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Jun 6th 2012, 08:56
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offlineAtypical
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They're one of the few publications that do Tony predictions, so I thought it was worth sharing. I'll highlight the major categories/analysis and provide the link for the rest.

Tony Awards 2012: We predict the winners
by Thom Geier


Now is the time for Newsies fans and theater geeks everywhere to seize the day! It’s Tony time! This Sunday, Neil Patrick Harris will be donning his tux once again to host the annual celebration of Broadway’s finest moments. And in a repeat from last year’s NPH-led event, expect another rash of jokes at the expense of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Fellow EW critic Melissa Rose Bernardo and I here offer our predictions in all the Tony categories (you’ll see our names after each of our picks). Disagree? Please let us know who you think will win — or should win — in the comments section. (For more Stage coverage, go to EW.com’s Stage hub.)

Best Play
Clybourne Park (Thom)
Other Desert Cities
(Melissa)
Peter and the Starcatcher
Venus in Fur

It’s one of the strongest years in recent memory for new American plays. While Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities won wide acclaim when it opened last year, I give the edge to Pulitzer winner Clybourne Park.

Best Musical
Leap of Faith
Newsies
(Melissa, Thom)
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Once

This is a two-way race between movie-based hits that each have an underdog story: Once and Newsies. The former is charming but relatively small-scale. And since a sizable number of Tony voters handle Broadway tours throughout the country, a more traditional, broader-based hit like Newsies is likely to win out.

Best Revival of a Play
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (Thom, Melissa)
Gore Vidal’s The Best Man
Master Class
Wit

One of the most acclaimed revivals in years will get its due.

Best Revival of a Musical
Evita
Follies
(Melissa)
The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
(Thom)
Jesus Christ Superstar

Most prognosticators, including Melissa, are picking director Eric Schaeffer’s acclaimed revival of the problematic Stephen Sondheim musical. While the show is now playing in Los Angeles with virtually its entire cast intact, it’s been off Broadway since January—and Schaeffer himself didn’t get a directing nomination. Not so directing nominee Diane Paulus, who’s overcome a storm of Sondheim-led controversy about her reinterpretation of Porgy and Bess and emerged (mostly) triumphant.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
James Corden - One Man, Two Guvnors
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (Melissa, Thom)
James Earl Jones - Gore Vidal’s The Best Man
Frank Langella - Man and Boy
John Lithgow - The Columnist

This race isn’t even close. Attention will be paid.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Nina Arianda - Venus in Fur (Thom)
Tracie Bennett - End of the Rainbow (Melissa)
Stockard Channing - Other Desert Cities
Linda Lavin - The Lyons
Cynthia Nixon - Wit

In a three-way race, I’m picking the ingenue Nina Arianda for her star-making turn in Venus in Fur. But British actress Tracie Bennett also delivers a singular and bravura turn as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow. And you can’t completely rule out Stockard Channing’s delightfully frosty performance as a Republican doyenne in Other Desert Cities.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Danny Burstein - Follies
Jeremy Jordan - Newsies (Melissa)
Steve Kazee - Once (Thom)
Norm Lewis - The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Ron Raines - Follies

This is essentially a two-way race between this season’s rookie of the year, Jeremy Jordan (who also starred in this season’s short-lived Bonnie and Clyde), and the journeyman actor in his first major starring role, Steve Kazee.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Jan Maxwell - Follies
Audra McDonald - The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Melissa, Thom)
Cristin Milioti - Once
Kelli O’Hara - Nice Work If You Can Get It
Laura Osnes - Bonnie & Clyde

I expect Audra McDonald will pick up her fifth Tony Award for another stellar performance in a challenging role.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Christian Borle, Peter and the Starcatcher
Michael Cumpsty, End of the Rainbow
Tom Edden, One Man, Two Guvnors
Andrew Garfield, Death of a Salesman (Melissa, Thom)
Jeremy Shamos, Clybourne Park

Smash star Christian Borle may peel off some votes, but it’s hard to imagine his campy turn as a malaprop-spouting pirate would upset Andrew Garfield’s heartfelt performance as Biff in a dramatic classic.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Linda Emond, Death of a Salesman
Spencer Kayden, Don’t Dress for Dinner
Cella Keenan-Bolger, Peter and the Starcatcher
Judith Light, Other Desert Cities (Melissa, Thom)
Condola Rashad, Stick Fly

