Expanding the Nominees: Good, Bad, or Inconsequential?

Would last season's Motown have gotten a Best Musical nomination had the field included five nominees?  Probably.  Would it have been a serious contender to actually win?  Probably not.

Well, this week is just full of under the radar announcements with the potential to seriously shake up this year's Tony races.  On the same day we got word of Audra McDonald's late season entry into awards contention (which I discuss here), Variety reported that the Tony Awards committee has voted to allow the production categories to expand to five nominees should there be nine or more eligible productions.

While it may not seem like much, this represents a major change from the traditional cap of four nominees per category, and in theory could really shake up the Best Musical race in particular.  As the Variety article points out, both the Best Musical and the Best Revival of a Play categories have an unusually large number of eligible productions this season, making them prime candidates for expansion.  And seeing as how Best Musical is the one award that has a measurable affect on a show's box office fortunes (don't you think for a second that Kinky Boots would have recouped in just 30 weeks without that Best Musical win), this could potentially mean more money and more work for industry types.

Or does it?  Several years ago the Academy Awards instituted a similar rule change, expanding the Best Picture field from five to as many as ten potential nominees.  This was seen as a way to recognize a wider variety of films, including some of the popular movies that typically wouldn't be considered awards contenders.  (How much the exclusion of the critically beloved The Dark Knight from the Best Picture race the year before influenced this change is difficult to say, but I bet it was a not inconsequential factor.)  And when there are enough shows to support it, why not allow the love to be spread around a bit more?  There's a chance for the more esoteric shows to get some recognition, and more up and coming producers and writers will be able to add a Tony-nominated show to their resume.

However, we've had a few years to live with the new Oscar nomination system, and I would argue that the expanded Best Picture field's affect on the industry and the Oscars themselves has been negligible.  You can almost always tell which five films would have been nominated under the older, more restrictive system, and the remaining nominees end up being somewhat derogatively viewed as "filler."  Best Picture tends to boil down to a race between two or three films anyway, and they are always the films that you know would have made the cut under the old system.  For instance, this year's race is largely agreed to be between 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, with American Hustle functioning as the dark horse candidate.  Looking at the nine nominees, I think we can all agree that those three would have still gotten nominations in a five film field (while something like Philomena, which clearly benefited from the expanded number of nominees, has never been deemed a serious contender to win by anyone in the industry). 

I suspect that should the Tony nominees be expanded, the "extra" nominee will stick out like a sore thumb, with almost no chance of actually winning the big prize.  For instance, if Motown had ended up nominated last year (a presumption based on past Tony voting patterns that also ignores the fact that there weren't enough eligible musicals to prompt a category expansion last season), would anyone have considered it a serious contender for the prize?  No matter how many shows were competing against them, last year's race was always going to be between Kinky Boots and Matilda.  While there currently seems to be enough musicals to make a competitive 5-way race, I imagine that if five shows are nominated there will be a pretty clear consensus on which two or three actually have a chance at winning.  But the extra recognition is nice, and the announcement is very carefully worded to allow the category to remain at four nominees should there not be five "deserving" contenders.

Best Actress Bloodbath?

Rumor has it Audra McDonald has added an extra room to her Manhattan home; my guess is its to house all her Tony Awards.

As soon as Bronx Bombers announced it's closing date last week, rumors began circulating that the Circle in the Square Theatre would be the site of a sooner-than-expected Broadway return for 5-time Tony winner and all around theatrical goddess Audra McDonald.  Now those rumors are official, and this year's Tony race just got even more interesting.

One of the most gifted actresses to ever grace the Broadway stage, McDonald is tied with Angela Lansbury as the most decorated performer in Tony history.  Even more impressive is the fact that with the exception of the 2003 revival of Henry IV, McDonald has been nominated for every single one of her previous Broadway appearances.  Considering the theatrical community's overwhelming love of her, and her even more overwhelming talent, conventional wisdom states that if McDonald sets foot on a Broadway stage, she *will* get a Tony nomination.  Considering that her latest project, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, is a one-woman show with nothing to distract from the luminous and golden voiced McDonald, I see no reason why this year would be the year that trend changes.  The only question is, which performers' Tony dreams did she just make more difficult with her late in the game Broadway appearance?

