2019 Tony Award Nominees

edjames · April 30, 2019

And the nominees are:

BEST PLAY

Choir Boy
The Ferryman
Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
Ink
What the Constitution Means to Me

BEST MUSICAL

Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
Beetlejuice
Hadestown
The Prom
Tootsie

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY

Paddy Considine, The Ferryman
Bryan Cranston, Network
Jeff Daniels, To Kill a Mockingbird
Adam Driver, Burn This
Jeremy Pope, Choir Boy

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY

Annette Bening, Arthur Miller's All My Sons
Laura Donnelly, The Ferryman
Elaine May, The Waverly Gallery
Janet McTeer, Bernhardt/Hamlet
Laurie Metcalf, Hillary and Clinton
Heidi Schreck, What the Constitution Means to Me

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
- Brooks Ashmanskas, The Prom
- Derrick Baskin, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
- Alex Brightman, Beetlejuice
- Damon Daunno, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
- Santino Fontana, Tootsie
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
- Stephanie J. Block, The Cher Show
- Caitlin Kinnunen, The Prom
- Beth Leavel, The Prom
- Eva Noblezada, Hadestown
- Kelli O'Hara, Kiss Me, Kate
BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
- Arthur Miller's All My Sons
- The Boys in the Band
- Burn This
- Torch Song
- The Waverly Gallery
BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
- Kiss Me, Kate
- Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
- Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations , Dominique Morisseau
  - Beetlejuice, Scott Brown & Anthony King
  - Hadestown, Anaïs Mitchell
  - The Prom, Bob Martin & Chad Beguelin
  - Tootsie, Robert Horn
  [*]BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE
  - Be More Chill, Music & Lyrics: Joe Iconis
  - Beetlejuice, Music & Lyrics: Eddie Perfect
  - Hadestown, Music & Lyrics: Anaïs Mitchell
  - The Prom, Music: Matthew Sklar, Lyrics: Chad Beguelin
  - To Kill a Mockingbird, Music: Adam Guettel
  - Tootsie, Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek
  [*]BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
  - Bertie Carvel, Ink
  - Robin De Jesús, The Boys in the Band
  - Gideon Glick, To Kill a Mockingbird
  - Brandon Uranowitz, Burn This
  - Benjamin Walker, Arthur Miller's All My Sons
  [*]BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
  - Fionnula Flanagan, The Ferryman
  - Celia Keenan-Bolger, To Kill a Mockingbird
  - Kristine Nielsen, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
  - Julie White, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
  - Ruth Wilson, King Lear
  [*]BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
  - André De Shields, Hadestown
  - Andy Grotelueschen, Tootsie
  - Patrick Page, Hadestown
  - Jeremy Pope, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
  - Ephraim Sykes, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
  [*]BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
  - Lilli Cooper, Tootsie
  - Amber Gray, Hadestown
  - Sarah Stiles, Tootsie
  - Ali Stroker, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
  - Mary Testa, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
  [*]BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY
  - Miriam Buether, To Kill a Mockingbird
  - Bunny Christie, Ink
  - Rob Howell, The Ferryman
  - Santo Loquasto, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
  - Jan Versweyveld, Network
  [*]BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
  - Robert Brill and Peter Nigrini, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
  - Peter England, King Kong
  - Rachel Hauck, Hadestown
  - Laura Jellinek, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
  - David Korins, Beetlejuice
  [*]BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY
  - Rob Howell, The Ferryman
  - Toni-Leslie James, Bernhardt/Hamlet
  - Clint Ramos, Torch Song
  - Ann Roth, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
  - Ann Roth, To Kill a Mockingbird
  [*]BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
  - Michael Krass, Hadestown
  - William Ivey Long, Beetlejuice
  - William Ivey Long, Tootsie
  - Bob Mackie, The Cher Show
  - Paul Tazewell, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
  [*]
  - BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY
    - Neil Austin, Ink
    - Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
    - Peter Mumford, The Ferryman
    - Jennifer Tipton, To Kill a Mockingbird
    - Jan Versweyveld and Tal Yarden, Network
    [*]BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
    - Kevin Adams, The Cher Show
    - Howell Binkley, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
    - Bradley King, Hadestown
    - Peter Mumford, King Kong
    - Kenneth Posner and Peter Nigrini, Beetlejuice
    [*]BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY
    - Adam Cork, Ink
    - Scott Lehrer, To Kill a Mockingbird
    - Fitz Patton, Choir Boy
    - Nick Powell, The Ferryman
    - Eric Sleichim, Network
    [*]BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
    - Peter Hylenski, Beetlejuice
    - Peter Hylenski, King Kong
    - Steve Canyon Kennedy, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
    - Drew Levy, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
    - Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz, Hadestown
    [*]BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
    - Rupert Goold, Ink
    - Sam Mendes, The Ferryman
    - Bartlett Sher, To Kill a Mockingbird
    - Ivo van Hove, Network
    - George C. Wolfe, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
    [*]BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
    - Rachel Chavkin, Hadestown
    - Scott Ellis, Tootsie
    - Daniel Fish, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
    - Des McAnuff, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
    - Casey Nicholaw, The Prom
    [*]BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
    - Camille A. Brown, Choir Boy
    - Warren Carlyle, Kiss Me, Kate
    - Denis Jones, Tootsie
    - David Neumann, Hadestown
    - Sergio Trujillo, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
    [*]BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
    - Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose, Hadestown
    - Simon Hale, Tootsie
    - Larry Hochman, Kiss Me, Kate
    - Daniel Kluger, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
    - Harold Wheeler, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations
[*]