A nominee in this category last year for Lombardi, the former star of Who’s the Boss? will finally claim the prize.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Phillip Boykin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Michael Cerveris, Evita (Thom)
David Alan Grier, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Melissa)
Michael McGrath, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Josh Young, Jesus Christ Superstar

The two Porgy and Bess stars are both deserving (and David Alan Grier’s is the flashier of the two), but I fear they may cancel each other out. That leaves Michael Cerveris, a Tony winner in this category for 2004′s Assassins and the strongest element of the new Evita revival.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Elizabeth A. Davis, Once
Jayne Houdyshell, Follies
Judy Kaye, Nice Work If You Can Get It (Melissa, Thom)
Jesse Mueller, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ghost

This category is a face-off between two veterans: Jayne Houdyshell, the Broadway baby of Follies, and Judy Kaye, who literally swings from a chandelier in Nice Work If You Can Get It. Swing for the chandelier!

Best Direction of a Play
Nicholas Hytner, One Man, Two Guvnors
Pam MacKinnon, Clybourne Park
Mike Nichols, Death of a Salesman (Melissa, Thom)
Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, Peter and the Starcatcher

Expect Nichols to accept his ninth Tony.

Best Direction of a Musical
Jeff Calhoun, Newsies (Thom)
Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Diane Paulus, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
John Tiffany, Once (Melissa)

It’s the Newsies vs. Once fight all over again.

See the rest of the predictions and analysis here:

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/06/04/tony-awards-2012-predict-winners/



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Jun 6th 2012, 09:41
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Wow! They are SO Newsies heavy. My picks differ from there's at least 80% so either I'm way off or they are. Lead and Featured Actor are not nearly as slam-dunkish as they are saying for the Death of a Salesman duo. They may certainly both prevail but Borle and Corden are literally nipping at their heels. I could see both Garfield and PSH losing, although my predictions are PSH winning Lead Actor and Borle beating Garfield for Featured.
Jun 6th 2012, 10:14
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Can't believe they totally discount Burstein. I'm picking him for the win.

I also think Michael McGrath is the front-runner for Featured Actor and they discount him as well.

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Jun 6th 2012, 10:26
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Am sticking with Burstein as well.. He doesn't even get a mention?
Jun 6th 2012, 14:52
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offlineCAROL-CHANNING
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Yeah, these predictions are pretty wimpy.. It seems like they haven't even been paying to the awards season this year.

Once has won the other awards.  Even the Drama Desk.    But with their predictions, they make it seem like there is no question that Newsies will take it.

They don't even mention Burstein, who is the frontrunner.

Michael McGrath is the frontrunner for Featured Actor in a musical.

And what on Earth do James Corden and Christian Borle have to do to prove to everyone that they are the frontrunners for Lead and Features actors in a play?  All of the papers seem to call Death of A Salesman a slam dunk in every single category, but I really don't think it is.  I see it taking Revival and director (just because it's Mike Nichols).  The production got very good reviews, but they weren't all the huge, enormous raves that the Tony Predictors are making it out to be. 
Jun 6th 2012, 17:47
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the success in the box office of Death of a Salesman is probably affecting the bets lol
Jun 7th 2012, 12:18
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offlineBalthazar
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I agree that there seems to be some discrepancies in the predictions this year.  Burstein vs. Jordan, McGrath vs. Cerveris.  I'm thinking Danny Burstein & Michael McGrath.  Does anyone know when the NYTimes Poll results hit the newsstands?
Jun 7th 2012, 12:38
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I'll go ahead and post the rest of the predictions:

Best Book of a Musical
Lysistrata Jones
Newsies (Melissa, Thom)
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Once

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Bonnie & Clyde
Newsies (Melissa, Thom)
One Man, Two Guvnors
Peter and the Starcatcher

Yes, the last two nominees are non-musicals. Best Musical nominees Once and Nice Work If You Can Get It were ineligible since their scores were made up of pre-existing material. And the nominators really, really didn’t like Ghost and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. That should mean a win for composer Alan Menken and lyricist Jack Feldman, who wrote a bunch of news songs to supplement their tunes from the 1992 movie Newsies.

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, Evita
Christopher Gattelli, Newsies (Melissa, Thom)
Steven Hoggett, Once
Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It

Newsies boasts some of the most energetic and athletic hoofing seen on stage in years.

