Luckystott

2004-05-11 - 10:19 a.m.

Three words for you, people:

Tonys. June. Sixth.

Okay, I was a really poor actress lady for most of this year. I was working part time and auditioning full time so I didn't have too much time for lofty pursuits like going to the the-ah-tah. Also? No sugah-daddy to pay for the lofty pursuits. BUT --I read tons of reviews while pretending to work at work, so I feel pretty knowledgeable. And I have some favorites.

Here are my thoughts:

Best Play:
Anna in the Tropics
Frozen
I Am My Own Wife
The Retreat From Moscow

I think I Am My Own Wife will take it. Anna and Retreat closed months ago. Frozen is a really good play�but IAMOW is a really tight one man show. And it has received lots of good publicity. Frozen? Weeeeeell, it's about a pedophile. That tends to turn people off.

Best Musical:
Avenue Q
Caroline, or Change
The Boy from Oz
Wicked

Wicked will take it. I actually saw this one! It was good�.not phenomenal, but quite good. Putting this show against the others is like putting a summer blockbuster against a teensy little indie. No contest. There was just way more money put into this show. Boy From Oz doesn�t count � as Hugh Jackman IS the show. He�ll get Best Actor in a Musical�so let�s give Best Musical to Wicked.

Best Revival of a Musical:
Assassins
Big River
Fiddler on the Roof
Wonderful Town

I hope it�s Wonderful Town. This show is about NYC and it is so old fashioned and lovely. I hope it wins so it will run long enough for me to see it when my parents visit this summer.

Best Revival of a Play:
A Raisin in the Sun
Henry IV
Jumpers
King Lear

I hope Jumpers wins because it is kinda quirky and I don�t really have $ to see it right now. But if it wins an award it might stick around longer. I have to say, it�s doubtful, though. It�s playing at the Brooks Atkinson and that theatre is freakin� CURSED, man! Nothing seems to stay there for very long. So. I wish it well. After all, Shakespeare will always be done somewhere and Raisin has Puffy, er, Mr. Combs to get butts in the seats.

Best Lead Actor in a Play:
Kevin Kline, Henry IV
Frank Langella, Match
Jefferson Mays, I Am My Own Wife
Christopher Plummer, King Lear
Simon Russell Beale, Jumpers

Jefferson Mays will win�even though Kevin Kline did that whole �be fat and ugly ala Charlize Theron because that�s what serious actors do to get awards� thing quite successfully. Secretly? I�m sending good vibes to Christopher Plummer because�I lurve him! I think he�s the reason why I am a spinster. I fell in love with him watching �The Sound of Music� when I was five. So handsome, so distinguished�so�distant. But I can change him! I know I can!! I can capture his heart and make him love again!! Sigh. This is the part where I pause for a moment and allow my inner-Freud to examine my chain of fools: Yep. Just what I suspected. A long line of older, gorgeous, highly intelligent yet emotionally unavailable bachelors. Coincidence? I think not.

Best Featured Actor in a Play:
Tom Aldrege, Twentieth Century
Ben Chaplin,The Retreat from Moscow
Aiden Gillen, The Caretaker
Omar Metwally, Sixteen Wounded
Brian F. O�Byrne, Frozen

I am at a lost here. I�m apt to favor Chaplin because he�s the prettiest�but O�Byrne ought to take it home for playing such a horrible guy eight times a week.

Best Lead Actress in a Play:
Eileen Atkins, The Retreat from Moscow
Tovah Feldshuh, Golda�s Balcony
Anne Heche, Twentieth Century
Swoosie Kurtz, Frozen
Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun

Geez, tough pick here. All these women got great reviews. Even Anne Heche! I think it will come down to Kurtz and Rashad. I�d be happy for either one.

Best Featured Actress in a Play:
Essie Davis, Jumpers
Sanaa Lathan, A Raisin in the Sun
Margo Martindale, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Audra McDonald, A Raisin in the Sun
Daphne Rubin-Vega, Anna in the Tropics

I keep hearing about how awesome Audra McDonald is and how she somehow makes Sean Comb�s look like a good actor. For that, I think she will take home the Tony.

Best Lead Actress in a Musical:
Kristin Chenoweth, Wicked
Stephanie D�Abruzzo, Avenue Q
Idina Menzel, Wicked
Donna Murphy, Wonderful Town
Tonya Pinkins, Caroline or Change

Grrrr! Natually they pit the two leads from Wicked against each other. Now � watch -- we�ll be inundated with news articles about how they are both up for the same award (dum-dum-Duuuum), but don�t worry because they are really �supportive� of each other. Blah-dee-blah. All that publicity makes me automatically cancel them out. The Tonys don�t ever really MEAN anything�so I demand more spotlight for Tonya Pinkins or Stephanie D�Abruzzo! I saw Avenue Q and just loved Stephanie�s work. I heard less than stellar things about Caroline, or Change as a whole�but heard Tonya was, like, out there and fearless. So rock on, underdogs!! D�Abruzzo or Pinkins get my support.

