2017 TONY NOMINATIONS

[Cooper]

Did they get it right?

 

Announced today were the nominations for 2017 Tony Awards. The winners will be announced on June 11th.

 

Many of the shows and actors nominated have already been discussed and seen by our Forum members.

 

Whether or not you've seen the show you still have your favorites.

 

Here's a partial list of the actors and shows nominated.

 

For full list: http://variety.com/2017/legit/news/tony-nominations-2017-full-list-nominees-1202406314/

 

Best Play:

“A Doll’s House, Part 2”

“Indecent”

“Oslo”

“Sweat”

 

Best Musical:

“Come From Away”

“Dear Evan Hansen”

“Groundhog Day The Musical”

“Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”

 

Best Book of a Musical:

“Come From Away” — Irene Sankoff and David Hein

“Dear Evan Hansen” — Steven Levenson

“Groundhog Day The Musical” — Danny Rubin

“Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” — Dave Malloy

 

Best Original Score:

“Come From Away” — Music & Lyrics: Irene Sankoff and David Hein

“Dear Evan Hansen” — Music & Lyrics: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

“Groundhog Day The Musical” — Music & Lyrics: Tim Minchin

“Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” — Music & Lyrics: Dave Malloy

 

Best Revival of a Play:

“August Wilson’s Jitney”

“Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes”

“Present Laughter”

“Six Degrees of Separation”

 

Best Revival of a Musical:

“Falsettos”

“Hello, Dolly!”

“Miss Saigon”

 

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

Denis Arndt, “Heisenberg”

Chris Cooper, “A Doll’s House, Part 2”

Corey Hawkins, “Six Degrees of Separation”

Kevin Kline, “Present Laughter”

Jefferson Mays, “Oslo”

 

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

Cate Blanchett, “The Present”

Jennifer Ehle, “Oslo”

Sally Field, “The Glass Menagerie”

Laura Linney, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes”

Laurie Metcalf, “A Doll’s House, Part 2”

 

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

Christian Borle, “Falsettos”

Josh Groban, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”

Andy Karl, “Groundhog Day The Musical”

David Hyde Pierce, “Hello, Dolly!”

Ben Platt, “Dear Evan Hansen”

 

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

Denee Benton, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”

Christine Ebersole, “War Paint”

Patti LuPone, “War Paint”

Bette Midler, “Hello, Dolly!”

Eva Noblezada, “Miss Saigon”

 

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

Michael Aronov, “Oslo”

Danny DeVito, “Arthur Miller’s The Price”

Nathan Lane, “The Front Page”

Richard Thomas, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes”

John Douglas Thompson, “August Wilson’s Jitney”

 

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

Johanna Day, “Sweat”

Jayne Houdyshell, “A Doll’s House, Part 2”

Cynthia Nixon, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes”

Condola Rashad, “A Doll’s House, Part 2”

Michelle Wilson, “Sweat”

 

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

Gavin Creel, “Hello, Dolly!”

Mike Faist, “Dear Evan Hansen”

Andrew Rannells, “Falsettos”

Lucas Steele, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812”

Brandon Uranowitz, “Falsettos”

 

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

Kate Baldwin, “Hello, Dolly!”

Stephanie J. Block, “Falsettos”

Jenn Colella, “Come From Away”

Rachel Bay Jones, “Dear Evan Hansen”

Mary Beth Peil, “Anastasia”

[Cooper]

Total nominations: here's how they stacked up:

 

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 – 12

Hello, Dolly! – 10

Dear Evan Hansen – 9

A Doll's House, Part 2 – 8

Come From Away – 7

Groundhog Day – 7

Oslo – 7

August Wilson's Jitney – 6

Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes – 6

Falsettos – 5

War Paint – 4

Indecent – 3

Present Laughter – 3

Sweat – 3

Anastasia – 2

Bandstand – 2

The Front Page – 2

Miss Saigon – 2

Six Degrees of Separation – 2

[+ WilliamM]

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 – 12

 

@Cooper, Thanks for listing the nominations in a way that is so easy to understand

 

Very nice that a musical based on a section of Tolstoy's War and Peace received the most nominations.

 

War and Peace and Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain are my two favorite novels.

[Moondance]

At the risk of suggesting something too "political" for the "Comedy & Tragedy" forum, I appreciated the perspective offered in the introductory paragraph of The New Yorker's Tony nominations coverage, entitled "War, Peace and Bette Midler" ...

 

It seems like a lifetime ago that “Hamilton” swept the 2016 Tony nominations and pointed us toward a bright, progressive future. This year's nominations, which were announced Tuesday morning, don’t have an all-conquering front-runner, and they offer glimmers, even in hindsight, of the strange, dark world we’re living in now... There are dramas of frustrated factory workers, diplomatic failures, female liberation, and anti-Semitism; musicals about Russian aristocrats, teen isolation, and the triumph of Canadian kindness over xenophobia. And then there’s "Hello, Dolly!," blissfully unaware of twenty-first-century troubles, imploring us to put on our Sunday clothes and get out into the glistening world. No wonder it’s a hit.