Best Scenic Design of a Play
John Lee Beatty, Other Desert Cities
Daniel Ostling, Clybourne Park (Melissa, Thom)
Mark Thompson, One Man, Two Guvnors
Donyale Werle, Peter and the Starcatcher

Donyale Werle’s set for Peter and the Starcatcher is charmingly clever, but Daniel Ostling’s design for Clybourne Park is virtually another character. In the first act, we see a 1959 home in a solid middle-class neighborhood; in act 2, that same home is a graffiti-strewn shell of its former self fifty years later.

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Bob Crowley, Once
Rob Howell and Jon Driscoll, Ghost the Musical
Tobin Ost and Sven Ortel, Newsies (Melissa)
George Tsypin, Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark (Thom)

Say what you will about this $72 million production, there’s no denying the genius of George Tsypin’s sets.

Best Costume Design of a Play
William Ivey Long, Don’t Dress for Dinner
Paul Tazewell, A Streetcar Named Desire
Mark Thompson, One Man, Two Guvnors
Paloma Young, Peter and the Starcatcher (Melissa, Thom)

For her homespun mermaid outfits alone, Paloma Young deserves the prize.

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Follies (Melissa, Thom)
ESosa, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Eiko Ishioka, Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark
Martin Pakledinaz, Nice Work If You Can Get It

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Jeff Croiter, Peter and the Starcatcher (Thom)
Peter Kaczorowski, The Road to Mecca
Brian MacDevitt, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (Melissa)
Kenneth Posner, Other Desert Cities

Death of a Salesman is the classy, artful choice. But Jeff Croiter’s work for Peter and the Starcatcher is showier and more innovative.

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Christopher Akerlind, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Natasha Katz, Follies
Natasha Katz, Once
Hugh Vanstone, Ghost: the Musical (Melissa, Thom)

Though there’s not much love for Ghost overall, Hugh Vanstone is the most deserving for keeping star Richard Fleeshman in a ghostly bluish light throughout the show — even when Fleeshman is dueting with costar Caissie Levy.

Best Sound Design of a Play
Paul Arditti, One Man, Two Guvnors
Scott Lehrer, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Gareth Owen, End of the Rainbow (Thom)
Darron L. West, Peter and the Starcatcher (Melissa)

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Acme Sound Partners, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
Clive Goodwin, Once (Melissa, Thom)
Kai Harada, Follies
Brian Ronan, Nice Work If You Can Get It

Best Orchestrations
William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Melissa)
Bill Elliott, Nice Work If You Can Get It
Martin Lowe, Once (Thom)
Danny Troob, Newsies



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Jun 7th 2012, 13:32
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Tonys take center stage: Who will/should win?

Once again it's time for Broadway to recognize its best and brightest. Contenders at Sunday's Tony Awards include a mixed bag of revivals, some interesting new plays and, predictably, several movie-based musicals. USA TODAY's Elysa Gardner surveys the field and tries to determine which/who will take the prize, and which/who ought to.

Best play

Clybourne Park (Bruce Norris)

Other Desert Cities (Jon Robin Baitz)

Peter and the Starcatcher (Rick Elice)

Venus in Fur (David Ives)

Should win: Other Desert Cities didn't aim to preach or shock; it did something bolder, showing us the funny, frustrating humanity that binds people of different generations and beliefs.

Will win: Clybourne Park's darkly comic study of race relations was more in-your-face — and ultimately as obvious as the nose on it. Still, its audacity was widely hailed (and astutely promoted).

Best musical

Leap of Faith

Newsies

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Once

Should win: It's a thin crop, but Newsies is the best, and the least cynical, of the bunch.

Will win: Champions of the precious, self-congratulatory Once will secure a (narrow) Cinderella victory over Disney.

Best revival of a play

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Gore Vidal's The Best Man

Master Class

Wit

Should/will win: Salesman director Mike Nichols had by far the best material, and he and his starry cast did it heart-wrenching justice.

Best revival of a musical

Evita

Follies

The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Jesus Christ Superstar

Should/will win: The Kennedy Center-based Follies, beautifully directed by Eric Schaeffer (a conspicuous omission among nominees), drew wide praise in its New York incarnation.

Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play

James Corden, One Man, Two Guvnors

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

James Earl Jones, Gore Vidal's The Best Man

Frank Langella, Man and Boy

John Lithgow, The Columnist

Should/will win: Corden's brilliant comic turn could provide an upset, but Hoffman's brutally tragic Willy Loman is the safer bet.

Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play

Nina Arianda, Venus in Fur

Tracie Bennett, End of the Rainbow

Stockard Channing, Other Desert Cities

Linda Lavin, The Lyons

Cynthia Nixon, Wit

Should/will win: All were superb, but Arianda and Bennett gave the most flamboyant performances; Bennett's was poignant to boot, and will prevail.

Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical

Danny Burstein, Follies

Jeremy Jordan, Newsies

Steve Kazee, Once

Norm Lewis, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Ron Raines, Follies

Should win: Whether you bought the newly adapted Porgy or not, Lewis was magnificent in the title role.

Will win: This one's tough. Theater fave Burstein and toothsome young leading men Jordan and Kazee will give Lewis a run for his money. Let's say it'll be Kazee, by a handsome nose.

Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical

Jan Maxwell, Follies

Audra McDonald, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Cristin Milioti, Once

Kelli O'Hara, Nice Work If You Can Get It

Laura Osnes, Bonnie & Clyde

Should/will win: Longtime critical darling Audra McDonald, a four-time winner as featured actress, gave her strongest performance to date and is pretty much a shoo-in.

Best direction of a play

Nicholas Hytner, One Man, Two Guvnors

Pam MacKinnon, Clybourne Park

Mike Nichols, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, Peter and the Starcatcher

Should/will win: Hytner and Nichols both did seamless work with flawless casts, but the latter is unbeatable here.

Best direction of a musical

Jeff Calhoun, Newsies

Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It

Diane Paulus, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

John Tiffany, Once

Should win: Paulus brought guts, heart and, yes, respect to a new interpretation of a beloved classic.

Will win: Once's many admirers will put Tiffany over the top.

Best performance by an actor in a featured role in a play

Christian Borle, Peter and the Starcatcher

Michael Cumpsty, End of the Rainbow

Tom Edden, One Man, Two Guvnors

Andrew Garfield, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Jeremy Shamos, Clybourne Park

Should/will win: Tony voters love few things better than a genuinely robust performance by a film star, particularly a rising star such as Garfield.

Best performance by an actress in a featured role in a play

Linda Emond, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Spencer Kayden, Don't Dress for Dinner

Celia Keenan-Bolger, Peter and the Starcatcher

Judith Light, Other Desert Cities

Condola Rashad, Stick Fly

Should/will win: With great dignity, and without sentimentality, Emond reconfirmed Linda Loman's place at the moral center of Salesman.

Best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical

Phillip Boykin, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Michael Cerveris, Evita

David Alan Grier, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Michael McGrath, Nice Work If You Can Get It

Josh Young, Jesus Christ Superstar

Should/will win: Broadway treasure Cerveris was the best reason to see Evita, and will be acknowledged as such.

Best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical

Elizabeth A. Davis, Once

Jayne Houdyshell, Follies

Judy Kaye, Nice Work If You Can Get It

Jessie Mueller, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever

Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Ghost the Musical

Should/will win: Veteran character actresses Kaye and Houdyshell charmed critics and audiences; Kaye's longer list of principal Broadway roles gives her a slight advantage.

Best book of a musical

Lysistrata Jones (Douglas Carter Beane)

Newsies (Harvey Fierstein)

Nice Work If You Can Get It (Joe DiPietro)

Once (Enda Walsh)

Should win: Fierstein's unapologetically cute libretto for Newsies.

Will win: Walsh's self-consciously cute libretto for Once.

Best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theater

Bonnie & Clyde (Music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black)

Newsies (Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman)

One Man, Two Guvnors (Music and lyrics by Grant Olding)

Peter and the Starcatcher (Wayne Barker, Rick Elice)

Should/will win: Scrooge himself wouldn't deny Newsies composer Menken — a beloved hitmaker, and an also-ran in this category three times before — a victory in this lackluster season.

Best choreography

Rob Ashford, Evita

Christopher Gattelli, Newsies

Steven Hoggett, Once

Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It

Should/will win: Gattelli's breathless dance routines reinforced the youthful exuberance that is Newsies' most valuable asset.

Best orchestrations

William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Bill Elliott, Nice Work If You Can Get It

Martin Lowe, Once

Danny Troob, Newsies

Should/will win: Lowe served Once's folk-pop ditties with such vibrance that you could almost forget how pompous and generic they are.



