2013 Tony Predictions: Best Actress

The Tony Awards draw ever nearer, and we have finally worked our way up to the most prestigious performance categories.  The leading actor and actress races are typically home to the type of tour de force performances that become Broadway legend, and winning the Tony against such strong competition is definitive proof that someone has “made it.”  So which actresses will join the ranks of Broadway’s greatest and take home the coveted Best Actress statuettes (and who actually deserves such recognition)?  Keep reading to find out.

Best Actress in a Play

Emmy-winning veteran Cicely Tyson returns to the stage after a three decade absence in Roundabout's acclaimed revival of Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful

 

Nominees:  Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place; Amy Morton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; Holland Taylor, Ann; Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

 

There are some truly masterful performances nominated in this category, and it’s difficult to argue against any of these women.  Of the five nominees, I’m sad to say Amy Morton has the smallest chance of winning.  While a fascinating Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Morton ended up playing second fiddle to Tracy Letts’ George.  Critics are used to seeing that power dynamic reversed, and underplaying a role has not been the path to Tony glory in the past.  And Holland Taylor’s nomination has more of an air of respectful acknowledgment than passionate support, which means that when push comes to shove she will not be the first (or second or third) actress people vote for.

Kristine Nielsen is an interesting case, as she has won several awards already for her work in Vanya and Sonia.  But every other awards race has deemed Nielsen a supporting actress, and some voters may feel her role is not substantial enough to merit Best Actress.  Which leaves Laurie Metcalf and Cicely Tyson, both of whom received across the board raves for their performances.  In fact, I would say the raves for Metcalf were slightly more ecstatic, but her show closed several months ago while Tyson’s premiered late in the spring season.  And considering that Tyson has already won the Outer Critics and Drama Desk awards for her performance in The Trip to Bountiful, she becomes the clear frontrunner here.  This race is Tyson’s to lose.

Should Win:  Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place

Will Win:  Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

Best Actress in a Musical

 

The charming Laura Osnes has lived her own Cinderella story, going from unknown actress on a TV talent show to a Tony-nominated leading lady.

Nominees:  Stephanie J. Block, The Mystery of Edwin Drood; Carolee Carmello, Scandalous; Valisia LeKae, Motown the Musical; Patina Miller, Pippin; Laura Osnes, Cinderella

 

No disrespect to the nominated women, but this year’s Best Actress in a Musical category is one of the weakest in recent memory, lacking the kind of outsized diva performances that usually make this race so interesting.  On the positive side, whoever wins will be a first time Tony recipient, virtually guaranteeing a tearful and heartfelt acceptance speech.  I really enjoyed Stephanie J. Block in Drood, and the part showcased her various talents with panache, but the borderline supporting role sidelined her for much of the second act.  Drood also closed months ago, although it is still more recent than Carolee Carmello’s turn in the short-lived Scandalous.  And while I’m sure Valisia LeKae is lovely as Diana Ross in Motown the Musical, I just don’t think the show or the actress has enough support behind her to snag one of Broadway’s highest honors.

This is a two horse race between past nominees Laura Osnes and Patina Miller, and I would say they are pretty evenly matched.  Miller is giving the more overtly impressive performance as the Leading Player in Pippin, displaying a surprising affinity for the Fosse-esque choreography and utilizing her trademark powerhouse vocals to great effect.  But many people, myself including, feel like Miller is trying too hard, and her aggressive need to impress the audience is not the most endearing quality.  Meanwhile, Osnes is widely liked within the industry, as evidenced by her ability to get nominated among last year’s much more competitive field for her work in the little seen Bonnie and Clyde.  She is also perfectly cast as the title character in Cinderella, a show Tony voters are clearly high on despite the questionable rewrites by Douglas Carter Beane. 

I think in their hearts, most Tony voters want to see Osnes win this award, which would be the ultimate validation for someone who initially rose to fame on a reality TV show.  But Miller’s performance is mighty impressive, and I suspect she would have won two years ago if it had not been for Sutton Foster’s fantastic turn in Anything Goes.  This race is almost too close to call, but my gut is telling me to give Osnes the edge.

Should Win:  Patina Mille, Pippin

Will Win:  Laura Osnes, Cinderella

 

Check back soon to see my predictions for the Best Actor races, followed by the production awards.  In the meantime, catch up with all of my previous Tony coverage here:

 

Best Featured Actor

Best Featured Actress
Best Book and Score
Best Choreography and Direction
Tony Nomination React

A Fairytale Fractured Beyond All Repair

Review:  Cinderella

 

Hello, Young Lovers:  Santino Fontana and Laura Osnes enjoy a waltz is the Broadway revival of Cinderella

When the lights come up on Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, we are treated to a silent tableau of the titular heroine gathering food in an idyllic, storybook forest.  A minute later, the Prince (here named Topher for reasons neither apparent nor consequential) and his footmen are slaying a tree giant, and the juxtaposition of those two images tells you everything you need to know about this rendition of the classic fairy tale.  Heavily rewritten in an attempt to be more hip, modern, and equally accessible to boys and girls, this new version of Cinderella completely eschews the old-fashioned charm that has allowed the property to endure for more than fifty years.

