A Tony voter speaks: I'm not voting for Neil Patrick Harris

[chanel]

Or Bryan Cranston either.

Just one man (or woman's) opinion, but interesting.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/04/a-tony-voter-on-bryan-cranston-s-overrated-lbj-neil-patrick-harris-s-underwhelming-hedwig.html

[dreaming]

I saw that article and can say they are surely entitled to their opinions. (It seemed they were trying too hard to go against the grain for its own sake. I did happen to agree with their assessment that "Lady Day" was a musical. But I thought Cranston was amazing. I guess I think what made Cranston's performance so amazing was that he did exude the person he was playing despite not looking like Johnson-that is a very difficult feat. Looking like someone isn't acting-you should BE the role, not just look like it or imitate someone. That's my two cents.)

[Jordan Catalano]

Lady Day IS a musical. I'll never understand that decision.

[PalJoey]

What an awful person that Tony Voter sounds like.

[adamgreer]

I give very little credibility to someone who seems so unfamiliar with the nominees.

[carolinaguy]

This person doesn't seem to have a clue. I'm assuming they are referring to Jefferson Mays when they say "what's-his-name" in GG. And not knowing that Bullets doesn't have a featured actress nom or that Rocky does have a scene design nod. Knock, knock--hello? Anybody home?

[Broadway Bob*]

I haven't gotten to see LADY DAY yet so I have a question. Are any of the songs character numbers or are they all "on stage" songs?

[quizking101]

They are "on stage" songs, but some do have a connection to moments in Holliday's life.

[Jordan Catalano]

If CONTACT is a "musical", than LADY DAY sure as hell is. These committees make no sense.

[JoeKv99]

I'm always amused by people who judge the portrayal of a real person on how much the actor looks like the person being depicted. That's the least important part of a performance to me.

[Kad]

They call Beautiful a "pastiche." Uh...

[Wayman_Wong]

Everyone is entitled to his opinion, but I don't understand why this ONE Tony voter is more worthy of one whole story, over the other 800 voters. It's just one guy/gal's whims. I just hope his fellow voters are more informed than this person seems to be. (The Post and the Times probably will do a story like this, but they'll sample more people.)

[Mister Matt]

I doubt I would have categorized Lady Day as a musical. The show definitely straddles the fence, but to me, what I saw did not look or feel like a musical at all. The text was so much more vital than the music in defining the play and kept it from simply being a revue or biographical musical.

[Kad]

I totally see why Lady Day is categorized as a play. It's essentially a concert with monologues, with no arc or development for the character.

[SporkGoddess]

I went back and forth on that. Kelli’s gonna suffer from opening too soon, but I thought that musical did a pretty decent job of expanding that book. They did a good job, but people will forget it.

The mystery voter is talking about the musical itself, not Kelli's performance. Argh.

[PalJoey]

Except there's an arc to the show itself, which is, basically, that she's preparing to die.

I think the subtlest, most devastating aspect of Audra's performance is that she is so attuned to the development of Billie Holiday's development as an artist and as a human being is what she does with her voice.

At the beginning of the show, Audra's voice is Billie circa 1947: more seasoned and mature than the piping, sweet voice of 1930s Billie singing with Teddy Wilson and Count Basie and Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman.

But as the 90 minutes goes by, her voice gets more ragged, as Billie's did after her arrests for heroin, as the drugs and alcohol took their toll on her body, spirit, voice and soul.

By the end of the show, Audra is singing the way Billie did at the end of her life, as you can hear on her final recordings with Ray Ellis and as you can see on her 1957 television appearance on The Sound of Jazz with Lester Young.

It's a subtle choice on Audra's part, noticeable only if you've listened to enough Billie to know the difference between the sound of her voice in the different periods. But for the average audience member, it devastatingly dramatizes her decline.

[HenryTDobson]

Assuming this interview is valid, it greatly annoys me. This person clearly has very little respect for the position he/she is in. I'm sure most of us here would LOVE to have the power to vote for the Tonys (and especially get to see every show for free). There's a sense of entitlement to his/her tone that really bugs me.

If these are the types of people voting, then I just lost a lot of respect for the Tonys as a whole.

[haterobics]

"If these are the types of people voting, then I just lost a lot of respect for the Tonys as a whole."

These are the type of people who give interviews to people like Musto who can make things about them in a public albeit anonymous way. I wouldn't extrapolate further than that.

[Gothampc]

"But as the 90 minutes goes by, her voice gets more ragged, as Billie's did after her arrests for heroin, as the drugs and alcohol took their toll on her body, spirit, voice and soul."

I actually prefer Billie's voice in this time period. The ragged voice gave more poignancy to the songs.

[Gothampc]

If this incident isn't a joke in the opening sequence or a running joke throughout the program, then the writers aren't doing their job. It has the potential to top the Patti LuPone lawnmower gag.

[GreasedLightning]

These are the times I question why some people are Tony voters...

[Brian07663NJ]

"These are the times I question why some people are Tony voters..."

Only now?

Have you had the privilege of actually meeting or knowing any Tony voters?
They are pompous because they are Tony voters and cheaper than sin. Doubt many would actually pay to see a show if it wasn't handed to them for free. Because they have a ballot in hand they are the all powerful all knowing authority on theater too!

Just because they hand a Tony (or multiple) to a show does NOT mean I actually go to see it!

[Sutton Ross]

I love how snotty he is.

[haterobics]

"I love how snotty he is."

Or she.

[madbrian]

I think that interview is a complete fabrication.

[Will42]

Reminds me of those Oscar voters ballots that The Hollywood Reporter we doing past season. So depressing. Those people have no business voting.