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Jun 7th 2012, 21:20
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Garfield has the critics previsions and in the gold derby forum too, I hope he prevails!
Jun 8th 2012, 09:12
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2012 Tony Award predictions

If you're betting at home or in the office on the 2012 Tony Awards, follow our picks. We call the winners and losers, down to the last percentile.

by David Cote and Adam Feldman

Predicting the Tony Awards is always an imperfect science. And after a season like 2011–12, with no “Book of Mormon” or “War Horse” to dominate the field, it’s even trickier. That’s why below you’ll find several close races in the major categories. Among musicals and plays, there is no obvious runaway hit, but rather a series of niche shows catering to various tastes and (luckily) finding audiences. For artists and ticket buyers that’s great: It means more options. But for pundits like us, it makes for plenty of nail-biting. Still, we kicked butt last year, so trust TONY's picks.

Best Play

“Clybourne Park” 46%

“Other Desert Cities” 41%

“Peter and the Starcatcher” 12%

“Venus in Fur” 1%

The race: Bruce Norris’s “Clybourne Park” is far superior to Jon Robin Baitz’s soapy soapbox “Other Desert Cities,” but voting will still be closely divided between them. “Clybourne”’s 2011 Pulitzer and more recent opening gives it the edge.

Best Musical

“Once” 48%

”Newsies” 46%

“Nice Work If You Can Get It” 6%

“Leap of Faith” 0%

The race: The biggest, most lucrative musical of the year tends to beat the smaller, artier competition—unless it’s perceived as a show for kids (like “Wicked” and “Mary Poppins”). It’ll be close, but “Once” may well pull an upset over the Disney hit “Newsies.”

Best Revival of a Play

“Death of a Salesman” 80%

“The Best Man” 17%

“Wit” 2%

“Master Class” 1%

The race: Attention has been paid to Mike Nichols’s stunning, utterly faithful remounting of the classic “Salesman.” The production muscles out the worthy but comparatively lightweight “Best Man.”

Best Revival of a Musical

“Follies” 47%

“Porgy and Bess” 42%

“Evita” 9%

“Jesus Christ Superstar” 2%

The race: With “Porgy and Bess” still hobbled by the controversy that preceded its arrival on Broadway, look for “Follies,” that unsentimental sentimental favorite, to win the Tony it deserved 40 years ago.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Death of a Salesman” 51%

James Corden, “One Man, Two Guvnors” 36%

John Lithgow, “The Columnist” 8%

James Earl Jones, “The Best Man” 3%

Frank Langella, “Man and Boy” 2%

The race: Tragedy beats comedy. Even though Corden is a superb clown and works the crowd like a champ, Hoffman’s Willy Loman is a monument splashed with blood, sweat, and tears. The rest, veteran character actors, don’t place.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Nina Arianda, “Venus in Fur” 27%

Tracie Bennett, “End of the Rainbow” 26%

Linda Lavin, “The Lyons” 25%

Stockard Channing, “Other Desert Cities” 21%

Cynthia Nixon, “Wit” 1%

The race: Everyone but Nixon has a real shot in the year’s most competitive race. If Lavin’s and Channing’s Jewish dragon moms cancel each other out, Arianda’s virtuosic, star-making turn could outdazzle Bennett’s overhyped stab at Judy Garland.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Jeremy Jordan, “Newsies” 39%

Steve Kazee, “Once” 36%

Norm Lewis, “Porgy and Bess” 22%

Danny Burstein, “Follies” 12%

Ron Raines, “Follies” 1%

The race: Kazee’s sensitive studliness bumps up the romance in “Once,” but it’s Jordan’s season. He bounced back from “Bonnie & Clyde” to star in a second new musical just months later, and his youthful charisma helped “Newsies” strike gold.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Audra McDonald, “Porgy and Bess” 42%

Jan Maxwell, “Follies” 27%

Cristin Milioti, “Once” 20%

Kelli O’Hara, “Nice Work If You Can Get It” 10%

Laura Osnes, “Bonnie & Clyde” 1%

The race: Even though Milioti crafted one of the most vibrant, quirky characters of the season, the awesomely talented McDonald redefined the problematic Bess. It’s her Tony to lose—and she won’t.

