The 76th Annual Tony Award Nominations (2023) — Page 11

inception said: "Re: Soo & Camelot

Soo wasn't as flashy as some of these other nominated performances, & was hampered by the new book.

I think the theatre at Lincoln Center can take a lesson from the neighbors at the Met about where they should be focusing their energy. Forget these revivals - especially of troubled shows so difficult to fix. Instead they should be the ones bringing in new works like what tge Met is doing with The Minutes or Champion.

Re: ITW nominations, I'm more surprised by Patina Miller's snub."

To be fair, LCT’s last big musical production was a risky new work, Flying Over Sunset.

Kad said: "It’s the duty of the nominators to remember. These awards are for the whole season, not just for the shows that are running between February and April."

Oh, absolutely, I'm not at all saying they shouldn't. I'm just saying history has shown that for musicals, the nominators typically remember the closed shows but the voters do not. It's no coincidence that only one musical has ever won Best Musical or Best Revival of a Musical having already closed but plenty have been nominated over the years. For whatever reason, the nominating committee is perfectly capable of remembering these shows but the voters can't. Which is why I'm saying I still think Into the Woods has very little shot of actually winning, as this is pretty typical (meaning, typical that it gets recognized in the nominations phase but then is overlooked come voting for the actual awards).

Broadway61004 said: "Kad said: "Yeah, it feels like people have forgotten the production at Encores and then with its initial Broadway cast was an event.People loved it, enthusiastically.


As you say, people have forgotten it. I'm not sure why Tony nominators always remember closed revivals (for musicals) but Tony voters never do. Which is why even with the Best Direction nod, I still think it's solidly in 3rd place behind Sweeney or Parade."

I think Kad meant to say people forgot the production WAS at Encores, meaning the people poopoo’ing the concert-style staging and underestimating its award potential. The staging was intentionally presentational, but that didn’t matter. It was a heartfelt, joyous revival *event*. None of the other revivals carry that same weight. It doesn’t matter that it already closed or that some people on a message board wanted “more set.”

Updated On: 5/2/23 at 10:28 AM

Now that the Nods are in let's discuss who's gonna win! Here are my predictions! Some I cannot decide, so I put my top two.



Musicals

Best Musical - Kimberly Akimbo

Musical Revival - Parade or Sweeney Todd

Lead Actress - Victoria Clark

Lead Actor - Josh Groban

Featured Actress - Bonnie Mulligan

Featured Actor - Alex Newell or Justin Cooley

Musical Book - David Lindsay-Abaire (Kimberly Akimbo)

Original Score - Jeanine Tesori & David Lindsay-Abaire (Kimberly Akimbo)

Orchestrations - John Clancy (Kimberly Akimbo)

Direction - Michael Arden (Parade)

Set Design - Scott Pask (Some Like it Hot)

Sound Design - Gareth Owen (& Juliet)

Lighting Design - Natasha Katz (Some Like it Hot)

Costume Design - Gregg Barnes (Some Like it Hot)

Choreography - Casey Nicholaw (Some Like it Hot)



Plays

Best Play - Fat Ham or Ain’t No Mo

Revival of a Play - A Doll’s House

Lead Actress - Jodie Comer

Lead Actor - Wendell Pierce

Featured Actress - Crystal Lucas Perry

Featured Actor - Jordan E. Cooper

Direction - Saheem Ali (Fat Ham) or Jamie Lloyd (A Doll’s House)

Set Design - Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding (Life of Pi)

Sound Design - Ben & Max Ringham (Prima Facie)

Lighting Design - Bradley King (Fat Ham)

Costume Design - Dominique Fawn Hill (Fat Ham)

I'm remarkably sad that DANCIN' was shut out of everything.

Also, DAMN! They really stuck it to Philippa Soo this year.

Soo for ITW is a snub. She was the best interpretation of that role I've ever seen and it's also her best performance.

But I guess it's a stacked year.

CONGRATS to all the nominees.

What an exciting morning.

Let's hope Some Like It Hot, Kimberly and other struggling shows have a great bump at the box office.

It's a bad morning to be Phillipa Soo's agent or one of Ken Davenport's minions.

Sad for John David Washington, Sharon D Clarke, and Oscar Isaac. Thrilled for Stephen McKinley Henderson, Natasha Yvette Williams, and Kevin Del Aguila.

Betsy Wolfe is solid in & Juliet, but nice to finally see her get recognized after the debacles with Frozen and Carousel.

One interesting campaign thing: TOPDOG bought the banner ad in the Broadway Briefing yesterday (and I bet they've had that for a while), which could have helped its nom haul at the last minute. Not exclusively, of course, but a great reminder as the nominators were about to cast their ballots.

In practically any other production, Arthur and Guinevere would practically be shoo-ins for at least a nom. Burnap and Soo (and Sher -- although it's his own fault) all have Sorkin's script to thank for the lack of nominations. BTW I normally love Sorkin's writing (and could watch The West Wing episodes on a continuous loop) -- but theatre does not appear to be in his wheelhouse. I thought his script ruined TKAM, as well.

Personally I think Andrew Durand’s snub is unforgivable. I enjoyed his performance much more and thought he was head and shoulders above Cahoon and Newell.

Personally, the Tonys are a fraud and showed how awful they are this year. I'm sorry, but Death Of A Salesman was amazing. It took risks that no other revival did with incredible performances from Wendall Pierce and especially Sharon D Clarke. It got great reviews. So what do the Tony people do to acknowledge this? One nomination to Wendall and a tech nomination? Are you (bleeping) kidding me? What a slap in the face. Instead, they put in Sidney's Burnstien Window? Does anyone honestly believe that all the nominators got in to see it two days before the "cut off" date which is now meaningless? The nominating committee should be ashamed and embarrassed. I certainly have zero interest in watching the show. I'll read the recap the morning after. Let them sell their $3000 orchestra seats and have people shlep up and back from the Heights. Shame. On. Them.

I was also quite happy about Cost of Living, which I think missed a lot of people's predictions list. Also ecstatic about KPOP (I was hoping for 2 nominations, but 3 is wonderful). I thought Sharon D. Clarke was tremendous and deserved to be nominated, but I don't know who I would remove instead, though I was surprised that more of the acting categories didn't tie. NYNY getting a book nomination was probably my biggest surprise, and I wonder if they actually liked the book or if they just didn't like A Beautiful Noise.

When are the special Tony awards usually announced? Curious if the puppets for Life of Pi/Milky White could get recognized there a la King Kong or if they'd go a different route.