2016 Tony Nominations React

Former Book of Mormon costars Nikki M. James and Andrew Rannells announce the 2016 Tony Award nominees.

They're here! The 2016 Tony Award nominations have been announced, and now the awards season can begin in earnest (you can view a full list of the nominees here). We'll get to my reactions to yesterday's news in a moment, but first it's time to see how I did with my annual predictions.

Below are the actual nominees in the Big 12 categories I predicted over the past couple of weeks. Nominees with an asterisk are ones I correctly prediction; if the asterisk is in parentheses, that means I listed the nominee as a wildcard pick but not an official choice.

Best Musical
Bright Star
Hamilton*
School of Rock(*)
Shuffle Along*
Waitress*

Best Play
Eclipsed*
The Father*
The Humans*
King Charles III*

Best Musical Revival
The Color Purple*
Fiddler on the Roof*
She Loves Me*
Spring Awakening*

Best Play Revival
Blackbird*
The Crucible*
Long Day's Journey Into Night*
Noises Off*
A View from the Bridge*

Best Actor in a Musical
Alex Brightman, School of Rock*
Danny Burstein, Fiddler on the Roof*
Zachary Levi, She Loves Me(*)
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton*
Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton*

Best Actor in a Play
Gabriel Byrne, Long Day's Journey Into Night*
Jeff Daniels, Blackbird*
Frank Langella, The Father*
Tim Pigott-Smith, King Charles III*
Mark Strong, A View from the Bridge*

Best Actress in a Musical
Laura Benanti, She Loves Me*
Carmen Cusack, Bright Star(*)
Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple*
Jessie Mueller, Waitress*
Phillipa Soo, Hamilton*

Best Actress in a Play
Jessica Lange, Long Day's Journey Into Night*
Laurie Metcalf, Misery
Lupita Nyong'o, Eclipsed*
Sophie Okonedo, The Crucible
Michelle Williams, Blackbird*

Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Daveed Diggs, Hamilton*
Brandon Victor Dixon, Shuffle Along 
Christopher Fitzgerald, Waitress*
Jonathan Groff, Hamilton*
Christopher Jackson, Hamilton

Best Featured Actor in a Play
Reed Birney, The Humans*
Bill Camp, The Crucible
David Furr, Noises Off*
Richard Goulding, King Charles III 
Michael Shannon, Long Day's Journey Into Night*

Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple*
Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton*
Jane Krakowski, She Loves Me*
Jennifer Simard, Disaster!
Adrienne Warren, Shuffle Along

Best Featured Actress in a Play
Pascale Armand, Eclipsed*
Megan Hilty, Noises Off*
Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans
Andrea Martin, Noises Off*
Saycon Sengbloh, Eclipsed*

For those keeping score at home, I correctly predicted 45 out of 58 nominees, or 78%. When wildcard picks that made the cut are taken into account, that increases to 48 out of 58 correct predictions, or 83%. This is slightly better than my 77% success rate last year when wildcards were taken into account.

I'm pretty proud of these results. I had a 100% accuracy rating in the Best Play, Best Musical Revival, Best Play Revival, and Best Actor in a Play categories, and wildcard picks allow me to add Best Actor and Actress in a Musical to that group. I'm a little mad at myself for missing Featured Actress in a Play thanks to my own oversight; I was going to include Jayne Houdyshell in my Best Actress predictions until I realized she wasn't eligible, and made a mental note to put her in Featured Actress but forgot.

When it comes to surprises in this year's nominees, there are a few big ones. I would say the most shocking is the strong showing of Bright Star, which managed 5 overall nominations including high profile nods in the Best Musical and Best Actress in a Musical categories. The Steve Martin-penned, bluegrass-scored musical has been struggling at the box office since previews began, and I honestly had it pegged as being one of the first shows to post a closing notice after a poor showing this morning (that dubious honor unfortunately went to Disaster!). These nominations mean Bright Star's producers will surely keep things running through the Tony ceremony, and it may even be the start of the show's fortunes turning around.

I am honestly gobsmacked to see Audra McDonald excluded from the Best Actress in a Musical race. This is only the second time in her lengthy career that the most awarded performer in Tony history has failed to net at least a nomination in her eligible category. This is even more puzzling considering that Shuffle Along did very well overall, with 10 nominations spread throughout multiple categories.

It's also clear that Tony voters did not go for American Psycho as much as I thought they would. While I have heard the show is divisive, its strong showing in the other awards races tricked me into assuming it would make a much stronger showing here. We'll see if that has any affect on the show's box office over the next few months.

Some other noteworthy thoughts:

-Hamilton can add another record to its lengthy list of achievements. Thanks to multiple acting nods, it is now the most nominated show in Tony history with 16 total nominations, breaking the record jointly held by The Producers and Billy Elliot. If Hamilton manages to sweep the awards, it will have won a total of 13 statuettes, thereby also breaking The Producers' record for most Tony wins. I find this unlikely thanks to stiff competition in the acting categories, but it is possible!