Given that McDonald's chosen vehicle contains 18 songs made famous by the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday, the immediate assumption is that this would throw McDonald into the already crowded Best Actress in a Musical race.  This is a race that already includes all but assured nominations for previous Tony winners Sutton Foster and Idina Menzel, previous nominee Jessie Mueller, and perpetual Tony bridesmaid Kelli O'Hara (will someone please give this woman a Tony already??).  At this point, the one wild card spot is most likely to go to either Marin Mazzie - presuming she isn't deemed a supporting player in Bullets Over Broadway - or Michelle Williams, presuming Roundabout's remounting of their Tony-winning Cabaret is deemed eligible for awards consideration.  At this point, it's pretty obvious that someone, likely a very deserving someone, is going to get left out, and I don't think it will be McDonald.

However, as the Broadway.com article linked to above points out, Lady Day is traditionally billed as a "play with music."  Don't ask me how a show with 18 musical numbers gets considered a play; Tony eligibility rulings can be somewhat arbitrary, such as in 2004 when McDonald was deemed a supporting player in A Raisin in the Sun despite having just as much stage time and importance to the narrative as her costar Phylicia Rashad (the upside of that distinction is that it allowed both women to take home Tony Awards that year).  Should Lady Day be considered a play, McDonald becomes a major roadblock between Cherry Jones and her presumptive 3rd Tony Award, and road which already faces potentially stiff competition from Tyne Daly.  Fun fact: should McDonald win Best Actress in a Play, she will have won a Tony in all four categories in which a female performer is eligible.

Personally, as much as the classification may seem questionable, I hope Lady Day is indeed ruled a play and keeps McDonald out of the super crowded Best Actress in the Musical race.  It is already going to be hard enough for the long overdue O'Hara to finally win Tony gold without having to also contend with one of the greatest stage actresses of all time.  Also, I should point out that while anything is possible at this point, I don't actually expect McDonald to win whichever race she ends up competing in.  I think it is much more likely that McDonald wins her record-breaking sixth Tony Award should the rumored revival of 'night, Mother come to fruition.  Or, as I like to dream about, when Stephen Sondheim comes out of retirement and writes one final show for McDonald's singular talent, a hypothetical show which I would pay any amount of money to see.

However awards season shakes down, the big news of the day is that Audra McDonald is coming back to Broadway!  She is one of the greatest talents the New York stage has ever known, which is not something I say lightly, and we should all thank our lucky stars any and every time we are offered the chance to see her perform.

Insanely Early 2014 Tony Predictions: Part III

I cannot speak for the rest of the country, but New York remains in the midst of a seemingly unending winter (and that damn groundhog thinks we have six more weeks of it left).  Broadway is deep in its winter doldrums too, with most of the splashy spring shows still in rehearsals before previews begin.  Which means that now is the perfect time to start handicapping this fall's productions for the upcoming Tony Awards!  You may think it's early, and it is, but what else are we going to talk about?  I've already given my thoughts on the productions and lead performances I consider well-positioned to score an eventual Tony nod, so now it's time to turn my same skills of unsubstantiated guesswork toward the featured performances.

For those who didn't read my last two posts, the rules for getting mentioned here are simple: the actor/actress must have made a major impression on the New York theatrical community.  As we have a whole slew of shows set to open during the spring, the only way any fall performance will be able to break into the crowded Featured Actor/Actress categories is via a universally praised turned.  As such, there are very few sure things in these categories, but that's not going to stop me from trying to pick the most likely nominees.

WARNING:  Occasional snark and wild speculation to follow.

Best Featured Actor in a Musical

Of all Jefferson Mays' deliriously daffy characters in Gentleman's Guide, the racially insensitive Lady Hyacinth is easily my favorite.

