2013 Tony Predictions: Best Actor

With the Tony Awards only days away, there are only two more acting races for me to predict.  They’re both very competitive categories, but if guessing Tony winners were always easy, then the actual ceremony wouldn’t be any fun!  Keep reading to find out who I think is most likely to win the Best Actor trophies, and who actually deserves them.

 

Best Actor in a Play

The Nance gives two-time Tony-winner Nathan Lane a chance to flex his comedic and dramatic acting muscles, and could end up providing the stage vet with his first non-musical Tony.

 

Nominees:  Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy; Nathan Lane, The Nance; Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; Tom Sturridge, Orphans

A highly competitive category with plenty of deserving contenders, the only person I can’t picture winning here is Tom Sturridge.  Orphans met with lukewarm critical reception and closed in a flash, so the fact that this Broadway neophyte even got nominated is a huge honor.  I’m tempted to place David Hyde Pierce towards the bottom of the pack as well, but he wasn’t even on my radar the year he actually won for Curtains, so I’m wary of underestimating him.  The theatre community is also mighty high on Vanya and Sonia at the moment, which certainly works in the always-exquisite Pierce’s favor.

Personally, I think Tracy Letts’ electrifying performance in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is the most deserving of recognition.  Letts completely reinvented one of the great roles of theatrical cannon, turning the typically meek George into a frightening firebrand who dominated this superbly realized revival.  He was simultaneously charming and monstrous, and if Woolf had opened in the spring rather than the fall he would be the clear frontrunner. 

But the Tonys have a habit of rewarding Hollywood stars that prove adept at stage work, and it’s hard to find a bigger name on Broadway than two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks.  The A-lister has earned plenty of praise for his work in the late Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy, and the fact that he has turned a play about 1980s newspaper reporters into a genuine box office smash is certain to get voters’ attention.  Yet Nathan Lane received some of the best reviews of his career for The Nance, with many deeming it his strongest stage work since he swept the 2001 awards season for his work in The Producers (a performance which remains one of the great theatrical accomplishments of the new millennium).  Lane is beloved by the industry and surely counts many Tony voters among his friends, and my gut is telling me he may just pull off an upset against Hanks.

Should Win:  Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Will Win:  Nathan Lane, The Nance

 

Best Actor in a Musical

 

Billy Porter as Lola, flanked by his Angels in the glitzy, gaudy, and terrifically entertaining Kinky Boots

Nominees:  Bertie Carvel, Matilda; Santino Fortana, Cinderella; Rob McClure, Chaplin; Billy Porter, Kinky Boots; Stark Sands, Kinky Boots

The Tony voters and I have repeatedly disagreed about this category in recent years.  Two seasons ago I was gunning hard for Andrew Rannells’ star-making turn in The Book of Mormon to win (the prize went to the admittedly amazing Norbert Leo Butz), and I maintain that Danny Burnstein was *robbed* when the voters overlooked his sensational work in Follies last season.  This year they didn’t even nominate what I thought was one of the most unexpectedly excellent performances of the season – Anthony Warlow’s superbly realized Daddy Warbucks in the much-maligned revival of Annie – and somehow let the merely passable Prince of Santino Fortana into the mix instead, so which way the votes will sing this year is anyone’s guess.

All that said, I do think Fortana is the least likely winner, as he isn’t even the second or third best thing about the current Cinderella “revisal.”  I would also be shocked to see Stark Sands win, because while perfectly charming the young performer is greatly overshadowed by his also-nominated costar Billy Porter.  Rob McClure is an extreme dark horse in the race, but it must be said that his performance as the title character in Chaplin was exceptional and honestly better than the questionable material deserved.  I don’t think it’s McClure’s year, but I also don’t think this is the last time he will be attending the Tonys as a nominee.

Like many of this year’s musical races, this category comes down to Kinky Boots vs. Matilda, and specifically the buzzed about drag performances at the center of those two shows.  Bertie Carvel’s turn as the villainous headmistress Miss Trunchbull in Matilda has all the classic earmarks of Tony bait (British thespian reprising an Olivier-winning role in one of the must-see shows of the spring), elevating the kid-friendly show into something greater.  But it is impossible not to like Billy Porter’s sassy drag queen (is there any other kind?) in Kinky Boots, a campy role that grows beyond its initial archetype over the course of the show’s runtime.  There is a lot of love for Porter among the Broadway community, and he is certainly the anchor of the glitzy new musical.  He has also won most every other award of the season, making him the clear – and deserving – frontrunner here.

Will & Should Win:  Billy Porter, Kinky Boots

 

That’s it for this year’s acting awards; all that’s left to predict are the four production categories.  Look for those articles to be posted later in the week; until then, you can feed your Tony hunger by checking out all my previous posts below:

Best Actress

Best Featured Actor
Best Featured Actress
Best Book and Score
Best Direction and Choreography
Tony Nomination React
Tony Roundtable Podcast

The Best Bad Party You'll Ever See

Review:  Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

George has found his bite, and it's truly scary.
Carrie Coon, Tracy Letts, Madison Dirks, and Amy Morton in Steppenwolf's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

 

You just can’t keep a good play down.  Edward Albee’s classic drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? last played Broadway a scant seven years ago, but any audience member thinking it’s too soon to revive this American masterpiece will have all doubts wiped away within the first few minutes of the sensational new production currently playing the Booth Theatre.  Imported from Chicago’s famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company with its original cast intact, this devastating new interpretation of the 50-year-old work feels as immediate and fresh as if it were written yesterday.