-I am *thrilled* to see Zachary Levi make the cut in the Best Actor in a Musical race. He absolutely nailed his role in what is probably my second favorite production of the season (after Hamilton of course), and 110% deserves this nomination.

-There is obviously some close competition in the production categories, as the only way to force category expansions is by having very close votes during the nominations process. Since Best Musical, Best Musical Revival, and Best Play Revival all have one more than the minimum number of slots required, several shows must have been neck and neck.

-Overall I am extremely happy with these nominees. The only person I'm inclined to say was snubbed is Audra McDonald, who is excellent as always in Shuffle Along (review coming soon!), but having not seen all the nominated performances I cannot definitely say she was unfairly excluded from what is a very competitive category.

*Sidenote: I only consider someone having been "snubbed" if I can look at one of the nominated performers and honestly say I would exclude the nominee for the person who was overlooked.

Over the coming weeks, there will be plenty more Tony coverage here at Broadway, Etc., including my annual predictions of the winners. This is shaping up to be one of the most exciting, competitive seasons in recent memory even with the presumed dominance of Hamilton in the writing and production categories, and I can't wait to discuss it with all of you. Keep an eye on this space for more predictions and reviews as the countdown to June 12th has officially begun!

A Romance for the Ages, Tonight at Eight

Review: She Loves Me

Laura Benanti and Zachary Levi star as perfectly mismatched lovers in Roundabout's fantastically funny She Loves Me.

Winsome. Charming. Utterly enchanting. All of these words and more can be used to describe Roundabout Theatre Company's top-notch revival of She Loves Me, the most whimsical and romantic night of musical theatre currently available on Broadway. Every moment of the show has been lovingly rendered by director Scott Ellis and his pitch-perfect cast, which is headlined by Tony-winner Laura Benanti in a role tailor-made to her many and varied theatrical talents.

She Loves Me is based on the same short story that inspired the Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan romance You've Got Mail, and follows parfumerie clerks Georg Nowack and Amalia Balash. Constantly bickering on the job, the pair has simultaneously been falling in love via their frequent, anonymous written correspondence with one other. It is a classic romantic comedy setup that has been musicalized using a gorgeous score by Fiddler on the Roof duo Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, and although the show itself is rarely produced in New York most have likely encountered at least one of its many popular songs (such as that favorite of budding sopranos, "Vanilla Ice Cream").

The premise is uncomplicated and the outcome inevitable, but thanks to Joe Masteroff's intelligent book and Ellis' supremely sensitive direction, this refreshingly intimate musical love story has all the elements required to hold your attention for the duration of its runtime. It is clear that Ellis and his cast have an unabashed love for the material and one another, and that fondness radiates out beyond the footlights to envelope the audience in its warm embrace. By keeping the focus of the story small, She Loves Me also offers far more character development than most shows of its ilk, meaning you will come to genuinely love every one of the characters by the final ultimo.

As Georg and Amalia, Zachary Levi and Laura Benanti make for perfect romantic leads. Their chemistry is palpable and each provides a masterclass in acting a song, whether it be Levi's giddily infectious "She Loves Me" or Benanti's crystal clear and hilarious ode to the aforementioned "Ice Cream." By the time these two temperamental lovebirds realize they are perfect for each other, you are genuinely ecstatic for them, thanks to the pair's charisma, earnestness, and complete sincerity. Benanti's role in particular showcases the actress as few roles can, highlighting her impeccable comic instincts, emotional accessibility, and crystalline soprano in equal measure (and often within the same scene). It is an utter delight to have Benanti back on Broadway after a five year hiatus, and hopefully we won't have to wait another five before being graced with her talents again.

Jane Krakowski is another actress who has spent far too long away from Broadway, having left the Great White Way for the bright lights of Hollywood after her Tony-winning performance in the 2003 revival of Nine. Krakowski is simply sensational as shop attendant Ilola Ritter, skillfully combining easygoing sensuality with convincing naivety as she is constantly taken advantage of by the shop's resident ladies' man, Steven Kodaly (an immensely appealing Gavin Creel). Krakowski goes from slinky kicks and splits in the comic "Ilola" to genuine heartbreak in "I Resolve," all without missing any opportunity to make her scenes as funny as humanly possible. She and Benanti also share fantastic chemistry in their scenes together, making for believable gal pals you wish would spend more time together.

The entire cast is dressed in resplendent 1930's period garb by costumer Jeff Mahshie, which looks all the more gorgeous on David Rockwell's jewel box of a set (the first wow moment of the show is when the exterior facade of the parfumerie open up to reveal its immensely detailed interior right before your eyes). The saturated jewel tones really pop thanks to Donald Holder's lights, and the crisp sound design completes the feeling of being enveloped in the interior of a musical jewelry box.

This has been an outstanding season for musical revivals on Broadway, and She Loves Me is another knockout. A practically perfect production of an underrated show, this revival highlights everything that is splendid about Golden Age musical theatre while removing any hint of dustiness. Like all Roundabout productions, it is scheduled to play a limited engagement, so any and all interested parties should purchase their tickets as soon as possible.