To be fair, the hour-long television musical Rodgers and Hammerstein originally wrote for a young Julie Andrews is too slight a story to be transferred directly to the stage, and padding it out with new plot points and a few of the duo’s trunk songs is not an inherently bad idea.  But surely the producers could have found someone better suited to the task than playwright Douglas Carter Beane, whose relentless snark is in complete opposition to the exceedingly earnest tone Rodgers and Hammerstein are known for.  Making matters worse is the fact that Beane is just god-awful at his job, as anyone who suffered through his odious work on Sister Act and Lysistrata Jones can attest. 

Possessing zero talent for characterization and a rudimentary at best understanding of proper story structure, Beane fills his musical librettos with an unending series of “punch lines” that sound like the improvisations of mildly amusing teenagers.  In Cinderella, this includes having characters exclaim “Seriously?” after being told to execute any unsavory task and commenting on how the placement of certain props makes “zero design sense.”  Beane and director Mark Brokaw have also saddled the show with a blatantly political subplot about bringing democracy to the Prince’s fairytale kingdom, a story thread so clumsily executed that it makes South Pacific’s simplistic observations about race seem like a graduate-level thesis in comparison.  By the time the people of the royal court decide to amuse themselves by trading insults in a game called Ridicule, you can’t help but laugh at how completely Beane has missed the mark, and hope that poor Rodgers and Hammerstein aren’t aware of what’s been done to their show.

It is physically painful to watch genuinely talented performers like Laura Osnes, Victoria Clark and Harriet Harris struggle to make such atrocious material work.  In many ways, Osnes is ideally cast as Cinderella – or Ella, as the show obnoxiously insists upon calling her – and when allowed to embrace the material’s traditionalist leanings she is a veritable delight.  Winsome without descending into blandness, Osnes and her lovely soprano are the perfect embodiment of the fairy tale princess, and watching her struggle to come up with an in-character reaction the sarcasm that permeates this show is almost depressing.  As she continues her ascent to leading lady status, one hopes that Osnes’ next show will finally combine the critical and commercial success this hard working actress so desperately deserves.

As her Prince Charming, Santino Fontana is exactly that, even if Beane’s writing forces him to play up the character’s buffoonish qualities.  Fontana seems appropriately lost as a young man struggling to find himself, and his infatuation with Cinderella is entirely believable.  Victoria Clark is positively enchanting as the Fairy Godmother, and her second act solo “There’s Music in You” is sung in the deeply felt, full-bodied manner befitting a majestic Rodgers and Hammerstein ballad.  (It should be noted that musical adaptor David Chase has flawlessly integrated the trunk songs and extended interludes with the existing score, creating one of the few instances where this production’s additions feeling like a natural extension of the source material.)

The villains of the piece are more problematic, due in no small part to Beane’s inability to decide whether they are meant to be truly menacing or mere comic relief.  As the wicked Stepmother, Tony-winner Harriet Harris spends two thirds of the evening spouting off one liners before being required to suddenly switch to genuine maliciousness and then again to heartfelt repentance, a horribly rushed progression no actress could make convincing.  In fact, given the wretchedness of her material Harris comes off remarkably well, with is more than can be said for Peter Bartlett as the devious royal advisor.  Ann Harada struggles mightily as the less attractive of the two stepsisters, but is let down by the decision to make her partner-in-crime Marla Mindelle noticeably less antagonistic than is usual.  Harada is essentially playing both sides of a comedic duo, and although she has some great moments the performance is ultimately ineffective.

Despite all the changes, there are times when this Cinderella actually begins to resemble the traditional version of the story, and when it does the show comes alive.  Cinderella’s onstage transformation and subsequent carriage ride to the ball is every bit as grand and enchanting as you could want, confirming the suspicion that we could have had a fantastic production if the creative team had merely trusted their source material.  Equally enthralling is the sweeping ballad “Ten Minutes Ago” and its accompanying waltz, which recreates old school Broadway spectacle in a most ravishing fashion.  Unfortunately, every time the show seems to get back on course Beane steers it in the complete opposite direction, to the point where he even changes the one thing literally everyone knows about Cinderella (let’s just say that her famed glass slipper makes a rather circuitous journey into the Prince’s possession).

