Now that we’ve discussed the creative categories and the
acting nominees, all that’s left to predict are the production awards. These awards are arguably the most
prestigious, as theatre is a collaborative medium and a production win is an
acknowledgement of excellent in all aspects of a particular show. As I prepare to predict the season’s best
revivals, please keep in mind my two caveats: 1) I have not necessarily seen
all of the nominated productions; and 2) I am predicting who will win, which is not necessarily the
same as who should win. Any discrepancies in the two will be
discussed in the body of the article.
Best Revival of a Play
Master Class is an extreme long shot in
this category, as it opened and closed during the summer of 2011. Tony voters have notoriously short memories,
and given the sheer number of shows that have opened since then, Master Class should consider itself
lucky for having been nominated at all.
It is particularly telling that the production’s star, Tyne Daly, failed
to receive a Best Actress nomination despite her much ballyhooed turn as opera
diva Maria Callas in a piece that is essentially a one woman show with
interruptions.
Wit suffers from a less severe version
of the same problem. Historically,
winning a Best Revival trophy has been very difficult when a show isn’t being
performed nightly to remind voters how good it is, and Wit has been closed for months.
Cynthia Nixon’s Best Actress nomination proves the show is still present
in people’s minds, but despite being highly regarded I don’t think the
production as a whole made enough of an impression to secure a Best Revival
win.
The Best Man has the distinction of
being the only nominated revival that is still running, an invaluable asset in
any Tony race. Unfortunately, it also received
the least encouraging reviews of the bunch.
While many critics praised the star-studded cast, they found the show
itself a tad slow, indicating that for whatever reason the individual performances
aren’t adding up to a satisfying whole.
A show perceived as a disappointment, whether due to unreasonably high
expectations or actual shortcomings, rarely wins the big awards.
I think Death of a Salesman will easily win Best
Revival tonight. The play is an
acknowledged masterpiece, and you couldn’t ask for much better material. But rather than rest on their laurels, Mike
Nichols and his entire team pushed themselves to deliver the most universally
praised revival of the year. The
presence of Oscar-winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman made the show a box office
bonanza, and the level of buzz surrounding the production was deafening. Critical acclaim, a towering central performance
by an A-list celebrity, and box office success amount to a Tony-winning
trifecta, and I would be shocked to see anything other than Salesman win this award.
Will and Should Win: Death of a Salesman
Best Revival of a Musical
The Tonys
have often been accused of being too commercially-minded, favoring box office
success over artistic merit. While there
is certainly some truth to this (producers of touring houses make up a large
percentage of Tony voters, and they want to be able to book Tony-winning shows that
will also make them lots of money), the revival categories seem to be less
prone to this phenomenon. That is why I
think despite Evita’s enormous
financial success, it has very little chance of winning the big prize. This current revival has been unfavorably
compared to memories of the original 1979 production. Leading lady Elena Roger has proven to be a
divisive Eva, and I would agree with the many audience members who feel her
voice simply isn’t up to the challenge of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s demanding score. Despite a visually stunning physical
production and top-notch direction by Michael Grandage, this Evita lacks spark, and has been deemed a
disappointment by many of the show’s fans.
The other
Lloyd Webber revival of the season, Jesus
Christ Superstar, is a much stronger contender. Though Superstar
is far inferior to Evita as a
piece of musical theatre writing, director Des McAnuff and his team have
polished it to a high gloss. The end
result, which wisely emphasizes the pseudo-love triangle between Jesus, Judas,
and Mary, is so good that it managed to win me over despite my deep dislike of
Lloyd Webber in general and Superstar in
particular. It helps that McAnuff cast
leads that are actually capable of handling the insane vocal demands of the
score, but Superstar’s low number of overall
nominations indicates it will have a tough time winning against its stiff
competition.
The real
contenders here are Follies and Porgy and Bess, two fantastic shows
which have received first rate productions. The Stephen Sondheim revival boasted an
impeccable cast, a sumptuous physical production and excellent direction, and I
truly believe that it will be talked about for years to come as a definitive version
of that landmark show. While there is
much to love about Porgy, including
an astounding central performance by the incomparable Audra McDonald, purists
have been vocally upset about director Diane Paulus’ retooling of a four hour
opera into a two-and-a-half hour musical.
Even though Porgy is still
running (a major advantage for any Tony-nominated production), I expect the ire
over Paulus’ judicious cuts to keep it from taking the big prize, which is as
it should be. Follies was a truly transcendent theatrical experience, and
deserves to be recognized as the best revival of the season.
Will and Should Win: Follies
The only
races left to predict are the two biggest, Best Play and Best Musical. Stay tuned for my thoughts on each, and catch
up on the rest of my Tony predictions in the meantime:
Best Featured Actor
Best Featured Actress
Best Book and Score
Best Direction and Choreography
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