Christian Hoff, JERSEY BOYS, 2006 Best Featured Actor in a Musical

[Balthazar Chasen]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 1:32pm

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting Christian Hoff (JERSEY BOYS, 2006 Tony winner, Best Featured Actor MUSICAL) after seeing him in THE MIDTOWN MEN -- featuring three original JERSEY BOYS.

Such a kind & generous person.  And his singing & dancing were terrific! At a meet-&-greet Daniel Reichard & I discussed Christian's semi-surprise Tony win...his co-star immediately mentioning Jim Dale from The Threepenny Opera as the favorite in Christian's category. 

Since I just discovered this board I thought it might be fun to post this & get some responses & reactions to Christian Hoff's Tony win.  Many had John Lloyd Young as the heavy favorite in his category...yet initial support for Christian Hoff during the nomination season wasn't as strong.  Thoughts? Reactions? Reflections?

(And Reichard mentioned Brandon Victor Dixon as taking his own place in the nomination lineup.)

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 1:35pm

"Many had John Lloyd Young as the heavy favorite in his category...yet initial support for Christian Hoff during the nomination season wasn't as strong. "

They weren't even in the same category.

[Balthazar Chasen]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 1:37pm

To clarify:  Many had John Lloyd Young winning Best Actor (Musical) yet Christian Hoff wasn't seen by many as the favorite to win Best Featured Actor (Musical).

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 1:40pm

OK. People that aren't the favorite win Tonys all the time. For example, this year: Ruthie Ann Miles & Christian Borle. Last year: Sophie Okonedo. I'm not sure what you're asking.

[Hamilton22]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 1:43pm

There is nothing to suggest that Balthazar is claiming they were in the same category: 

Many had John Lloyd Young as the heavy favorite in his category...yet initial support for Christian Hoff during the nomination season wasn't as strong.

 

Why would the OP add in "in his category" if he thought Both Jersey men were in the same one? 

The OP could have said: Many had John Lloyd Young as the heavy favorite in his category...yet initial support for Christian Hoff in his respective category during the nomination season, wasn't as strong.

But it was not difficult by any means to understand what he meant. 

 

Or maybe I'm reading it wrong.

 

In any case, Favorites haven't been awarded the Tony, multiple times. Most recently Sydney Lucas in Fun Home. 

[Balthazar Chasen]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 1:45pm

At the time, the "smart money" was going on Jim Dale, the sole acting nominee from the much-ballyhooed revival of "The Threepenny Opera" (Alan Cumming and Cyndi Lauper were both snubbed).  Perhaps there wasn't a particular passion going for the Dale performance per se, but more of a feeling that he was an esteemed veteran, and the Tonys do seem to acknowledge their veterans more so than other awards...(see Ian McDiarmid of "Faith Healer," who won the Best Featured Actor in a Play prize that year).

I actually don't remember Hoff being in many of the conversations surrounding the Featured Actor in a Musical race.

 

[Hamilton22]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 1:47pm

Actually, now that I re-read it, I am a bit confused also. What exactly are you asking?

[LarryD2]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 1:48pm

I believe Jim Dale was favored to win for Threepenny Opera that year. I do recall Hoff's win being something of a surprise.

(And Reichard mentioned Brandon Victor Dixon as taking his own place in the nomination lineup.)

Not sure how much I agree with this.

[Balthazar Chasen]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 1:51pm

My question pertains to Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 2006:  what were the assessments of Christian Hoff's chances winning? What was the feeling in the air between the time of the nomination announcement and the actual ceremony regarding Hoff's performance winning the Tony Award?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 1:51pm

That happened 9 years ago. Why does it matter?

[Balthazar Chasen]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 2:02pm

I just discovered this message board recently & though it would be a fun question to ask.  His is my favorite Cinderella Tony victory, probably ever. 

[Hamilton22]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 2:13pm

Well I'll try to put in my 2 cents:

I'm not a big fan of Jersey Boys. I thought The Color Purple was the better candidate for Best Musical. That being said, I fully expected John Lloyd Young to win. He was way out of in front and I thought he was giving the best performance of that year.

I can't say I felt the same for Christian Hoff. While I thought he  had conjured up a serviceable performance, I found Jim Dale and Brandon Victor Dixon to be more deserving of the award.

I remember that category being somewhat of a mystery when the nominations came out. I certainly wasn't expecting Hoff to win, but like I said, I've never cared for Jersey Boys.

Updated On: 7/20/15 at 02:13 PM

Posted: 7/20/15 at 3:38pm

I actually don't remember Hoff being in many of the conversations surrounding the Featured Actor in a Musical race, but I always saw him as a wild card pick with plenty of goodwill toward his vehicle going for him. I didn't have him down to win (I had picked Dale myself), but I wasn't surprised at all when Hoff won.

