Sarah Jones automatically wins TONY for Bridge and Tunnel

[Luckydave14]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:32pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=9610

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:34pm

Competition or not, she deserves it.

I'm pissed off about Sutton Foster being considered leading.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:34pm

Congrats to Sarah!

[Craig]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:35pm

I'm thrilled she's getting the TONY.. but it's unfortunate (kinda) that it's by default. Truth is - she deserves it and probably would have one if there was competition...

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:36pm

Agreed, though BRIDGE AND TUNNEL should be considered a play, and she should be considered for (and win) best actress in a play.

[Popular]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:37pm

Am I to understand that she won by default because they nixed the catagory? Has this happened before?

Kind of an odd way to win, but from what I understand she really deserves it... So CONGRATS SARAH!!

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:39pm

Ah. That sucks big time for Sutton. Her chances are very very very small in the leading category.


Thankfully it takes away some of the very heavy competition in the featured actress category.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:39pm

i knew Sutton would be put in lead, it works out better for Beth.
More surprised about Cherry, though i heard that was gonna happen.
So who is the lead Actress in FAITH HEALER?
Updated On: 5/11/06 at 03:39 PM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:39pm

Her only competition was BLONDE IN THE THUNDERBIRD, and not only was it supposedly pitiful, but no one saw it.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:42pm

Have they done away with the rule that if you are above the title, you are not supporting?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:46pm

Obviously they have.
Victoria Clark was not above the title.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:48pm

Good news for Cyndi, who seems a lock for a nom and might just duke it out with Beth Leavel for the win.
But, given they singled out Gasteyer, Lauper and Dale, where does that put Nellie McKay? Opening night credits? Is she above the title?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:52pm

No they've ALWAYS had the rule that the producers of a given show can petition the nominations committee (in writing within two weeks of opening night) to have certain actors considered for categories that are different than their billing would indicate. This happens every year (as producers jockey to maximize their chances in each category) and I can recall these little press releases every few months regarding the acting categories (as well as determinations of whether a play is a revival or now) going back DECADES (they just had a similar press release about three weeks ago where they said that Bridge & Tunnel was a Special event and not a play and that Bryggman and Hayden from Festen would be the only Lead Actors in that play). If producers don't petition, however, the categories are determined by billing.

I feel bad for David Wilmot. He's terrific and if he remained in the Featured category, he'd at least have had a chance at a nomination, but now as Lead going up against Fiennes, Griffiths, Sher, Byrne, O'Byrne, and Platt, he probably won't even get a nomination.

Updated On: 5/11/06 at 03:52 PM

[jsrocks]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:54pm

Yay, Congrats to Sarah!! Even though she didn't have any competition, she still deserved it.

[Charmed I'm Sure]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:57pm

sorry i disagee 1/2 way. yes good performance. not a tony worthy performance

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 3:59pm

Well, it's not only for her performance - she DID write the entire show as well.

Her performance is one of the most memorable things I have ever seen - she was just amazing. She deserves this Tony very, very much.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:05pm

So it looks like she is not being given the Special Theatrical Event award (Blast! was given the award outright the first year it existed), but is geing given one of the Special Tony Awards that the committee can just give out at its discretion.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:13pm

Didnt the name above the title only change during the 80s after several big deals being made about the difference between supporting and lead? Most notably, William Daniels' refusal of his nomination for 1776, Rita Moreno's vocal opposition for her supporting nomination for The Ritz, and Carlyn Glynn and Henderson Forsythe nominated as supporting in Whorehouse.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:16pm

"I'm pissed off about Sutton Foster being considered leading."

You needn't be a member of the "Psychic Friends Network" to have seen that coming.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:20pm

Hey, Doodle, I think they've doing the "discretionary" (Read: whimsical) nominee placing for a good while; after all, Donna McKechnie won as late as 1975 for a below-the-title performance.
Also, they change their minds from historical decisions anyway: Barbara Cook won a Featured Tony for The Music Man but Rebecca Luker got a Leading Actress nomination.
In addition to McKechnie, Robert LuPone got a lead actor nom for A Chorus Line, but watch Michael Beresse and Charlotte D'Amboise find themselves in the featured pool next year.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:26pm

Actually, LuPone was nom'd for supp. actor in a musical and lost to Sammy Williams. I suspect dAmboise will be considered lead (and the world will heave a sigh at her first nomination after all of these years) but we'll see.

And I thought Barbara Cook was considered Featured because she was kinda stinky...(Kidding, I just cant stand her :))

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:28pm

Whoops. You're right about the male LuPone.
But I was right about Donna.
But you're wrong again (I win on this one!)
Charlotte was nominated (I think leading) for Jerome Robbins' Broadway.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:34pm

ack...slipped up on D'amboise...dagnabbit!
AND ...I didnt dispute McKecknie...but I bet Charlotte will be lead next year.

Now lay off! Tony trivia gets me riled!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:34pm

What a shocker. Who else was going to win? Suzanne Somers? Honestly.

But in all seriousness, a big congrats to Jones.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 5/11/06 at 4:37pm

I just wanted to beat you.
Her brother even has a nom, too (Song and Dance, I think).

I think people are making a big deal about Jones' Tony as if it's somehow diminished because it was appointed rather than voted on. As far as the Tonys are concerned, I find little difference in this Tony than if she had won Best Theatrical Event since that Tony is all-encompassing and goes to more than the person onstage, right?