The 76th Tony Awards SNUBS!- Page 2

[Kad]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 10:20am

There weren’t any real snubs this year- IE obvious winners who didn’t actually win. It actually ended up being a fairly predictable evening if you actually, y’know, followed the industry over the last decade or so. 
 

Best Actor in a Play was arguably the most competitive category of the night. I imagine it was a very tight race, but Hayes had the advantage of being fresh in everybody’s memory and having an incredibly awards baiting role written explicitly for him. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 10:23am

Sweeney's sound design win will baffle me for years to come. Incredibly muddled and too quiet the first time when I saw it from the center orchestra. Slightly better from the center front mezzanine when I went back a second time, but not even close to award worthy sound design. & Juliet should have won that category - I saw the show three times from different seats all over the theatre, and all three times, the sounds was just PERFECT.

[Wick3]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 10:24am

hearthemsing22 said: "Yeah I was a bit confused that Sweeney won sound design. When I saw it, the sound cut out and I couldn't hear Josh Groban! How on earth did it win"

Did you watch it from premium center orchestra? I'd imagine that's where all the Tony voters sat and watched the show.

[quizking101]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 10:26am

Sutton Ross said: "That was Nikki Crawford's award. Boooo."

Honestly, that was the hardest category for me to sit through because EVERY NOMINEE had a STRONG case to take it home. I was going to walk away thrilled and also a broken heart.

Personally, I was riding HARD for Crystal Lucas-Perry since created some of the most memorable characters I’ve seen in performance all season, and perhaps in my life, and was able to deftly manage the tonal shifts between vignettes.

Crawford also does magnetic work in FAT HAM and the two ladies from COST OF LIVING were the heart and soul of the show.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 10:29am

I guess I'm way in the minority here, but I wasn't remotely surprised by Sweeney's win for sound design and felt pretty confident in that prediction.  To be clear, I'm in no way saying it SHOULD have won (I completely agree with others who have said it was very muddled).  But we all know the reality is the vast majority of Tony voters don't really know what to look for when judging sound design (by their own admission--hence the exclusion of the category for several years) and so often just go with the biggest, most obvious sound design.  So a huge orchestra, lots of ensemble mixing, a pipe organ, lots of big sound effects throughout the show, etc. is the pretty obvious choice among these voters, even if not the best one.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 10:33am

Yes, even after all the fuss about reinstating the Sound categories, it’s clear that the majority of nominators and voters still don’t understand the category. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 10:46am

Wick3 said: "hearthemsing22 said: "Yeah I was a bit confused that Sweeney won sound design. When I saw it, the sound cut out and I couldn't hear Josh Groban! How on earth did it win"

Did you watch it from premium center orchestra? I'd imagine that's where all the Tony voters sat and watched the show."

I was lucky to be moved from rear mezz to a house seat the center orchestra (the usher even commented “Wow, those are some nice house seats you got!” ), and the sound design - while not quite as poor as, say, Matilda’s infamously was - was easily my only real gripe with the production. Too quiet, too muffled, and not at all matching the breadth of the piece. Not at all award-worthy.

Updated On: 6/12/23 at 10:46 AM

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 12:10pm

Broadway61004 said: "I guess I'm way in the minority here, but I wasn't remotely surprised by Sweeney's win for sound design and felt pretty confident in that prediction. To be clear, I'm in no way saying it SHOULD have won (I completely agree with others who have said it was very muddled). But we all know the reality is the vast majority of Tony voters don't really know what to look for when judging sound design (by their own admission--hence the exclusion of the category for several years) and so often just go with the biggest, most obvious sound design. So a huge orchestra, lots of ensemble mixing, a pipe organ, lots of big sound effects throughout the show, etc. is the pretty obvious choice among these voters, even if not the best one."

I would agree with this, but sound design is one of the 2 awards that's only voted on by a subset of voters who specialize in the category, which is why I expected slightly more discernment.  I assume though that they just sat in premium seats where the sound design was the best, though I had my bet on NYNY given that it also had a large orchestra and they had a lot of onstage instruments and everything.

[gibsons2]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 12:26pm

The only snub I could think of was Justin Colley. Undeserved loss. He is incredible in this role, and not just because of that one song... It's a shame he lost

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 2:41pm

chrishuyen said: "I would agree with this, but sound design is one of the 2 awards that's only voted on by a subset of voters who specialize in the category, which is why I expected slightly more discernment. I assume though that they just sat in premium seats where the sound design was the best, though I had my bet on NYNY given that it also had a large orchestra and they had a lot of onstage instruments and everything."

I certainly hope that you're right and that this category starts to be much more accurately judged now that it's voted on only by members with expertise in that area. I guess we'll have to see going forward!

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 2:59pm

Just to clarify, this has been the case since the category was restated in 2018 (https://playbill.com/article/the-tony-awards-will-reinstate-the-best-sound-design-categories), so unless a change was made that wasn't publicized, this year's voters should have also only been the subset with expertise.

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 5:00pm

Wick3 said: "hearthemsing22 said: "Yeah I was a bit confused that Sweeney won sound design. When I saw it, the sound cut out and I couldn't hear Josh Groban! How on earth did it win"

Did you watch it from premium center orchestra? I'd imagine that's where all the Tony voters sat and watched the show."

No-mid mezzanine. 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 5:45pm

bjh2114 said: "Only real upset so far is Sweeney for Sound Design, but there wasn't exactly a frontrunner in that category that was snubbed. It probably should have gone to & Juliet or Into the Woods."

 

How is that a "snub"?  Half of the people who posted about Sweeney complained about problems with the sound.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 5:58pm

I wish Nikki Crawford had won, and if Sidney Brustein hadn't made it in under the wire, she probably would have, so I think it's snub-adjacent.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 6/12/23 at 6:03pm

PianoMann said: "Andy51 said: "While there is no question that Sean Hayes is giving a very fine performance, I think that every one of the other nominees in the category deserved the award more than him. My own view is that Corey Hawkins and Stephen McKinley Henderson gave the best performances (and I would have had a hard time choosing between them)."

Not to diminish Hayes' win, but it really hurt all of the others that "Good Night, Oscar" is the only show in the category still running. Yes, voters had to have seen at least four of the five performers in order to cast a vote, but it really helps when you see a strong performance right before or during voting, versus perhaps having the impact of some of the earlier work from the fall diluted with the passing of months. It is absolutely a factor in some of these tighter races.

I also suspect that his piano performance pushed him over the top.  An extra factor.