I posted on Sunday what my Tony award guesses. Wanna know how I did? I was interested to know so here we go. Below is my original info WITH the actual winners added:
Play:
Favorite: Sweat
Who I think will win: Oslo
Who I think should win: Oslo (from all I have read it was a brilliant production)
WINNER: Oslo
Musical:
Favorite: Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think should win: Natasha Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812
WINNER: Dear Evan Hansen
Play Revival:
Favorite: The Little Foxes
Who I think will win: Six Degrees of Separation
Who I think should win: Present Laughter (solely because I love Kevin Kline-LOL)
WINNER: August Wilson’s Jitney
Musical Revival:
Favorite: Hello, Dolly! (though several articles I read today are predicting that Falsettos may take it)
Who I think will win: Hello, Dolly! (which is possibly my least favorite musical of all time)
Who I think should win: Miss Saigon! (It was AMAZING!)
WINNER: Hello, Dolly!
Leading Actor (play):
Favorite: Kevin Kline for Present Laughter
Who I think will win: Jefferson Mays for Oslo
Who I think should win: ? I am not sure on this one..
WINNER: Kevin Kline for Present Laughter
Leading Actress (play):
Favorite: Laura Linney for Little Foxes
Who I think will win: Laura Linney for Little Foxes (blah)
Who I think should win: Anyone else...(I don't get the obsession with her)
WINNER: Laurie Metcalf, A Doll’s House, Part 2 (YES!!!)
Leading Actor (musical):
Favorite: Ben Platt for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Ben Platt for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think should win: This is a rich category this year-it is hard to say which one should win-frankly I am surprised Ben Platt is SUCH a favorite.
WINNER: Ben Platt for Dear Evan Hansen
Leading Actress (musical):
Favorite: Bette Midler for Hello, Dolly!
Who I think will win: Bette Midler for Hello, Dolly!
Who I think should win: Hard to say-fame is clearly a factor here-3 uber famous talented women nominated-all three superstars, and 2 newer, less known talents. I saw both of the lesser known ones (Denee Benton in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, and Eva Noblezada in Miss Saigon). Both of their performances were worthy of this award in my opinion...
WINNER: Bette Midler for Hello, Dolly!
Featured Actor (play):
Favorite: Danny DeVito in Arthur Miller’s The Price
Who I think will win: Danny DeVito in Arthur Miller’s The Price
Who I think should win: ?
WINNER: Michael Aronov, Oslo
Featured Actress (play):
Favorite: Cynthia Nixon in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think will win: Cynthia Nixon in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think should win: ?
WINNER: Cynthia Nixon in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Featured Actor (musical):
Favorite:Andrew Rannells in Falsettos
Who I think will win: Mike Faist in Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think should win: Lucas Steele in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
WINNER: Gavin Creel, Hello, Dolly!
Featured Actress (musical):
Favorite: Rachel Bay Jones in Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Jenn Colella in Come From Away
Who I think should win: ?
WINNER: Rachel Bay Jones in Dear Evan Hansen
Book of Musical:
Favorite: Steven Levenson for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Dave Malloy for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 or Dear Evan Hansen
WINNER: Steven Levenson for Dear Evan Hansen
Score:
Favorite: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think should win: Dave Malloy for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
WINNER: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul for Dear Evan Hansen
Scenic Design (play):
Favorite: Nigel Hook for The Play That Goes Wrong
Who I think will win: Nigel Hook for The Play That Goes Wrong
Who I think should win: Nigel Hook for The Play That Goes Wrong
WINNER: Nigel Hook for The Play That Goes Wrong
Scenic Design (musical):
Favorite: Mimi Lien for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think will win: Mimi Lien for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Mimi Lien for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
WINNER: Mimi Lien for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Costume Design (play):
Favorite: Jane Greenwood for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think will win: Jane Greenwood for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think should win: Jane Greenwood for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
WINNER: Jane Greenwood for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Costume Design (musical):
Favorite: Paloma Young for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think will win: Paloma Young for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Paloma Young for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
WINNER: Santo Loquasto, Hello, Dolly!
Lighting Design (play):
Favorite: Donald Holder for Oslo
Who I think will win: Donald Holder for Oslo
Who I think should win: Donald Holder for Oslo
WINNER: Christopher Akerlind, Indecent
Lighting Design (musical):
Favorite: Bradley King for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think will win: Bradley King for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Bradley King for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
WINNER: Bradley King for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Direction (play):
Favorite: Daniel Sullivan for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think will win: Daniel Sullivan for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think should win: ??
WINNER: Rebecca Taichman, Indecent
Direction (musical):
Favorite: Michael Greif for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Michael Greif for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think should win: Rachel Chavkin for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (I think it is worth mentioning that Matthew Warchus did an AMAZING job with Groundhog Day The Musical, and I don't think it should be discounted, particularly for this category-also, I hope it wins some sort of effects awards. The staging was AWESOME!)
