Riedel handicaps the Tony Awards — Page 4

henrikegerman said: "When, if ever, has there been a set of plays nominated for the best play Tony which were each so generally well received as the four nominated this season?



YES It's been a wonderful year for plays as well as musicals. Any of the four nominees have a viable case to make for receiving the Tony. Personally, I'd have a tough time choosing between my two favorites, Oslo and Sweat



"

I am unapologetic in the bias that encourages me, a Canadian, to root for Come From Away. But putting aside all discussions of merit which throw this whole board into a flame war (I haven't seen the other three shows but I believe everyone who says they are phenomenal productions!), I am almost certain CFA will not win Best Musical, and the reason it won't win is that it is not an American show and this is a very crowded year. I've heard commentators call it being a Canadian production the biggest knock against it from a Tony voters perspective.

I can assure this board that it would tour incredibly successfully in Canada, and could do so for years at very high ticket prices (and my bias impresses that it could tour easily throughout the world!), but I don't think it will be the decider in the overall vote. I think it would be a disservice to the unique structure of the show for it to go home empty-handed overall, IMO, but like I said - I'm biased, and not really interested in being called stupid for admitting as much. I do think the best case scenario for CFA is winning Best Book but losing Best Musical, the same fate that fell upon Canada's only previous Broadway success, The Drowsy Chaperone (who could argue, though, that Jersey Boys tours so much better than Drowsy ever would have?).

djoko84 said: "Does Riedel start these threads on here just to have people talk about him? His articles are the worst and he makes up half of what he writes. Can people be banned on here for starting threads based on his articles?

So funny you write this! I too was starting to wonder why Riedel saying anything seems worthy of its own thread. Must be the third one I've noticed recently, and I never see any other critic posted by name other than say Ishwerwood firing, which is a different thing.

Does make you wonder if he has different aliases under which he posts his stuff...!!



"

s2ss2s said: "I am unapologetic in the bias that encourages me, a Canadian, to root for Come From Away. But putting aside all discussions of merit which throw this whole board into a flame war (I haven't seen the other three shows but I believe everyone who says they are phenomenal productions!), I am almost certain CFA will not win Best Musical, and the reason it won't win is that it is not an American show and this is a very crowded year. I've heard commentators call it being a Canadian production the biggest knock against it from a Tony voters perspective.

I can assure this board that it would tour incredibly successfully in Canada, and could do so for years at very high ticket prices (and my bias impresses that it could tour easily throughout the world!), but I don't think it will be the decider in the overall vote. I think it would be a disservice to the unique structure of the show for it to go home empty-handed overall, IMO, but like I said - I'm biased, and not really interested in being called stupid for admitting as much. I do think the best case scenario for CFA is winning Best Book but losing Best Musical, the same fate that fell upon Canada's only previous Broadway success, The Drowsy Chaperone (who could argue, though, that Jersey Boys tours so much better than Drowsy ever would have?)."

I'm a big fan of Come From Away, and would like it to win Best Musical. But if it doesn't, it won't be because it's Canadian, or because of how it would tour. It will be because a plurality of Tony voters thought another musical was better. Tony voters have gone for British and Australian musicals, plays and actors (Billy Elliott, Curious Incident, War Horse, Mark Rylance, Hugh Jackman, Cynthia Erivo) in the recent past. The best discussions on this board are the serious discussions of merit. There are flame wars here (mostly Comet vs DEH fans), but even they tend to focus on the merits of the musicals. Make your case for Come From Away; argue on its merits.

Updated On: 5/3/17 at 07:59 PM

cam5y said: "s2ss2s said: "I am unapologetic in the bias that encourages me, a Canadian, to root for Come From Away. But putting aside all discussions of merit which throw this whole board into a flame war (I haven't seen the other three shows but I believe everyone who says they are phenomenal productions!), I am almost certain CFA will not win Best Musical, and the reason it won't win is that it is not an American show and this is a very crowded year. I've heard commentators call it being a Canadian production the biggest knock against it from a Tony voters perspective.

