It's an Honor Just to Lose to Audra McDonald
Talking about this year's Tony nominees for Best Play (briefly) and next year's Tony nominees for Best Actress in a Musical (extensively).
Extra… extra… hey look at the HEADline… historical NEWS is being made…
Yes, we have confirmation that Tony-magnet Audra McDonald is leading a revival of Gypsy to reopen the Majestic Theatre which has been undergoing renovations since Phantom closed last year. Firstly, let me place my official bet that Adrienne Warren will make her post-Tina Turner Tony return to the Broadway stage (R.I.P. Room) as Louise, and if it ends up being Denée Benton I will NOT be happy… I can still be a hater while I only have a handful of readers!
Anyway, this news is ringing some Funny Girl bells where the whole narrative is about how upset another actress is — for Funny Girl, when Beanie Feldstein was first cast, Lea Michele was trending for obvious reasons and we all know where that ended up; with Gypsy, all I’m seeing are elegies for Nicole Scherzinger, who is tearfully kissing her shot at awards glory goodbye. But is she really? Let’s take a look at how the 2024-25 season’s race for Best Actress in a Musical is looking as the horses are just entering the stables, or something like that, you get the metaphor I’m going for.
What’s Going On Here?
Rachel Zegler, Romeo + Juliet
Okay, this is me taking the opportunity to talk about this baffling production of Romeo + Juliet coming to the Circle in the Square this fall. Last month, the production was vaguely announced, with Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler attached for the titular roles and Jack Antonoff writing new music (hopefully on his Norman Fucking Rockwell! and not his Midnights amirite) but no dates or venue. We did, however, get two publicity videos of Kit looking so uncomfy it’s crazy and I got to see this about every five minutes on TikTok, their ad spend must have been insane or only targeting me. Well, it did unfortunately work, as last week when all information was made known and tickets went on sale, I did wait over four hours on the Telecharge virtual queue and spent too much money on tickets that the friend I was gonna go with can’t even make it to!
Anyway, this is totally just Shakespeare, right? Decidedly a play and not a musical, yes? You would think! Along with the ticket on-sale, we got a… music video of one of Jack’s songs. And upon researching, it’s on his most recent album with Bleachers! Will this be in the show? Or will the music he writes simply be a lyric-less score? Or will the lyrics be Shakespeare? Will Willy be Tony-eligible like T.S. Eliot was for Cats? Time will tell! Anyway, this will almost definitely not be ruled a musical, but if it is… Rachel would probably still not win. Sorry mama you’ll have to wait but your time will come, probably in an Oliver! revival or something.
The Long Shots
Charlotte MacInnes, Gatsby: An American Myth
Bernadette Peters, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends
Lea Salonga, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends
Helen J. Shen, Maybe Happy Ending
Bernadette and Lea, Broadway legends and also a past and future Madame Rose, respectively, are not getting Tonys this year simply because the show is a glorified concert. They both already have Tonys and are doing this for the love of the game and for Steve, so I hope they’ll forgive me for putting them in this spot. I have paid at least one month of Lea’s rent from my Spotify streams of the Miss Saigon West End cast recording so I think we’re good. Gatsby just started performances at A.R.T. in Cambridge and I’m trying to tune out the coverage since I have my ticket for July, but I had previously heard this musical is Myrtle-heavy (Solea Pfeiffer Tony incoming) and also if my home-girl Eva couldn’t get a nom as Daisy (albeit with probably worse material), I can’t promise anything for this Australian newcomer whom I only know from a video of her performing a song from Rebel Wilson’s upcoming movie musical The Deb on an Aussie awards show, which I’m sorry did not impress me! Probably not her fault, but in the event that there is only room for one young newbie to score a nom (the Brody Grant-Ali Louis Bourzgui effect), I have my money on someone else…
Unfortunately that someone else is not Helen J. Shen, though I am now appointing myself president of the Long Island chapter of her fan club. Last week I saw her in The Lonely Few at MCC Theater and when I say she stole the show, even from Lauren Patten and Taylor Iman Jones, I mean it. And Taylor was in Head Over Heels so that’s a serious statement. So funny so good at singing and such nice hair, I smell a star! So why not a Tony? Ummm because this show opens in the fall without GLOWING out-of-town reviews or an established property, it might not last until nominations, and either way I get the feeling Darren Criss will get the push from their press team. But again, mama’s time will come!
