Who will win BEST MUSICAL?

[hannahshule]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 3:22pm

if dessa rose moves to broadway, I think it should be nimoinated. there should be a category for off-bway shows, there so many great shows not getting ant tony attention.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 3:23pm

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Spamalot
The Light in the Piazza
(Chitty) (The Frogs) (Brooklyn) (Dracula) (All Shook Up) (Good Vibrations)

DRS or Spam

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 3:24pm

Spelling Bee or Spam.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 3:29pm

MFL- you gotta beef w/ DRS?

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 4:37pm

SPELLING BEE

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 4:44pm

Well, let's face it: Spamalot will get it.

But I'd love to see Dessa or Bee instead

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 5:20pm

Actually, considering the out-of-town buzz and all the hype and marketing around the show, I believe SPAMALOT will get the Tony this year. But I'm rooting for SPELLING BEE (which I unfortunately did not see, but from what I've heard it's the most solid of the possible nominees).

[thirdrowcenter]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 5:26pm

I haven't seen Spelling Bee yet. So I'll vote for DRS for now.

[Sargar]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 5:30pm

DRS or Spam

Posted: 3/6/05 at 5:34pm

i dont know how we can guess when some of them havent even begun previews yet...

[Matt_G]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 5:34pm

I really do hope SPAMALOT doesn't win that award. But judging by some other shows that received what I thought were undeserving Awards recently, it probably will.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 5:34pm

Dessa Rose won't even finish it's run at the Mitzi Newhouse until three weeks after the Tony deadline so it couldn't be eligible for this season under any circumstances. Perhaps, next season if it transfers.

If I had a ballot, I'd vote for SPELLING BEE and I suspect many Tony voters will feel the same way. While SPAMALOT and DRS are very funny and well-constructed for the most part, SPELLING BEE is both those things and also has characters you you can care about and root for. There's a depth and poignance and three-dimensionality to all of the characters in SPELLING BEE that's totally absent from the all of the characters in those other two shows -- and BEE is AT LEAST as funny as they are as well.

To me it's no contest, but Tony voters, many of whom see SPAMALOT and see $$$$$ in terms of national tours etc....may not "vote their hearts" and instead vote their wallets this year.

Updated On: 3/6/05 at 05:34 PM

[riv]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 5:44pm

I haven't broken my leg attempting to see Spelling Bee yet, and I'll probably wait until it hits Broadway since it is Best Musical from Broadway--right or wrong as that may be--which we are talking about.

The show probably feels it can pull an "Avenue Q" and beat the Goliath shows. I don't know if the Tony voters will go for that again.

I'm an advocate of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and will be seeing Spamalot just prior to its opening. Right now it's those two, along with possibly The Light in the Piazza, in my eyes.

I don't feel just because a show is "little" gives it any special value over big Broadway productions. If they're going to play The Street, they better have the chops for it.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 5:51pm

The thing is, having seen BEE, SPAMALOT and DRS (I see PIAZZA in two weeks), BEE is also they best constructed, most inventive and least flawed of the three. The only thing it has in common with AVENUE Q is that they both have smallish budgets by Broadway standards ($3 - 4 million capitalization) -- that's it. BEE is a better and funnier show than Q, IMO.

Again, the Tony voters will probably go for the $12 million Monty Python show which certainly is very funny, but rather shallow and superficial with a score and book that are nothing to write home about. SPAMALOT's fun, but as a work of musical theatre, it's not in the same league as BEE.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 6:08pm

Margo, I am delighted you agree. I think the Tony will go to SPELLING BEE. Mr. Finn has no "best musical" Tony for any of his shows. This will play in SPELLING BEE's favor.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 10:01pm

i think many tony voters will be turned away from spam, because it's simply is there for entertainment value, it's not a well constructed book or score. i think it's between drs and bee, and between those two it's really a race like last year's, not because the shows are similar, but because it's the little guy going up against the giant. i for one would love to see bee take it all the way.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 10:05pm

The voters may want to correct the errors of giving The Producers virtually every award it could win and The Full Monty nothing by being more balanced towards Dirty Rotten Scoundrels or Spelling Bee.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/6/05 at 10:05pm

I don't think SPAMALOT will get it either - it's just not that great. But neither is THE PRODUCERS.

[chasgoose]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 1:19am

I bet the race will be between Spamalot and Spelling Bee. Spamalot will be the huge seller that Broadway producers can't ignore (a la Wicked), and Spelling Bee will appeal to their artistic conscience (a la Avenue Q). That doesn't mean the results will be the same, its just that is how I see the comparison. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was much more reliant on its reviews than Spamalot was because Spamalot was already a breakout smash. Since DRS's reviews have come back mixed/positive, I predict it will be an also-ran this year unless it becomes wickedly successful.

[TGIF]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 1:30am

Spamalot doesn't need a Tony win to bring in any more audience members.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 1:40am

At the very least, DRS will get a Best Actor Tony for Butz.

Posted: 3/7/05 at 4:58pm

The more I think of this season the more I think we'll see a "Spread the Wealth" vote by the league: They'll try to give everything something.

I can see Bee getting best Score, Spam getting best book and DRS getting best show. I think it will be a year where no single show dominates the awards. It's fun to go out on a limb long before the season ends isn't it?

My March Predictions:

DRS wins Best Actor & Best Show
Spam wins Best Book & Best Supporting Actress (Maybe Supporting actor too?)
Bee Wins Best Original Score (I could also see this winning best show and DRS winning Score)
Sweet Charity Wins Choreography, Design & Revival
Little Women wins Best Actress

Maybe everyone will go home happy--

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 5:14pm

I don't see SPAMALOT getting Best Book -- 80% of it is recycled word-for-word from the film (there's not much in that book that one could term "original") and structurally it's all over the map. It's basically a very funny but superficial revue and revues don't win for their books.

I see SPELLING BEE as easily having the best book (though I suppose DRS and maybe PIAZZA might contend).

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 5:16pm

Well, since DRS is based on a movie, is it still considered "Original?"

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/7/05 at 5:17pm

Spelling Bee has the right chemistry to win score and book, but be denied best musical as so many have before, though Avenue Q certainly opened the door for the underdog show. Let's hope it wasn't an anomaly. But then, there is also Piazza, but that could easily be this season's Caroline and receive the artistic pat on the head.

Updated On: 3/7/05 at 05:17 PM