The Official "Laura Benanti Was Robbed" Thread- Page 2

[pinoyidol2006]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 12:30am

Laura will most definitely win in another year. She is fantastic. I just hope she gets the good roles.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 1:51am

I swore Jan Maxwell had this one in her bag.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 1:58am

Maybe someone can make Jan Maxwell a Tony-shaped bag for the future.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 2:00am

I'm very sad that Laura lost the Tony this evening, but if someone else had to win I'm glad it was Nikki. She gave a honest, heartfelt performance in MORMON. I do think Benanti's performance will be looked back on as one of the great Musical Comedy turns of recent memory.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 5:52am

Laura Benanti gave a far superior performance, no question. It's always sad when merit is not rewarded, but that's the way of the world. It happens all the time.

Tony Sheldon was also far better than anyone else in his category, and he didn't win, either.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 6:00am

Verge had a relatively short run....wouldn't suprise me if enough of the voters didn't get to see the show to get the votes needed. They often don't do their "Tony tour" until after nominations.

That being mentioned, I think there are too many other things that matter in life over which to be outraged. I'm more disappointed in the lack of great female roles than I am in her loss. (But I was really referring to important things like: lack of marriage equality, child abuse, cancer, poverty, and service men and women losing their lives.)

[D2]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 8:10am

Thank you, Dramamama; as always, a voice of reason in a swirling sea of insanity.

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 8:29am

"I do think Benanti's performance will be looked back on as one of the great Musical Comedy turns of recent memory."

With all due respect, Women On The Verge ran for 69 performances. As good as Benanti may have been, it is unlikely that her performance will have any sort of legacy.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 8:42am

TONY VOTERS HAVE NO TASTE

[Donthatecongratulate]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 9:35am

It's so funny the way people think certain people DESERVE things. Especially without knowing that person's true character.

I guess Tony voters were going for depth of performance. Congrats to Nikki!

[trentsketch]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 9:43am

I like the people who act like only their favorite performances have any merit. Here I was thinking Nikki M James had a bunch of acting to do onstage, appearing in every single scene in the village and taking a major vocal role in 4 songs in the show. If you judge her performance just off of Sal Tlay Ka Citi, you're not judging her performance at all. She does a lot more than sing that one song.

Laura Benanti had one stellar production number. I didn't see the show to judge her beyond that. Did she appear in almost every scene as a major player in the story? Did she do a lot of acting beyond her solos? I don't know. I tend to think a lot of Tony voters don't know, either, since the show closed early on a limited run.

Shows that are running have a big advantage over closed shows: you can still see them. No one can hop in a time machine and buy tickets to The Scottsboro Boys or Women on the Verge to judge their actors and other nominated aspects against the still running Book of Mormon, Sister Act, and Catch Me if You Can. If they didn't see the show, they're probably not going to vote for it. No one was robbed and the world isn't going to end.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 10:03am

Laura was not robbed-this boggles my mind. People want to give her the Tony for one stellar song performance. Give me a break. The book of WOTV was horrendous and Laura's character had no arch and very little to do. Her one amazing song was what illuminated her.

Nikki on the other hand has a ton of wonderful material to work with and delivers a fully realized character with an arch.

Clearly, we are now going to have the Laura police, just like we have the Patti police trolling the internet for injustices against these great dames of theatre.

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 10:05am

Laura won three years ago! While she turned in a wonderful performance, the Tony Awards have a short memory, and Women on The Verge closed too soon to be a serious contender for most awards. I think that if it had opened later in the year, Sherie would have been nominated over Beth Leavel. (God knows she was more deserving)

The point is, Nikki was wonderful in the Book of Mormon, even if I wish Laura had won. Not only that, but each of these two women strikes me as a true lady. Laura was perfectly gracious, and Nikki was appropriately shocked.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 10:10am

People want to give her the Tony for one stellar song performance. Give me a break.

To be fair, Marge MacDougall is an even smaller role than Candela and has won two actresses a Tony. I don't think it should come down to the size of the role.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 10:24am

Yes but Marge's brief role is written better than Candela and is framed in a much better show that WOTV was.

[jon2]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 11:35am

This really proves how hard it is to win a Tony for a closed show that didn't have a lot of performances. Not impossible, as others have proved in the past, but an uphill battle. The precursor awards are different because of the smaller voting pool and the greater likelihood that all the voters have seen all the shows.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 6/13/11 at 12:26pm

You know...someone might have broken into Laura's house while she was at the Tony's and stole her Gypsy Tony. And that person might have been me...