Will Janney Pull a David Hyde Pierce? — Page 4

My point was that when you have 2 actors giving great performances while they are not singing...that the scale should tip in favor of the actor who sings better.

In this case, though, Janney's acting doesn't come close to approaching the level of depth that Ripley's does. It's really no contest.

Tonya Pinkins might not have been able to sing the role flawlessly, but I actually think that it makes sense to have a Caroline whose voice isn't as flawless as one expects, given all the hardships this woman has gone through in her life. And the award is for acting, Pinkins acted circles around Menzel.

If you want to get technical, the award is for best performance by a leading actress (not leading role) in a musical. To me, a performance in a musical encompasses acting, singing and dancing, as defined by the eligible material (i.e. Boyd Gaines and Karen Ziemba didn't sing in Contact, but were judged on their performances in a show deemed eligible in the category of "musical" by the Tony committee).

I did see a Caroline with better vocals in Chicago and it made perfect sense. Her acting wasn't quite as stellar as Tonya, but she never cracked a note or went hoarse throughout the show. I don't believe Caroline has to be flawless vocally, but it would be far less distracting if I weren't wincing throughout the entire show at the obvious physical strain she was forced to endure as Tonya, not Caroline. Imagine if you watched Christine Applegate break her ankle in the opening few seconds of Sweet Charity an then witnessing her forcing herself to wince and limp and struggle through the rest of the show. That is exactly how it felt watching Tonya as Caroline the night I saw her perform. I think she's awesome and incredibly talented and I still loved her in the show, but I just think the show was far too vocally taxing for her and it came through in her performance. I'm glad she played Caroline and I'm thrilled I saw her in the show, but if I had to choose who gave the "best performance", I'd have to give it to Idina.

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