Tony Award for Leading Actress In a Musical... — Page 5

Actually, neddy, Ariel is one of the most popular heroines, especially over Kira. Besides, I looked up to Airel in the 90's and late late 80's.

My picks:

Lin Manuel Miranda - In The Heights
James Snyder - Cry Baby
Cheyenne Jackson - Xanadu
Daniel Evans - Sunday In The Park With George
Paulo Szot- South Pacific

Jenna Russel, SITPWG
Sierra Boggess, The Little Mermaid
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Kelli O'Hara, South Pacific
Faith Prince, A Catered Affair

I would love Kerry to get a nod, but Xanadu might not be open come summertime and she didn't get raves. Sierra got raves in Denver, so my opinion might also change come January.

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Sir Robin- Ariel is a popular role, so is Simba! But that doesn't make them great meaty roles. The role of Ariel is VERY "Disney" and cartoonish. She is not a heroine like Aggie is who struggles to raise money for her family, or Nellie is, or Dot who just wants George to love her, or Rose who was living through her daughter. Think what you may but when the role is not that great. It is not a role that will go down in the books. But Rose, Dot, and Nellie are and I guarantee you that Aggie will be there very shortly.

no noe in the U.S. that does not follow theatre will necessarily know Aggie, Rose, Dot, and Nellie as they will Ariel. Some people (friends of mine) are emotionally attached to MERMAID.

Yes, but they are not the ones on the nominating committee. The nominating committee is a group of people who know Broadway backward and forwards.

PS- Thanks!

And the "will be closed by the Tonys and therefore forgotten" argument is hardly valid anymore.

LITTLE DOG LAUGHED closed long before the Tonys last year and received a Best Play nomination and earned its star the Best Leading Actress in a Play Tony Award over Angela Lansbury and Vanessa Redgrave in shows that were still running.

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"Yes, but they are not the ones on the nominating committee. The nominating committee is a group of people who know Broadway backward and forwards."

Yes, I know. I stated that I knew that. But anywhoo, we'll find out in May. One year the nods fell on my birthday in 2004 and I got the best gift: nods for AVENUE Q!

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nod= nomination.

Oh, nod! I was reading it like node and I couldn't figure out what you were saying,

I think the nominees this year are pretty much set. I doubt there will be any surprises in that category come May.

I agree, Foster. Having not seen the show yet, I have no idea how large their roles are, but your logic makes sense. Does Matt Cavenaugh stand a chance at a nomination? What's his role like?

Haha thanks for the new profile quote WBAF.
"MERMAID is already a joke in the industry, and it hasn't even opened yet."

I see it:

Patti LuPone - Gypsy (winner)
Jenna Russel - SITWG
Faith Prince - A Catered Affair
Kelli O'Haha - South Pacific
Open for grabs... but hopefully it is Kerry Butler - Xanadu

I doubt very much Sierra Bogges will get a nomination...however LBB got a nod last year for a somewhat generic performance.

Producers CAN petition the committe to consider performances in certain categories. The most recent example that springs to mind is SPRING AWAKENING. No one was billed above the title, however producers petitioned the committe to place GROFF AND MICHELE into consideration for the LEAD CATEGORIES. The petition was granted and GROFF received a nod as BEST ACTOR. MICHELE (in the much more crwoded BEST ACTRESS field) did NOT.

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I predict:

Patti LuPone, Gypsy*
Jenna Russell, SITPWG
Kelli O'Hara, South Pacific
Megan Mullally, Young Frankenstein
Kerry Butler, Xanadu or Faith Prince, A Catered Affair

and for supporting:

Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Sherie Rene Scott, The Little Mermaid
Andrea Martin, Young Frankenstein*
Leslie Kritzer, A Catered Affair
Mary Testa, Xanadu or Olga Merediz, In the Heights

Winners have *

LuPone will certainly win in a role of legend, especially after her recent snub to LaChanze.
I'm very surprised so few people think that Mullally will land a nomination. She's one of the few great things about YF, and I think the show is big enough and buzz worthy enough to prioritize her nomination above both Butler and Prince.

I also agree that Boggess will be left out in the cold, unless she pulls STELLAR reviews.

it really is a little early to be making concrete predictions, though.

Updated On: 1/2/08 at 01:18 AM

As far as the featured actress category goes, I feel like that's going to be the stuffed category this season. In terms of the revivals alone, all four revivals have a featured actress role that was Tony nominated in the original run. They are:

Rizzo in Grease
Bloody Mary in South Pacific
Yvonne in Sunday in the Park with George
and Louise in Gypsy

Now, that's not to say that Jenny Powers or any of the others will automatically get nominations. But those are 4 flashy roles that are well known and will certainly stand out to the Tony committee during their considerations. On top of those four, you have creating new roles:

Kritzer in Catered Affair
Testa and Hoffman in Xanadu (though I agree that they should share a nomination slot if possible)
Sherie Rene Scott in Mermaid
Foster and Martin in Young Frankenstein
the featured ladies from Cry-Baby
and the girls from In the Heights and Passing Strange

We are looking at upwards of 13 standout performances in this category. The ones from shows that are open already have all received good reviews (Foster, Martin, Testa, Hoffman, Powers), and the shows that have yet to open have ladies that got good reviews out of town or off-Broadway (In the Heights girls when it was off-Broadway, Benanti this summer, Kritzer in San Diego, Scott in Denver). The only roles that will really be a mystery at this point are Bloody Mary and Yvonne. Everyone else in the category has pretty solid word of mouth. I am excited to see what happens here.