WINNER: Christopher Ashley, Come from Away
Choreography:
Favorite: Andy Blankenbuehler for Bandstand
Who I think will win: Sam Pinkleton for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Sam Pinkleton for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
WINNER: Andy Blankenbuehler for Bandstand
Orchestrations:
Favorite: Dave Malloy for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think will win: Dave Malloy for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Dave Malloy for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
WINNER: Alex Lacamoire, Dear Evan Hansen
I guessed a total of 11 categories correctly out of 24. So...I'm not sure what to say about that, but I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Tony's! It was a great show-fun to watch and totally fun for our family! And for anyone following at home, the whole family did predictions, and I guessed the most correct, followed by Armour who guessed 10/24 correctly.
As I mentioned in a previous post this week, the Tonys are equal to the Superbowl in my world. So, obviously we need some excellent Tonys watching food! This year I based the main food on inspiration from the four musicals nominated for best new musical.
Come From Away:
My Kindergartner and 3rd grader took charge of this show and put together snacks and things you might get on an airplane since many characters were stuck on airplanes for many hours in this show.
Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812:
Pierogis because at the beginning of the show we were given pierogis from the cast to eat! Admitedly I do not know how to make them, so I bought some in the frozen section and cooked them at home. They are not nearly as delicious as the ones at The Great Comet, but they will do!
Groundhog Day: The Musical
Every morning Rita wants to try the Sticky Buns. So I went with sticky buns...or really a couple different kinds of cinnamon rolls because that is what my kids will eat! ;)
Dear Evan Hansen
Two important scenes in this show happen in an apple orchard, so we did some apple related goodness for Evan Hansen (that's easy to do in Yakima Washington LOL). We have a homemade apple crisp pie, apples, and sparkling apple cider!
I have a feeling I will need some extra exercise this week to make up for this!
Show-Score and Audience Rewards got together and set up a way for us to predict the Tony's and I just put in my predictions. Wanna play along with me? Let’s see if we agree about who will win the Tonys! (There is even a prize, maybe we’ll split it: 1,000,000 Audience Rewards® Points!) All you need to do is click this link to play with me.
BUT FYI, this is who I think WILL win, not who I think SHOULD win...and sometimes I did not pick the favorite. I picked some underdogs....AND just because I love you all, below is my complete list of who the favorites are (based on the highest votes on the predictor quiz above), who I think will win, and who I think should win.
***This list is based on the opinions of a girl living across the country who has only seen a handful of these productions live. My opinions are based on seeing those shows, researching the others and reading a lot online, and watching everything I can find online. I am not a Tony Prediction expert, just an opinionated fan***
Here it is:
Play:
Favorite: Sweat
Who I think will win: Oslo
Who I think should win: Oslo (from all I have read it was a brilliant production)
Musical:
Favorite: Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think should win: Natasha Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812
Play Revival:
Favorite: The Little Foxes
Who I think will win: Six Degrees of Separation
Who I think should win: Present Laughter (solely because I love Kevin Kline-LOL)
Musical Revival:
Favorite: Hello, Dolly! (though several articles I read today are predicting that Falsettos may take it)
Who I think will win: Hello, Dolly! (which is possibly my least favorite musical of all time)
Who I think should win: Miss Saigon! (It was AMAZING!)
Leading Actor (play):
Favorite: Kevin Kline for Present Laughter
Who I think will win: Jefferson Mays for Oslo
Who I think should win: ? I am not sure on this one..
Leading Actress (play):
Favorite: Laura Linney for Little Foxes
Who I think will win: Laura Linney for Little Foxes (blah)
Who I think should win: Anyone else...(I don't get the obsession with her)
Leading Actor (musical):
Favorite: Ben Platt for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Ben Platt for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think should win: This is a rich category this year-it is hard to say which one should win-frankly I am surprised Ben Platt is SUCH a favorite.
Leading Actress (musical):
Favorite: Bette Midler for Hello, Dolly!
Who I think will win: Bette Midler for Hello, Dolly!
Who I think should win: Hard to say-fame is clearly a factor here-3 uber famous talented women nominated-all three superstars, and 2 newer, less known talents. I saw both of the lesser known ones (Denee Benton in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, and Eva Noblezada in Miss Saigon). Both of their performances were worthy of this award in my opinion...
Featured Actor (play):
Favorite: Danny DeVito in Arthur Miller’s The Price
Who I think will win: Danny DeVito in Arthur Miller’s The Price
Who I think should win: ?
Featured Actress (play):
Favorite: Cynthia Nixon in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think will win: Cynthia Nixon in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think should win: ?
