Best Leading Actress In A Musical 2006

[Soaring29]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 7:25pm

Hey everyone! So I was wondering what was the feeling about who would win this category at the time because I know Patti Lupone was considered the favorite and her loss to Lachanze was a shocker to most Tony pundits, but on paper, Lupone doesn't seem like such an obvious slam dunk to me.  Any explanations? 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 7:29pm

Patti hadn't been nominated or won in years and she was fabulous as Mrs. Lovett.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 7:30pm

on paper I'd definitely say Patti LuPone in Sweeney Todd would be more of an obvious slam dunk than LaChanze in The Color Purple.

[Soaring29]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 7:40pm

I wouldn't say Lachanze was a slam dunk at all, but Patti wouldn't seem like such a huge lock to me.  I mean Sutton Foster got great reviews for Drowsy and I know Lachanze was acclaimed as well so it surprises me that people would say it was such a done deal for Patti at the time. I'm assuming O'Hara and Rivera had no chance.  

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 8:01pm

Sutton, while terrific, was part of a wonderful ensemble cast and she was doing another toe-tapping musical comedy. Patti made a return to Broadway musicals in a reimagined Sondheim classic. Correct me if I'm wrong, but she hadn't been in a musical on Broadway since Anything Goes in 1988!

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 11:52pm

When Patrick Pacheco made his prediction for this category on Theater Talk back in 2006, he was given a lot of flack for thinking LaChanze was going to win.

 

@19:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Ev0_X8H3c&index=11&list=PL_2Wk1WlmEyQBFMVIDPPx_k-thJZ5Cg8y

 

However, he outsmarted everyone...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4AqyKCLIdk

[c0113g3b0y]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 12:02am

LaChanze's wonderful performance and her resulting Tony was well deserved.

Patti was just being Patti trying to play Mrs Lupone. glad she got upstaged just like when Joanna Gleason won for Into the Woods at the Tony's beating Patti's hammy, "Imma slur every single word" performance in Anything Goes

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 12:04am

Patti was 100% the frontrunner. She received a load of praise for reinventing the character and reinventing HER interpretation of the role. When she was announced for the Doyle production, there was a collective groan in the theater community because she had played the role several times in concert, which is on DVD and CD. To the surprise of many, her interpretation with Doyle was completely new, fresh, and focused. If you weren't following the Broadway season or the Tony awards that year, you might not understand the buzz surrounding Patti's performance, but it was there.

 

In the long run, losing that year worked out for her because her win for Gypsy was extremely triumphant. 

Updated On: 12/23/15 at 12:04 AM

[Hamilton22]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 12:10am

I wouldn't say Lachanze was a slam dunk at all, but Patti wouldn't seem like such a huge lock to me. 

 

 

Did you see either performance live?

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 1:15am

Saw all three performances and was at the Tony's that year. I fully expected Foster to get it as she was jist wonderful. But LaChanze was also wonderful so I was happy with her win.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 1:52am

Hamilton22 said: "Did you see either performance live?"

 

It seems obvious OP didn't see them, hence why they're asking the board for their opinion on the subject (since they might have firsthand knowledge).

[Hamilton22]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 7:10am

Well then this thread is just silly. 

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 8:03am

I'm a much bigger fan of Patti's Mrs. Lovett than I am of her Madame Rose.  And think if she would have won for Sweeney, then it would have been more likely that Kelli would have won for South Pacific than she would have won for Gypsy, and I'm a much bigger fan of Kelli's Nellie than I am of her Mrs. Anna, and someday I'll probably be saying that I am a much bigger fan of Kristin's Lily than I am of the performance she'll next win a Tony for.

And so it goes.

But, back to your question.  It wasn't a shock at all.   La Chanze's win for The Color Purple was not a huge upset.  It was a very well received performance in a very important role.  La Chanze is a highly respected and well loved veteran performer.  I don't recall many saying that Patti was a lock.

In addition, for those who are unaware of the sympathy factor which might have favored La Chanze, I will quote Wikipedia:  While LaChanze was eight months pregnant with her second child, her husband, securities trader Calvin Gooding, was killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. He was working at Cantor Fitzgerald in Tower One of the World Trade Center. On September 6, 2002, she sang the National Anthem at a joint meeting of Congress in Federal Hall, the first meeting of Congress in New York since 1790.[3][4] She later sang Amazing Grace at the dedication of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on May 15, 2014, dedicating her performance to her late husband.
 

[Hamilton22]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 8:16am

Who else is surprised that this thread isn't about Kelli O'hara? 

[Brick]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 10:35am

Odds were on Patti, for all the reasons noted above. And I would add, she was also praised for being a performance as truly part of an ensemble - not necessarily a huge star turn like one would expect from a performer making their return to the Broadway musical stage after 27 years.

But she wasn't a lock; there were some who predicted LaChanze. THE COLOR PURPLE was nominated for quite a few awards and there was a feeling it should get something. And as said above, LaChanze is a veteran performer with years of goodwill from the community. If anything, she wasn't a lock because Celie seemed to disappear in that production.

Sutton, at that point, was slowly becoming perceived as the dependable, always-incredible star we know today. So, few were betting on her.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 11:24am

Ironically you could say that what happened to Patti in 2006 also happened to Raul Esparza in 2007. Another John Doyle Sondheim revival front runner beat by another highly praised performance making up the only Tony win for a highly nominated musical (David Hyde Pierce in CURTAINS).

Updated On: 12/23/15 at 11:24 AM

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 2:18pm

^At least Company actually won Best Revival that year after Sweeney Todd surprisingly lost the award to The Pajama Game.

[Soaring29]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 4:26pm

Esparza was really great in Company, he would have been highly deserving.  Too bad he's gone 0 for 4 at the Tony's so far.  

 

I don't know if Kelli would have won for South Pacific if Patti had won for Sweeney. The praise for Patti's performance was huge and Mama Rose is such an iconic role, it's hard to see her  losing.   But if  that production of Gypsy didn't exist,  that would have been Kelli's for sure.   

In response to Henrick's sentiments about actors winning for the wrong roles, it's certainly true of both the Tony's and the Oscars.  But I'm sure Kristin will find a great vehicle for herself in the future that will be worthy of an award.  She's definitely a force of nature that deserves a Best Leading Actress award!  

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 5:29pm

Soaring, of course you are right this consolation award for having not won for a very deserving performance phenomenon isn't exclusive to the Tony's.  Additionally, I said that about Chenoweth only for effect of course.  I didn't mean to seriously imply that her next Broadway appearance would necessarily, should it get her the Tony, be unworthy of it.   It might well be.  And of course, you're right that hed Patti won for Sweeney, she might still have won for Gypsy.  However, the praise for Kelli's Nellie was at least comparable to that for Patti's Rose, and while not as iconic a role as Rose - what is? - Nellie is still iconic.  Moreover, even actresses nominated for Rose, i.e. Merman's highly praised performance and Peters not nearly as universally acclaimed one, weren't rewarded with Tony's.

Updated On: 12/23/15 at 05:29 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 7:28pm

Tonys.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 9:39pm

Duly noted.