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder's Jefferson Mays is guaranteed one of the five slots in this category for his bravura turn as all eight members of the doomed D'Ysquith clan.  I'm a little surprised he wasn't upgraded to Lead Actor status, although I agree this category is where his roles, however showy, belong.  More confounding is the Tony committee's decision to consider his extremely talented costar Bryce Pinkham eligible in the same category despite the fact that Pinkham's upwardly mobile Monty Navarro forms the lynchpin of the entire evening.  I'm really hoping that Pinkham, who I found to be a sensational straight man and one of the purest tenors currently singing on Broadway, also scores a nomination for his work, but if the spring musicals are particularly strong he could find himself shut out by the flashier Mays.  And depending on how many fans Big Fish has on the Tony nominating committee, Bobby Steggert may find himself among the nominees as well.  Even that show's biggest detractors generally considered it to be well-acted, although I personally found Steggert to be the least memorable of the show's main trio.

Best Featured Actor in a Play

Game, set, and match, gentleman.  Mark Rylance's Olivia in Twelfth Night is quite possibly the performance of the season, and it's only February.

They might as well just go ahead and engrave this Tony with Mark Rylance's name, because he is going to win it.  Rylance's Olivia in the all-male Twelfth Night is the buzziest performance of the season thus far, and rightfully so.  He took the role in unexpectedly hilarious directions, downplaying the character's normal refinement and making her an overgrown child prone to hysterical tantrums.  Not only was this a new interpretation, but one that was fully supported by the text and went a long way towards making this the funniest production of Twelfth Night I have ever seen.  I also wouldn't be surprised to see any of Rylance's costars nominated in this category (I was particularly impressed by Paul Chahidi's Maria), but Rylance is the man to beat.  Among the fall's other offerings, I think The Glass Menagerie's Brian J. Smith stands as good a shot as any Gentleman Caller ever has of being recognized, and I think that much ballyhooed production is well positioned to perform the hat trick of getting a nomination in each of the four acting categories (although Smith is probably most in danger of being shut out).

Best Featured Actress in a Musical

"Long suffering wife" is a sure road to awards contention, and Kate Baldwin played it with unusual depth and sincerity.  (Bonus: her slow-motion dance during "Time Stops" was one of the most beautifully simply staging moments of the season.)

I'm rooting for Big Fish's Kate Baldwin to get some recognition for her sterling work in that production, her first Broadway outing since her star-making turn in Finian's Rainbow four years ago.  I think the fact that she was deemed a Featured Actress rather than a Lead actual works in her favor, as it keeps her out of the hotly contested Best Actress race.  I also think there is a good chance one of the lovely ladies from Gentleman's Guide joins her on the red carpet, although whether that is Lisa O'Hare or Lauren Worsham remains a toss-up at this point.  In fact, I would *love* it if both women wound up nominated, as that show and particularly it's second act wouldn't be nearly as good without them.  If I had to pick one, I would go with O'Hare, as her Sibella is a little more complex and fun that Worsham's doe-eyed and superbly sung Phoebe.  But Worsham is one of the most winsome and interesting ingénues of the past several seasons, which only reinforces my wish for both of them to score nominations.

Best Featured Actress in a Play



Celia Keenan-Bolger rose to fame in a couple of high profile musical roles, but it's her critically acclaimed turn as Laura in The Glass Menagerie that may finally bring this talented actress Tony gold.

As I've stated before, I expect this latest revival for The Glass Menagerie to do very well come Tony time despite my personal dislike of it.  I think Celia Keenan-Bolger is a sure thing for a nomination, and depending on how the spring season goes the twice-nominated actress may actually win her first award.  In fact, as of right now, she's the only actress I think is in serious contention for this award, as the fall plays were particularly male-heavy, what with the two all-male Shakespeares and the Pinter/Beckett rep plays starring four male actors each.