edjames · April 30, 2019

snubs and surprises....

Tony Award Nominations 2019: Snubs and Surprises

You know who was nominated. But who got left out? And who might have been startled to find his or her name on Tuesday morning’s Tonys list? Here’s a guide to the day’s snubs and surprises:

A Prolific Producer’s Imperfect Day

Scott Rudin brought a remarkable five plays to Broadway this season, and the nominators were not wowed by all of them. The shock was their decision to leave out “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a costly and heavily promoted production that has been selling strongly at the box office, for best new play. It did get nine nominations, including for three of its performers, but Aaron Sorkin, whose adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel prompted a brief legal battle, was snubbed.

Lucas Hnath’s “Hillary and Clinton” received only one nomination (for Laurie Metcalf as its star) and the revival of “King Lear” Mr. Rudin produced received only one, too — and not for 82-year-old Glenda Jackson in the title role.

Instead, the riskiest of Mr. Rudin’s productions — the bloody vaudeville “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus,” by the downtown favorite Taylor Mac — did surprisingly well, scooping up seven nominations. And Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery” earned nods for best revival of a play and for Elaine May as lead actress.

Not Everyone’s a Media Critic

The stage adaptation of “Network” is, like “Mockingbird,” a commercial hit, but scored no nod for best play. The kinetic, video-heavy production has been celebrated mostly for its central (and Tony-nominated) performance by Bryan Cranston. The show’s polarizing director, Ivo van Hove, was nominated as well.

“Ink,” another play about the news media that originated in London, fared better, however: This drama by James Graham about an early chapter in Rupert Murdoch’s career received five nominations, including best play and best director.

“The Lifespan of a Fact,” which starred Daniel Radcliffe as a magazine fact checker, didn’t get any nominations.

Limited Love for ‘Cher’

“The Cher Show,” a jukebox musical about you-know-who, scored notice for its leading lady, Stephanie J. Block, its glittery costumer, Bob Mackie, and its lighting designer, Kevin Adams, but not for the show itself or for other figures on its creative team. The musical, backed by the “Hamilton” lead producer Jeffrey Seller, has been selling well but not amazingly, and this is a show that could benefit from a strong musical performance on the awards broadcast.

A Split Verdict on Topicality

“What the Constitution Means to Me,” Heidi Schreck’s autobiographical reflection on gender and American law, has benefited from perfect timing, arriving on the scene amid the #MeToo movement and the contentious battle over President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

But “American Son,” a Kerry Washington-backed play about the fraught relationship between young black men and the police, got no nominations.

Zeroed Out

Nine shows were completely overlooked by the nominators. The immediate commercial implications are significant only for “Pretty Woman,” a stage adaptation of the film, with music by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, that has been doing reasonably well at the box office despite unfavorable reviews.

edjames · May 1, 2019

NYPost opines today:

The 2019 Tony nominations are packed with burns and snubs

And here I thought “Mean Girls” opened last season!

