The Avenue Q Tonys? — Page 3

The music is very good though...may be they will warm up. The music of Wicked has its flaws so I dont think that will win, Avenue Q- who knows what the Tony board will take of that??, and Boy From Oz- My CD has not yet come in the mail so I'm not sure, but I heard the music isnt too rememberable. I think John Tartaglia will be a close second for Best Actor this year, but Hugh Jackman I heard basically holds Boy from Oz together. I cant wait to get out to see him. My next three shows on my list to see are Boy from Oz, Wonderful Town, Taboo, and Anna in the Tropics.
Still gotta get to Movin Out and Hairspray.

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i think and i HOPE Wicked wins best new musical.

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it will without a doubt be nominated for best musical. i think against wicked, boy from oz and hopefully taboo. its definitly the funniest show i've seen since hairspray. i hope the cast is nominated they were a lot of great performances in this show. john tartaglia and stephanie d'abruzzo should be nominated best actor and actress in a musical and natalie v. belcon best featured actress. and i loved christmas eve!

Brantley did not love CAROLINE OR CHANGE. Frank Rich seemed to like it a lot. Brantley's review was politely middle ground. He seemed to be trying not to pan it. It wasn't even as favorable as one of those old Walter Kerr "I admire it but I don't like it" reviews that he used to give Sondheim shows. Whether that was because Rich loves Kushner or because Brantley didn't want to further the impression that he pans any new serious musical (which I think he does), I don't know.

wicked will probably get best musical because it's the big one...but it had a lot of flaws in its book and its score- i love the show but the story is really strange (the book's plotline was better) and the music was great but there were some less-than-great moments. hopefully avenue q will get score and book...and i think kristen will get best actress, considering half the reviews say that she carries the show. the same with hugh jackman, i mean, they're planning on shutting down the show temporarily whenever he goes on vacation because there isn't anyone good enough to replace him...featured will be up in the air, depending on whether the avenue q people are nominated for featured or leading. best revival will most likely go to wonderful town...it would be fun if it went to little shop, but that is only possible if they cheat and let it have the nomination (come on, it really isn't a revival). i dunno what else to predict, except that i certainly hope either natalie v. belcon or ann harada (gary colman or christmas eve) gets a nom for best featured actress, as they were both HILARIOUS and WONDERFUL!

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tpdc - "As much as I liked PASSION, its win was mostly to stick it to Disney for bringing a theme park show to Broadway and for not playing by Broadway's rules."

What are Broadway's rules?

"Sadly, I don't think PASSION would have won best musical opposite AIDA or LION KING."

Maybe not Lion King due to its popularity and grandeur, but it most likely would have beat Aida. Sondheim's name still weighs quite a bit nowadays and though Passion is highly unconventional, it is still a masterful book and score and paved the way for composers like Brown and LaChiusa to get produced on Broadway. Aida simply rides on the names of Disney and Elton John without really offering anything else. The sets and costumes are less spectacular than the other two Disney shows. The book is very weak and the score is an Elton John pop album that I felt was much weaker than both the LaChiusa scores that were nominated the same year. I'm hoping LaChiusa will finally get the recognition he deserves.

Here's my question: The songs of Avenue Q definitely make me laugh, but get a bit tiring after a while. It seems to be mostly a one-joke sort of show. I really like it, but I'm not convinced it's a Tony-worthy book or score. But then, I don't think Wicked is, either. Whether or not critics liked the show, they all praised the score for Taboo, so it could be a good bet for Best Score. And if Caroline or Change opens, with a heavyweight like Kushner, it could win Best Book while Wicked is most definite for Best Musical. It could be the first three-way split since 1974 (musical-Raisin, book-Candide, score-Gigi).

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The design for the cheap tour of Beauty and the Broadway design of Beauty are two different things.

To quote one of the Tony voters (he was my boss): "I didn't like Aida, but it was the only show this season with a score." He hates all LaChiusa works and didn't consider The Dead a musical, so it was the only show he could vote for.

Aida had some nice lighting, but I'm still confused about it winning the scenic design. The only nifty design was the swimming pool. The rest was really nothing that interesting or new. The prison backdrop was especially awful.

"They would bring in all their theme park people and experienced Broadway talents would find it tough to work on their subsequent blockbusters."

Which they didn't do, but shame on them if their decisions are influenced by Disney's refusal to play in the same sandbox. Far be it for someone to do something different on Broadway (gasp).

I just feel that the complexity of Passion's book and score far outweigh that of Aida (based on the children's picture book by Leontyne Price). Maybe its just me, but I think Passion is one of Sondheim's greatest (and possibly most underrated) achievements. When I saw Aida, I liked Sherie, but that was about it. Heather mumbled her way through the dialogue. Adam was simply miscast altogether. The book, score, staging and design seemed as if none of the creative staff met until opening night.

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Thank goodness for Disney! Ask all the employed actors, stagehands, theater management people, etc who are still working thanks to Disney and their three LONG RUNNING shows.

Mister Matt, I don't think AIDA is a better musical than PASSION. I just think a lot of voters voted against Disney instead of for PASSION. Though it could be that some of them found BEAUTY just too weak to vote for. And maybe you saw Headley on a bad night, for she was excellent throughout when I saw her. If you thought Pascal was miscast you should have seen the talented but really miscast Jeremy Kushnier on tour. Sherie was the best thing about the show for me as well.

The actors from AVENUE Q will all be in the featured category.

tpdc - I did see Jeremy on the Aida tour and I thought he was better than Adam.

Master - I do appreciate the poignancy of Fine Fine Line and think it is a wonderful song, but I was hoping the score would be a little more balanced with more songs like it. The finale "For Now", to me plays more hopeful than bittersweet, stating that the bad times are "only for now". And then it jumps back into the jokes with stuff like "George Bush!" I think most of the songs are quite funny, but I get a bit tired by the time we get to the strip sequence, Schadenfreude, or the You Can Make as Much Noise as You Want numbers. I think it's one I need to see to really appreciate, but I don't know if I would give it Best Score just yet.

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Bombay Dreams could run off with choreography if the dancing is more original than Never Gonna Dance (which I hear looks very uninspired).

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Mister Matt, maybe you saw an off performance of AIDA on Broadway. Headley was quite fine when I saw it. I liked Pascal in RENT and AIDA. There are better actors and singers, but he does have an original presence. The most appealing thing about AIDA in NY for me was that it seemed like a MGM Hollywood romance and it was cast with three performers able to give old fashioned star performances. Paulette Ivory in the tour was uncharismatic. Lisa Brescia was a fine Amneris, much different than Sherie. But Kushnier, who I have liked a lot in other roles, seemed very miscast to me. The scene where he throws off his shirt and demands Aida wash him was laughable. Not because he can't act, but because he is a boyish performer and the moment was tailored to Pascal's strengths, which include his buff chest and not Kushnier's skinny one.