Best Featured Actress in a Musical:
Beth Fowler, Boy from Oz
Isabel Keating, Boy from Oz
Anika Noni Rose, Caroline or Change
Jennifer Westfeldt, Wonderful Town
Karen Ziemba, Never Gonna Dance

I think it will being one of the grande dames from Boy from Oz. They always bestow an �honor� Tony to an �elder�...ever notice that? I don�t mean that to be snotty. Their work is as good as everyone elses�but they get the award out of respect. I am secretly cheering for Westfeldt. She needs to accept her award and move back to LA so my friend Heather Spore can play her part in Wonderful Town!

Best Lead Actor in a Musical:
Hunter Foster, Little Shop of Horrors
Hugh Jackman, Boy From Oz
Alred Molina, Fiddler on the Roof
Euan Morton, Taboo
John Tartaglia, Avenue Q

Bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, man, I feel so bad for the rest of the them�the winner is SO Hugh Jackman.

Best Featured Actor in a Musical:
John Cariani, Fiddler on the Roof
Michael Cerveris, Assassins
Raul Esparza, Taboo
Michael McElroy, Big River
Denis O�Hare, Assassins

My girlfriends and I decided that Cerveris gets the prize�just for being HOT.

Best Director of a Play:
Doug Hughes, Frozen
Moises Kaufman, I Am My Own Wife
David Leveaux, Jumpers
Jack O�Brien

I really think IAMOW will win whenever possible. So, Moises Kaufman.

Best Director of a Musical:
Joe Mantello, Assassins
Kathleen Marshall, Wonderful Town
Jason Moore, Avenue Q
George C. Wolfe, Caroline, or Change

I read and also heard from friends that direction-wise, Caroline and Assassins were a bit bland. So, my vote is split between Wonderful Town and Avenue Q, both of which are cute and clever! I personally hope it goes to Marshall for her big splashy revival. She did it really tight and fresh. That can be hard to pull off with old material. Avenue Q was awesome, but it's really more about the songs than anything else. Honestly? I think we might be looking at an "honor" trophy for George C. Wolfe. Caroline, or Change is up against serious contenders in other categories. And I have a feeling it will win one award. Just enough to stay open for the summer.

Best Choreography:
Wayne Cilento, Wicked
Kathleen Marshall, Wonderful Town
Jerry Mitchell, Never Gonna Dance
Anthony Van Laast and Farah Khan, Bombay Dreams

Bombay Dreams. My mom LOVED this show. She left the theatre and went straight to Virgin Records and bought the CD. From what I understand, it doesn�t have much to offer besides TONS of energy � which comes across loud and clear in big production numbers. Shakalaka baby!!

Best Book of a Musical:
Winnie Holzman, Wicked
Tony Kushner, Caroline, or Change
Martin Sherman, Nick Enright, Boy from Oz
Jeff Whitty, Avenue Q

Winnie Holzman will probably win. And her script is fairly smart�but I had trouble with the deus ex machina ending to Act 2. It felt really rushed to me. Tough gig. The �real� book of Wicked (by Gregory Maguire) is so nuanced. How to fit all that into a 2 � hour musical? Very difficult. But she�s won awards for seriously good TV shows and she�ll probably win here too.

Best Original Score:
Boy George, Taboo
Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, Avenue Q
Stephen Schwartz, Wicked
Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner, Caroline, or Change

Avenue Q!!! The best thing about this show is the HILARIOUS SONGS.

Best Orchestrations:
Paul Bogaev, Bombay Dreams
William David Brohn, Wicked
Michael Starobin, Assassins
Larry Hochman, Fiddler on the Roof

I vote for Fiddler because I think the music in this show is just gorgeous, gorgeous, GORGEOUS. I haven�t seen the revival yet, but I hope Larry Hochman did it proud.

Best Scenic Design:
Ralph Funicello, Henry IV
Eugene Lee, Wicked
Tom Pye, Fiddler

Um�stab in the dark. I am going for Henry IV. Believe it or not, the set got a nice mention in the review in Time Out New York. And Time Out doesn�t suffer fools. As for the other two? Time Out didn�t care for the minimalist set for Fiddler and I was non-plussed by the sets for Wicked.

Best Costume Design:
Jess Goldstein, Henry IV
Susan Hilferty, Wicked
Mike Nicholls and Bobby Pearce, Taboo
Mark Thompson

Okay � I do know clothes!!! Wicked is my fave. Awesome costumes. My one complaint is the regretfully ill-fitting dress Kristin wears for the Emerald City number.

(Photo by Joan Marcus)

Seriously�note to costume designer: stop flattering the star. She�s not a size four�no matter what she says (at least not on top.) Sheesh. They keep using this picture for publicity purposes and I CANNOT STAND the fit thru the bodice on that yellow dress. Ack!

Best Lighting Design:
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, Assassins
Brian Mac Devitt, Fiddler on the Roof
Brian MacDevitt, Henry IV
Kenneth Posner, Wicked

Huh? I don�t know. I think maybe Assassins? I saw production stills from this one and it involved lots of white Christmas light framing mirrors just like the finale in A Chorus Line. Twinkle-rific!

So that�s what I think of the 2004 nominations. Unfortunately, I�ll be taping the Tonys this year, since I have a choir performance at church (dammit!). After the show, I will revisit this entry and see how close I got to picking the winners.

Tawdry Tuesday Tidbit: I think that yellow dress has given us PLENTY of tawdry for today.

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