Why is Bette a lock for the Tony?

I came. I saw. She conquered. I will be crossing my fingers and rooting her on until her name is called. Why do you think she is widely considered the only 'lock' on Tony night? Patti and Christine are magnificent and sing the hell out of their original roles.

And if/when she does win, damn those Oscar voters the year of 'The Rose' for denying us from seeing an EGOT queen crowned in June.

She's great as Dolly. With huge critical and commercial and popular success. She's back in a Broadway musical for the first time in half a century. She's never won a competitive Tony.
Her closest competition are two Broadway greats (both of them two time Tony winners) co-starring in a show, , in which a great many people prefer one of their performances, while a great many prefer the other (so there's hardly a lock on who is giving the best lead performance in that show, let alone any reason to suspect that one of them is likely to win a Tony for it).

And she's Bette Midler.

So, why wouldn't she be a lock?

Updated On: 5/6/17 at 10:20 AM

Dolly is quickly becoming Bette's historic, legendary, had-to-have-been-there Broadway role and performance. The same way Mama Rose was for Patti and Little Edie was for Christine. That's why.

even assuming all other things are equal, there is the matter of the split between the two competing stars vs Bette. Plus Rudin would have a stroke right on the RCMH floor.

But that is not the way this works.

BroadwayLuv2 said:
"Totally Agree!! Would love more than anything for Eva to pick up the Tony! Her performance was my favorite as wel but I doubt it will happen.

bette is great but I don't think she is exactly challenged by the material other than the performance schedule. "



What a load of baloney. Bette is fabulous and totally deserving of all the accolades she is receiving. Not to put Eva down... but ( for me) she is mere filler in this category. And why do people keep bringing up the performance schedule as a challenge? This woman till late last year was touring all over the place. Not wanting to do 8 shows a week doesn't mean the schedule is challenging. Where do you all get this sh*t from? Bette has talked about being insecure about doing Dolly and being afraid of the commitment. . But it is not because of her stamina. Go on youtube and look up some of her recent concerts.

Updated On: 5/6/17 at 06:37 PM

ljay889 said: "I thought Bette was wonderful, but I believe Patti and Christine are doing more complex work in much more difficult roles. Me personally, I would vote for Patti, but Bette will take it, the momentum is in her favor.



"

Agreed. Bette is a lock because she is a legendary performer doing a fine job entertaining audiences in the biggest event of the season. But Patti and Christine have much, much more complex roles with far more layers and nuances in their character arcs and songs.