 

Here's a link to the article: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-tony-nominations-war-peace-and-bette-midler?intcid=mod-latest

[+ WilliamM]

And then there’s "Hello, Dolly!," blissfully unaware of twenty-first-century troubles, imploring us to put on our Sunday clothes and get out into the glistening world. No wonder it’s a hit.

 

It's happened before. "The Sound of Music" swept the Tony Awards in 1959. "Gypsy," a much better musical in my opinion did not win a single Tony Award.

 

[N13]

.....This year's nominations, which were announced Tuesday morning, don’t have an all-conquering front-runner, .....

 

If you believe that I can only conclude that you have not seen "Dear Evan Hansen." Not since "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" has there been such a clear choice. Imagine....a show that is not based on something from a previous medium; has good music; strikes a chord with every member of the audience; and a tour-de-force performance by its title character! A loss for both the show and Ben Platt would be the greatest mistake since "Follies" lost to "Two Gentlemen from Verona"!

[bostonman]

It's happened before. "The Sound of Music" swept the Tony Awards in 1959. "Gypsy," a much better musical in my opinion did not win a single Tony Award.

 

The Will Rogers Follies beat Miss Saigon in 1991. The latter musical was the huge complex blockbuster megamusical with the helicopter, the former was a modest though pretty tribute to an American icon which was really a showcase for Tommy Tune's top-notch choreography. I think both shows are uneven and flawed in various ways, but Saigon was in all ways bigger, showier, and more dramatic, and had been getting most of the attention as I recall. Ultimately, I tend to think Will Rogers won because of its unabashedly joyous "all-American" feel, especially as we has just come out of the Gulf War at the time. Miss Saigon, of course, put America in a very questionable light historically, with the capper of the Engineer's uber-cynical ironic "American Dream" production number at the end of the show. The other two musical nominees, the stunning-looking, musically gorgeous, but sprawling (story-wise) Secret Garden and the beautiful but more modest Once On This Island both had lots to enjoy, but ultimately, I think the Tony voters voted for the only show that gave us an idealized America when we needed it.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Ah, Once On This Island... One of my favorite musicals. A heartbreaking, but beautiful show.

 

I hope they don't overdo the upcoming revival.

[bostonman]

the greatest mistake since "Follies" lost to "Two Gentlemen from Verona"!

 

But again, like I said in my previous post (and also the loss of the innovative, dramatic, challenging West Side Story to the more traditional-feeling and Americana-nostalgic The Music Man), I sometimes tend to think that the tone of a show in the zeitgeist of the era has something to do with the ultimate choice. I happen to think that The Music Man is one of the greatest musicals in the canon, but of course West Side Story is also on that list and is in all ways more complex and intense. But I think Music Man had a more immediate appeal, and it took West Side a while to sink into its now essential iconic status. If the Tony awards are about "excellence," well, both shows are truly excellent - but I tend to think that, at the time, The Music Man was more accessible and of course, more celebratory, which at that time, musicals were still mostly expected to be.

 

The 1972 race is tougher to explain, perhaps, because although the MacDermot/Guare treatment of Two Gentlemen Of Verona was praised, I think it's always remained a rather dark-horse show that never really caught on. But again, it was an unabashedly celebratory romp while the more complex and genius Follies was very dark and bitter and challenging. Follies has stood the test of time, Two Gents hasn't, really (though I do confess that I love it - I even got to do a production of it a few years ago and really enjoyed getting to play that score). But at the time, I guess pure joy triumphed over Sondheim/Goldman's cynical challenge of nostalgia (in the era that had just given us pure nostalgia shows like Grease and the revival of No No Nanette) with its very sobering look at disillusion. Today, most of us do see that Follies is a masterpiece, but at the time, no matter how groundbreaking the score, it just didn't seem to reflect the zeitgeist as much, I guess.

 

I'd also challenge the triumph of La Cage Aux Folles (one of Herman's weakest shows, IMO) over Sunday In The Park With George in 1984. But again, Herman's piece certainly caught the zeitgeist, while I'm sure Sunday, innovative and emotionally rich as it was (at least for me, lol), was still very puzzling to many.

[bostonman]

Ah, Once On This Island... One of my favorite musicals. A heartbreaking, but beautiful show.

 

I hope they don't overdo the upcoming revival.

 

Agreed on all counts.

[bostonman]

Imagine....a show that is not based on something from a previous medium...[and] strikes a chord with every member of the audience

 

Many classic and lauded shows (and most of our most classic operas as well) were based on something from a previous medium. I know that some people get frustrated with the glut of Famous Film Title : The Musical rollouts we seem to get more and more of, but that shouldn't negate the absolute fact that former sources can and have gotten very skilled treatments over the years. If you think about it, very few musicals have really been truly original stories. (The same can be said for a number of great plays, of course - particularly Shakespeare.)

 

And, just a bit of a hyperbole challenge here, lol - the show has really struck a chord (by which I assume you mean a positive chord) with EVERY member of the audience? Can you verify that?

