The 74th Annual Tony Awards (2021) - News & Discussion Thread — Page 5

Wayman_Wong said: "I hope the Tony nominators don't overlookRyan Knowles in ''The Lightning Thief'' for Featured Actor in a Musical. His main character is Chiron, who's the wise mentor to Percy (Chris McCarrell), but he does 8 other roles(with 25 quick changes). Knowles also plays Poseidon, Medusa and Hades (as if he were portrayed by Paul Lynde). He's a riot.."



Normally I'd object to Lightning Thief getting a single nomination, but in this case, I'm actually inclined to agree with you. IMO, Knowles was the only cast member with any comedic capabilities. The rest of them screamed, flailed, and whined their way through the show in a sad, desperate attempt to be funny without any comedic ability, all under the direction of a talentless, tasteless hack. Knowles was the only one to overcome that and occasionally make me laugh. And in this weak year, I wouldn't mind seeing him get nominated.

Sutton Ross said: "SouthernCakes said: "RE: Sutton Ross i’m not disagreeing with anything you said, actually! I love his voice! But none of that means he deserves the highest honor in stage acting for “being a nice person.” He’s not a good actor. His reaction to her death was just laughably bad."

Him being nice was just a bonus for me when I talked to him after his performance in Company. He's a great actor who has had constant work, and a wonderful career so far. I think it was you that, months ago, you said you keep going to see him even though you think he's a bad actor?That makes no sense, so it must be something about him that intrigues you. Perhaps you are just jealous of his career?"

Of course you have to add a dig in at the end #petty

Not jealous at all! Like I said he’s got a great voice. And of course I’ve seen shows he’s been in because I wanted to see the shows! Next to Normal is perfection! He just isn’t a good actor. Hella good singer though! And he’s attractive! So I get why he works! But... yeah... he hasn’t turned out a Tony winning performance to me yet. And it’s def not Moulin Rouge. Go back and read the previews thread.

HeyMrMusic said: "Perhaps they will lump everyone into Featured Actor/Actress in a Musical like they did in 1985. I think Burstein and Warren would be our winners in this case."

They didn't lump them together...they eliminated the lead categories, because the pickings were so slim.

Jordan Catalano said: "The only thing I care about here is Paul Hilton winning a Tony."

Same.

I wonder how they will handle FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME. I wouldn't be shocked to see it get in the musical category over THE LIGHTNING THIEF.

(Double post)

Updated On: 8/22/20 at 02:30 PM

imeldasturn said: "Well, Mary Beth Peil was nominated for Supporting actress in 1985, so unless you think of Anna as a featured role in The King and I it was pretty much lumped together"

Actually technically Mary Beth Peil would have been in the featured category regardless because she was below the title and back in 1985 they were still going strictly by how you were billed (above the title is lead, below the title is featured with no room for petitioning to other categories). But the point still stands that there were so few contenders for leading, they eliminated the categories and just had Best Male and Best Female essentially (but called them all Featured Actors and Actresses).

JBroadway said: "It’s wild to me that people have an easier time with imagining plays and musicals competing in the same category, than to imagine men and women competing in the same category. There’s an actual artistic difference between plays and musicals. There’s an artistic difference between male acting and female acting.

I agree that combining plays/musicals is a viable option for the design categories, but if they end up combining acting categories, there’s no reason not to get rid of the gender divide.

Luckily they don’t have to worry about musical revivals vs original musicals, because the number of eligible musical revivals is a big fat zero."

I agree that eliminating male and female for the performance categories is a valid option as well, but that only would solve the issues for actors. We'd still only have 4 total musicals competing in every category, which means they're virtual locks in all the design, production, orchestration, direction categories regardless of quality.

And while I agree plays and musicals are different, I disagree that they're so different that they can't compete against each other. At the end of the day, a performance is a performance, a direction is a direction, a lighting design is a lighting design, etc. We don't separate between comedies and dramas when those performances and direction are vastly different, so I don't see the need to separate here. Besides, Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald, Jack O'Brien, Joe Mantello, Brian MacDevitt and Scott Pask are just some of the examples of folks in the past 20 years who have won for both plays and musicals. So if they're strong enough to compete at the highest level in both categories (plays and musicals), then why can't their play work compete against others' musical work or vice versa? At least that's the way I look at it.

Damiensta said: "I don’t understand people on the board. Everyone complaining that what’s the point Bc Tony’s is about money.


Tony's what is about money? His pizza parlor? His sex tape? His love of lemurs?

It's called the TONY awards. So, when you watch the TONYS make sure to let everyone know on your socials that the TONY awards are on so the TONYS can get awesome virtual ratings!