And that concludes my semi-annual Tony rant.  There are a lot of shows opening in the next few months, and I hope to see a good number of them so that I can provide you all with reviews.  Look for more Tony talk from me closer to the announcement of the nominees on April 29th, after which point I will likely be unable to talk about anything else until the awards are handed out on June 8th.

Waiting's Not So Bad When the Company's This Good

Review: Waiting for Godot

Professor X and Magneto are currently demonstrating another of their mutant powers, the ability to breath new life into a theatrical stalwart.

Waiting for Godot is a tricky play no matter how you look at it.  Samuel Beckett's absurdist comedy is wholly unconcerned with the trappings of conventional theatre, disregarding plot and significant character development for what on the surface appears to be inane babble.  And while the characters occasionally stumble across a profound thought, the play tends to skim over the implications of said thought with nary a backward glance.  It asks questions it doesn't even attempt to answer, and with no obvious political or philosophical agenda the entire thing is ultimately left up to audience interpretation.  It is not a play for everyone, but those who are interested will find much to enjoy about the finely staged revival currently playing the Cort Theatre, starring theatrical icons Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in roles they seem born to play.

The play's setup finds Estragon (McKellen) and Vladimir (Stewart) waiting for the mysterious Godot next to a tree in the middle of an unspecified wasteland.  The pair can't seem to remember much about Godot or why they are waiting for him, but both are convinced (at least initially) that he is indeed coming and they must meet him.  During their wait they play games, bicker, and tease one another to pass the time, eventually getting interrupted by Pazzo (Shuler Hensley) and his servant/slave Lucky (Billy Crudup).  And that's about it.  We never learn much more about the characters' backgrounds or what brings them to this tree in the middle of nowhere; we just watch them interact, with often comical results.  But as the waiting stretches on for an indeterminate amount of time, Estragon and Vladimir begin to question everything about their existence, which in turn forces the audience to reflect upon their lives as well.

Director Sean Matthias has staged the play with an extraordinary amount of sensitivity, and does an excellent job of keeping his own views out of the equation.  Matthias simply presents the play as written, with enough specificity to make all the little details stand out without indicating that some of those details are more important than others.  Normally you would look for a director to have a unique take on the material, something to say about it (especially with material as well worn as Godot), but in this case the lack of any attempt to impose some kind of logical order on the moment to moment structure works in the play's favor, resulting in an intensely personal experience for each audience member.  Five people could see the same performance and come away with five entirely different interpretations about what the work is about, which in this case is the entire appeal of the play. Matthias must be commended for fostering that kind of atmosphere in his production.

Of course, he is aided and abetted by the enormous talent and chemistry of his two leading men.  Stewart and McKellen, known for their exhaustive stage and film credits, are so assured in their craft that it looks as natural and effortless as breathing.  The back and forth dynamic between Estragon and Vladimir forms the basis of the entire play, and the actors' well-documented affection for one another translates into stage magic.  The pair employs razor sharp comic timing to elicit belly laugh after belly laugh from the audience, with Stewart's rational straight man acting as the perfect foil to McKellen's impulse-driven clown.  Their expert understanding of the art of speaking finds music in the play's sparse dialogue, even when that dialogue amounts to fart jokes and bawdy humor.  Like two expert tennis players, these old hands bat jokes back and forth with an intoxicatingly precise rhythm and physicality that represents the pinnacle of a lifetime of honing their talents.

It is extremely unfortunate that Shuler Hensley and Billy Crudup have to come and ruin the interplay between these two theatrical giants with their histrionics, although whether the fault lies with the actors, the direction, or the writing is difficult to discern.  One thing that almost certainly originates from Hensley is the misguided choice to have Pazzo speak in a Foghorn Leghorn-esque drawl, causing the character to always sound like he's yelling and making Hensley's performance at best ponderous and at worst insufferable.  Crudup fares better as Lucky, although his wild physicality results in most of his big monologue being incomprehensible.  This moment has the dubious distinction of being the one point in the play where the production seems to deem the text unimportant, despite giving equal weight to every other line of dialogue, no matter how inane.  It is a relief when Hensley and Crudup leave the stage towards the end of Act I, and thankfully their second act appearance is much briefer.