The 2019 Tony Award nominations were announced Tuesday morning, and instead of its usual Celebration of Theater mood, we were treated to a series of catty snubs and wrist-slaps.

The shocks were in such abundance that the announcement event’s host Gayle King went rogue and began asking actors Bebe Neuwirth and Brandon Victor Dixon how they felt about “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Network” — two major contenders — being left out of the Best Play category. As Oprah would say, “GAYLE!”

The exclusion of “Mockingbird” from the top spot was the cruelest page ripped from the Tony Committee’s Burn Book. Aaron Sorkin’s drama, which before 8:30 a.m. was the favorite to win, otherwise managed a hefty nine nods including Actor (Jeff Daniels), Featured Actor (Gideon Glick) and Featured Actress (Celia Keenan-Bolger).

The most likely Best Play winner is now the British import “The Ferryman.”

The next cold shoulder was for Glenda Jackson — the British stage legend who won Best Actress in a Play last year — going unrecognized for taking on the title role in “King Lear.” That production’s only nom was Ruth Wilson for Featured Actress. The revival of a play race is now between “The Waverly Gallery” and “Torch Song,” both of which closed months ago, and a different icon, Elaine May, should go home with the trophy for Leading Actress in a Play.

On the warpath, the committee then decided that the bulk of the fall season never happened: “Head Over Heels,” “Straight White Men,” “Gettin’ The Band Back Together,” “The Nap,” “American Son,” “Lifespan of a Fact” and most glaringly, “Pretty Woman: The Musical,” the only show still running, got zero nominations.

The situation isn’t much better for the struggling $35 million behemoth “King Kong,” which scored nods only for Set, Lights, Sound and a special award for its monkey. Can’t exactly slap those up on the marquee. The teen musical “Be More Chill” got a shout-out for Joe Iconis’ score, but the committee much preferred the season’s other high school-themed show, “The Prom,” which got seven nods including Best Musical.

The Best Revival of a Musical race became a bit clearer — director Daniel Fish’s revisionist “Oklahoma!” got 11 nominations, while the standard “Kiss Me, Kate” only received four. But a victory for the controversial Rodgers and Hammerstein show is not a certainty: The 48-member Tony Committee is not the most indicative sampling of the 800 or so Tony voters nationwide.

One show that’s laughing at its haters today is “Beetlejuice.” The show received a critical drubbing when it opened last week, but is now a Best Musical nominee, as is “Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations.” Its brilliant nominated Featured Actor, Jeremy Pope, also snagged a nod in the Best Actor in a Play category for “Choir Boy.” He’ll be up against Daniels, Bryan Cranston (“Network”), Paddy Considine (“The Ferryman”) and Adam Driver (“Burn This”).

Joining “The Prom,” “Beetlejuice” and “Ain’t Too Proud” is the musical “Hadestown,” which didn’t get a single nomination at the British Olivier Awards in April, but led the Tonys pack with 14 nods. It’s in a close battle with the more traditional comedy “Tootsie,” which got 11, including nods for its terrific actors Santino Fontana, Sarah Stiles and Andy Grotelueschen.

+ *purplekow* · May 1, 2019

NYPost opines today:

\

The NYPost and opines in the same sentence. Who would have opined it?

+ *BenjaminNicholas* · May 1, 2019

I hope The Prom cleans up. It's a brilliant, happy little show.

Beetlejuice was complete crap. I haven't seen that much wasted talent on one stage in a long, long time. The design of the show is interesting (albeit, in a theme park way), but the material is garbage.

Clearly, I'm in the minority on this, as the audience was whooping and screaming like it was an NFL game throughout.

#TheNewBroadway

handiacefailure · June 6, 2019

I was surprised Be More Chill didn't receive any nomrinations

bostonman · June 6, 2019

I'm putting my hopes on Hadestown for best musical, or at least best score. From what I've heard of all the new scores so far, this is the most inventive IMO.

