Before I
continue my 2012 Tony Award predictions, here’s a quick recap of the two
caveats I elaborated on in my first article:
1) I have not seen all of the nominated shows; and 2) I am predicting
who will win, which may be different
from who should win (reasons for any
variance in the two will be elaborated in the article).
Since Tony
night is fast approaching, let’s not waste any more time!
Best Book of a Musical
Nominees:
Douglas Carter Beane, Lysistrata Jones; Harvey Fierstein, Newsies; Joe
DiPietro, Nice Work If You Can Get It; Enda
Walsh, Once
I died a
little inside when I read that Douglas Carter Beane was nominated for his
atrocious book to Lysistrata Jones. Beane managed to completely remove the
anti-war allegory that’s allowed the Greek Lysistrata
to withstand the test of time, and replaced it with poorly developed
characters and painfully unfunny one-liners.
He doesn’t deserve to be nominated, and rest assured there is no way he
can possibly win (the fact that Lysistrata
closed months ago is the final nail in Beane’s coffin).
I would put
Harvey Fierstein’s libretto for Newsies and
Joe DiPietro’s book for Nice Work on
the same level artistically. Both are
perfectly serviceable scripts, free of any glaring plot holes or structural
weaknesses. Both segue nicely into their
respective musical numbers while simultaneously crafting characters with the
illusion of depth, even if many of them lack actual substance. Unfortunately, neither libretto takes the
extra steps necessary to qualify as Tony-worthy. The book scenes in both shows primarily serve
as filler in between the musical numbers, rather than adding much of substance
to their respective shows.
By contrast,
Enda Walsh’s book for Once approaches
the depth and quality of a play script. Despite
some very long scenes (at least by musical theatre standards), the Once libretto remains engrossing and
provides information that greatly enhances the already strong emotional impact
of the show’s songs. Once relies on such a delicately
established mood that it would not work without the Walsh’s first rate contributions,
and he will deservedly take home the Tony for his efforts on June 10th.
Will & Should Win: Enda Walsh, Once
Best Original Score
Nominees:
Frank Wildhorn & Don Black, Bonnie and Clyde; Alan Menken & Jack Feldman, Newsies; Grant Olding, One
Man, Two Guvnors; Wayne Barker & Rick Elice, Peter and the Starcatcher
I could (and
probably should) write an entire blog entry about the sorry state of musical
theatre composition. The fact that two
of the four Best Original Score nominations went to plays instead of musicals
proves how little good work is being done in this area. Unfortunately, the year’s strongest score –
the haunting and beautiful Once – was
written for another medium and is therefore ineligible. But while the Tony committee has shown a
willingness to nominate play scores in the past few years, I don’t think they
are prepared to actually give the prize to a non-musical, which rules out both One Man, Two Guvnors and Peter and the Starcatcher.
Which leaves
Bonnie & Clyde and Newsies, with their oft-nominated but so
far unrewarded composers. Now, if you
had told me a year ago that Frank “Modulation” Wildhorn would be the most
deserving of a Best Score Tony, I would have laughed in your face. But this time round Wildhorn wrote a
genuinely theatrical score, with many of the songs containing actual narrative
action rather than an endless series of ever-higher money notes. He has successfully fused the bluegrass and
folk idioms with show music, and many of the show’s ballads are genuinely
beautiful as opposed to his usual manufactured bombast. All of this, combined with weak competition,
makes Bonnie & Clyde legitimately
the strongest work nominated this year.
Unfortunately
for Wildhorn, there’s clearly no overcoming the tarnished reputation his past
work has earned him. Having his name on
the marquee caused Bonnie & Clyde to
be unfairly trashed by critics, and the show closed within a month of
opening. Meanwhile Newsies was embraced by critics and has been playing to near
sell-out business, and its composer Alan Menken has managed to maintain a high
reputation among the theatre elite despite some questionable shows of his
own. For all of its repetitiveness and
overly-earnest emotion, Newsies does
feature several catchy numbers and one genuinely inventive solo for its leading
lady. And since Menken has never won the
big award, the committee will likely give him a Tony statuette that will in
name be for this show, but will really be for his body of work.
Will Win:
Alan Menken, Newsies
Should Win:
Frank Wildhorn, Bonnie &
Clyde (yes, I really just typed that)
That’s it
for now. Join me next time as I begin
dissecting which performers have done award-worthy work this past season.
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