There is an odd beauty in the sparse, vaguely apocalyptic production design, including Stephen Brimson Lewis' crumbling set and tattered costumes.  For all the design's simplicity, it never becomes boring to look at, which is a testament to the artistry of Lewis' work and Matthias' clever staging.  Even the lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski is kept to a minimum, maintaining the production's focus on the actors, the text, and subtle suggestion rather than strict realism.

Even if Waiting for Godot weren't such an important part of the theatrical canon, this production would be notable for the chance to see the indisputably great Stewart and McKellen work their magic together onstage.  McKellen in particular has said that this will probably be his last Broadway appearance, so any fans of the British thespian have extra incentive to catch this limited-run production before it closes in March.  Godot isn't for everyone, but this production is the most accessible and overall well-acted ones we're likely to see for some time.

Insanely Early 2014 Tony Predictions: Part II

As New York suffers through another cold snap, Broadway is in that odd no man's land between the high-minded fall openings and the more broadly appealing spring fare.  Since very few shows open during the months of January and February, now seems as good a time as any to look back on the season so far and begin one of my favorite games: handicapping the Tony Awards!!!  In my last post, I discussed which fall shows I thought had a shot at nominations in the production categories; now it's time to give the same treatment to the leading actor and actress races.  As with my previous predictions, only those who have made a major impression on critics and audiences can be considered contenders at this point.  Tony voters have notoriously short memories, and a flashy spring performance has a good chance of supplanting all but the most well-loved fall turns.

WARNING:  Occasional snark and lots of speculation to follow.

Best Actor in a Musical

Will two-time Tony-winner Norbert Leo Butz become a three-time Tony-winner for his work in Big Fish?  I don't know, but I'd put money on at least a nomination.

Despite the critical indifference to his chosen vehicle, I think Big Fish's Norbert Leo Butz is about as close to a sure thing in this category as it gets.  The two-time Tony-winner gave a tour de force performance as Edward Bloom and was universally praised for it.  Interestingly enough, it appears the Tony administration committee has ruled that both Jefferson Mays and Bryce Pinkham are Featured Actors rather than leads (the roles are of equal size, but in the recent past that has resulted in both actors being considered leads a la Kinky Boots or The Book of Mormon).  Otherwise I'd be positive one if not both of them would be nominated, since as far as I'm concerned they've both earned it.  I'd like to say there was a chance for Soul Doctor's Eric Anderson to be nominated, as he dedicated years of his life to workshopping and performing that show, but let's face it: there's no way in hell Soul Doctor gets nominated for anything.

Best Actor in a Play

His Glass Menagerie character may be a petulant, unfulfilled whiner, but Zachary Quinto will likely have plenty to celebrate when the Tony nominations are announced.

The fact the Tony voters have chosen to count this fall's repertory plays as four separate productions makes this category a major wild card.  I think it's more a question of what certain performers will be nominated for rather than if they will be nominated.  The category's surest bet is Zachary Quinto, who's work in The Glass Menagerie scored the kind of reviews most actors only dream about for their Broadway debuts.  And the person with the best chance of a double nomination is two-time Tony-winner Mark Rylance, who could find himself among the Best Actor nominees for Richard III (he's considered featured for his much-buzzed about Olivia in Twelfth Night).

I can't decide if Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan will find themselves nominated against each other, if only one for the venerated thespians will make the cut, or if the pair of them (and their double eligibility for Waiting for Godot and No Man's Land) will split votes enough that both get shut out.  It all depends on the strength of this spring's offerings; I imagine there's already a spot reserved for Denzel Washington, unless he totally ruins A Raison in the Sun.  Previous winner Roger Rees got excellent reviews for his work in The Winslow Boy, but I think the play will be too long closed to have any real traction with the nominations committee.  I'm also not ready to rule out the possibility of the incredibly solid Samuel Barnett scoring a surprise nod for his sterling Viola in Twelfth Night, or that Daniel Craig's sheer star wattage and box office drawing power nets him a nomination for Betrayal (though for the record, I think the former is far more likely than the latter).