For those unfamiliar with the play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? depicts the incredibly dysfunctional relationship of a college history professor named George (Tracy Letts) and his supremely dissatisfied wife, Martha (Amy Morton).  Booze-addled and vicious, the pair has turned their frequent verbal assaults into a highly structured game of wits that’s been perfected through years of practice.  They’ve tricked the unsuspecting Nick and Honey (Madison Dirks and Carrie Coon, respectively) into unwittingly participating in this blood sport by inviting the younger couple over for a nightcap following a faculty party, and after a series of escalating arguments the sun rises on four completely shattered human beings.

Albee is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and acknowledged master of the theatre, and Virginia Woolf is the work that first catapulted him to national attention.  The passage of time has done nothing to dull its incendiary bite and pulse-pounding immediacy, and the depth of these supposedly civilized characters’ cruelty remains shocking 50 years later.  The dialogue, especially that of the fiercely intelligent George and Martha, dazzles with its inventiveness and complexity, offering a feast for the ears while providing a wealth of information about the characters speaking it.  How the characters talk is just as revealing as what they say, and repeated visits will unearth new turns of phrase and clever wordplay to appreciate.

Albee has such fun with the language that his play manages to be oppressively dark and blisteringly funny, a duality wisely highlighted by director Pam MacKinnon and her phenomenal cast.  MacKinnon’s razor sharp direction perfectly balances comedy and drama, giving the play a kinetic energy that alternates between uproarious laughter and squirm-inducing discomfort.  The play’s three-plus hours fly by, leaving you thoroughly exhausted and yet hungry for more.

The cast may lack any recognizable Hollywood names, but the level of talent displayed by this incredible ensemble of Steppenwolf actors more than compensates for the lack of star wattage.  This is the finest group of performers to set foot on Broadway in years, working in such perfect tandem that the production never feels anything less than completely authentic.  The attention to detail and emotional honesty is truly stunning, and although I don’t typical prognosticate in reviews, I expect this company to do exceedingly well come Tony season.

The greatest revelation among the cast is Tracy Letts, who won virtually every award imaginable as the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning August: Osage County.  His acting talents are every bit as astounding as his playwriting abilities, and his George emerges as the standout in a play usually dominated by Martha’s grandstanding theatrics.  Letts initially appears to be the unambitious “nothing” Martha constantly accuses him of being, but as the night progresses he shows a bite and extreme callousness that far surpasses anything his wife is capable of.  His malice is palpable, and when George loses his cool you’ll find yourself shrinking away in abject horror.  But just as George reaches his most monstrous, Letts will do something so utterly charming that you cannot help but be drawn to him, and by play’s end he’s demonstrated that all of his actions are motivated by a twisted but wholly sincere love for his wife.

Of course, George cannot exist without Martha, and Amy Morton does thoroughly impressive work in the role.  From her first entrance she displays a perfectly modulated level of intoxication, using every nuance of her movement and mannerisms to create the most convincing depiction of a high functioning alcohol I’ve ever seen.  Morton fully embraces all of Martha’s less admirable qualities, including her particularly egregious actions in Act II, but tempers her anger enough that you never once doubt her deep, uninhibited love of George.  Morton creates a devastating portrait of a tragically lonely, wounded human being, one who ultimately knows she’s brought this all upon herself and is deeply remorseful about it.  The interplay between Morton and Letts is the centerpiece of the evening, and they portray George and Martha’s relationship in all of its off-putting complexity.

As the most unfortunate houseguests ever, Carrie Coon and Madison Dirks more than hold their own against the powerhouse performances going on around them.  Carrie Coon’s Honey may not have much to say, but she communicates volumes through her body language and physicality.  Honey’s the most obviously intoxicated of the bunch, and Coon creates a convincing alcohol-induced haze around herself while still giving the audience access to the myriad of thoughts swirling around in her head.  Coon also provides the evening’s most hilarious moments of physical comedy, gamely throwing herself at whatever piece of furniture (or person) happens to be closest.

Madison Dirks has the trickiest role in the show, as Nick acts as much as an audience surrogate as he does a participant in the story.  Instantly distrustful of George and Martha’s antics, Nick initially seems like a nice guy caught in a bad situation, but eventually reveals himself to be every bit as depraved and morally reprehensible as his hosts.  Dirks slowly unravels the layers of pretension and arrogance surrounding Nick, leaving us with a wholly honest portrait of a young man already beginning to feel the bitter sting of regret.

The production design perfectly complements and enhances the work of the actors.  Todd Rosenthal’s set looks exactly like you’d expect the house of two alcoholic academics to look, with each nook and cranny filled with enough perfectly ordered chaos that it could hold our attention all by itself.  Allen Lee Hughes’ lighting subtly conveys the passage of time as the evening wears on and dawn approaches, and the costumes by Nan Cibula-Jenkins inform all of the characters without overwhelming any of them.

In short, this top-tier Virginia Woolf is a must see for any serious theatre fan.  The Steppenwolf Theatre Company is home to some of the greatest actors working today, and we are lucky that these four have chosen to grace the New York stage with their abundance of talent.  Tracy Letts and Amy Morton earn their place among the all-time great George and Marthas, while Pam MacKinnon’s expert direction keeps the entire production moving forward with a crackling energy that is thrilling to behold.  Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is the epitome of Broadway theatre, and simply cannot be missed.