Tony Nominations. With Context!
Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 4:53PM
NATHANIEL R in An American in Paris, Bradley Cooper, Broadway and Stage, Elisabeth Moss, Fun Home, Kelli O'Hara, Ken Watanabe, Sting, Tony Awards, musicals

Oscar nominee Ken Watanabe & Tony Nominee Kelli O'Hara in THE KING AND I Tony/Emmy/Globe winner Mary Louise Parker and perpetually undervalued Bruce Willis announced the Tony nominations for the 2014/2015 theater season this morning with the musicals Fun Home & An American in Paris (which are both pretty great) leading with 12 nominations each. Broadway's "Best" will be honored live on Sunday June 7th on CBS with (this just in!) Tony winners and gargantuan cross-media talents Alan Cumming & Kristin Chenoweth co-hosting.

You can expect to see several movie star faces at the ceremony and you can also expect to see several closing notices before then for the shows that were shunned. The big question mark for the night of June 7th is whether perennial bridesmaid Kelli O'Hara (this is her fifth nomination for Best Actress in a Musical and her sixth overall) will finally take home the gold or if one of the living legends she's up against will win another; Chita Rivera and Kristin Chenoweth are not playin' around, each earning rave reviews.

When Oscar makes their announcements we rarely think to consult the list of 300ish movies that are eligible for Best Picture but because the Tony Awards are selected from a very distinct and small group of productions, it's useful to know what else was eligible, so we're serving you context with this full list of nominations. 

All three versions of Alison in "Fun Home" were nominated

THE TOP FOUR CATEGORIES

BEST MUSICAL

They were also eligible: Doctor Zhivago (reviewed), Finding Neverland, Holler If Ya Hear Me, Honeymoon in Vegas, It Shoulda Been You, The Last Ship. (Technically speaking their could have been a fifth nominee if a fifth candidate had gotten close vote totals to the fourth since there were 10 eligible productions and you only need nine to trigger that option).
Rooting For: I loved three of these four shows (I'm in the minority on "Rotten!") but Fun Home is a straight up miracle.

BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL

They were also eligible: (least competitive category) Gigi and Side Show (reviewed)

BEST PLAY

Curious Incident...

They were also eligible: Airline Highway, The Audience, Constellations, The Country House, Fish in the Dark, Living for Love, The River. (This was the most competitive category with 11 eligible productions - that was enough to trigger a fifth nominee if their vote total was close to the fourth nominees)
Rooting for: Hand to God which was hilarious, shocking, and smart. But I'm desperate to see Curious Incident now.

BEST PLAY REVIVAL 

They were also eligible: A Delicate Balance, The Heidi Chronicles, It's Only a Play, Love Letters, The Real Thing. (Again just enough eligible productions to have triggered a fifth nominee if the voting had been close but this is also the category with the least amount of eligible shows still running... and not having closed yet when Tony balloting begins is a significant advantage)

LEAD ACTING

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Gorgeous Dancer Tony Yazbeck headlines On the Town 

 

Ahhh. It's cute and true:

 

Bruce Willis said my name on TV.

— Brian d'Arcy James (@briandarcyjames) April 28, 2015

 

 

Not a Happy Morning for: Matthew Morrison, finally escaped from Glee prison but no nomination for Finding Neverland. He should have jumped ship from Glee long ago but I fear people will now hold it against him. He can be really great on stage (see: Light in the Piazza).
Oscar Crossover: Hey Ken Watanabe! How you doin'?
Rooting For: ... No strong preference actually beyond lust for Yazbeck and ongoing admiration for Cerveris (who I just loved as Sweeney Todd some years back). But I've yet to see The King and I.

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

 

Currently Rooting for: Chita, who was sublime in The Visit. She's 82, but just the slightest hint of, like, a shoulder roll or side step has as much pizzazz as some younger dancers doing high kicks. But please to note: I haven't yet seen my darling Cheno's new show.
Not a Happy Morning for: Vanessa Hudgens who headlined Gigi but did not win glorious reviews. Broadway really needs to stop it with the stunt casting since there are more than enough famous faces out there who are good enough not to ever feel like they were cast for their fame alone.

BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY

Steven Boyer works his ass (and hand) off in "Hand to God"

Will Bradley EGOT? I know I know. He doesnt' have any of the prizes yet. But it feels like only a matter of time.
Introducing...: Alexander Sharp who is apparently just out of Juillard so what a breakout
Not a Happy Morning For: Jake Gyllenhaal (Constellations) who can't get arrested by awards bodies even though he's often brilliant.

BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY


EGOT?: Helen Mirren already has the Emmy and the Oscar. She's only been on Broadway three times but she's been Tony nominated for each of her shows.
Not a happy morning for: Glenn Close who was great in A Delicate Balance.
All Signs Point to Long Career: Elisabeth Moss, who'll be just fine after Mad Men in any actorly format: stage, tv, big screen
Fast Riser: Remember when Ruth Wilson was just like the quietly ignored suffering wife in things like Saving Mr Banks and The Lone Ranger. Now she's a Globe winner (The Affair) and a Tony nominee. Is Emmy next?

SUPPORTING

BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Max von Essen in "Paris" 

Rooting for: Max Von Essen who... I can't express how hard I fell for him in Paris
But I Realize the Tony Will Go To... Brad Oscar because the Tony voters love those scene-stealing showy comic performers. Especially in this category 
I Don't Get It: Christian Borle, who was just doing Tim Curry. 

