Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – 2014 Tony Predictions

• By drediman
• May 27, 2014
• No Comments

It’s that time of year again. That’s right, it’s Tony time! With less than two weeks to go until the 68th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall, it’a good time to predict the winners of the upcoming ceremony and assess the Broadway season that’s just concluded. Generally, it was a successful year on Broadway both artistically and commercially, but not in the ways you’d expect. As usual, Broadway relied heavily on Hollywood star casting this season. What’s unusual, however, was the caliber of those performances. Bryan Cranston, Neil Patrick Harris, Daniel Radcliffe, and Denzel Washington all dazzled in their respective shows, even if the latter two actors failed to pick up Tony nominations for their work. It was also an unusually strong season for revivals. Both “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “Violet” are truly exceptional productions that reveal new layers in musicals I thought I knew. In terms of revivals of plays, John Tiffany’s lyrical and sad production of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” tore me into pieces, while the Globe’s sparkling traditional practices productions of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night and “Richard III” (which in played in repertory) proved to be the unlikely runaway hits of the winter. New musicals were a bit uneven this season (really, the best place to catch new musicals this season was Off-Broadway, notably the cutting-edge trio of “Here Lies Love”, “Fun Home”, and “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812”), but three of them had exceptionally strong original scores: Kitt & Yorkey’s “If/Then”, Jason Robert Brown’s “The Bridges of Madison County”, and Lutvak & Freedman’s “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” all feature distinguished scores that effectively reflect and express their show’s world. In a relatively weak season for new plays, I’m predicting the muscular, blow-by-blow LBJ play “All the Way” to take home the coveted prize, largely due to Cranston’s titanic performance. In addition, watch out for Audra McDonald to pick up her sixth (!) Tony for her transformational turn as Billie Holiday in “Lady Day in Emerson’s Bar & Grill”, as well as Broadway’s new “it” girl, Jessie Mueller, to win for her luminous performance as Carole King in “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical”. Before further ado, here are my predictions and sentimental favorites at this year’s Tony Awards.

 

Best Play

WILL WIN: “All the Way”

SHOULD WIN: “Act One”

 

Best Musical

WILL WIN: “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder”

SHOULD WIN: “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder”

 

Best Revival of a Play

WILL WIN: “Twelfth Night”

SHOULD WIN: “The Glass Menagerie”

 

Best Revival of a Musical

WILL WIN: “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”

SHOULD WIN: “Violet”

 

Best Book of a Musical

WILL WIN: Robert L. Freedman, “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder”

SHOULD WIN: Robert L. Freedman, “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder”

 

Best Original Score

WILL WIN: “The Bridges of Madison County” (Music & Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown)

SHOULD WIN: “If/Then” (Music: Tom Kitt; Lyrics: Brian Yorkey)

 

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

WILL WIN: Bryan Cranston, “All the Way”

SHOULD WIN: Bryan Cranston, “All the Way”

 

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

WILL WIN: Audra McDonald, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill”

SHOULD WIN: Audra McDonald, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill”

 

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

WILL WIN: Neil Patrick Harris, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”

SHOULD WIN: Jefferson Mays, “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder”

 

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

WILL WIN: Jessie Mueller, “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical”

SHOULD WIN: Kelli O’Hara, “The Bridges of Madison County”

 

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

WILL WIN: Mark Rylance, “Twelfth Night”

SHOULD WIN: Mark Rylance, “Twelfth Night”

 

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

WILL WIN: Sophie Okonedo, “A Raisin in the Sun”

SHOULD WIN: Sophie Okonedo, “A Raisin in the Sun”

 

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

WILL WIN: James Monroe Iglehart, “Aladdin”

SHOULD WIN: Nick Cordero, “Bullets Over Broadway”

 

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

WILL WIN: Lena Hall, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”

SHOULD WIN: Linda Emond, “Cabaret”

 

Best Direction of a Play

WILL WIN: John Tiffany, “The Glass Menagerie”

SHOULD WIN: John Tiffany, “The Glass Menagerie”

 

Best Direction of a Musical

WILL WIN: Michael Mayer, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”

SHOULD WIN: Michael Mayer, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”

 

Best Choreography

WILL WIN: Warren Carlyle, “After Midnight”

SHOULD WIN: Warren Carlyle, “After Midnight”