From a production standpoint, this is definitely the Broadway version of Cinderella, with lavish sets and costumes that strike the proper balance between timelessness and modernity.  William Ivey Long’s costumes are gorgeous, and the multiple onstage transformations he creates are literally jaw-dropping.  Anna Louizos’s set design looks like a storybook illustration come to life, and is expertly highlighted by Kenneth Posner’s rich lighting design.  The twenty-person orchestra sounds just as sumptuous as the rest of the production looks, rounding out the technical excellence on all sides.

Ultimately, there is enough merit to this revamped Cinderella that it cannot be completely written off.  The production is visually striking and features some highly talented performers doing valiant work against insurmountable odds.  But unfortunately Douglas Carter Beane’s book is so inherently wrong, in both conception and execution, that the show cannot overcome it.  The production fails as both an old-fashioned musical romp and as an attempt at a clever reinvention of or commentary on the fairytale genre.  Rarely have I been so desperate for the characters in a musical to shut up and start singing, and if I never have to endure another one of Beane’s terrible librettos it will be too soon.  When this Cinderella vanishes at the stroke of midnight, perhaps we should simply let her leave.

Review: Bonnie & Clyde

“Shocking” is the only word that can describe Bonnie & Clyde, the latest Broadway musical from much maligned composer Frank Wildhorn.  The shock doesn’t come from any surprise plot twist or provocative material, but rather from the fact that the same man behind infamously terrible shows like Wonderland and Dracula has miraculously produced a rather entertaining and welcome addition to the Broadway season.

As you may have guessed, the show concerns the famous titular outlaws, and chronicles their passionate romance from first meeting to final embrace.  The opening number does an excellent job of introducing young hooligan Clyde Barrow (played by Jeremy Jordan) and small-town waitress Bonnie Parker (Laura Osnes), simultaneously establishing their desires for fame and fortune while laying the groundwork for the tragic romance that will ultimately be their undoing.  Despite knowing the outcome (the show opens with the lovers dead, and the entire evening is essentially an extended flashback), you’ll find yourself caught up in their devotion to one another, from the fateful first meeting through prison breaks, crime sprees, and a government-led manhunt.

The production is blessed with a pair of extremely charismatic leads in Jeremy Jordan and Laura Osnes.  Jordan’s dashing good looks and golden voice make for an eminently charming Clyde, which he tempers with flashes of frightening anger and determination.  It’s a dynamic performance, believably charting one man’s descent from small-time criminal into murderous outlaw.  Laura Osnes’ Bonnie is equally winning, a perfect combination of schoolgirl innocence and fiery passion as she struggles to free herself from the confines of small-town life.  With Osnes’ radiant good looks and beautiful voice, you’ll find yourself as captivated by her as the nation was by Bonnie.

The show contrasts the couple’s proclamations of unyielding love with the more subdued but still heartfelt relationship between Clyde’s brother Buck and his wife, Blanche.  As played by Claybourne Elder, Buck is an affably endearing man struggling to better himself while continually being pulled in by the glamorous allure of his brother’s exploits.  Although the siblings’ duet “When I Drive” is one of the score’s weaker moments, the love and devotion between the pair is excellently conveyed through Elder and Jordan’s performances. 

As Blanche, Melissa Van Der Schyff provides the lone voice of reason among the central quartet.  Blanche has never cared for Clyde and his shenanigans, and it clearly pains her to see her husband making the same mistakes.  But rather than being an overbearing shrew, Blanche expresses her displeasure through sharp comic barbs, providing the some of the evening’s biggest laughs.  Although the character of Blanche is overwritten (she easily has as much stage time as either of the leads), Van Der Schyff is such a charming actress that she never wears out her welcome.

Overall, the show manages to avoid many of the mistakes made by past Wildhorn endeavors.  Although Bonnie & Clyde’s score still contains some of the powerhouse belting and overly dramatic key changes that are the composer’s hallmark, it doesn’t rely on them nearly as much as his other shows.  The folk-and-blues-influenced music does a wonderful job of establishing the show’s world while bridging the gap between pop and musical theatre.  The drama isn’t overwrought, and is leavened with a surprising yet welcome amount of comedy.

Most of the show’s problems stem from Ivan Menchell’s book.  Disturbingly light on subtlety, the book scenes are saved on more than one occasion by the various performers’ charms.  Menchell doesn’t spend quite enough time developing the initial connection between the two leads; Bonnie displays enough hesitation that it isn’t love-at-first-sight, but we never see what causes her the change her mind about Clyde.  The pace starts to drag during the police manhunt in the second act, and the show’s ending is a decidedly underwhelming finish to this larger than life tale.

But the good outweighs the bad, and Bonnie & Clyde proves to be the most pleasant surprise of the fall season.  A more than competent combination of comedy and drama aided by two immensely appealing central performances, the show effectively graduates Jeremy Jordan and Laura Osnes from rising talents to full-fledged stars.  It also proves that Frank Wildhorn really did have a good musical rattling around inside of him; he just needed to write some bad ones first.