pm
Calling Come From Away "problematic" is hilarious. It has the one thing that the other shows nominated don't have - diversity in multiple forms. White, black, and brown people. Straight people. Gay people. Fat people. Thin people. Old people. Women. Men. Christians. Jews. Muslims.
I mean say what you want about the score - though I believe you should listen to "Prayer," and "Something's Missing," "Somewhere In the Middle of Nowhere," and "Costume Party" again.
70% of DEH's score sounds like the whiny music that I heard on campus in the 90s.
Also, dear Damien, please hide your blatant misogyny and homophobia a bit better. Jenn's haircut is gorgeous, as it she. She's one of the most beloved people in the community. That's really her personality - maybe you should try to fake it a bit more.
Posted: 5/4/17 at 8:47pm
icecreambenjamin said: "cam5y said: "icecreambenjamin said:
"Your choice of words are a bit harsh, but I kind of agree with you about CFA. I agree with it, except for your personal attack of Jen Colella, who is a great performer and seems like a very good person. CFA is extremely hokey and somehow manages to use basically every overused, contemporary musical theatre cliché in one night of theatre and yet still get raves. Also, the score is pretty dreadful (just a whole lot of foot stomping) and War Paint really deserved their slot for best score simply based on the song "Pink" alone. Also, those characters are paper thin and I have no idea why some are considering it the frontrunner for best book. I honestly believe that it's the most overrated show this season. "
I don't really know where to begin with that, but let me just say that any score that contains "Prayer," "Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere" and "Me and the Sky" is neither dreadful nor overly reliant on foot-stomping.
The lyrics, IMO, are very poor and the music isn't memorable at all. It is by far the weakest score of the four nominated shows. It is a bunch of Gaelic foot-stomping with a great, but teeny tiny band and the occasional bland ballad sung by a character we will probably never see again. The show is just so problematic from the boring score to the flat characters to the overacting and unbearable optimism. It's just so sickly sweet and disconnected. I'm shocked by the response that it has gotten."
I disagree (unsurprisingly). Many people have written on social media to discuss how much CFA's cast recording has moved them. This also goes for DEH, of course. However, I would argue that CFA's cast recording is less meaningful and moving than the show itself, whereas the strength of the DEH cast recording disguises (IMO) the weaknesses of its book. (Can't speak to Comet because it isn't out yet).
Come From Away doesn't have a story driven by a single narrator, that's true. If you're looking for a spectacle with full orchestra, go elsewhere. But it has a varied score with some absolutely stunning songs. Yes, there is music with a Celtic influence (Gaelic is the language). But it includes musical influences from all over the world. The show is not, in my opinion, "unbearably" optimistic. It is realistic about the treatment of Muslim travellers, the sense of disconnection felt by the locals on the ground and the "plane people," and frankly all of us at that time. It is hardly "sickly sweet." It focuses on one thing that was good, at a time when very little was good. It didn't change anything, fundamentally.
But the one thing I realise, as I get older (and this is one reason why Come From Away may appeal to older voters in particular) is that we, as individuals, have very little ability to influence world events, and even major events closer to home. All we can do is make a tray of sandwiches and take them to the Legion, if required.
Posted: 5/4/17 at 8:53pm
ChildofEarth said: "Calling Come From Away "problematic" is hilarious. It has the one thing that the other shows nominated don't have - diversity in multiple forms. White, black, and brown people. Straight people. Gay people. Fat people. Thin people. Old people. Women. Men. Christians. Jews. Muslims."
Yes and that's wonderful to see, but that doesn't help the fact that there are huge problems with the book and score. The characters vanish before you can even really meet them and lyrics like "Where the winds tried to blow and we said no" should not be the variables to a Best Musical winner. I absolutely love the inclusiveness of the show, the energy of that cast, and the story that they're telling I just wish that it was better executed. This is just my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own of course.
Posted: 5/4/17 at 9:01pm
icecreambenjamin said: "Yes and that's wonderful to see, but that doesn't help the fact that there are huge problems with the book and score. The characters vanish before you can even really meet them and lyrics like "Where the winds tried to blow and we said no" should not be the variables to a Best Musical winner."
But "Whenever you get bored/ You scribble stars on the cuffs of your jeans/ And he noticed /That you still fill out the quizzes /That they put in those teen magazines." is? You can cherry pick lines from all of the scores that aren't great. (Except "Pink," which is the perfect song.)
Posted: 5/4/17 at 9:10pm
Probably already mentioned, but couldn't find it! Interesting tidbit: 71st Tony awards and Bette Midler will be 71 - kind of kismet if she wins!
Posted: 5/4/17 at 9:12pm
ChildofEarth said: "icecreambenjamin said: "Yes and that's wonderful to see, but that doesn't help the fact that there are huge problems with the book and score. The characters vanish before you can even really meet them and lyrics like "Where the winds tried to blow and we said no" should not be the variables to a Best Musical winner."
But "Whenever you get bored/ You scribble stars on the cuffs of your jeans/ And he noticed /That you still fill out the quizzes /That they put in those teen magazines." is? You can cherry pick lines from all of the scores that aren't great. (Except "Pink," which is the perfect song.)
Those aren't my favorite lyrics from the show, but at least they're specific to the characters on stage and the song actually has a nice melody that isn't just basic and loud like 99% of the music in CFA. Come From Away is just a very weak show in my opinion. Feel free to have yours, but I can feel free to have mine.
Posted: 5/4/17 at 9:12pm
ZellMorrowsPledge said: "This is a pretty interesting article about this years Tony noms....http://sot.ag/6crP3"
I applaud your cleverness.
Posted: 5/5/17 at 6:54am
Jed2 said: "Probably already mentioned, but couldn't find it! Interesting tidbit: 71st Tony awards and Bette Midler will be 71 - kind of kismet if she wins!
"
Not really. It just means she was born the same year they started.
Posted: 5/5/17 at 5:24pm
icecreambenjamin said: "Dear Evan Hansen started with raves from the critics and wonderful word of mouth and now seems to be everyone's least favorite musical of all time on here. I have literally seen people on here talk about how much they hate the show after giving it raves a few months ago. It's just very odd. "
This, thank you. I'm so over the backlash. I know it's inevitable with literally any show that people are loving (I found myself pre-hating Hamilton just because of the rabid fandom, so I get it), but the total 180 on this show is a bit ridiculous. Frankly I think it's great that we have such a diverse season with multiple shows that are contenders at this year's awards, and I love that people are so passionate about their favorites. Makes it so much more interesting than the sweep years.
Posted: 5/5/17 at 5:45pm
If you go back and read the off-broadway and broadway previews threads for DEH, you'll see that this has never been a universally loved show on the board (or close to universally loved, the way Hamilton was/is).
There are also plenty of posters who love Hamilton and don't like DEH, suggesting it's not a backlash against the 'hype', just genuine issues they have with the show.
Updated On: 5/5/17 at 05:45 PM