IMO, the only sure prediction is that Oklahoma will win best musical revival. My feeling is this - it would seem that Kiss Me Kate is a very decent revival, with a solid performance by a veritable star in the female lead. But I haven't really heard much excitement for the production at all. But love it or hate it, Oklahoma has created a huge huge buzz. For some, it's a welcome reinvention, for others, it's tantamount to what's called "regietheatre" in the opera world, which is not a compliment lol. But it's a piece with a daring theatrical vision, whereas this Kate seems very safe - and even a bit sanitized in its attempt to clean up the misogyny inherent in the original. A good revival, but maybe not a distinguished one.

So, regardless of individual feelings for the show, I tend to think that Oklahoma will win for daring to do what it does, whereas Kate will be acknowledged for being a solid show, but ultimately a merely safe remounting. Had there been other choices along with these two, there might have been more to go on than this one aspect of comparison - but with just these 2 shows, I think that comparison is inevitable.

We shall see...

RyanDean · June 6, 2019

Though I fear Tootsie will take it, I'm pulling for Hadestown -- which I suspect will snag LOTS of down-ticket trophies.

That said, it wouldn't make me mad if TheProm did pull an AvenueQ-style upset for Best Musical.

MscleLovr · June 6, 2019

the musical “Hadestown,” which didn’t get a single nomination at the British Olivier Awards in April, but led the Tonys pack with 14 nods.

I'm putting my hopes on Hadestown for best musical, or at least best score. From what I've heard of all the new scores so far, this is the most inventive IMO.

Thanks for posting a very interesting report and commentary @edjames

I agree with the Olivier Awards nominating committee and I disagree with @bostonman. I saw Hadestown in London and tho I enjoy musicals very much, I found it boring and the score repetitive

edjames · June 7, 2019

Some interesting observations in today's NYPost....

Forget the Tony Awards: Here are Broadway’s worst moments this season

Broadway raked in $1.8 billion at the box office this past year — and some of us want our money back.

Overhyped performances, silly plots and sheer, WTF awfulness made us groan into our overpriced, sippy-cup cocktails. Which is why, ahead of Broadway’s annual salute to itself — Sunday night’s Tony Awards ceremony at Radio City Music Hall, broadcast live at 8 p.m. on CBS — we give you . . . the Groany Awards.

Most misguided mashup

“Our Lips Our Sealed”! “We Got the Beat”! “Cool Jerk”! What ideal ditties for a big, fat summer Broadway hit, you’d think. Well, the bizarre, money-draining Go-Go’s musical “Head Over Heels” pairs the beloved songs with a 16th-century story by Sir Philip Sidney that no tourist has ever heard of — and audiences didn’t go-go.

Biggest bait and switch

Walk down 50th Street and you’ll see the marquee at the Circle in the Square Theatre: “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!” You sit waiting to find out if the farmer and the cowman will be friends, but instead you’re tortured by director Daniel Fish’s version of that beloved musical — one featuring a blood-soaked wedding dress, neon green lights and a nightmarish dream ballet.

Most regrettable encore

One year after her Tony-winning turn in “Three Tall Woman,” Glenda Jackson returned in a gender-bending “King Lear.” The problem lies not in that she plays the king, but how: disconnected and shrill, barking her lines as if each were a soliloquy. Dear Ms. Jackson, you’re not in Parliament anymore.

Worst example of a parallel universe

From Lucas Hnath, writer of the infinitely superior “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” came the head-scratcher “Hillary and Clinton.” Question: If Hill and Bill look and sound nothing like their real-life counterparts, why bring in a ringer for Barack?

Musical least ready for prime time

Not since Suzanne Somers appalled us with “The Blonde in the Thunderbird” has anything as inept as “Gettin’ the Band Back Together” played Broadway. Tacky, derivative and jammed with Jersey jokes, it opened with its producer trying to rally the crowd like a bad bar mitzvah DJ.

Grossest sound effect

No contest: the farts issuing from the flatulent corpses in “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.” Nathan Lane, giving his customary 150 percent, seems amused, but many theatergoers looked queasy. No intermission, no escape.

Most pointless foreplay

It’s only 20 minutes or so before Adam Driver explodes into “Burn This.” Until then, a meandering story about a funeral and a tedious discussion of writing make time stand still. Even a playwright as wonderful as Lanford Wilson could have used an editor. Or a delete key.

Blandest PC rewrite . . .

