Talkin’ ‘bout the Tonys

The 2022 Tony Awards…

Let me preface this with saying that I am deeply unhappy with the Tony Awards and whatever commmittee decides the nominees. 

During the darkest times, when we were most in need of life and love and a celebration of theatre, the Tonys snubbed a musical, one of five that were eligible and the only one with an original score, because it “wasn’t good enough” or “was too childish” or “not Broadway enough” or whatever crap justification. I love the Lightning Thief musical, and while I can honestly say it was not a typical big ticket Broadway show (I would use the word scrappy), the fact that it got a limited run was awesome. It is a fun, heartfelt, wonderful show and the cast killed it every night up there. Then there was the time the the Tonys felt okay using a song from Be More Chill (which was also kind of snubbed in my opinion - because acting gods forbid anything that actually appeals to young theatre goers that is relatable) without naming the song or notifying the writer about it (though Joe Iconis was surprised, he was also a good sport about it). 

Anyway, that aside, this is the first time where I have seen a good chunk of the nominated shows. And so I wanted to share my thoughts. 

First up, I love how Ariana DeBose has skyrocketed in her career and I think/hope she’ll be a great host.

Secondly, lets start with just looking at the list of nominees and how many nominations they each got.

A Strange Loop - 11 

MJ - 10

Paradise Square - 10 

Company - 9

The Lehman Trilogy - 8

SIX: The Musical - 8

for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf - 7

Girl From The North Country - 7

The Music Man - 6

The Skin of Our Teeth - 6

Clyde's - 5

Hangmen - 5

Mr. Saturday Night - 5

American Buffalo - 4

Flying Over Sunset - 4

Take Me Out - 4

Trouble in Mind - 4

Caroline, or Change - 3

Dana H. - 3

How I Learned to Drive - 3

Macbeth - 3

POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive - 3

Skeleton Crew - 3

Diana, The Musical - 1 Funny Girl - 1

Lackawanna Blues - 1

The Minutes - 1

Mrs. Doubtfire - 1

Neil Simon's Plaza Suite - 1

Of the 28 shows nominated, I’ve seen 12 (in bold). I hope to see another 3 (italicized). Another 13 I have/had no interest in. So obviously this is going to change my perspective. I’m obviously (probably) going to “vote” for the shows I’ve seen over ones I haven’t or have no interest in.

Finally, here are my picks and my reasoning behind them.

Best Play

• Clyde’s

• Hangmen

• The Lehman Trilogy

• The Minutes

• Skeleton Crew

This might be the first time ever I’ve seen more nominated plays than musicals. I’ve actually seen four of these five and Skeleton Crew didn’t pique my interest. Clydes, Hangmen (which I atually saw right before the shut down in 2020), the Lehman Trilogy and The Minutes were all supremely well done (except the last few minutes of The Minutes - I hated that). Despite the stiff combination though, I think The Lehman Trilogy was the most superior of the above. I was fully engaged through all three acts, and disappointed when it was over. It was so well done and if it ever makes it back here, I’d go and see it in a heartbeat.

Best Musical

• Girl From The North Country

• MJ

• Mr. Saturday Night

• Paradise Square

• SIX: The Musical

• A Strange Loop

I’ve seen three of the six, and this is a no brainer. I love love love SIX and think it is fun and smart and well-done and clever and just a brilliant night out. As a testement to how good SIX is, even my friend who is not a fan of musical theatre loves SIX. If that doesn’t stand for why it should win this category, I don’t know what should. But also the sourpusses who snubbed Lightning Thief and Be More Chill (and didn’t The Prom not win anything despite being nominated?) probably won’t go for SIX because they hate joy and laughter and young people. Anyway, not at all salty still haha.

Best Revival of a Play

• American Buffalo

• for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

• How I Learned to Drive

• Take Me Out

• Trouble in Mind

I’ve only seen American Buffalo out of these, and while I enjoyed it, it was a bit too much toxic masculinity for this day and age for me to really enjoy. So I guess I’ll vote for it, but like, by default. I absolutely want to see for colored girls and How I Learned to Drive, so I’m sure one of those would get my vote over American Buffalo.

Best Revival of a Musical

• Caroline, or Change

• Company

• The Music Man

Ugh, I’m not a fan of The Music Man (story or music or how expensive tickets are for what I hear and read is a mediocre revival), but I also struggled to love Company and Caroline, or Change as well. But I suppose if I need to choose, I felt like Caroline, or Change had a much better story and the cast was brilliant. So overall, my vote for best revival goes there.