Best Actress in a Musical

Hopefully Jessie Mueller will get to wear something a little more glamorous come Tony night.

The list of actresses headlining musicals this spring is a veritable who's who of musical theatre royalty (Sutton Foster, Idina Menzel, Kelli O'Hara, Marin Mazzie).  This and the Best Actor in a Play category are easily going to be the most competitive races of the season.  That said, I think fast-rising star Jessie Mueller stands as good a chance as anyone of breaking into this highly competitive race for her universally praised performance as Carole King in Beautiful.  Regardless of what they thought of the material, every reviewer sang Mueller's praises, with many citing her as the production's biggest draw.  And should one of the afore-mentioned ladies really blow it (unlikely, but possible) AND Oscar-nominee Michelle Williams either be ruled ineligible or just plain bad in Cabaret, there's a slight chance Mary Bridget Davies sneaks into this category for her dead on Janis Joplin in the concert musical bearing the departed singer's name.

Best Actress in a Play

I have no Doubt Cherry Jones will find herself among this year's Best Actress nominees for The Glass Menagerie (You see what I did there?)

It's awfully early to be predicting actual Tony winners, but I would say this award is currently Cherry Jones' to lose.  I personally hated what director John Tiffany did to The Glass Menagerie, but even I will admit that Jones makes a strong Amanda (and would have been an excellent one under better direction).  Given how over the moon critics are about the production, she is a sure thing for a nomination.  Other than Jones, the relatively small number of women in plays this fall increases Rebecca Hall's chances of being recognized for her work in Roundabout's widely-praised Machinal.  There aren't a ton of female-heavy plays on the schedule for the spring, but there are probably enough leading actresses (including theatre favorites Tyne Daly and Estelle Parsons) to keep Debra Messing's liked but not loved performance in Outside Mullingar from being nominated.


That's my take on the leading actor/actress races.  Keep an eye out for my thoughts on the supporting categories (always tricky to predict due to the sheer volume of eligible performances) in the coming week.

Insanely Early 2014 Tony Predictions: Part I

It's never too early to start discussing Tony Award contenders (at least, not for me).  And since we're in the middle of the winter no man's land between the fall and spring Broadway offerings, now is as good a time as any to look back on the first half of this season on the Great White Way.  Obviously we have a lot of shows left to open, so at this point only those who have made a major impression on the theatre-going community can be considered true Tony contenders.  As I do at the end of each theatre season, I'm going to go through all of the major Tony categories and note which productions and people I think have a real shot at recognition come nomination time. 

WARNING:  Occasional snark and a great deal of speculation to follow.

Best Musical

Smartly written and expertly cast, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder is easily the best of the fall's new musical offerings.

There were actually (surprisingly) a fair number of productions eligible for the Best Musical category over the past six months.  Unfortunately, there are also a lot more new musicals on the horizon, and this fall's shows (especially the ones that have closed) stand a good chance of being overshadowed/forgotten come Tony time.  If I were to pick the show with the highest chance of securing a Best Musical nomination, I would go with A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, which in addition to being hilarious is one of the smarter book musicals to come around in a long time.  If a second fall show sneaks into this category then the well-reviewed After Midnight has a shot, although it's status as a revue rather than a book show hurts its chances with the sometimes snobby Tony voters.

I personally enjoyed Big Fish, but it was a divisive show and that decreases its chances immensely, especially in the face of the formidable-looking spring line-up.  There's also the off chance that Baby Boomer baiting Beautiful scores a surprise nomination, but despite its rosy box office prospects I think it will ultimately be passed over by the more discerning voters.  A Night with Janis Joplin and First Date are ultimately slight entertainments unlikely to gain any serious awards traction, and if Soul Doctor gets mentioned at all on the Tony telecast it will likely be as the butt of somebody's joke.  I mean, does anyone even remember Soul Doctor happened?  And what is it going to take to get a show that lasts more than a few months into the Circle in the Square?