Shakespeare was a genius. Amanda Green? Not so much. To make this season’s “Kiss Me, Kate!” more post-#MeToo friendly, she neutered some of the Bard’s barbs and has Kate slapping around Petruchio. Equality? We say spousal abuse.

. . . and a reason to get the hook!

“Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” Cole Porter’s classic name check of all the Bard’s plays, usually leaves the audience wanting more. Not in this “Kiss Me, Kate!”: Each time the singing goons barge back onstage, you want to kick ’em right in the Coriolanus.

Worst musical by Eddie Perfect

This is a tough one. The unfortunately named Australian composer Eddie Perfect made his Broadway debut this season — twice — with a pair of duds: “King Kong” and “Beetlejuice.” But while the monkey musical slipped on a banana peel in nearly every regard, it’s the foul-mouthed, coke-sniffing “Beetlejuice” that’s least perfect.

Most ear-splitting sound design

The cult-y teen show “Be More Chill” brought out the cranky old person in every theatergoer over the age of 16, with its ludicrously high decibel levels. It’s hard to care about any characters when you’re at a Twisted Sister concert.

Silliest update

A few insensitive old stories need to be updated for changing times, sure. But those needed fixes shouldn’t get laughs, like the “King Kong” character Ann Darrow does when she refuses to scream like a victim on her film set. Really, guys? Heck, if a 2-ton gorilla ran at Arnold Schwarzenegger, he’d squeal too.

bostonman · June 7, 2019

Walk down 50th Street and you’ll see the marquee at the Circle in the Square Theatre: “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!”

Hey - at least it indeed is "Rodgers & Hammerstein" - as opposed to that rather idiotically ersatz-hip "Rodgers + Hammerstein" that graces the recent Broadway (and now touring) production of Cinderella. Annoys the hell out of me.

+ *WilliamM* · June 7, 2019

Hey - at least it indeed is "Rodgers & Hammerstein" - as opposed to that rather idiotically ersatz-hip "Rodgers + Hammerstein" that graces the recent Broadway (and now touring) production of Cinderella. Annoys the hell out of me.

My concern: in the next production of South Pacific, Cable may be singing I am going to wash the man right out of my hair.

bostonman · June 7, 2019

My concern: in the next production of South Pacific, Cable may be singing I am going to wash the man right out of my hair.

Ha! In most productions I've seen, most of the male chorus members could easily have sung that. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

+ *WilliamM* · June 7, 2019

Ha! In most productions I've seen, most of the male chorus members could easily have sung that. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I saw the Lincoln Center production twice. Once with Bernice Sanders from the original cast of the musical. Just an accident, I was expecting critical comments. but she loved the revival. Me too.

bostonman · June 7, 2019

I saw the Lincoln Center production twice. Once with Bernice Sanders from the original cast of the musical. Just an accident, I was expecting critical comments. but she loved the revival. Me too.

I would agree with you (I saw the televised performance). Except for the men playing Cable - and that seemed to be because of how Bartlett Sher directed the character to be played. Very odd interpretation, which to me made the character much less sympathetic from the beginning (instead of that happening in the aftermath of his affair with Liat, which does get ugly.) Andrew Samonsky (on the broadcast) at least sang Cable very well, if you ignored that dark take on the character. Matthew Morrison, who is just right for scores like Hairspray (in which he was perfect) was too "poppy" in his rendition of "Younger Than Springtime" for me.

But yes, the rest of the cast was quite good, and I liked the production. I still think the show would work so much better with much less of Luther Billis (IMO the most embarrassingly UNfunny "comic foil" in all the R&H shows), but Danny Burstein pulled it off better than I've often seen.

+ *WilliamM* · June 8, 2019

Miss Sanders was a friend of Richard Rodgers. She was in Annie Get Your Gun, The Sound of Music and Jennie. Nice to have friends.

bostonman · June 8, 2019

My concern: in the next production of South Pacific, Cable may be singing I am going to wash the man right out of my hair.

By the way, don't forget that Emile DOES sing it.