Could Go Either Way
Katie Brayben, Tammy Faye
Robyn Hurder, Smash
Ashley Park, The Last Five Years
Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical
I’ve written about Jasmine before but she is that starlet who I think could break through all the noise and potentially get a Tony nomination, especially with a vehicle like BOOP!, something that Charlotte MacInnes and Helen J. Shen, both second-billed to their respective male love interests, don’t have. But Jasmine still faces an uphill battle, and I would even place her likelihood below the other women she’s up against here. This fabled Ashley Park-Joe Jonas Last Five Years is still just a rumor but in the event it gets an official announcement, Ashley is a respected talent who is already a Tony nominee and also has a great narrative following a near-fatal brush with sepsis. Sorry, it does help! We all know how this works! Katie Brayben is coming to Broadway, already with an Olivier Award for Tammy Faye, but truly not even Andrew Rannells is getting me excited for this show.
Robyn Hurder is also a past nominee for Moulin Rouge! and some (other than myself) would argue she was snubbed for A Beautiful Noise, and she is part of an interesting three-woman chain of roles this season, inheriting Megan Hilty’s sloppy seconds as Ivy Lynn in Smash. But, you know what? She really ate when I saw an open rehearsal, and while what they do to Ivy in this iteration of the story is bonkers bananas, Robyn is indisputable! While writing this I’m thinking maybe this category is selling her short but, again, embarrassment of riches.
Likely to Get a Nomination
Kristin Chenoweth, The Queen of Versailles
Sutton Foster, Once Upon a Mattress
Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her
Death Becomes Her is in performances out-of-town right now and that sneak peek of Megan and Jennifer really is remarkable because it managed to get me a little excited about what I imagine is in actuality and uninspired adaptation of a movie that, I’m sorry, disappointed me in the first place! But Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard are catnip for MT gays and both have an overdue narrative. Hilty is the middle step in the role ladder, as she passed down Ivy Lynn in favor of playing Madeline Ashton, a role originally meant for Kristin Chenoweth! Queen of Versailles could be a big ole stinker Floptina Aguilera territory (IDK why I think that but sometimes I’m right about these things) but not even that will stop Kristin from steamrolling towards a nomination. But that’s mother, so she deserves it. Sutton Foster can also never be counted out for a nomination, and I said Winnifred was the role she was born to play. She gobbled up New York City Center and she’ll do it again at the Hudson and even though it’s a limited run, that didn’t stop Sara Bareilles from making a very real run at the Tony two years ago.
But, yeah, the award is really down to two.
Who’s Taking It???
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.
So, up until 3:30pm today, it was widely accepted that Nicole Scherzinger, chronically underappreciated by the masses (after all, she was the only Pussycat Doll), would sweep across the pond on a cloud from rave reviews and an Olivier Award and take New York by storm in her Broadway debut (R.I.P. Grizabella the Glamour Pussycat). Jamie Lloyd, director du jour, crafted the production around her and all was working out to give Nicole her flowers.
Audra, however, has an unimpeachable track record (ten Tony nominations on 12 eligible roles, winning for six of them, across all four acting categories), as does the role of Madame Rose in Gypsy (five for five in nominations and wins for Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, and Patti LuPone). Odds of a nomination are in the neighborhood of 99%. Odds of a win… I’m putting lower! Audra’s Rose is a given… Nicole’s Norma is not… well NOW it is because London has seen it but it was not beforehand! Maybe this is just because “Don’t Cha” turned me gay before “Your Daddy’s Son” did but I’m kind of hoping Nicole pulls through. Something about feeling like it was in her reach and now it’s being taken away really hurts me… I’m an empath! Not to be a total politician about this but I think the odds are like… 50/50??? Maybe 60/40 Audra. But it’s not over!!!
Anyway, let’s talk quickly about THIS year’s Tonys, since, for the first time ever, I have seen all five nominees for Best Play!!! 🥳 Yes yes, I saw Mother Play, and she mothered! Play! This award belongs to Stereophonic in reality but here is my personal ranking, presented without comment:
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Mary Jane
Stereophonic
Mother Play
Prayer for the French Republic
Next year, Oh, Mary!’s taking it!!!