Best Play

As of right now, this is the weakest this category has been in years.  Most of the plays from the fall were star-driven revivals, with only A Time to Kill and The Snow Geese even eligible for this award.  Both were met with critical and audience indifference, and there are enough interesting-sounding plays scheduled for spring that I suspect both will be shut out of the Tonys.  *If* (and that's a very big "if") one of these plays were to be nominated, it would probably be Sharr White's WWI drama The Snow Geese, but I find that highly unlikely.

Best Musical Revival

In something I consider a celebration, there were no musical revivals on Broadway this fall.  Every tuner that premiered was a new show, so currently this is a wide open race.  There are also only 4 revivals scheduled for the spring, and that's assuming Roundabout's remounting of their Tony-winning Cabaret is even deemed eligible for competition (which I suspect it won't be).  So basically, everyone gets nominated!

Best Play Revival

Did anyone think that a 400-year-old Shakespeare comedy would be one of the critical and commercial smashes of the fall season?  But Mark Rylance and the all-male company have made Twelfth Night must-see, hysterical theatre.

Thanks to the repertory productions that took Broadway by storm, there are already plenty of play revivals eligible for this year's Tonys.  The double bill of Twelfth Night and Richard III in particular has been a box office and critical sensation, and I would be shocked if Twelfth Night wasn't nominated (in fact, at this moment I think it's the likely winner).  And while I personally hated it, most critics and audience members have been over the moon about this latest production of The Glass Menagerie, so I'm going to name it the second sure thing in this category.  I also wouldn't be surprised to see one of the Patrick Steward/Ian McKellan shows nominated (probably Waiting for Godot), although their slot is the most endangered should the spring revivals prove particularly strong and/or popular.  Despite fantastic reviews, the Roundabout's revivals of The Winslow Boy and Machinal lack the star power to be serious contenders, and the producers of the Daniel Craig-led Betrayal will likely have to content themselves with the millions of dollars they made from that sold out but not necessarily well-reviewed production.  Betrayal always had the air of being an event that was separate from rather than a part of the Broadway season, and the competition is simply too strong for even the mighty James Bond to conquer.


That's my take on the production races and where they stand so far.  There of course is always the chance for surprises, but history has taught us that shows which fail to make a major impression in the fall don't stand much chance at Tony love once the spring shows open (especially if the fall shows have shuttered before nominations are announced).  I am also making some of these predictions based on the assumed strength of the spring's offerings, so if that becomes a surprise in either direction (really strong or really weak overall), then things will change as well.

Check back soon for my thoughts on how the acting races are shaping up so far.

Most Anticipated of Spring 2014

Idina Menzel and the cast of If/Then.  You just *know* she's belting her face off.

Now that we are officially in 2014, it is time to start looking forward rather than back (which I did in my two Best Of 2013 posts as well as my Worst Of list).  There are 20 new productions opening on Broadway this coming spring, and somewhat surprisingly they are evenly divided between plays and musicals.  Any new Broadway show is cause for celebration, but naturally there are some shows that I'm looking forward to more than others.  So here, in no particular order, are the productions I'm most excited to see in the coming months.

Aladdin

Full disclosure:  Aladdin has always been my favorite Disney film.  I have been hoping for a stage adaptation for the last 10 years, and I will finally get my wish when the show arrives on Broadway in March.  I'm not sure exactly how they'll translate the film's magic to the stage (the Genie's mile-a-minute dialogue and transformations seem like a particular challenge), but 16 years ago no one thought they could make The Lion King work and that show has gone on to gross $1 billion on Broadway alone.  I have full faith in the technical prowess Disney's money can buy, and I also have supreme confidence in the musical comedy chops of director Casey Nicholaw, whose work on The Book of Mormon remains the greatest example of sustained hilarity in the new millennium.  Final bit of disclosure: I bought my orchestra tickets to this show last month. :-D

