The Official Tony Nominations Thread — Page 16

"Oh... and Gavin Lee was nothing more than a glorified chorus boy in Mary Poppins. He left ZERO impression on me in the show. Easily replaceable, and no "personal" traits whatsoever in his acting. If he WAS acting, I missed it entirely. But he danced very well... as do the hundreds of unsung heroes in the chorus these days. Whatever."

I agree. Gavin Lee left me feeling nothing whatsoever. He basically walked through it (and tapped upside down) during the performance I saw. Boring. He won an Olivier for that??! Competition must have been pretty slim in the West End that year.

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If the voters want to spread the awards around to the key shows (which wouldn't be unheard of), then we're looking at SA, 110, Ebersole and Esparza winning

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I'm not sure what's gonna happen with the leading actor category. I'm beginning to think it's at least a possibility that Cerveris will take some of Esparza's votes, and as a result, Pierce could sneak in.

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I'm disappointed but not surprised that O'Byrne got a Best Actor nomination. It must have been mainly for having to learn all those lines. If only O'Byrne had had a vague idea of what any of them meant...

I can't be too disturbed about PIRATE QUEEN's lack of a Best Costume Design nomination. If the category was MOST Costume Design, it would win in a walk, but if we're talking BEST, well, sorry.

But I'm really appalled at the sheer number of nominations for the idiotic CORAM BOY, most outrageously for Best Director. There was more intelligent direction in the final ten minutes of TRANSLATIONS than in the entire interminable running time of CORAM BOY. There's more to direction than setting up a turntable and creating a vast sheet of Saran Wrap.

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I thought Spring Awakening's lighting was one of the best parts of the show. It was very much a part of the storytelling. I was moved by it and immediately thought it was Tony worthy. As for the set, I don't believe it's the best of the season (High Fidelity, yeah!), but it serves its purpose. It's atypical, much like the rest of the show. What would you have rather seen?

~Steven

"BION, I'd have nominated LEGALLY BLONDE: the sets were witty, support the story beautifully, and -- from what I've seen in the trades -- are everything a Broadway musical should be."

The sets and lighting for LEGALLY BLONDE were nothing special. Exactly what you'd expect. In fact, other than the opening shot with all the windows of the Delta Nu dorm, the set was pretty forgettable. I dimly remember a judge's bench turning into a shower stall, which didn't work well at all. As far as lighting, SPRING AWAKENING has it all over LB. The lighting for LB was certainly not memorable (or award worthy).

IMHO, of course.

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