Featured Actor (musical):
Favorite:Andrew Rannells in Falsettos
Who I think will win: Mike Faist in Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think should win: Lucas Steele in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Featured Actress (musical):
Favorite: Rachel Bay Jones in Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Jenn Colella in Come From Away
Who I think should win: ?
Book of Musical:
Favorite: Steven Levenson for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Dave Malloy for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 or Dear Evan Hansen
Score:
Favorite: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think should win: Dave Malloy for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Scenic Design (play):
Favorite: Nigel Hook for The Play That Goes Wrong
Who I think will win: Nigel Hook for The Play That Goes Wrong
Who I think should win: Nigel Hook for The Play That Goes Wrong
Scenic Design (musical):
Favorite: Mimi Lien for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think will win: Mimi Lien for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Mimi Lien for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Costume Design (play):
Favorite: Jane Greenwood for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think will win: Jane Greenwood for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think should win: Jane Greenwood for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Costume Design (musical):
Favorite: Paloma Young for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think will win: Paloma Young for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Paloma Young for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Lighting Design (play):
Favorite: Donald Holder for Oslo
Who I think will win: Donald Holder for Oslo
Who I think should win: Donald Holder for Oslo
Lighting Design (musical):
Favorite: Bradley King for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think will win: Bradley King for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Bradley King for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Direction (play):
Favorite: Daniel Sullivan for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think will win: Daniel Sullivan for Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
Who I think should win: ??
Direction (musical):
Favorite: Michael Greif for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think will win: Michael Greif for Dear Evan Hansen
Who I think should win: Rachel Chavkin for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (I think it is worth mentioning that Matthew Warchus did an AMAZING job with Groundhog Day The Musical, and I don't think it should be discounted, particularly for this category-also, I hope it wins some sort of effects awards. The staging was AWESOME!)
Choreography:
Favorite: Andy Blankenbuehler for Bandstand
Who I think will win: Sam Pinkleton for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Sam Pinkleton for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Orchestrations:
Favorite: Dave Malloy for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think will win: Dave Malloy for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Who I think should win: Dave Malloy for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
If you know me in real life, you know that "Beckee's Deal" is that I have a few great loves in life: my family, my church, football, and Musicals probably rank highest! :) I was a drama teacher once upon a time and still love to perform when I get the chance between all the mommin'.
So, the Tony awards and the Superbowl are equivalent events in my world! This year, I am even more excited than usual though because I just returned a few weeks ago from an AMAZING Anniversary trip to NYC to see some of those amazing musicals! (And I have obsessively listened to the soundtracks of those I could not get tickets to). Just for reference, the shows I saw were Hamilton (last years winner of basically everything), Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Miss Saigon, Groundhog Day The Musical, Wicked, and Chicago (which my husband's cousin is in!!).
I want to get YOU excited (and ready) for the Tony awards too!!
So, I have compiled below some things you should check out before Sunday's Tony Award show (Sunday June 11, 2017 CBS 8/7C):
You can see a full list of nominees here, but I am going to talk about a few major categories (only musicals this time because that's my obsession-nothing against the plays!!):
Musical
Come From Away
Dear Evan Hansen
Groundhog Day The Musical
Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (commonly referred to as just The Great Comet)
Musical Revival
Falsettos
Hello, Dolly! (starring Bette Midler)
Miss Saigon
Leading Actor (Musical)
Christian Borle, Falsettos
Josh Groban, The Great Comet
Andy Karl, Groundhog Day The Musical
David Hyde Pierce, Hello, Dolly!
Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen
Leading Actress (Musical)
Denee Benton, The Great Comet
Christine Eversole, War Paint
Patti LuPone, War Paint
Bette Midler, Hello, Dolly!
Eva Noblezada, Miss Saigon
Let's focus on the 7 musicals nominated for either Best Musical or Best Musical Revival and what you should know about them:
Come From Away: Based on the "true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them". It is about planes that were grounded in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11 when the terrorist attacks happened. Check this out:
Sadly I did not get to see this one in NYC, but I have listened to the music. I love the music to this, and I LOVE that it is a TRUE story of something amazing and good that happened on a day that was so, so dark in our history. It is beautiful.
Dear Evan Hansen: The story of a teenager (Evan Hansen) who kind of accidentally end up as an important player in a tragedy that in reality had nothing to do with him. Evan is struggling himself and has a short encounter with another student at school, Connor, who ends up committing suicide that night. Conner has a letter in his pocket when he kills himself that makes his parents thing he and Evan were friends. When he is confronted about the letter and asked whether he and Connor were friends, he does not want to disappoint the grieving parents so he invents a friendship with Connor. As with most lies, his explodes, becoming bigger and bigger. The show explores suicide, anxiety, social media and other timely themes. Check this out:
I really, really wanted to see this show, but it is a hot ticket right now and I did not get tickets. From all I have read, this show is the favorite to win. The music is beautiful, it is a beautifully haunting story to me. My teen age son LOVES this music. I think it will likely take the big prize home even with other amazing shows up against it this year.