I remember Jim Dale being the "favorite," but there didn't seem to be a lot of passion for his performance from the theater fans.  I remember everyone being very vocal about how they hoped Hoff would be nominated.  And when he was, people were very vocal about his nomination being very deserved.  So the fact that he won was a little bit of a surprise to me, but it seemed to make sense after thinking about it. 

To maintain the pace, what about Danny Burstein's chances as the clueless lothario Adolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone? The song I AM ADOLPHO is hilarious & I'm wondering if his name was in the mix that year? (I've forgotten...I know that Jim Dale was the favorite, with Christian Hoff second.  Can't recall Brandon Victor Dixon, Felciano, or Burstein's "rankings" in the general consensus predictions.)

[Owen22]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 3:45pm

Wasn't Christian fired from "Pal Joey" the next year after winning?  What was the reason?

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 3:52pm

According to Broadway.com's coverage of the 2006 Tony Predictions, 82% of experts predicted Jim Dale would win, 9% predicted Brandon Victor Dixon, and another 9% predicted Christian Hoff. Melissa Rose Bernardo (Entertainment Weekly) was the only one among the experts listed who got it right.

Click Here!

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 3:56pm

"Wasn't Christian fired from "Pal Joey" the next year after winning?  What was the reason?"

First of all, it was two years later. Second of all, Hoff was only forced to leave due to an injury early into previews. His understudy Matthew Risch ended up taking over.

 

[newintown]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 4:06pm

I was definitely rooting for The Drowsy Chaperone that year, the only show that really wowed me. Jersey Boys is perfectly fine, perfectly fun, but 95% merely a concert of Four Seasons songs with some reductive, not-quite-true biography mixed in. The Color Purple is, to me, a totally inept piece of cinema rip-off masquerading as musical theatre. The Wedding Singer isn't really worth discussing.

So I was hoping for a win for Burstein, who I found hilarious as Aldolpho. Hoff was charming and hit his marks, but didn't even have a significant solo number or character song of any kind in his show.

I didn't have any dog in the race for Best Actor - I loved Bob Martin, but without any song at all (other than a slight reprise of one at the end), it's not really a "Best Actor in a Musical" role to me. Cerveris was impressive in a gimmicky Sweeney. Lloyd Young sang very well and gave, I thought, an utterly one-dimensional and humorless performance as Valli.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 4:08pm

"Second of all, Hoff was only forced to leave due to an injury early into previews."

Never but never believe a press release. They generally only have a casual relationship with the truth.

"His understudy Matthew Risch ended up taking over."

Who was, coincidentally, dating the director at the time.

Updated On: 7/20/15 at 04:08 PM

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 4:17pm

Second of all, Hoff was only forced to leave due to an injury early into previews.

As newintown has already indicated, this is not the truth. 

[broadway guy]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 4:28pm

^ The only thing newintown has said, is that people shouldn't believe the press releases. He has said nothing about what he thinks the truth is. 

Updated On: 7/20/15 at 04:28 PM

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 5:00pm

"Second of all, Hoff was only forced to leave due to an injury early into previews. His understudy Matthew Risch ended up taking over."

" The only thing newintown has said, is that people shouldn't believe the press releases. He has said nothing about what he thinks the truth is."

We'll probably never know, but Hoff was dancing within a week or two after his "injury". I suspect he was let go due to artistic differences.

To answer the op's question, I thought Dale deserved the Tony. I have always found Hoff a bland actor and only a so-so dancer, though he does have a nice voice.

Also, imo, Cumming and Lauper weren't "snubbed" - they just weren't that good.

Updated On: 7/20/15 at 05:00 PM

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 7:24pm

According to an old column Michael Riedel wrote at the time, Christian Hoff had only suffered a minor foot injury which ended up making a good cover for getting rid of him as he supposedly wasn't up to all the demands of the role, especially the dancing.

Click Here!

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 7:24pm

The only thing newintown has said, is that people shouldn't believe the press releases. He has said nothing about what he thinks the truth is. 

He was not let go due to an injury. I assure you that.

[east side story]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 7:35pm

Jim Dale seemed like the veteran, default winner even though the community loathed the production he was in. Hoff winning was a pleasant surprise, as not many seemed to think he had a chance. 

And while he did apparently injure himself in Pal Joey, it was the worst kept secret in town that he was just not working out in the role. Oddly enough, Stockard Channing vetoed just about every potential male co-star that was brought to her attention when they were casting. For whatever reason, she took a liking to Hoff. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/20/15 at 7:50pm

I had forgotten that Matthew Risch and Joe Mantellon were an item. I do remember when this all went down how no one believed the reasons given.