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

Christian Borle, “Peter and the Starcatcher” 41%

Andrew Garfield, “Death of a Salesman” 35%

Jeremy Shamos, “Clybourne Park” 14%

Tom Edden, “One Man, Two Guvnors” 9%

Michael Cumpsty, “End of the Rainbow” 1%

The race: It’s not just Borle enjoying a “Smash” bump; he steals his scenes with furious élan as piratical fop Black Stache. In another year, the hilarious Shamos (or even Edden) might have a shot at it.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Judith Light, “Other Desert Cities” 49%

Linda Emond, “Death of a Salesman” 36%

Celia Keenan-Bolger, “Peter and the Starcatcher” 7%

Spencer Kayden, “Don’t Dress for Dinner” 5%

Condola Rashad, “Stick Fly” 3%

The race: Everyone in the theater industry seems to take a shine to Light, and her sharp performance as a bitter, frazzled alkie in “Other Desert Cities” is a perfect chance to show this consummate pro some love.

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

Michael Cerveris, “Evita” 43%

Phillip Boykin, “Porgy and Bess” 37%

Michael McGrath, “Nice Work if You Can Get It” 11%

David Alan Grier, “Porgy and Bess” 7%

Josh Young, “Jesus Christ Superstar” 2%

The race: The nominators loudly snubbed his “Evita” costars, but Cerveris is poised to win for his strangely soulful Perón—though Boykin deserves it more for his superbly sung and acted Crown.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Judy Kaye, “Nice Work If You Can Get It” 43%

Jayne Houdyshell, “Follies” 35%

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “Ghost” 14%

Jessie Mueller, “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” 7%

Elizabeth A. Davis, “Once” 1%

The race: If the mediocre “Nice Work” gets any love on Tony night, it will be for trouper Judy Kaye’s amusing turn as a Prohibition-era bluenose. There’s plenty of talent among the other contenders, but Kaye clinches it with seniority.



" . . . for once, I get the feeling that I'm right where I belong"

Jun 8th 2012, 09:19
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offlineAtypical
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Best Book of a Musical

“Once,” Enda Walsh 53%

“Newsies,” Harvey Fierstein 44%

“Nice Work If You Can Get It,” Joe DiPietro 2%

“Lysistrata Jones,” Douglas Carter Beane 1%

The race: Tony favorite Harvey Fierstein did a canny job of reworking “Newsies”’ screenplay for the stage, but Walsh’s book—also adapted from a movie—wins for grown-up emotion and structural inventiveness.

Best Original Score

“Newsies,” Alan Menken and Jack Feldman 91%

“Bonnie & Clyde,” Frank Wildhorn and Don Black 7%

“One Man, Two Guvnors,” Grant Olding 1%

“Peter and the Starcatcher,” Wayne Barker and Rick Elice 1%

The race: More a default victory than a stamp of excellence, since Menken and Feldman’s pastiche tunes are decent if formulaic. And what are they up against? Frank Wildhorn’s least crummy score and incidental music. It’s a “Memphis” year.

Best Direction of a Play

Mike Nichols, “Death of a Salesman” 90%

Pam MacKinnon, “Clybourne Park” 5%

Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, “Peter and the Starcatcher” 4%

Nicholas Hytner, “One Man, Two Guvnors” 1%

The race: If Mike Nichols doesn’t win this tacit career-achievement award for his megahit revival, the floor of the Beacon Theatre will open up and swallow every man, woman, and Newsies faux-child whole.

Best Direction of a Musical

John Tiffany, “Once” 43%

Jeff Calhoun, “Newsies” 35%

Diane Paulus, “Porgy and Bess” 17%

Kathleen Marshall, “Nice Work If You Can Get It” 5%

The race: The most organic and adult musical of the season, most agree, is “Once,” and Tiffany’s graceful, tasteful staging beats the corporate “Newsies” and Paulus’s reduced “Porgy.”

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Donyale Werle, “Peter and the Starcatcher” 55%

Daniel Ostling, “Clybourne Park” 34%

John Lee Beatty, “Other Desert Cities” 6%

Mark Thompson, “One Man, Two Guvnors” 5%

The race: “Peter and the Starcatcher”’s actors nearly get upstaged by Werle’s whimsical Victorian toy theater. Resourcefully constructed out of found objects and cloth, the set is festooned with eclectic items, giving the production a perfect sense of children at play.

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

George Tsypin, “Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark” 36%

Bob Crowley, “Once” 23%

Rob Howell and Jon Driscoll, “Ghost” 21%

Tobin Ost and Sven Ortel, “Newsies” 20%

The race: Say what you will about “Spider-Man”—and Lord knows, people have said enough—it is a dazzling spectacle whose physical impressiveness has ensnared thousands of tourists like flies.