And now, back to the 2019 Tony awards...

edjames · June 10, 2019

And the winners are:

2019 Tony Awards Winners:

Best Musical

Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations

Beetlejuice

Hadestown **Winner**

The Prom

Tootsie

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Stephanie J. Block, The Cher Show **Winner**

Caitlin Kinnunen, The Prom

Beth Leavel, The Prom

Eva Noblezada, Hadestown

Kelli O'Hara, Kiss Me, Kate

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Brooks Ashmanskas, The Prom

Derrick Baskin, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations

Alex Brightman, Beetlejuice

Damon Daunno, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

Santino Fontana, Tootsie **Winner**

Best Play

Choir Boy Author: Tarell Alvin McCraney

The Ferryman Author: Jez Butterworth**Winner**

Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus Author: Taylor Mac

Ink Author: James Graham

What the Constitution Means to Me Author: Heidi Schreck

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Paddy Considine, The Ferryman

Bryan Cranston, Network **Winner**

Jeff Daniels, To Kill a Mockingbird

Adam Driver, Burn This

Jeremy Pope, Choir Boy

Best Revival of a Musical

Kiss Me, Kate

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! **Winner**

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Be More Chill - Music & Lyrics: Joe Iconis

Beetlejuice - Music & Lyrics: Eddie Perfect

Hadestown - Music & Lyrics: Anaïs Mitchell **Winner**

The Prom - Music: Matthew Sklar, Lyrics: Chad Beguelin

To Kill a Mockingbird - Music: Adam Guettel

Tootsie - Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek

Best Direction of a Play

Rupert Goold, Ink

Sam Mendes, The Ferryman **Winner**

Bartlett Sher, To Kill a Mockingbird

Ivo van Hove, Network

George C. Wolfe, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus

Best Revival of a Play

Arthur Miller's All My Sons

The Boys in the Band Author: Mart Crowley **Winner**

Burn This

Torch Song Author: Harvey Fierstein

The Waverly Gallery Author: Kenneth Lonergan

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Lilli Cooper, Tootsie

Amber Gray, Hadestown

Sarah Stiles, Tootsie

Ali Stroker, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! **Winner**

Mary Testa, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

Best Direction of a Musical

Rachel Chavkin, Hadestown **Winner**

Scott Ellis, Tootsie

Daniel Fish, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

Des McAnuff, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations

Casey Nicholaw, The Prom

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

André De Shields, Hadestown **Winner**

Andy Grotelueschen, Tootsie

Patrick Page, Hadestown

Jeremy Pope, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations

Ephraim Sykes, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Annette Bening, Arthur Miller's All My Sons

Laura Donnelly, The Ferryman

Elaine May, The Waverly Gallery **Winner**

Janet McTeer, Bernhardt/Hamlet

Laurie Metcalf, Hillary and Clinton

Heidi Schreck, What the Constitution Means to Me

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Bertie Carvel, Ink **Winner**

Robin De Jesús, The Boys in the Band

Gideon Glick, To Kill a Mockingbird

Brandon Uranowitz, Burn This

Benjamin Walker, Arthur Miller's All My Sons

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Fionnula Flanagan, The Ferryman

Celia Keenan-Bolger, To Kill a Mockingbird **Winner**

Kristine Nielsen, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus

Julie White, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus

Ruth Wilson, King Lear

edjames · June 10, 2019

And congrats to these worthy winners:

Best Orchestrations

Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose, Hadestown **Winner**

Simon Hale, Tootsie

Larry Hochman, Kiss Me, Kate

Daniel Kluger, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

Harold Wheeler, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations

Best Choreography

Camille A. Brown, Choir Boy

Warren Carlyle, Kiss Me, Kate

Denis Jones, Tootsie

David Neumann, Hadestown

Sergio Trujillo, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations **Winner**

Best Book of a Musical

Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Dominique Morisseau

Beetlejuice Scott Brown & Anthony King

Hadestown Anaïs Mitchell

The Prom Bob Martin & Chad Beguelin

Tootsie Robert Horn **Winner**

Best Costume Design of a Play

Rob Howell, The Ferryman **Winner**

Toni-Leslie James, Bernhardt/Hamlet

Clint Ramos, Torch Song

Ann Roth, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus

Ann Roth, To Kill a Mockingbird

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Michael Krass, Hadestown

William Ivey Long, Beetlejuice

William Ivey Long, Tootsie

Bob Mackie, The Cher Show **Winner**

Paul Tazewell, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Miriam Buether, To Kill a Mockingbird

