Tony Awards prediction: Smelly green ogre Shrek will crush the 'Billy Elliot' boys
Susan Haskins, producer and costar of PBS chat show "Theater Talk," is now the second brave pundit to give us her predictions of who'll triumph at the Tonys on June 7. First came the noodlings of Martin Denton (NYTheatre.com). Now here are Susan's forecasts, which shrewdly follow front-runners like "God of Carnage" for best play and "Billy Elliot" for best musical, book and score, but she jumps off a few cliffs. For example, she opts for Brian d'Arcy James ("Shrek") in the race for best musical actor over the "Billy" boys. Personally, I'm banking on the little leapers, who share one nomination for rotating in the lead role at different performances, but I'll expound on my own picks in a separate post. You can see a full list of nominees here.
BEST PLAY
"God of Carnage" (should be "Dividing the Estate")
BEST MUSICAL
"Billy Elliot: The Musical"
BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
"Billy Elliot: The Musical"
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATER
"Billy Elliot: The Musical"
BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
"The Norman Conquests"
BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
"Hair"
BEST SPECIAL THEATRICAL EVENT
"Liza's at the Palace"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Brian d'Arcy James, "Shrek the Musical"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Alice Ripley, "Next to Normal"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
Roger Robinson, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Angela Lansbury, "Blithe Spirit"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Gregory Jbara, "Billy Elliot: The Musical"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Karen Olivo, "West Side Story"
BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY
"Mary Stuart"
BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Robert Brill, "Guys and Dolls"
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY
Anthony Ward, "Mary Stuart"
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Tim Hatley, "Shrek the Musical"
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY
David Hersey, "Equus"
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Rick Fisher, "Billy Elliot: The Musical"
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY
Scott Lehrer and Leon Rothenberg, "Joe Turner's Come and Gone"
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Paul Arditti, "Billy Elliot: The Musical"
BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Matthew Warchus, "God of Carnage"
or
Matthew Warchus, "The Norman Conquests"
too early to say which
BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Stephen Daldry, "Billy Elliot: The Musical"
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Peter Darling, "Billy Elliot: The Musical"
BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
Martin Koch, "Billy Elliot: The Musical"
Photos: Imperial Theatre (r) and Broadway Theatre (l)
RELATED POSTS
'Billy Elliot' big winner at Outer Critics Circle with 8 awards
'Billy Elliot' and 'God of Carnage' lead Tony Award nominations
'Billy Elliot' boys are the fifth team to compete for a single Tonys nom
Angela Lansbury will probably tie Tonys record
Photos: Imperial Theatre (l) and Broadway Theatre (r)
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Look for Next to Normal to pull of several upsets, possibly including Best Musical. People are passionate about the show, it is most original, and deserves to win, by far, even over blockbuster Billy.
Posted by: Jay | May 14, 2009 at 11:49 AM
So, how does Susan think "Mary Stuart" going to win Best Scenic Design of a Play when it's not even nominated?
Posted by: Ryan | May 14, 2009 at 11:42 AM
what about Best leading actor in a play, and leading actress in a play?
Posted by: owen | May 14, 2009 at 08:40 AM
Tom, why don't you log these predictions at http://predictionbook.com/ ?
Then we could all put our two cents in and you could gauge what the community thinks.
Posted by: Lina Calabria | May 13, 2009 at 03:56 PM
Where is Lead Actor/Actress in a Play?
Posted by: D. Johnson | May 13, 2009 at 03:43 PM