Way to early 2018 Tony Awards predictions! — Page 4

BroadwayConcierge said: "GeorgeandDot said: "The Band's Visit also has several standout supporting male performances."

I think Ari'el Stachel is the likeliest of those amazing guys to get a nomination. Followed (probably), in order, by Etai Benson and Adam Kantor."

I would agree wholeheartedly! I might be in the minority, but John Cariani's performance was probably my least favorite out of the supporting men in this show. Not that he wasn't good, just that everyone else was so excellent. Stachel and Benson were the real standouts for me.

Here’s something I’ve been pondering and I’d like some other opinions on. If the matchup for Best Actor is Ethan Slater versus Tony Shalhoub (forget about Henry, Nolan, Haden-Patton, etc. for a moment), who wins?

I feel like Slater gives the better performance, but the voters would be more inclined to give Shalhoub the award.

What do you think would happen in this scenario?

^ Yup. The Tony is pretty much Henry's to lose.

(But for what it's worth, frames, I think it'd go to Slater. While Shalhoub's performance is nuanced and beautiful, it isn't really Tony-worthy, IMO.)

BroadwayConcierge said: "^ Yup. The Tonyis pretty much Henry's to lose.

(But for what it's worth, frames, I think it'd go to Slater. While Shalhoub's performance is nuanced and beautiful, it isn't really Tony-worthy, IMO.)"

His performance is beautiful and nuanced... but NOT Tony-worthy? How does that even make sense in your world? Pretty sure that's part of the definition of award-worthy. Note: I'm not saying Shaloub is or isn't going to win, just asking about your rationale.

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I really think Taylor Louderman may be picking up her first nomination this year.

If placed in the featured category.

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Can someone explain to me what Alex Newell is doing that is so nomination worthy?

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JudyDenmark said: "little_sally said: "Can someone explain to me what Alex Newell is doing that is so nomination worthy?"

Have to agree with you here - the singled-outpraise he's getting is a head-scratcher to me. I LOVED the whole show, him included (to the point that I'm going again this Sunday), but he was the least exciting to me, at least of the gods. I kind of felt like he said to himself, "I'm a man playing a big, sassywoman and I just have toscrelt and the audience will eat it up." And he did, and the audience of course ate it up. But I never felt like I got any nuance or real character from him. (Or, frankly, the kind of next-level musicality I really wanted in the way I got it from all three of the other gods.)Oh well - to each his/her own. I'm assuming he'll get a nomination anyway. And I'llhonestlybe happy with any nominations and/or awards this beautiful show gets! (...though I hope karma comes to bite whoever was being obnoxious in that SpongeBob performance, because that whole situationis appalling to me.)"

It was like 6 or 7 of them, not sure exactly which ones though. Aureila Williams, Kenita Miller, and Darlesia Cearcy look familar.

dramamama611 said: "His performance is beautiful and nuanced... but NOT Tony-worthy? How does that even make sense in your world? Pretty sure that's part of the definition of award-worthy. Note: I'm not saying Shaloubis or isn't going to win, just asking about your rationale."

Sorry, I get where the confusion is in what I wrote before. I meant it in that there's nothing wrong whatsoever with Shalhoub's performance. It's beautiful, but I don't think it's really award-worthy. The contrast is made even more clear since he performs most of the show next to Katrina Lenk, who reaches extraordinary levels of transcendence. Shalhoub is great, but not "transcendent," IMO.

JudyDenmark said: "GeorgeandDot said: "I liked Alex Newell a lot in OOTI. I thought he was fun to watch and tore up Mama Will Provide. It's also nice to see some gender blind casting and I think those kinds of risks should be applauded, especially when executed as well as Newell's performance. I also though Merle Dandridge was a standout as well.Also, Alex plays a woman so convincingly that I had I not known, I would have honestly thought i was watching a woman onstage."

But do you think someone should be awarded just because of diverse casting, and not performance? I mean, if you loved Alex's performance I totally get it, and that's a perfectlyvalid reason to root for him. But I don't want to see him rewarded just because ofgender-blind casting - that's not fair to all of the men who are giving outstanding performances in male roles. (Honestly, that was my biggest complaint about Asaka... it felt like he was phoning it in a little, knowing that people would go eat it up regardless of what he did.) Alternately, I felt like Merle Dandridge really brought something new to Papa Ge, and I think she deserves to be nominated on the merit of that performance, not just because of the gender-blind casting."

I agree 100%. Alex sang the song well but completely disappeared and seemed to disconnect from the action when he wasn't the focus.

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TFMH18 said: "It's almost boggling—particularly compared to years past when the category has been overflowing with remarkable performances—thatKatrina Lenk has what feels like close to nocompetition."

To be fair, none of her biggest competition (My Fair Lady, Carousel, Mean Girls, Frozen) has opened yet...

No of course diversity isn't the only reason Alex should be nominated. I thought he was a ton of fun and should totally be one of the nominees. I also think Merle should slip into supporting actress.

Also, the only performance from Mean Girls likely to get a nomination is Kate Rockwell. The other performances just don't have enough. They're great, but there are other performances from other shows more likely to get in. Also, I don't think anyone in Frozen is giving a very good performance at all, frankly. They're all just perfectly serviceable and with the great performances that we've got in The Band's Visit, OOTI, and even SpongeBob (not to mention Carousel and My Fair Lady, which are very likely to have several standout performances) I don't think they'll be able to fight through the competition.

It's also way TOO early . . . to rule out Katrina Lenk

TheSassySam said: "I hope Gavin Lee gets a nomination as Squidward, I loved his performance!



Also, would Tony Shaloub be Leading or Supporting?"

Tony is definitely lead. And with some many great supporting male performances in that show, they'd be silly to push him otherwise.

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