Best Costume Design of a Play

Paloma Young, “Peter and the Starcatcher” 68%

Mark Thompson, “One Man, Two Guvnors” 19%

William Ivey Long, “Don’t Dress for Dinner” 9%

Paul Tazewell, “A Streetcar Named Desire” 4%

The race: Continuing “Peter”’s dominance of the visual categories, Paloma Young’s outfits take 19th-century silhouettes—naval uniforms, pirate motley, orphan rags—and give them a stylish modern twist. Historical fantasy takes the prize.

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Gregg Barnes, “Follies” 49%

Eiko Ishioka, “Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark” 43%

Martin Pakledinaz, “Nice Work If You Can Get It” 5%

ESosa, “Porgy and Bess” 3%

The race: The late Ishioka has a strong chance of winning for her ultra-showy cartoon get-ups in “Spider-Man,” but Barnes’s extravagant “Follies” outfits channeled nostalgia for the Ziegfeld era into beautifully evocative forms.

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Jeff Croiter, “Peter and the Starcatcher” 46%

Brian MacDevitt, “Death of a Salesman” 41%

Kenneth Posner, “Other Desert Cities” 9%

Peter Kaczorowski, “The Road to Mecca” 4%

The race: Croiter’s lighting adds essential elucidation to the theatrical hurly-burly of “Peter and the Starcatcher”’s approach to narrative—shaping the action, reflecting the piece’s shifting tones, and creating moments of touching stage magic.

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Natasha Katz, “Once” 38%

Hugh Vanstone, “Ghost” 30%

Natasha Katz, “Follies” 21%

Christopher Akerlind, “Porgy and Bess” 11%

The race: You might think “Once”’s low-key effects (pub gloom, Dublin dawn, a few mood washes) would lose to “Ghost”’s extravagant technical flourishes and high-tech illusions. But Katz’s work is admirably keyed in to the emotional states of the main characters. Plus, there’s plenty of disdain for “Ghost.”

Best Sound Design of a Play

Darron L. West, “Peter and the Starcatcher” 40%

Gareth Owen, “End of the Rainbow” 33%

Scott Lehrer, “Death of a Salesman” 18%

Paul Arditti, “One Man, Two Guvnors” 9%

The race: Plays with a lot of music in them have an edge in this category. And while there’s more high-octane belting in “End of the Rainbow,” and more subtle grace notes in “Death of a Salesman,” Darron L. West’s inventive, layered soundscape for “Peter” wins.

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Clive Goodwin, “Once” 47%

Kai Harada, “Follies” 44%

Acme Sound Partners, “Porgy and Bess” 7%

Brian Ronan, “Nice Work If You Can Get It” 2%

The race: “Follies” had more noticeable cues, but Goodwin’s impeccable design keeps “Once” from sounding mushy, integrating every onstage instrument into a warm, clean whole.

Best Choreography

Christopher Gattelli, “Newsies” 53%

Rob Ashford, “Evita” 34%

Steven Hoggett, “Once” 8%

Kathleen Marshall, “Nice Work If You Can Get It” 5%

The race: If this race were based on dance that saves a show, then Ashford’s smart, Latin-flavored moves for the underwhelming “Evita” would nab the gold. But Gattelli’s jubilant newsboy numbers—athletic, balletic, telling a story of boys becoming men—will make the Monday-morning headlines.

Best Orchestrations

Martin Lowe, “Once” 43%

William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke, “Porgy and Bess” 30%

Danny Troob, “Newsies” 19%

Bill Elliott, “Nice Work If You Can Get It” 8%

The race: Brohn and Jahnke’s artful reduction of the operatic Gershwin score takes orchestral talent, but there’s too little love for the musicalized “Porgy and Bess”— whereas Martin Lowe did an outstanding job of expanding some spare folk-rock tunes for a Broadway ensemble.

The 2012 Tony Awards will be broadcast on CBS Sun 10 at 8pm..



" . . . for once, I get the feeling that I'm right where I belong"

Jun 10th 2012, 10:30
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offlineBalthazar
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Coming from Lexington, Kentucky, I'd like to note that Steve Kazee has received quite a bit of press here.  Today's newspaper lists Jeremy Jordan & Norm Lewis as his prime competition (Danny Burstein & Ron Raines are noted only parenthetically as modest contenders). This seems to align with TIME OUT NY's take on this race.