Tony Awards nominations: First, gutsy predix
Just moments after I e-mailed a dozen Broadway pundits, asking them to predict who'll be nominated for the Tony Awards on May 5, we got the detailed forecasts of David Sheward, executive editor of Back Stage. Hooray! That's the kind of bravado, guts and enthusiasm we want to see among Tony gurus!
And David's an ace prognosticator, by the way. Last year, he achieved the second-highest score among our Tony prophets — even beating me by two points (that rascal!). See the breakdown here.
BEST PLAY
"Dividing the Estate"
"God of Carnage"
"reasons to be pretty"
"33 Variations"
BEST MUSICAL
"Billy Elliot"
"Next to Normal"
"9 to 5"
"Shrek"
BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL
"Guys and Dolls"
"Hair"
"Pal Joey"
"West Side Story"
BEST PLAY REVIVAL
"Mary Stuart"
"The Norman Conquests"
"The Seagull"
"Waiting for Godot"
BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY
Bill Irwin, "Waiting for Godot"
Nathan Lane, "Waiting for Godot"
Daniel Radcliffe, "Equus"
Geoffery Rush, "Exit the King"
Thomas Sadoski, "reasons to be pretty"
BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Tovah Feldshuh, "Irena's Vow"
Jane Fonda, "33 Variations"
Marcia Gay Harden, "God of Carnage"
Janet McTeer, "Mary Stuart"
Harriet Walter, "Mary Stuart"
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
James Barbour, "A Tale of Two Cities"
Matt Cavenaugh, "West Side Story"
The three Billys, "Billy Elliot"
Brian d’Arcy James, "Shrek"
J. Robert Spencer, "Next to Normal"
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Stephanie J. Block, "9 to 5"
Megan Hiltey, "9 top 5"
Allison Janney, "9 to 5"
Alice Ripley, "Next to Normal"
Josefina Scaglione, "West Side Story"
BEST DIRECTOR OF A PLAY
Moises Kaufman, "33 Variations"
Phylida Lloyd, "Mary Stuart"
Anthony Page, "Waiting for Godot"
Matthew Warchus, "The Norman Conquests"
BEST DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL
Stephen Daldry, "Billy Elliot"
Arthur Laurents, "West Side Story"
Joe Mantello, "9 to 5"
Diane Paulus, "Hair"
Photo credit: Broadhurst Theatre
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Well, " 9 to 5" only got one bad review (The NY TIMES) but the rest were mixed. Of course, what really matters to the TONY's race is how well a show will perform on the road. The show with the best chance of making money on a tour always wins...remember...it's all political, with very, very little to do with how good a show is. Sad, but true. Remember the year AVENUE Q won the Best Musical TONY, after MAJOR lobbying, and then the producers said they were going exclusively to Las Vegas? The TONY voters were furious, some even saying they never would have voted for AVE Q if they knew they didn't want to tour! It's a shady thing, the TONY's. BILLY ELLIOT stands to make some money on the road due to the subject matter and the fact that kids are in it. Small towns like that sort of thing. SHREK will win a few awards just so the producers can paste a "TONY WINNER!" sticker on the posters and marquees. And "9 to 5" is a favorite film of the masses, so who knows? It will be interesting to see.
Posted by: Geoff | May 02, 2009 at 10:05 PM
West Side won't get acting nom's. Their God awful. Hair will get them . 9 to 5- after those reviews - a lot less nom's and almost no wins . Billy Elliot & Hair will share the wins
Posted by: robe | May 01, 2009 at 04:18 PM
Marcia Gay Harden in but James Gandolfini out?!? Hope he gets a nom.
Posted by: TorontoTom | May 01, 2009 at 03:50 PM
I think this list is somewhat off - especially including Joe Mantello for Best Director musical for 9 to 5 and forgetting Michael Greif for Next to Normal.
Posted by: Roger Durling | May 01, 2009 at 11:53 AM
"9 to 5" mostly BAD reviews will knocked it out of almost EVERY catagory (except Allison Janney for BEST ACTRESS).
You're also forgetting two MAJOR unanimously praised shows for the Fall:
'[title of show]" being done EVERYWHERE next season
& the glorious Kristin Scott Thomas/Carey Mulligan revival of "The Seagull" - brilliant!
Posted by: Jo Herman | May 01, 2009 at 06:51 AM
I think that Kristen Scott Thomas will trump Tovah. Better performance, better play.
Posted by: Jon Mitchell | April 30, 2009 at 10:38 AM