Would Heather Headley Have Won the Tony if She Had Opened in THE COLOR PURPLE?

As Heather Headley's concert at Carnegie Hall approaches, I was thinking about the 2016 Tonys. Would her triumphant return to Broadway have been enough to beat Renée Elise Goldsberry, or was Hamilton too much of an unstoppable force that year, with only Cynthia Erivo able to prevent a sweep of the acting categories?

I don't usually post hypothetical questions like this, but I'm curious to hear people's thoughts.

Updated On: 1/25/23 at 12:32 PM

No. This was always Renee's award.

Though I think many of us were predicting Hamilton to not win QUITE as many awards as it did –– among them costumes and choreography (both could have been awarded to Shuffle Along), and scenic design (which it did lose to David Rockwell for She Loves Me).

I think some people also hoped that Lin & Leslie would split the vote, thus allowing Danny Burstein to win for FIDDLER, but that was never gonna happen. Alex Brightman might have had a better chance of winning than him.

Ke3 said: "She got raves, but I think Renée still would've won. I don't think anything could've stopped the sweep. The fever was too high*. Maybe I'm wrong though. There was love for her performance and a comeback narrative is always a pretty strong awards strategy.

*I always yell at the clouds about Hamilton winning choreography which it absolutely did not deserve."



Agreed. "Hamilton" was pretty unstoppable. I also agree with you about the win for choreography. I found it to be repetitive and it got boring after about half an hour in. That award should have gone to Savion. The choreography in that show, in my opinion, was hands down the best that season. My jaw just dropped when Savion did not win.

Having seen both performances (and Hudson, FWIW) I would’ve given it to Headley no question, and it’s not even close. REG was solid, had a commanding stage presence, and one of the best numbers. But what Headley did was next-level.

Maybe it’s not fair to compare to Lead Actress because Erivo was such an undeniable powerhouse with a meatier role than Soo, but at the very least it demonstrated that they were willing to deviate from Hamilton when called for. And while I can’t confidently say that Headley would’ve won, I don’t think it was as much of a sure thing for REG as some seem to think.

That was an exceptional year for choreography. I would’ve given it to Shuffle Along, partly because I’m not a huge fan of how the dance is used in Hamilton. But because it’s SO deeply integrated into the storytelling, I could understand voters feeling like Hamilton was the greater feat of CHOREO, even if Shuffle Along had the best DANCERS. So while I agree Shuffle Along should’ve won, the voters have some deniability with regards to whether it was just a coat-tail win for Hamilton vs. whether it was actually their favorite choreo.

Heather Headly was incredible in The Color Purple but I agree with the rest that it was always going to be REG's Tony night. Now, I do think that Heather should've played Bobbie in the revival of Company and she would've walked home with the Leading Actress Tony Award. Would love to hear her sing that score and act the hell out of that role.

Valentina3 said: "I'm actually now wondering how great Heather Headley would be as Angelica in Hamilton."



No. She doesn't need to be the 18th replacement in a Hamilton company.

Yes, with ease.

Possibly. Heather's take on Shug Avery was....otherwordly. I still think often about how great she was.

binau said: "I think Renee would surely have been unstoppable. It’s not just an award for the performance but a brand new role in an iconic show with one of the best songs in the score (which was truly innovative the way they navigated the complexities and subtext as well as the different musical ideas, which also appeal to a wide audience). I hate to feed Lin Manuel’s ego or the hype of the show but yes it was that good."

Agreed. It's easy with HAMILTON to take it for granted that everything it accomplished was just there before, had been done before. But "Satisfied," with its rewinding and it's shifts in perspective, not to mention rapping, was hugely innovative. It simply hadn't been done before. And Renee killed with it.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I think some people also hoped that Lin & Leslie would split the vote, thus allowing Danny Burstein to win for FIDDLER, but that was never gonna happen. Alex Brightman might have had a better chance of winning than him."

Well, Michael Riedel did report in his column that a number of voters he met with actually picked Danny.

Oh gosh Headley was very very good. So was Goldsberry. Yikes. Thats close. And I bet the voting would have been close. If it were me, I would probably have voted for Headley, but since she already had a Tony, I bet that would have tipped the scales a bit towards REG and she would still have won. Who knows though, since these things can be so much about narrative...

As for choreography, I was very glad they gave it to Hamilton. It was the one I was hoping they would get the most. I understand the arguments that it was over-choreographed, but I didn't think so...and I think it advanced the art of storytelling through movement a bit. Shuffle had amazing choreography and dancing as well. If they had a best dancing award and a best choreography award, I would have given the former to Shuffle, and the latter to Hamilton...but since they only give out choreography, I'm glad Blankenbuehler got it.

TaffyDavenport said: "As Heather Headley's concert at Carnegie Hall approaches, I was thinking about the 2016 Tonys. Would her triumphant return to Broadway have been enough to beat Renée Elise Goldsberry, or was Hamilton too much of an unstoppable force that year, with only Cynthia Erivo able to prevent a sweep of the acting categories?

I don't usually post hypothetical questions like this, but I'm curious to hear people's thoughts.

"



Headly was easily the best performance I saw that season, so I'd hope so.