We're only a few short days away from the 2018 Tony Awards, when we'll learn which productions and artists from this past season have won Broadway's highest honor. We've spent plenty of time discussing the later, predicting all the acting races as well as many of the creative team awards, and now it's time to focus on the former. Which four productions will be deemed the best Broadway had to offer this past season? We're starting with the revivals, so read on to find out my thoughts!
Best Revival of a Play
 |
| James McArdle and Andrew Garfield in the Broadway revival of Angels in America. |
Nominees: Angels in America; The Iceman Cometh; Lobby Hero; Three Tall Women; Travesties
While this category sports uniformly well received productions, I along with everyone else expect this award to go to Angels in America. Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning epic is event theatre on a scale rarely seen, filled with the kind of weighty subject matter and big emotional beats that are like catnip to awards voters. In addition to being the most nominated play in Tony history, Angels has won practically every other Best Revival award in existence, so I see no reason why that would change come Sunday night.
Travesties is respected but heady, to the point where multiple reviewers admitted to being confused despite recognizing the craft on display; Tony voters probably feel similarly and will take their votes elsewhere. Lobby Hero marked Second Stage's Broadway debut in their dedicated home and established the Off-Broadway not-for-profit as a Broadway player to watch. I'm sure multiple Tony Awards are in Second Stage's future, but they will have to wait a bit longer to collect them. The Iceman Cometh earned surprisingly strong reviews for a production most industry insiders didn't seem all that interested in, but the tone of reviews is just measured enough that a win seems unlikely. If anything can wrest the crown away from Angels it will be Joe Mantello's new mounting of Three Tall Women, but I suspect most voters will view Glenda Jackson's presumed Best Actress win as a way to honor the entire production.
(Fun fact: before becoming one of New York's go-to directors, Mantello was an actor who made his Broadway debut as Louis in the original mounting of Angels in America to Tony-nominated effect.)
Will & Should Win: Angels in America
Best Revival of a Musical
 |
| Lauren Ambrose in My Fair Lady at Lincoln Center. |
Nominees: Carousel; My Fair Lady; Once On This Island
While this category sports fewer nominees than Best Revival of a Play, it *feels* more competitive as it lacks an obvious front runner. Carousel seems likely to be an also-ran, since the plethora of well executed individual elements haven't quite gelled as a whole for many theatregoers. Some feel the issues are inherent in the script and its questionable portrayal of domestic abuse, while others just think this particular production misses the mark in how it handles said elements, but either way the cumulative effect is a revival with enough naysayers to prevent a win.
Lincoln Center's lavish production of My Fair Lady was always destined to be this season's prestige revival, and it delivers on all fronts. Unlike Carousel, the creative team behind this show has addressed its problematic aspects in a way that appeals to modern sensibilities without betraying the original intent of the show. If anything, director Bartlett Sher's take on the material feels closer in spirit to Lerner and Loewe's actual text than many more "traditional" productions. As always, Sher has assembled a top notch cast to present a subtly revolutionary take on a show we all think we know, and it seems like once again Sher's efforts will result in a Best Revival win.
And yet I can't help but root for Michael Arden's breathtaking in-the-round staging of Once On This Island. While it lacks the sheer physical scale of its competitors it is no less ambitious, having beautifully transformed the Circle in the Square Theatre into an evocative island paradise overflowing with theatrical ingenuity and genuine heart. While I've heard whispers that some found My Fair Lady a tad too stately and reverential, I have yet to encounter anything but effusive praise for Once On This Island. It would certainly be a Tony moment to see this scrappy little show walk off with one of the night's biggest prizes, and while I don't expect it to happen, I can certainly hope for it.
Will Win: My Fair Lady
Should Win: Once On This Island (but My Fair Lady is also fantastic)
Keep checking this space for more 2018 Tony Award predictions in the weeks ahead! In the meantime, make your voice heard in the comments, and check out the rest of my Tony coverage by clicking below:
Tony Nominations React
Book and Score
Direction and Choreography
Featured Actor
Featured Actress
Actor
Actress
The original productions of Angels in America was also directed by George C. Wolfe, who is nominated for The Iceman Cometh alongside Marianne Elliott and Joe Mantello.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to point out that while there may be a lot of affection for Once on This Island, the momentum has been shifting more towards My Fair Lady in recent weeks, so it’s hard to tell how well the former production could do on Tony night at this point. I also think My Fair Lady will be helped by the #MeToo movement as director Bartlett Sher’s vision for the production makes the show less about a man ‘making’ a woman, and more about a woman finding her true strength and confidence.
ReplyDeleteI expect "My Fair Lady" to win and don't really have a problem with that. My point with the "Once On This Island" paragraph was to draw more attention to a show I loved that isn't get as many headlines, and to also point out potential signs of an upset, even if that upset is highly unlikely.
DeleteWhich Angels In America cast would you say is the greatest: the original production, the HBO miniseries, or the new revival?
ReplyDeleteI honestly think "Angels in America" transcends any particular cast. Also, as I did not see the original production and have only seen parts of the film I'm not really qualified to pick a "best" cast.
Delete