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Gigi didn't go over well but Victoria Clark (far left) is always a treat on stage

 

Awww. Adorable Reaction from this year's youngest nominee:

 

So excited I don't know what to do with myself! Must do cartwheels & handstands! Congrats @funhomemusical on Noms!! pic.twitter.com/kYceJYBjTB

— Sydney Lucas (@SydneyLucasNYC) April 28, 2015

 

 

YAAAS! but also Noooo! Can we have a special three way tie for the Fun Home ladies?  
Not a Good Morning for: The female cast of On the Town. At one point I really thought Alysha Umphress could win this for her awesome Hildy. She can cook! But she wasn't even nominated :*( Also where is Veanne Cox who was so deliciously dry in An American in Paris? Maybe this one category needed 10 nominees?

BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY

Skylight reunion

Oh how cute. It's True!...

 

Jenny and Graham #TonyNominees pic.twitter.com/IdW4TPlpuV

— Andrew Kendall (@DepartedAviator) April 28, 2015

 

Oooh: Six nominees which means the voting was real close for that last spot. But who were the two last placers?
Rooting for: I have to abstain as I haven't seen enough of these.  But Matthew Beard was super sweet/fun on the Oscar campaign trail for Imitation Game and I've been scribbling "Nathaniel ♥ Allesandro" in notebooks since the late 90s so... 

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY

Annaleigh Ashford is Awfully Awesome

Rooting For: Anyone. What a collection of fine talents. Ashford made me LOL several times in You Can't Take It With You and Patricia Clarkson is our spirit animal. 
Not a Happy Morning For: Lindsay Duncan (Birdman, Le Weekend) who tore through her part in A Delicate Balance. 

THE REST OF THE NOMINATIONS

 

BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY

Oscar Crossover: Hi Stephen!

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE 

Sting's first Tony nomination

EGOT?: Sting has Grammys and an Emmy. Plus 3 nominations Oscar and now a Tony nomination. But he's still got to win the latter two prizes to make the quartet happen.
Not a Good Morning for: I felt a little bad for Doctor Zhivago's composers this morning. There was some good work buried in a terrible production

BEST SCENIC DESIGN (PLAY)

BEST SCENIC DESIGN (MUSICAL)

WHAT? I am alarmed... okay not alarmed but annoyed, that The Visit isn't here. It's only one set but what a beauty. At least the lighting of that set was nominated.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN (PLAY)

Really?: The Audience. People really just do love Helen Mirren in frumpy royal garb don't they.
Not a Good Morning for:  Clint Ramos, who I thought would win his first Tony nomination for The Elephant Man here.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN (MUSICAL)


Good Category: But I think my vote has to go to An American in Paris

LIGHTING DESIGN (PLAY)

LIGHTING DESIGN (MUSICAL)

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY (both plays and musicals eligible)

Wow: Plays are almost never nominated in this category. It's only happened a few times so congrats to The Curious Incident 

BEST ORCHESTRATIONS

SPECIAL PRIZES

Personal Best & Worsts From Intermittent Theater Going
From the shows I took in this year my favorites were Hand to God (Play), A Delicate Balance (Revival), Fun Home (Musical) and On the Town (Musical Revival) and the worst things I saw were The River (Play - I went for Hugh Jackman and it's the first time I've regretted going to a show for him) and Doctor Zhivago (Musical, reviewed). But take my "bests" with a grain of salt in the non-musical divisions. I usually see a fair representative of what's our there musically but have often missed key "straight plays" - for those of you who aren't into theater that does not refer to sexual orientation but just narrative that aren't musicals.

Hugh Jackman's first Broadway misstep in "The River"

Last Year's Winners (in case you've forgotten)

More Context If You're New To Obsessing Over Theater
Only so many productions can be eligible in each category each year because there are only so many theaters big enough to qualify as "Broadway" (40 of them currently, with 500 seats minimum though most have much more) which is to say that 'Playing on Broadway' means the size of the house you're in and not the street where you live. The largest houses are The Lyric (1938 seats) where On the Town is playing and The Gershwin (1933) where Wicked has been selling out for over a decade. The smallest is the Helen Hayes (597 seats) which is currently empty since Rock of Ages vacated it in January. Further restricting eligibility each year is that not all of those 40 houses are available in any given season since annoying undead shows like Phantom of the Opera, which has been running for (gulp) 27 years, just can't be staked since the tourists keep buying tickets. STOP THAT. I sincerely wish Broadway could put a cap on it a bit like Presidential term-limits. Say, 12 years and ya gotta go because artforms need fresh blood! The other long-running shows hogging space are Chicago (18 years), The Lion King (17 years), Mamma Mia (14 years - but finally closing in the fall. woooo), Wicked (12 years), and Jersey Boys (about to turn 10).

You may have noticed a trend. All of them have been made into movies (or in The Lion King's case, were derived from a movie) except Wicked because they've been exceptionally dumb about striking while the iron was hot. Now in 2015 there is surely Wizard of Oz fatigue given how many Oz-related TV series and movies have exploded in the last 12 years largely because of Wicked's phenomenal success...and because the characters are in the public domain which is no small thing; if you wanna make your own movie about Dorothy Gale, you can!  The musical has earned about $3 billion dollars to date. That's right. Billion. Why they've been sitting on a chance to add an extra billion with a movie version is beyond rational thought. Big screen adaptations do not actually hurt ticket sales of live shows, contrary to family budget sense. Most shows that become movies get a boost (Chicago was declining until the movie arrived for example but the movie plus moving to a smaller theater have kept it open an additional dozen years) even though the economics are weird. Pay $15 to see it at the movies or to own it on DVD or $100+ to see it on Broadway! It all comes down to people loving the familiar, we suppose.

What will you be trying to catch before the Tonys?  

 

 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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