The 2024 Tony Awards

[Mister Tee]

I don't know I've ever felt as ignorant on the musical side. Several of the nominees I'd barely heard of prior to the nominations run-up. None of them got exactly bad reviews, but few were greeted with major enthusiasm (Illinoise, chiefly a dance show, I'm told, probably had the strongest reviews). Other shows -- The Notebook, Days of Wine and Roses, Lempicka -- could have easily replaced any of those chosen. And I have zero idea which show is likely to triumph in the end -- though it's pretty clear, were it eligible, Merrily We Roll Along would steamroll the rest (which should make Maria Friedman a strong bet for best director).

The best play list featured names far more familiar to me -- largely because, contra Reza, they're attached to big-star names: McAdams in Mary Jane, Lange in Mother Play, even Anthony Edwards in Prayer for the French Republic. A bit surprised Patriots didn't get more attention. Also, my ignorance, I didn't realize Appropriate constituted a revival. (I'm paying attention, I swear; I get the Times home-delivered, and go right to the arts section -- for the puzzle, if nothing else. But I guess, when you can't afford to actually see most shows, you inevitably lose touch.) Stereophonic sounds like something I'd like to see.

Given that Broadway attendance is still hurting from pandemic hangover, winning this year might mean the difference between life and death for many shows, musicals in particular.

[danfrank]

Granted I don't follow Broadway but once upon a time one was familiar with every actor nominated in plays and musicals. In the last decade or so 80% of the actors nominated are names I've never heard.

This year I count 14 acting nominees that are well known from films and/or television, including 8 of the 10 lead acting nominees from plays.

Ok on a second review of the list I recognise 18 actors.

[Reza]

Granted I don't follow Broadway but once upon a time one was familiar with every actor nominated in plays and musicals. In the last decade or so 80% of the actors nominated are names I've never heard.

This year I count 14 acting nominees that are well known from films and/or television, including 8 of the 10 lead acting nominees from plays.

Ok on a review of the list I recognise 18 actors.

[Big Magilla]

In addition to the 8 well-known leading players from plays, I count 7 out of the 10 leads in musicals as well as 2 featured players in plays and 6 in musicals as well-known actors. That's a total of 23 out of 32 nominees.

In addition to those that are well-known from film and TV, there are some (Kelli O'Hara, Brian D'arcy James, Eden Espinoza, Nikki M. James, Leslie Kritzer, Leslie Mendez, Maryann Plunkett) who are well-known from cast recordings of previous shows. All except for Eden Espinosa have been nominated for Tonys for previous work. Most of them have also won.

73-year-old Dorian Harewood, even better known for his film and TV roles, and 71-year-old Maryann Plunkett have been around the longest.

Harewood goes all the way back to 19711's Two Gentlemen of Verona where he understudied and replaced Clifton Davis, one of the two male leads. The other one was Raul Julia. 71-year-old Plunkett, won a Best Actress Tony for 1986's Me and My Girl, started out as understudy and eventual replacement for Amanda Plummer in her Tony winning portrayal of the title character in Agnes of God. Seen mostly in minor roles in films and on TV, Plunkett was in Greta Gerwig's version of Little Women.

Harewood and Plunkett are two of six players performing the two main characters in The Notebook. One would ordinarily expect all six to have been eligible in the featured categories but for their renown.

Not having seen any of the plays, I can't comment on any of them, but I am familiar with the source material for most of the musicals.

I'm surprised that The Outsiders and Water for Elephants were nominated for Best Musical over The Notebook and The Great Gatsby. All four received mixed reviews but the latter two were more heavily promoted, at least initially.

I bought the live cast recording of the 2021 London revival of Cabaret with Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley which I hated. Its full title is Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club with all the songs apparently being performed as part of the stage act reaching its nadir with "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" sung by Redmayne as the emcee, losing its shocking intent. I hated it even more than the dreadful 2019 revival of Oklahoma!

Merrily We Roll Along should have no problem winning Best Revival of a Musical and both Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe should easily win their categories. Lindsay Mendez might have a tougher time winning in hers as she is a recent winner for the excellent 2018 revival of Carousel.

[danfrank]

d) daninwa, I think you might be stretching the definition of well-known.

By well-known, I meant known to people who are more than casual consumers of film and television, like the folks on this board. Of the 14 I mentioned, five are Oscar nominees or winners, and I believe almost all the rest have won or been nominated for Emmy awards. People who don’t watch much or any American television would be at a disadvantage here, as several of these are better—known for television than films.

I actually like it when there are fewer “famous” Tony nominees, giving a spotlight to the true theatre folks who have worked so hard to get there.

[danfrank]

d) daninwa, I think you might be stretching the definition of well-known.

By well-known, I meant known to people who are more than casual consumers of film and television, like the folks on this board. Five are Oscar nominees or winners. People who don’t watch much or any American television would be at a disadvantage here, as several of these are better—known for television than films.

I actually like it when there are fewer “famous” Tony nominees, giving a spotlight to the true theatre folks who have worked so hard to get there.

[Okri]

a) I've heard surprisingly positive reviews for basically all the nominated musicals. I thought the technical achievements of Water for Elephants would take it

b) I've basically cried uncle when it comes to jukebox musicals. It doesn't help that a couple of the recent ones have become heavily streamed.

c) Best lead actor in a play contains four performers from revivals and one from an original play. Best lead actress in a play has four performers from original plays and one from a revival.

d) daninwa, I think you might be stretching the definition of well-known.

e) I'm still struggling with Doubt being a revival, not gonna lie. It really has been 20 years. I was annoyed it dominated it's first iteration (2004/05 was a stacked play line-up, though).

f) It's always weird to me when best play doesn't have a British (based) playwright.

[Big Magilla]

Here's a rundown on how and why the nominees were chosen, originally published in the L.A. Times:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/other/tony ... ngNewsSerp

[danfrank]

Granted I don't follow Broadway but once upon a time one was familiar with every actor nominated in plays and musicals. In the last decade or so 80% of the actors nominated are names I've never heard.

This year I count 14 acting nominees that are well known from films and/or television, including 8 of the 10 lead acting nominees from plays.

[Reza]

Granted I don't follow Broadway but once upon a time one was familiar with every actor nominated in plays and musicals. In the last decade or so 80% of the actors nominated are names I've never heard.

[danfrank]

I haven’t been following too closely, but I know that Stereophonic is getting tons of
attention and seems to be a big hit. It’s nominated for its original music but is classified as a play. I don’t know what the favorite is for best new musical. Hell’s Kitchen has the most nominations but in principle I’m opposed to jukebox musicals winning. Terrific performances in that one, apparently. Merrily We Roll Along and Jonathan Groff’s performance seem like strong bets.

I think this must be a record: 7 of the 10 director nominees are women.

[Big Magilla]

Not yet. There were 16 new shows that opened on Broadway in the last month so it will take a while to get a handle on all of them which represent the bulk of the nominations.

[anonymous1980]

The nominees.

Any thoughts on these?