Bunny Christie, Ink

Rob Howell, The Ferryman **Winner**

Santo Loquasto, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus

Jan Versweyveld, Network

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Robert Brill and Peter Nigrini, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations

Peter England, King Kong

Rachel Hauck, Hadestown **Winner**

Laura Jellinek, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

David Korins, Beetlejuice

Best Sound Design of a Play

Adam Cork, Ink

Scott Lehrer, To Kill a Mockingbird

Fitz Patton, Choir Boy **Winner**

Nick Powell, The Ferryman

Eric Sleichim, Network

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Peter Hylenski, Beetlejuice

Peter Hylenski, King Kong

Steve Canyon Kennedy, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations

Drew Levy, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz, Hadestown **Winner**

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Neil Austin, Ink **Winner**

Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus

Peter Mumford, The Ferryman

Jennifer Tipton, To Kill a Mockingbird

Jan Versweyveld and Tal Yarden, Network

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Kevin Adams, The Cher Show

Howell Binkley, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations

Bradley King, Hadestown **Winner**

Peter Mumford, King Kong

Kenneth Posner and Peter Nigrini, Beetlejuice

Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories

Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Rosemary Harris

Terrence McNally

Harold Wheeler

Special Tony Awards

Marin Mazzie

Sonny Tilders and Creature Technology Company

Jason Michael Webb

Regional Theatre Tony Award

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Palo Alto, CA

edjames · June 10, 2019

Here's Michael Reidel's NYPost's scathing review of the Tony Award broadcast:

Tony Awards offered little surprise, a lackluster James Corden

By Michael Riedel

June 10, 2019 | 8:30am | Update

A Tony Awards that had the potential to deliver some jaw-dropping upsets delivered nothing but a lackluster telecast hosted by James Corden, who, though he did a brilliant job three years ago, seemed past his sell-buy date.

As expected, “Hadestown” won the top prize — Best Musical — as well as seven other awards, including Best Score (Anais Mitchell), Director (Rachel Chavkin) and Featured Actor, the great Andre De Shields.

Whether all those Tony wins lead to a major uptick in ticket sales remains to be seen. The number “Hadestown” did on the telecast surely was baffling to anybody who hasn’t seen the show. Reeve Carney looking sad and screaming out “Eurydice!” is not up there with Jennifer Holiday singing “And I’m Telling You, I’m Not Going” from “Dreamgirls.”

An investor in the show texted me during the telecast, “I think our advance just went down.”

“The Ferryman,” Jez Butterworth’s gripping look at the troubles in Ireland in the early 1980s, didn’t surprise anyone by winning, as it deserved to, Best Play.

“Oklahoma!” — radically rethought for our “woke” era — beat the traditional revival of “Kiss Me, Kate,” while “The Boys in the Band” turned back a stiff challenge from Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery.”

The highlight of this year’s awards ceremony was Elaine May’s win for Best Actress for her portrayal of a woman stricken with dementia in “The Waverly Gallery.” May, a showbiz legend at 87, never speaks to the press. But she accepted her award with that same impeccable comic timing she honed years ago with Mike Nichols.

“This is the first award for acting I’ve ever won,” she said. “And let me tell you how I did it.” She got a big laugh before praising Lonergan, her fellow cast members — Lucas Hedges in particular, the “Manchester by the Sea” star who played her grandson — and her producer, Scott Rudin.

The only surprise of the night came when Bertie Carvel, brilliant as Rupert Murdoch in “Ink,” James Graham’s terrific play about newspapers, picked up the award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He beat out Gideon Glick, from “To Kill a Mockingbird,” who was favored to win as the boy loosely modeled on Truman Capote, Harper Lee’s childhood friend.

The musical numbers, always the highlight of the Tonys and designed to sell as many tickets as possible, were a bust on the telecast. “The Cher Show” was a disaster. Stephanie J. Block won Best Actress in a Musical, but there was something off with the tempo in “Believe.” When the number ended, CBS cut to audience members at Radio City Music Hall, who seemed underwhelmed despite all those Bob Mackie costumes.

“Beetlejuice” did a frenetic number that won’t sell a ticket at the Winter Garden. “Beetlejuice” is about to be squished. Word on the street last night was that Hugh Jackman will be taking “The Music Man” to the Winter Garden next season.