I can assure this board that it would tour incredibly successfully in Canada, and could do so for years at very high ticket prices (and my bias impresses that it could tour easily throughout the world!), but I don't think it will be the decider in the overall vote. I think it would be a disservice to the unique structure of the show for it to go home empty-handed overall, IMO, but like I said - I'm biased, and not really interested in being called stupid for admitting as much. I do think the best case scenario for CFA is winning Best Book but losing Best Musical, the same fate that fell upon Canada's only previous Broadway success, The Drowsy Chaperone (who could argue, though, that Jersey Boys tours so much better than Drowsy ever would have?)."

I'm a big fan of Come From Away, and would like it to win Best New Musical. But if it doesn't, it won't be because it's Canadian, or because of how it would tour. It will be because a majority of Tony voters thought another musical was better. Tony voters have gone for British and Australian musicals, plays and actors (Billy Elliott, Curious Incident, War Horse, Mark Rylance, Hugh Jackman, Cynthia Erivo) in the recent past. The best discussions on this board are the serious discussions of merit.



"

I truly agree. Serious discussions of merit are the best. I just see a lot of flamethrowing over opinions, and I am admittedly seeing a lot of discussion, north of the border, on the Canadian musical's chances. This point is brought up repeatedly, and says nothing about the merit of any shows. Those who think CFA could take Best Musical repeatedly cite that it is timely, bigger than the sum of its parts, etc., neither of which imply much in the way of merit.

We know awards shows can be, and often are, quite political, and I'm just bringing something into the discussion that not only helps counter the position of everyone's least favorite theatre writer, but reminds that merit is rarely the sole factor in any awards given out based on votes. Would that it could be, but it's my opinion that we all know better...

wonderfulwizard11 said: "At this point, I want David Hyde Pierce to win, if only because it would be funny to see him upset the presumed front runner for the second time in a row. "



This.

*10086sunset posts another Riedel thread*

"Riedel is an idiot!"

"I hate Riedel! I'm going to read this article so I can hate him even more!"

"Riedel sucks!"

"Ben Platt is going to win!"

"Andy Karl should win!"

"Idiot, Platt is better!"

"Dumb ass, Karl is better!"

"Platt!"

"Karl!"

"Platt!"

"Karl!"

"Something something critics' darling mumble grumble ..."

"Platt!"

"Karl!"

It's like the BWW boards in synecdoche.

"But here in our little world of BWW, we all get along. Of course, there was a time when he said Platt would win and he said Karl would ....... TRADITION!"

Bette was a lock the moment it was announced she was coming to Broadway to play Dolly.

As for the guys, I could see AK pulling the upset. Don't think it will happen, but wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Mediamaven2 said: "djoko84 said: "Does Riedel start these threads on here just to have people talk about him? His articles are the worst and he makes up half of what he writes. Can people be banned on here for starting threads based on his articles?

So funny you write this! I too was starting to wonder why Riedel saying anything seems worthy of its own thread. Must be the third one I've noticed recently, and I never see any other critic posted by name other than say Ishwerwood firing, which is a different thing.

Does make you wonder if he has different aliases under which he posts his stuff...!!



"

It's getting pretty ridiculous. I know I'm keeping it going by writing a reply, but I'd like my opinion to be known that these Riedel threads are so dumb.

yankeefan7 said: ""To have David Hyde Pierce as the winner would be purely outrageous. He felt totally miscast and had no chemistry with Bette in the show. I don't even think he deserves the nod given many other much stronger performances that weren't nominated."

I have not seen "Hello Dolly" yet, have tickets for it in September. From what I have read, I don't understand why he got nomination over someone like Corey Cott (Bandstand) who I saw last Saturday and was terrific.



"

This is pretty easy to answer:

1) David Hyde Pierce is a very well respected actor

2) Corey Cott is a nobody

3) Dolly is a huge mega-hit

4) Bandstand is about to close because it's doing very poorly

5) Dolly got raves

6) Bandstand got negative reviews

ggersten said: ""But here in our little world of BWW, we all get along. Of course, there was a time when he said Platt would win and he said Karl would ....... TRADITION!"

Perfect. Shout out to hork's post too.

Carry on.

I mean, he is the one who starts these, right? I just assumed. Almost every Riedel thread in the last few months has been created by the same profile.