Best Book of a Musical

• Girl From The North Country by Conor McPherson

• MJ by Lynn Nottage

• Mr. Saturday Night by Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel

• Paradise Square by Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas & Larry Kirwan

• A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson

This one is pretty easy for me. I’ve seen two of the five and I want to see Paradise Square, but of these, I think A Strange Loop should win. I honestly didn’t enjoy Girl From the North Country. I’m not a Bob Dylan fan and did not feel like the music worked with the play, which would have been good and was fairly intriguing but severely underdeveloped. I really enjoy Lynn Nottage’s work, but I have no interest in another Biopic (or whatever the live theatre version of that) and I’m not a Michael Jackson fan. Billy Crystal is hilarious and I’m sure Mr. Saturday Night is a good night out, but I don’t really have any interest. I wasn’t the biggest fan of A Strange Loop, but it certainly was not due to a lack of good writing or acting. It was just too messy for me, but I can recognize a very good book when I see/hear one. I choose A Strange Loop.

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

• Mr. Saturday Night / Music: Tom Kitt - Lyrics: Michael Korie

• Flying Over Sunset / Music: Jason Robert Brown - Lyrics: Amanda Green

• Paradise Square / Music: Jason Howland - Lyrics: Nathan Tysen & Masi Asare

• SIX: The Musical / Music and Lyrics: Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss

• A Strange Loop / Music & Lyrics: Michael R. Jackson

I’ve seen three of these and want to see one. But, also, I am a HUGE Six fan (see above), so this one is super easy for me. As for some commentary on some of the other shows, Flying over Sunset was very pretty yet deeeeeeeply boring and A Strange Loop was well-written but not nearly as enjoyable as SIX. Though I do look forward to a cast album of A Strange Loop, if that’s in the works.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

• Simon Russell Beale, The Lehman Trilogy 

• Adam Godley, The Lehman Trilogy 

• Adrian Lester, The Lehman Trilogy

• David Morse, How I Learned to Drive 

• Sam Rockwell, American Buffalo

• Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Lackawanna Blues 

• David Threlfall, Hangmen

I didn’t think this would ever be a tough category for me, but as mentioned above, I really loved A Lehman Trilogy and all three actors were *mind blown* incredible. But I think I’m going with Adrian Lester. Because holy crap was he perfection in the show. Sam Rockwell was incredible in American Buffalo and David Threlfall kills in Hangmen (see what I did there?) but none of it comes close to the three leads in The Lehman Trilogy. #sorrynotsorry

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

• Gabby Beans, The Skin of Our Teeth 

• LaChanze, Trouble in Mind

• Ruth Negga, Macbeth

• Deirdre O'Connell, Dana H.

• Mary-Louise Parker, How I Learned to Drive

The last category was hard and this category is easy because I’ve only seen one of these, though of the one, Dierdre O’Connell was kind of brilliant. Singers who lip-sync should take notes from her.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

• Billy Crystal, Mr. Saturday Night 

• Myles Frost, MJ

• Hugh Jackman, The Music Man 

• Rob McClure, Mrs. Doubtfire 

• Jaquel Spivey, A Strange Loop

I love Billy Crystal and Hugh Jackman, but Jaquel Spivey was beyond brilliant as Usher and absolutely deserves this Tony Award and I really hope he gets it. Just saying.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

• Sharon D Clarke, Caroline, or Change

• Carmen Cusack, Flying Over Sunset

• Sutton Foster, The Music Man

• Joaquina Kalukango, Paradise Square

• Mare Winningham, Girl From The North Country

Out of three I’ve seen, Sharon’s performance in Caroline, or Change was incredible. Although Mare Winningham’s performance in Girl From the North Country was a super close second, and also fantastic.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

• Alfie Allen, Hangmen

• Chuck Cooper, Trouble in Mind 

• Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Take Me Out 

• Ron Cephas Jones, Clyde's

• Michael Oberholtzer, Take Me Out 

• Jesse Williams, Take Me Out

I’ve only seen two of these but Ron Cephas Jones is Ron Freaken Cephus Jones and just one of the best actors I’ve ever seen.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

• Uzo Aduba, Clyde’s

• Rachel Dratch, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive 

• Kenita R. Miller, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

• Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew

• Julie White, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive 

• Kara Young, Clyde’s

Just Clyde’s here, but Uzo really shined. Kara was awesome too, but this one goes to the character playing the titular role.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