“Oklahoma!” performed the title song with every cast member looking as if they hated being in America in the Trump era. But that might work for them. It could sell some tickets to NPR listeners.

The number that came off the best was from “The Prom,” a struggling but delightful musical that some of us hoped might have pulled off an upset last night.

It didn’t happen, and I fear for the show’s future.

As for Corden, this was not his finest hour. The opening number, written especially for the telecast, was a dud, and he seemed a bit tired throughout the evening. There was a skit where he had Broadway actors dissing each other, and I can only hope he did not have script approval on that one.

I’m sending you back to carpool karaoke, James.

Next year, let’s get Hugh Jackman.

Gadfly22 · June 10, 2019

“The Cher Show” was a disaster. Stephanie J. Block won Best Actress in a Musical, but there was something off with the tempo in “Believe.”

Sean Hayes does a better Cher than this chick.

bostonman · June 10, 2019

Sean Hayes does a better Cher than this chick.

On one hand, I love Stephanie J. Block. (I saw her in the Falsettos revival a few seasons ago - she was fabulous.)

On the other hand, last night's musical excerpt was embarrassingly bad. I've settled on the following description: "a Chippendales routine, headlined by a drag queen who was still recovering from serious dental surgery."

I suppose it also didn't help that I HATE THAT SONG!!!!!!!! (But that has nothing to do with her odd performance, or the staging of the number itself. It just made it that much more annoying to me, lol.)

(Fun fact - for a long time, I though that song was about promiscuity. "Do you believe in love after love after love..." I never got that the first "L" word in there was "life." Regardless, i still find the song to be supremely annoying.)

Edited June 10, 2019 by bostonman

RyanDean · June 10, 2019

I'm going to speak up in defense of SJB.

I would agree that last night's presentation on the broadcast was just not good. It was, in fact, a "greatest hits" mashup of at least three (maybe five) different numbers, all of which just ended up being too much of not enough. (All of the numbers actually work in the context of the show, which is honestly a lot of fun.) But that kind of mistake -- ie trying to do a capsule of the whole frickin' show -- happens on the Tonys quite frequently (as it did last night -- see Beetlejuice, Ain't Too Proud, OK! and Hadestown). And SJB really is quite good in the show -- bringing an emotional heft and serious vocal chops to really quite delightfully frivolous material. , She doesn't do a Cher impression so much but does something more akin to what Sissy Spacek did re Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter -- somehow evoking the famed persona while also bringing something very personal and humane to the characterization. As I listened to the actual Cher on the ride home from seeing The Cher Show, I marveled at how SJB helped me to appreciate Cher's charm and skill as a vocalist even as she sang way beyond the actual Cher. It is a quite extraordinary performance, full of charm and wit and formidable skill -- like SJB's work always is.

Edited June 11, 2019 by RyanDean

bostonman · June 11, 2019

I think that if SJB had sung in her own voice, I might have liked her better. But she didn't sound like herself, and she didn't sound anything like Cher. She sounded maybe a little bit like Lucy Ricardo did when she was trying to pretend to be a man. Or, as I said, like a bad drag queen just back from the dentist trying to do a Cher impression.

Mind you, I'm only judging what I heard last night. But I'm not all that interested in seeing the show, so that may be my only exposure to it.

I'll be looking forward to her next show, when hopefully she doesn't have to be trapped aping someone else.

+ *WilliamM* · June 11, 2019

I think that if SJB had sung in her own voice, I might have liked her better. But she didn't sound like herself, and she didn't sound anything like Cher. She sounded maybe a little bit like Lucy Ricardo did when she was trying to pretend to be a man. Or, as I said, like a bad drag queen just back from the dentist trying to do a Cher impression.

Mind you, I'm only judging what I heard last night. But I'm not all that interested in seeing the show, so that may be my only exposure to it.

I'll be looking forward to her next show, when hopefully she doesn't have to be trapped aping someone else.

I remember Lucille Ball discussing her Broadway musical, "Wildcat," after it opened, with Jack Paar on The Tonight Show around Christmas 1960. She was with Vivien Vance, who was not involved with the musical. I am not saying Lucy was a good singer. Smile

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