#Tonys

@JBroadway I 100% agree there would unfortunately be bias towards the musicals that come into play if they combine the categories. Unfortunately there's no real solution to make it fair this year, I feel like. I just hope that we don't have a case where everything gets nominated just because there's nothing else to nominate. As someone else brought up earlier, that 1995 year has never felt right: 2 new musicals, 2 musical revivals, 2 nominees for actress in a musical, just handing score to Sunset, etc. I worry this year is going to end up feeling the same.

Sutton Ross said: "I wasn't digging at you, it was a genuine question. You mentioned long ago you were a server around Times Square that occasionally goes to auditions. Many people are probably jealous they never or have not made it to Aaron's level. And no, I don't need to read any previews thread, he's a great actor in my book.

First off, there are no sex offenders on Broadway. And, to mention such when it had nothing at all to do with the discussion is a bit much. And, yes, I know what you’re talking about, I used to work at NYCB.

We all know what J was talking about. And considering what that person did and alllllllllllllll the national press coverage it received, no, it's not a "bit much". You seem to have a negative knee jerk reaction when you or another male is called out or "disrespected". It's very telling and pretty gross honestly."

I have zero knee jerk reaction to anything. I do not buy into and find disgusting the kind of frat boy mentality you just mentioned. No, not all men are the same.

The reason why I said there are no sex offenders on Broadway is because that is true. I want to make it clear that the reason I said that is because it isn’t something I feel should be said lightly or anything like that. the fact is that I take issues with how it’s dealt with. A guy who is into children, that’s bad and when they put him on the register, he’ll be joined by stupid guy who got caught taking a piss in the bushes of a park. Sad part of it all is that in eyes of the registry both are viewed as equally bad. Yet, we all know that one is a disgusting horrible crime, the other is just having your head up your ass level of stupid.

Look, I think that what the dancer did was disgusting. But not enough to put him on any registry That said, I will make the correction every time. Once you’re on it, you will have trouble getting work, can’t live near a school and scare the crap out of a community because they found out that a sex offender lives among them. That is the same thing that would happen if you’re into little boys or pissing in the park. I can understand a guy not being able to get work for being into little boys and on the registry for that. But, I think that it’s telling in its setup that if you pee in the bushes one night, your able to be on the registry as well, having to go through all the same issues as the pedophile. That’s wrong to me.

Wayman_Wong said: "For instance, no one in ''Urinetown'' or ''Starmites'' was above the title, but the Tonys chose to bump up three performers from each show to Leading."

the Tonys themselves don't "bump" anything, the producers petition them to change the category

Updated On: 8/22/20 at 10:59 PM

JBroadway is correct. Producers can petition to bump up (or down) performers, but the Tonys have the ultimate say in their placement..

''Sondheim on Sondheim'' had Barbara Cook and Vanessa Williams billed above the title, but the show wanted to bump Wiliams,to Featured (to avoid Cook and Williams from going head-to-head in Leading). But the Tonys ruled both of them were eligible for Featured.

'''Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike'' had Sigourney Weaver above the title and Kristine Nielsen below it, expecting her to compete for Featured, but the Tonys ruled to put Nielsen in Leading (and screwed Nielsen out of a Tony). Nielsen won in Featured at the Outer Critics.

''Newsies'' had Ben Fankhauser, who plays Davey, below the title. But by some idiotic logic, the Tonys ruled that he was Leading. Jack, played by Jeremy Jordan, is the leading role. Davey, Jack's friend, is a supporting role; he doesn't even have his own song. I once asked Fankhauser if he petitioned for Leading. He said no, and was baffled.

Regardless of what the producers want or petition, the Tonys have the last word and do what they want. Depending on their judgment (and whims) , they have moved performers around, so anything can happen.

Updated On: 8/23/20 at 12:42 AM

I have re-read the 2019 Tony Rules and Regulations, and from what I can tell, the Tonys have the discretion to bump up (or down) performers in a category, regardless of whether the producers have petitioned:

''The written request from a producer shall not in any way infringe upon the exclusive right of the Tony Awards Administration Committee to a) define a show as ‘new’ or ‘revival’ and b) place an eligible candidate in a category other than that indicated by the opening night program or requested by the producer.''

I also found another Tony rule that could prove pertinent:

''Once the placement of an eligible candidate in a category has been decided by the Tony Awards Administration Committee, the placement cannot be changed at a later date.''

Since the Tony eligibility of ''Tina'' and ''Jagged Little Pill'' were ruled in January 2020, that means it might be too late to consider Daniel J. Watts and Sean Allan Krill for Leading Actor in a Musical. But given the unusual circumstances of this season, maybe they could revisit this issue.

Updated On: 8/23/20 at 02:46 AM