Weird Tony Decisions

[mattnyc2]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 8:56am

-Daisy Eagan winning in the best featured actress category. Wasn't she in practically every scene? Seems like a leading role to me.

-Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley sharing a nomination. I get why they nominated them together, but at the same time they were paying two very different characters.

-Fiorello and The Sound of Music tying for best musical. Having done both shows regionally, I feel that "Sound of Music" is far superior to "Fiorello" which really does not stand the test of time (many of the lyrics are amusingly misogynistic).

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 10:57am

Spring Awakening - Best Choreography

[americanboy99]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 11:15am

The Tony slip-up the FIORELLO/ SOUND OF MUSIC was not that both of those shows won. It was that GYPSY didn't.

I didn't know Skinner and Ripley shared a nomination. That's odd.

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 11:19am

In 2003, the one-man show "Say Goodnight, Gracie", starring Frank Gorshin, was nominated for Best Play, but Gorshin did NOT receive a Best Actor nomination.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 11:26am

Oh, yes. Gorshin was tremendous- absolutely tremendous. I saw him on tour the night before he passed away. He definitely deserved a nomination, if not a sentimental win.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 11:30am

I assume the reasoning behind the joint-nomination was that one performance would not have been as powerful without the other.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 11:57am

Alice Ripley was alone in the Best Actress category at the Drama Desks.

Another that I can think of- George Hearn's random nomination for his leading actor work in "Putting It Together."

Ruthie Henshall and Carol Burnett should have been recognized for their work in that musical revue. Both were fabulous, especially Henshall, who should have been nominated over Ann Hampton Callaway (in "Swing!).

[jordangirl]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 11:59am

americanboy99 ~ I believe it was AFTER those nominations (Drama Desk) that the producers petitioned for them to be considered together. I remember reading the reasoning somewhere...but I forget and don't have time to search at the moment (lunch is over).

[Okayfine]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:03pm

The whole Sunset Blvd thing just blew my mind. If no one liked the show & it had no competition (egads, I can't remember the one other nominated musical that year - someone help me out!), why bother? It just draws attention to the dreck being played that year.

[philly03]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:05pm

"If no one liked the show & it had no competition (egads, I can't remember the one other nominated musical that year - someone help me out!), why bother?"

I actually really liked the show? And so did the majority of the critics, and a lot of people.

It was nominated against the long-running review Smokey Joe's Cafe.

[D2]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:06pm

Tammy Grimes winning Best Supporting (at the time) Actress for her performance in the TITLE role of THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN.

[philly03]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:14pm

This is like total SP love right here:

-Terrence Mann deserved a Tony nom. in 1998 as Best Featured Actor for The Scarlet Pimpernel.
-Douglas Sills was practically the life of the show, and also in it's future incarnations (although who would have known there'd be 4 versions!); I actually was hoping he'd get the Tony!


And about the Emily Skinner/Alice Ripley thing...I thought then and still think that they did that because there was just no more room in the category. I probably would have thrown Christine Andreas in there too, but she certainly would have been the last one to get it in that category. There were 6 phenomenal actresses that year (atleast I can't remember them ALL!) and they honestly probably did not want to snub either of them.

[Okayfine]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:22pm

If memory serves, Philly03, a majority of the critics did NOT like the show. They liked the costumes (well-done), the set (fascinating), Glenn Close (not a fan, but I hear she did very well), & a few of the songs. They didn't think it was a brilliant piece of musical theatre, though, more of a spectacle. Not arguing with the value of spectacle, btw. I like it as much as the next person.

The general opinion was that the only reason it won a Tony for Best Musical was because it wasn't up against anything original. Smoky Joe's Cafe (thanks for the memory jog, btw!) was debated as Best Musical because it was a review & folks questioned its originality, not as big of a issue these days.

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:26pm

With Daisy Egan I think they probably thought she had a better chance of winning in the Featured category - I guess they just didn't petition to have her as lead?

I thought Alice and Emily should have been nominated seperately. Ok actually I would have been ok with just Alice, if it was a space thing.

That WAS a good year for lead actress, I feel like that catagory was THICK with amazing people and then there were people left out...

Add me to the list of people who had a good time at Sunset Boulevard. I was 15 and it appealed to my melodramatic side.

[philly03]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:37pm

"I thought Alice and Emily should have been nominated seperately. Ok actually I would have been ok with just Alice, if it was a space thing."

Yes but then Emily probably would have felt like ****. HAHAH. They were basically ONE on stage.

And I was always one for allowing THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL to be re-nominated in the 1999 Tony's with SP2. It really was so different, new cast (except for Sills, which I could have seen & would have left out of nominations). It certainly would have been better to see SP2 nominated then Frank Wildhorn's trainwreck known as The Civil War! Of course they got shot down, but it would have been weirder to see it get re-nom.! And after trying so hard with SP2, I was shocked that they didn't even attempt with SP3, which actually was completely different from SP1! Ah SP you never cease to amaze! Atleast they ggot to "continously" run?!

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:38pm

The Lion King winning over Ragtime, and Fosse winning over Parade.

[little_sally]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:40pm

What about the decision to nominate all seven Von Trapp children in the best featured actress category that year?

[DrewBill]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:48pm

Or how about the new Tony for replacement performances ("The Reba McEntire Award") -- an award that has never actually been awarded.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:55pm

Rodgers and Hammerstein receiving a best score nomination in 1996 for State Fair!

[americanboy99]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:56pm

1996- WHAT A WEIRD YEAR.

[lildogs]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:57pm

I was going to mention the nod for all the Von Trapp kids or to the ensemble from La Plume de ma Tante or to the two actors from SIZWE BANZI....

Posted: 7/8/08 at 1:04pm

1993 - Now that was some crazy stuff!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 1:36pm

Okay, imagine if Alice Ripley had been nominated for a Tony and Emily Skinner hadn't... Do you really want to be attached to the bitch who got a Tony nod over you every single night for the rest of the run?
Seriously speaking, I just figure that the Tony committee agreed to nominate them together because their performances probably complemented each other too much.
I agree that the only odd thing about the FIORELLO and THE SOUND OF MUSIC tie was that that was the year GYPSY was nominated.

[kyleorlando]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 1:45pm

"Okay, imagine if Alice Ripley had been nominated for a Tony and Emily Skinner hadn't... Do you really want to be attached to the bitch who got a Tony nod over you every single night for the rest of the run?"

Actually, Side Show closed a few months prior to the Tony noms.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 1:45pm

Oh really? Well...there goes that theory.