Riedel: Tony race heats up as Neverland fades, and Twentieth Century butts heads with King and I

“Finding Neverland” is no longer guaranteed a Tony nomination for Best Musical. The sense around Broadway yesterday was that John Kander and Fred Ebb’s “The Visit” could nab the fourth slot, leaving “Finding Neverland” in the fairy dust.
The other nominees will be “An American in Paris,” “Fun Home” and “Something Rotten!”

As of today, I’d have to give the edge to “On the Twentieth Century.” And I think Chenoweth is likely to deny Kelli O’Hara, who plays Anna in “The King and I,” yet another Tony.

I still say don't count out Chita. And I don't agree that Twentieth Century has the edge for revival.

http://nypost.com/2015/04/16/tony-race-heats-up-as-neverland-fades-and-twentieth-century-butts-heads-with-king-and-i/

Updated On: 4/16/15 at 11:45 PM

Interesting in all this revival discussion is that On the Town has fallen off the radar entirely.

O'Hara's reviews shattered this board's expectations. They are on par with Chenoweth's. Unless new adjectives are invented to describe Rivera's performance, I suspect it will be a bloodbath between Chenoweth and O'Hara for the Tony.

Sentiment is on O'Hara's side.

If THE VISIT doesn't get the nod (and it should), it could go to HONEYMOON IN VEGAS. NEVERLAND could possibly get NO nods at this point. And how could anyone leave out Chita in the Lead Actress category?

I think a lot of stuff is up for grabs at this point. Im sure when Fun Home, Something Rotten, and The Visit open, we will have a better idea

^^ So that's what? 1 out of 100'000?

Honestly, with those grosses that THE VISIT is pulling in and with the astonishing reviews Chenoweth and O'Hara received for high profile, better-attended shows, I think it is between the two of them. Of course, if someone can crack the race wide open it's Chita in a Kander & Ebb show, but in terms of the buzz this week, the power of that Times love letter for O'Hara can't be ignored.

I do feel ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY has no way of winning over THE KING & I.

EDITED, forgot to finish a whole sentence :-/

Updated On: 4/17/15 at 01:29 AM

"^^ So that's what? 1 out of 100'000?
Honestly, with those grosses that THE VISIT is pulling in and with the astonishing reviews Chenoweth and O'Hara received for high profile, better-attended shows. Of course, if someone can crack the race wide open it's Chita in a Kander & Ebb show, but in terms of the buzz this week, the power of that Times love letter for O'Hara can't be ignored.
I do feel ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY has no way of winning over THE KING & I."

Even with OTTC playing so strongly? And one of the leads in TKAI not getting real great reviews?

The show, overall, is getting great press (including O'Hara). I can also see it being a sentimental favorite, even though it gets "revived" more often than a show like OTTC does.

But will a Tony be awarded to a revival even if one of the leads isn't receiving very good reviews? Especially a lead who is playing such an iconic role?

And also in light of the fact that one of its fellow contenders (OTTC) is doing so well?

Just curious what the take would be on this since I really don't know what all goes into nabbing a Tony.

Again, an interesting season.

We can all agree that this year has been very strong when it comes to revivals critically (with the exception of GIGI). I've never been this interested in a musical revival battle since 2008 when SOUTH PACIFIC and GYPSY pitted against one another.

"everybody on here is dramatic as hell. People agree with me all the time"

You open your mouth---and then your foot goes in it , 'all the time'.

The Visit - WTF - as reviewed by Ben Brantley - NYTimes

Specifically - Chita Rivera's performance:

"Both the actress and the character she plays demonstrate that waiting can be a fine art. How they do so defines the essence of that controlled charisma we call star power."

"Ms. Rivera is often required to stand stock still and radiate the sense that everyone will come to her. She must also make us believe that when and if she chooses to stir, it will not be an anticlimax. That she is not mistaken in either assumption makes this “Visit” an essential visit for anyone who cherishes the rare and endangered species of the Broadway musical goddess."

"And, yes, at 81, Ms. Rivera can still memorably flounce a skirt — and shake a leg and extend a gorgeous gam at a perpendicular angle. Every rationed gesture registers incisively, as does every withering put-down Claire utters with invulnerable assurance."

"The show’s contradictions are reconciled in Ms. Rivera. She is indeed hot and cold at the same time, a commanding force of arrogance fueled by love."

"When Claire dances wistfully with her younger self, it’s hard to feel too sorry for her. Who wants the girl that was, when the woman she’s become can rule the world with a single, perfectly chosen gesture?"

When two revivals are neck and neck, the award usually goes to the show with the stronger material and that would be K&I.

Yes, but the award for Best Revival of a Musical is never given for the original material, it's given for the revival.

Updated On: 4/17/15 at 07:21 AM

"He loved Kelly but it was more of a rave for the production, not her."

Read it again...

"But its presence wouldn’t count for nearly as much if it weren’t carrying such precious cargo. That’s the determined, hopeful, anxious woman in a hoop skirt who runs onto the deck, toward the ship’s prow, and into our field of vision as if in cinematic close-up. Her name is Anna Leonowens, and she is played, you lucky theatergoers, by Kelli O'Hara...One look at her face, agleam with intelligence and apprehension, and you suspect you’re in the hands of a guide you can trust. Then she starts to sing. And even if the familiar song she delivers ( “I Whistle a Happy Tune” ) usually makes you cringe, your confidence in her — and the Lincoln Center Theater production in which she appears — starts to soar. It will stay contentedly aloft for the next 2 hours and 50 minutes...That Ms. O’Hara, one of our greatest reinterpreters of musical standards, does so is not surprising. (You’ll feel you’re hearing “Hello, Young Lovers” for the first time.)...As played by Ms. O’Hara, she’s a smart, scrappy, willful pragmatist who also happens to know that love is often as strange as it is undeniable. That knowledge infuses every note Ms. O’Hara sings, and it is something wonderful indeed."

In what way is that not a love letter? Let's call a spade a spade here.

Updated On: 4/17/15 at 09:16 AM