• Matt Doyle, Company

• Sidney DuPont, Paradise Square

• Jared Grimes, Funny Girl

• John-Andrew Morrison, A Strange Loop 

• A.J. Shively, Paradise Square

Matt Doyle…this is completely subjective though. I just love him. Ever since I seeing him as Elder Price in Book of Mormon and of course, Gossip Girl (xoxo). He was great in Company, but I just want him to have a Tony cuz he’s lovely, and Etai Benson wasn’t nominated.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

• Jeannette Bayardelle, Girl From The North Country 

• Shoshana Bean, Mr. Saturday Night

• Jayne Houdyshell, The Music Man

• L Morgan Lee, A Strange Loop

• Patti LuPone, Company 

• Jennifer Simard, Company

Patti LuPone. Because she smashes Ladies Who Lunch while sitting down and facing away and I’m still not over that!!! *clapping*

Best Scenic Design of a Play

• Beowulf Boritt, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive 

• Michael Carnahan and Nicholas Hussong, Skeleton Crew

• Es Devlin, The Lehman Trilogy

• Anna Fleischle, Hangmen

• Scott Pask, American Buffalo 

• Adam Rigg, The Skin of Our Teeth

I actually really liked the scenic design of all three shows I’ve seen, but again, Lehman Trilogy was just next level.

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

• Beowulf Boritt and 59 Productions, Flying Over Sunset 

• Bunny Christie, Company

• Arnulfo Maldonado, A Strange Loop

• Derek McLane and Peter Nigrini, MJ

• Allen Moyer, Paradise Square

Company had great scenic design.

Best Costume Design of a Play

• Montana Levi Blanco, The Skin of Our Teeth

• Sarafina Bush, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf 

• Emilio Sosa, Trouble in Mind

• Jane Greenwood, Neil Simon's Plaza Suite

• Jennifer Moeller, Clyde's

I literally have nothing for this one.

Best Costume Design of a Musical

• Fly Davis, Caroline, or Change 

• Toni-Leslie James, Paradise Square 

• William Ivey Long, Diana, The Musical 

• Santo Loquasto, The Music Man 

• Gabriella Slade, SIX: The Musical

• Paul Tazewell, MJ

SIX. Hands down. I love their costumes and all the little details!

Best Lighting Design of a Play

• Joshua Carr, Hangmen

• Jiyoun Chang, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf 

• Jon Clark, The Lehman Trilogy

• Jane Cox, Macbeth

• Yi Zhao, The Skin of Our Teeth

I know I’m repeating myself but Lehman was !!!!!!

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

• Neil Austin, Company

• Tim Deiling, SIX: The Musical 

• Donald Holder, Paradise Square 

• Natasha Katz, MJ

• Bradley King, Flying Over Sunset 

• Jen Schriever, A Strange Loop

SIX stan still...

Best Sound Design of a Play

• Justin Ellington, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf 

• Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H.

• Palmer Hefferan, The Skin of Our Teeth

• Nick Powell and Dominic Bilkey, The Lehman Trilogy

• Mikaal Sulaiman, Macbeth

See above lol

Best Sound Design of a Musical

• Simon Baker, Girl From The North Country 

• Paul Gatehouse, SIX: The Musical

• Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Company 

• Drew Levy, A Strange Loop

• Gareth Owen, MJ

And again...

Best Direction of a Play

• Lileana Blain-Cruz, The Skin of Our Teeth

• Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf 

• Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy

• Neil Pepe, American Buffalo

• Les Waters, Dana H.

I’m giving this one to Les…Dana H. was super compelling, and the direction was a big part of that. Also I feel bad just repeating my love for the Lehman Trilogy again and again so I figured maybe I’d mix it up.

Best Direction of a Musical

• Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop

• Conor McPherson, Girl From The North Country 

• Lucy Moss & Jamie Armitage, SIX: The Musical 

• Christopher Wheeldon, MJ

• Marianne Elliott, Company

Besides the fact that I adore Stephen Brackett and he’s been an absolute gem on the few occasions I met him, the direction of A Strange Loop was kind of brilliant.

Best Choreograph

• Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf 

• Warren Carlyle, The Music Man

• Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, SIX: The Musical

• Bill T. Jones, Paradise Square

• Christopher Wheeldon, MJ 

And back to repeating myself. But also the choreo in SIX is sick.

Best Orchestrations

• David Cullen, Company

• Tom Curran, SIX: The Musical

• Simon Hale, Girl From The North Country

• Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg, MJ 

• Charlie Rosen, A Strange Loop

I don’t even have a good one for this because I don’t know enough about it, but Charlie is awesome and therefore, I’m casting my vote for him.

Overall, I think I’m probably not right about a lot of these, especially because I haven’t seen a good chunk of the shows and have a total obsession over SIX, but who knows. I’ll find out on June 12.