 

As for the music, I will say that I am really happy to see Pasek and Paul's music and lyrics both maturing and also getting better recognition. When their very youthful Edges first came out, I wasn't all that much of a fan, admittedly. But they're really growing as writers, and their recent shows are a testament to that. I recently did a production of (the newest revision of) their James and The Giant Peach, which is really a very fun and beautiful score, and a wonderfully capricious adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl book - also, their more challenging/contemporary-sounding Dogfight is really a very mature and emotional score. I feel the same about Evan Hansen.

[handiacefailure]

I was glad to see lupine got nominated. Hoping her or Bette wins. Was glad to see Evan Hanson getting all those nominations. Great show

 

I was surprised to see how many nominations great comet received. Josh was great but wasn't impressed with the show.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

I was glad to see lupine got nominated

 

Somewhere, right this moment, Patti LuPone is letting out a primal scream

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

... And as long as we're on the subject of Patti:

 

[handiacefailure]

Somewhere, right this moment, Patti LuPone is letting out a primal scream

 

I know she is one of the biggest broadway diva's out there but I still love her and have seen her live at least a dozen times.

 

I'm wondering what will happen if Christine Ebersole wins the Tony, could be a huge bitch fight at the Tony's:) As much as i love Patti though I am still hoping Bette wins the Tony.

 

One good thing is that with the nominations for War Paint and Hello Dolly there will certainly be cast recordings released soon

[Ryanquinn]

Michelle Wilson was brilliant in Detroit 67 and her work in Sweat was kinda profound imo. I'm pulling for her.

[Cooper]

PRESENTERS & PERFORMERS

The Tony Awards have announced the first names from the roster of stars who will take the stage at the 71st Annual Tony Awards.

 

Hosted by Kevin Spacey, the American Theatre Wing's 2017 Tony Awards will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City, on CBS, on Sunday, June 11th 8:00 – 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT time delay) and are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

 

CELEBRITY PRESENTERS

Broadway’s biggest night will feature appearances by Orlando Bloom, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Josh Gad, Taraji P. Henson, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Kendrick, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Wilde, and 2017 Tony Nominees Josh Groban, Bette Midler and Ben Platt.

[+ WilliamM]

Bette Midler is apparently not performing at the Tony Awards. Let's see if that changes, and Midler changes her mind at the last minute.

[bostonman]

Bette Midler is apparently not performing at the Tony Awards. Let's see if that changes, and Midler changes her mind at the last minute.

 

There have been a lot of conflicting reports about what has happened with this, and it's not exactly clear that the decision has anything to do with Bette herself. (The "official" story seems to be that the producers wanted to do the title song relayed live from the theatre, as the choreography involving the passerelle around the pit would not be safe to do in the much larger Radio City space. And the Tony producers said no live relays - they would have to do it at Radio City.)

 

But in the meantime, the one and only song we're slated to get to represent the production is - wait for it - "A Penny In My Pocket" - the song that no one knows, because it was cut from the original production and brought back only for this one. It will be sung by David Hyde Pierce - and we will not see anyone else from the production performing, period.

 

Now, I have nothing against Pierce, but I don't think it's one of Herman's best songs by far (certainly not on par with the rest of the score), and the Tony Awards is not really the time and place to do obscure material from an otherwise very renowned score. I personally don't care if Midler does a song or not - but it does seem to be a no-brainer to get her in there. But aside from that, there are still a number of better choices they could have make for a song to highlight for the broadcast that don't feature her. It's really disappointing.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Scott Rudin has become the David Merrick of our time.

 

He's a brilliant producer, but also an asshole. Rudin knows he's got the TONY awards by the balls with Bette as the wild card. I hope for the sake of ratings, they figure this one out.

[LaffingBear]

as the choreography involving the passerelle around the pit would not be safe to do in the much larger Radio City space.

 

Proof of the social value of this forum. I learned a new word today - passarelle

[Good Grief]

Spacey seems space-ey.

[bostonman]

Spacey seems space-ey.

 

I think the idea behind this opening number is great - the execution of it was a little slow and overlong. But still, very clever.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

I was really hoping Midler wouldn't win, but hey, I'm into longshots and underdogs. Now that she's won the award, I'm curious to see how long it takes for her to become openly hostile towards the show and/or performing multiple times weekly. She did that during her Vegas run.

 

IMO, Spacey did fine. He definitely skewed the whole show older, which is likely why the ratings were down 31% from last year. His impressions, while funny, weren't exactly socially current. I was surprised he chose Clinton and Carson. Odd.

[+ purplekow]

I was really hoping Midler wouldn't win, but hey, I'm into longshots and underdogs. Now that she's won the award, I'm curious to see how long it takes for her to become openly hostile towards the show and/or performing multiple times weekly. She did that during her Vegas run.

 

IMO, Spacey did fine. He definitely skewed the whole show older, which is likely why the ratings were down 31% from last year. His impressions, while funny, weren't exactly socially current. I was surprised he chose Clinton and Carson. Odd.

One does what one can do.