Groundhog Day The Musical: Musical based on the 1993 Bill Murray Groundhog Day about an arrogant weatherman that gets stuck in the same town repeating Groundhog day over and over again. Starring Andy Karl (who also starred in the Rocky musical on Broadway).
This is one of the shows I DID get to see. It was really funny, which I always appreciate since so many musicals have such intense themes these days. It was not my favorite show, and I do not think it will take home the big prize, but it is a FUN show to watch! It felt like a vehicle to spotlight Andy Karl as the other actors/characters did not get enough character development in my humble opinion. But I understand why-Andy Karl is amazing. But even with his incredible performance, he is not the best part of this show-the stage effects are ingenious and fun! I am still thinking about how in the world they get Andy Karl in the bed so fast over and over again, and there is a chase scene that I will never forget seeing live! I truly hope it wins something for the stage effects, but as I said before, I don't think it will be taking home the Best Musical statue.
Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812: The plot of this show will not sell you on it-I promise, but you'll have to trust me when I tell you that it is amazing. It is based on a little 70 page piece of Tolstoy's War and Peace that is about Natasha's affair with Anatole. And it starts Josh Groban as Pierre (for a few more days at least). They wanted the audience to feel a part of the action of the show and adjusted the theater to make that work. There are seats on the stage, and cast members are on stage, in the audience, all over. It is pretty incredible. I cannot find a great video to share with you that captures how incredible this show is, but there is a video of the cast performing on Good Morning America, so here's that:
I got to see this show live and actually we splurged on what I think are the best seats in the house (they were the most expensive for sure) and we sat ON stage at one of the tables where a lot of the action of the play happens. Characters interact with you, they sit with you, talk to you, sing to you, make sure you toast with them etc. I definitely got Josh Groban spit and sweat on me several times (is that gross or awesome...I'll go with both-it's gross and awesome). I went into this show not knowing at all what to expect (the CD hadn't even been released so I hadn't even heard the music). I was very pleasantly surprised! I LOVED this show. Almost as much as I loved Hamilton (if you know me irl, you know that is saying A LOT!). As I said before, I know Evan Hansen is the favorite to win this category, but I think it would be a mistake to overlook this show-I think it has a fighting chance to surprise the masses and take home the big prize. It was absolutely a fun, emotional, beautiful show! I loved it and did not want it to end. (PS, I have admittedly always been a bit of a Groban hater-I like his voice, but was certainly NOT a fan. This show changed my mind. He was amazing and honestly this was not a show all about him. In a lot of ways Pierre is almost an observer and not as big a part of the show as you would expect with his name in the title. It was NOT a show about Groban, but he certainly was incredible as Pierre!)
Falsettos: I legit know very little about this production, but it had a stellar cast! Falsettos is "The story involves Marvin, his ex-wife Trina, his psychiatrist Mendel, his son Jason, his gay lover Whizzer Brown, and his neighbors Cordelia and Dr. Charlotte." (Thanks Wiki) Watch:
By all accounts this was a brilliant production. It not only got nominated for Best Musical Revival, but also got 4 acting nominations.
Hello, Dolly!: Starring Bette Midler. Another hot ticket right now on Broadway. Bette is the favorite to win Best actress in a musical for this one. If you don't know about Hello, Dolly!, Dolly Levi is a strong-willed matchmaker, trying to find a match for Horace Vandergelder. (Guys, there are no videos online to promote this revival that I can find to share...sorry)
Miss Saigon: This show is about the last group of GI's in Saigon during the Vietnam war and the results of a love affair between a young Vietnamese girl and an American soldier during those last days. It is beautiful music and a very touching, sad story. This production was beautifully done. Here's some background on the revival:
I was so, so lucky to see this amazing revival in May. I had seen the original production 20 years ago when I went to NYC for my high school graduation trip. I loved it and truly did not think this could live up, but it did. It really did-this production exceeded my expectations is so many ways. I cannot give it enough praise, and I hope it beats out the favorite (Dolly) to win because I think it deserves the win! (Plus, to be honest, I hate Hello Dolly!) I am voting for this one for the win!
I cannot wait until Sunday to see who takes home all the big prizes! This is a year FULL of amazing shows and it will be so fun to watch all the talent on stage on Sunday! As for me, I will just be sitting here across the country rooting for The Great Comet and Miss Saigon (Even though I think Evan Hansen and Hello, Dolly, the favorites, might actually win...sigh...)
9:32 PM
Labels:
#Tonys,
Come From Away,
Dear Evan Hansen,
Food,
Groundhog Day Musical,
The Great Comet,
Tony Awards
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