Kristin Chenoweth is an amazing talent who I really admire- She's so versatile and her comedic skills are pure gold. I'm wondering if those of you who were actively following the Tony's in the 2009-2010 season as well as the 2006-2007 season could tell me why she was snubbed both times. I know she got poor reviews for Promises Promises (Even her voice teacher told her she was wrong for it) so that snub doesn't shock me, but her snub for The Apple Tree is a head-scratcher. From the clips I've seen of it on Youtube, she's pretty fantastic and she got fabulous reviews for it. There were quite a few contenders that year and I'm guessing it was just the way things worked out with the lineup that year, but I still find it odd. Thoughts?
It was a highly, highly, competitive year in that category. While Ebersole was always going to be the undisputed winner, the other nominees were Audra McDonald, Donna Murphy, Laura Bell Bundy, and Debra Monk. In addition to Chenoweth, Ashley Brown and Lea Michele were also not nominated.
I wouldn't call it a "snub," so much as a very strong year for leading ladies.
For me the real head-scratcher is her loss this year in OTTC, one of the all-time great marriages of actress and role, over O'Hara's predictable and undercooked Anna in TKAI.
I think Kelli gave a far more difficult and layered performance than Kristin this year. That's of course more to do with the roles than the actresses who played them but I certainly believe that Tony was rightfully bestowed to Kelli. Kristin's performance was hilarious and spot on but I was virtually unmoved afterwards.
I know, I know. It must be a slow day at BWW where all I've got to do is rerun old gripes. When I see a thread called Kristen [sic] Chenoweth's Tony Snubs, the reflexive posts just write themselves.
To the OP, Kristin's latest snub is being called Kristen.
I saw Chenoweth on THE APPLE TREE the first time I went to NYC as an adult. She was simply glorious. She gave a comedic tour de force and sang the part with such ease, bringing her signature ability to deliver technically flawless singing while being incredible funny, touching, and sweet at various times (often all at once). She was spectacular in all three roles and had great chemistry with her cast members. Not only did she deserve to be nominated, but it was the kind of performance that could have earned her the award itself. Unfortunately the show was closed by the time the nominations came out and it didn't even get recorded.
Ebersole, Murphy, and McDonald were locks (Ebersole had the award sewn up since the GREY GARDENS transfer was announced, and Donna Murphy and Audra McDonald were so great in their respective shows that they tied for the Drama Desk). The two other slots were up for grabs among Chenoweth, Monk, and Laura "Bland" Bundy. Monk was giving it her all in a show by the recently late Fred Ebb (a show that many thought could be the last new Kander & Ebb show to be on Broadway), someone with whom she collaborated in STEEL PIER. I imagine good will toward her and the show got her in. Then there was Bundy, whom I find incredibly generic but whose role is on stage for about the entire running time; while the show got lukewarm reviews from critics, many thought Bundy's energetic performance deserved recognition. I think Chenoweth should have gotten in over Monk (she truly elevated the material but now that I think about it, she should have been featured) and definitely over Bundy (Sheridan Smith is a million times better on the London recording).
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
"I know she got poor reviews for Promises Promises (Even her voice teacher told her she was wrong for it) so that snub doesn't shock me"
Then why even refer to it as a "snub"? Frankly, it wasn't just that she was miscast as Fran. It's impossible to tell whether she was miscast because her acting in the role was shockingly inept. In the scenes following Fran's suicide attempt, her performance recalled a woman who had freshly returned from shopping for a hat at Henri Bendel. Not a heartbroken young woman recovering from an emotional breakdown and a barbiturate overdose.
She is an amazingly talented woman, a great soprano, and a deft and delicious comedienne.
And generally a credible and accomplished actor. But certainly not in Promises, Promises.
Having not seen her, I can't make any comment, but I admire the way she dealt with the criticism that was thrown at her from it. She says that she chose to stay with the show longer because she knew she wasn't done with the character and that she doesn't care that the critics think that heartbreak could never happen to her because it has happened to her. Regardless of whether or not she was good in the role, you have to admire her strength and confidence as an actress who won't let herself be defined by the critics.
I absolutely admire her for that and many other things. And I never said that heartbreak had never happen to her. Nor would I. Moreover, I've seen her believably and quite beautifully express heartbreak in other performances. I have no idea what happened with her performance in Promises. But I wouldn't chock it up to anything else evident in the production, including but not limited to Sean Hayes, whom I thought was very good.
Kristin was absolutely glorious in The Apple Tree, much better than On the 20th Century. With that said, it's just an award at the end of the day, and Kristin has had a great career and she won an Emmy and a Tony. Plenty of great performers and great performances don't get nominated. With that said, Kelli's performance was not undercooked and she absolutely deserved the award over Kristin in my opinion...but then again, it's just an award, just a few opinions.
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
With that said, it's just an award at the end of the day, and Kristin has had a great career and she won an Emmy and a Tony. Plenty of great performers and great performances don't get nominated.
In my opinion they could have justly given the award to either, or called it a tie.
But I think that the award was given to Kelli just because the judges could not allow Kelli to be nominated six times without winning, especially since she had deserved to win a couple of those years.
As for an award just being an award at the end of the day, I agree and would have thought that with all of the success that Kelli is enjoying in her personal and professional lives that she would have said that it was great to finally win the award but she would have understood if another of the actresses had won and been fine with it.
Instead she made it clear when her emotions overcame her that she really did want to win the award at last and would have been hurt, or at least disappointed, if she had not won.
For The Apple Tree, I think Chenoweth was hurt by being in a closed show that overall got decent reviews but not amazing ones. All of the nominees were in shows that were open. In the past few years, the prejudice against closed shows seems to be less but it's still an uphill climb for shows that got "good but not great" reviews. The production only got one Tony nomination, for Best Revival of a Musical, which only had 5 candidates that year out of which 4 were chosen.
Chenoweth's reviews for Promises Promises were pretty bad. It would have been a surprise if she had been nominated.
And I am in the camp that Chenoweth really should have won this year. O'Hara certainly gave a polished and professional performance in The King and I, but I felt that many actresses could have given that performance. I personally didn't find that it had that special something that would make it one for the ages. Ruthie Ann Miles gave that kind of performance, and so did Chenoweth this year.
"What was the name of that cheese that I like?"
"you can't run away forever...but there's nothing wrong with getting a good head start"
"well I hope and I pray, that maybe someday, you'll walk in the room with my heart"
Just to add to the list of women who could have been nominated that year: Stephanie J Block for The Pirate Queen. No it wasn't a great show, but she gave a very good performance in another role where she basically didn't leave the stage the entire time.
As far as Kristin, I thought she was good in 2/3 of the show. Her Act II just didn't do it for me. Frankly, Debra Monk SHOULD have been nominated... but in the Featured category, where she won the Drama Desk. But given that she was ruled Leading, I do think she deserved the nomination over Kristin in what was a very tight year (though I probably would have given it to Block myself).
I agree that Monk should have been nominated in Featured -- it was a featured role, and she won the Drama Desk in that category. I would have nominated Chenoweth over Laura Bell Bundy, personally, but as others have said, it was a very competitive year.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
O'Hara certainly gave a polished and professional performance in The King and I, but I felt that many actresses could have given that performance. I personally didn't find that it had that special something that would make it one for the ages.
The acting awards are given for the performances of the season, NOT the performances of a lifetime!
Jeffrey Karasarides said: "The acting awards are given for the performances of the season, NOT the performances of a lifetime!"
*Should be. It's the tragedy of awards in general, that many times the perceived "due" winner is awarded instead, whether it be the Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, etc.