The Bridges of Madison County

I have zero knowledge or particular interest in either The Bridges of Madison County novel or the film version starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood.  But I do have extensive knowledge and admiration for the musical career of composer Jason Robert Brown, who is scoring the musical adaptation set to begin previews on Broadway in a couple of weeks.  Brown is one of the smartest pop-influenced composers working in the theatre, and I have no doubt his score will be a marvel to behold.  The fact that he has enlisted Kelli O'Hara to take on the lead female role makes the entire enterprise even more exciting, as she is one of the most gifted singing actresses of her generation.  Add in the fact that Tony-winner Barlett Sher is at the helm and has described the score as the best one he's ever worked with (remember the Sher introduced the world to Adam Guettel's rapturous Light in the Piazza) and you have the makings of a theatrical event.

If/Then

10 years after her Tony-winning turn in the smash-hit Wicked, Idina Menzel finally returns to the Broadway stage in If/Then.  That information alone would be enough to pique my interest; the fact that the show is written by Next to Normal's Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, who crafted one of the most fascinating musical dramas of the past decade and wrote an incredible diva role for eventual Tony-winner Alice Ripley, shoots this towards the top of my must see list.  Menzel has some able-bodied support in costars like LaChanze (whom I adored in The Color Purple) and fellow Rent alum Anthony Rapp, and the incredibly talented Michael Grief directing her.  All the ingredients for theatrical magic are there, and I cannot wait to see what this team has come up with.

Violet

Two words:  Sutton Foster.  Foster is one of the select few performers who can prompt me to buy a ticket based on her name alone, as she has never been anything less than stellar in every show I've been privileged enough to see her in (even when the actual shows left me cold, as was the case with Little Women).  She has one of the purest belts in the contemporary theatre, along with the acting chops and sheer charisma to hold your attention even when she isn't singing.  And while I know almost nothing about Violet, which had a very brief Off-Broadway run in the 1990s, everyone I know who has actually heard the music raves about it.  Composer Jeanine Tesori also has the distinction of having written Thoroughly Modern Millie, the show that shot Foster to stardom and her first Tony Award, so seeing the two reteam on this new project is doubly exciting.

Rocky

I am in no way, shape, or form convinced that this adaptation of the Oscar-winning film will actually work as a musical.  In fact, it could be a disaster of epic proportions.  But Stephen Flaherty and Lynne Ahrens wrote one of the greatest musicals of all time (if not THE greatest) in Ragtime, and the rest of their catalogue is equally lovely.  The pair are also famous perfectionists, constantly rewriting and revising their shows in an effort to make them as good as they can possibly be, so I have to believe that there was something about Rocky that drew them to the project.  Good or bad, I think Rocky will be one show the entire industry is talking about come spring, and I want to see it firsthand.  Whether I leave praising its triumphs or deconstructing its missteps remains to be seen.


I wish I could say I was excited about the plays that are opening this spring on Broadway, but the truth of the matter is none of them grab me the way the above musicals do.  Like everyone else, I was blown away by Bryan Cranston's performance on Breaking Bad, and I fully believe he will make an excellent stage actor, but the out-of-town reviews for All The Way were lukewarm (many critics felt the play was too long and unfocused).  I personally thought Denzel Washington was overrated in Fences a couple of seasons back, so the idea of him doing A Raisin in the Sun doesn't thrill me.  And while I find the idea of Debra Messing starring in a comedy by Pulitzer-winner John Patrick Shanely appealing, it isn't a must see for me.  I *am* excited to see Alan Cumming reprise his Emcee in the Roundabout's remounting of their Tony-winning Cabaret (since I missed it the first time around), but at the end of the day they are just dusting off a production from 15 years ago that may or may not still feel relevant.

What are you most looking forward to for the coming spring season?  Feel free to let me know in the comments.  And look for reviews of as many of the spring shows as I can get to in the coming months.