Surely, the Tonys don't even mind if you use the same concept for two different shows. Look at John Doyle, who won for Sweeney and was nominated again for Company.
Exactly. It wasn't that he repeated a concept. That would have been fine. He repeated individual images and tricks that MADE spring awakening. Like "I know... let's do another semi sexual scene on a platform with chains! Sounds great!"
I am a fan of American Idiot but am not completely surprised by its lack of nominations. Tony Vincent and ESPECIALLY Tom Kitt deserved to be nominated.
Delighted by Ragtime's nominations, not so delighted by no nominations for the cast of Next Fall or Stanley Tucci.
I agree, bjh. It's not the concept or the style, it's the individual moments and images. That's lazy and uninspired. Even when he used the same "concept" for two separate shows, John Doyle rethought and customized how he used it. Those two shows were very different from one another.
Very happy for RAGTIME and especially Ms. Noll and Mr. Steggert. Ditto on FINIAN'S RAINBOW and Kate Baldwin.
Not so happy for the SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM shutouts. Vanessa Williams deserved Tony recognition. I want Barbara Cook to take home the prize. This woman sings so much better than folks 60 years her junior.
Not sure if this has been brought up before but I just read this from the EW.com article on the Tonys and found it interesting:
"Another eyebrow-raiser: Santo Loquasto, who designed the costumes for the original 1998 production of Ragtime, garnered a nomination for his very similar designs on the revival."
Ah yes, the "Shut Out" epidemic. (But I do agree with most of the responses to that thread.) One thing though: I can't tell if the poster who used the baseball example was being sarcastic or not.
It's been brought up several times on several different threads. It's the only nomination that I think is "undeserved" by definition. I am sad about some, but this one actually shouldn't exist. It was like the Tony committee was like "Well, Ragtime's costumes in 1998 were great, but they were up against the Lion King...which really isn't fair. So let's nominate them again to see if they can win this time!". The costumes are pretty much EXACTLY the same.
Now if Ragtime's orchestrations were recognized (like there were at the Drama Desks), that would be an absolute sham. The orchestrations won in 1998 for goodness' sake! I'm still scratching my head about their costume nomination though. Their one undeserved nomination since, well, it's literally been done before. Twelve years ago, in fact.
About 'Sondheim on Sondheim': According to Adam Feldman at Time Out New York, the Roundabout did NOT petition to put Barbara Cook in Featured Actress. Even though she's billed above the title, the Tonys had the discretion to move her, and they did, much to the disappointment of the Roundabout. If Cook had stayed in Leading Actress, I wonder who she would've bumped out (Christiane Noll? Kate Baldwin?), and who would've made the cut for Featured Actress (Vanessa Williams, Terri White?).
Well, looking at the fact that RAGTIME got seven nods, I bet Cook would have taken Baldwin's spot. And Terri White would have probably received a Featured Actress nomination (she should have gotten one, BTW).
I'm still scratching my head about their costume nomination though. Their one undeserved nomination since, well, it's literally been done before. Twelve years ago, in fact.
Agreed. I am happy about all of the Ragtime recognition. But Night Music's costumes should have been nominated in that spot. They are quite intricate and lovely.
Maybe with all the new RAGTIME buzz.. they could re-open the show OFF BROADWAY. I know it was JUST here and I am wishing but it is my favorite show. But I am still thrilled about the nominations. It was a brilliant production.
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
So happy for Levi Kreis and Barbara Cook. Disappointed there's not more SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM love, but in exchange for MEMPHIS, that's okay. Speaking as someone who loves the HAIRSPRAY/DREAMGIRLS/ALL SHOOK UP/CRY-BABY type musical, I loved it. Joe DiPietro really loves to write about race relations in the 50s/60s. I don't think MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET should've been nominated for book, as that's the worst part about it.
And even though I didn't like AMERICAN IDIOT, I thought Tony Vincent and Stark Sands (no idea that he could sing, and so well!) were very good, and that maybe one of them would get nominated. Oh, well.
All this love for the barely acting Lillias and Terri White has got me thinking that if Raul Esparza was a large black woman, he'd probably have a Tony by now.
I'm very surprised that Tom Kitt did not get nominated for "American Idiot" or "Everyday Rapture" (or even both). His orchestrations for "American Idiot," especially, are incredible and deserving of nomination. While I would have loved for Stark Sands to be nominated for his performance, I can understand why he was not. I'm also surprised "American Idiot" didn't get nominated for choreography. While it may not be dancing in the more traditional sense, I do think the numbers were choreographed beautifully in terms of movement and depiction of the score.
I really had to pinch myself while reading through the list of nominees. I'm overjoyed about Ragtime's nomination and so happy that practically all of my favorite performers and shows are nominated: Christiane Noll, Bobby Steggert, Liev Schreiber, Laura Linney, Chris Fitzgerald, Angela Lansbury, Christopher Walken,... even Jon Michael Hill!
Also, I was rooting for, but not expecting, a nomination for Chad Kimball, so I'm thrilled that he's on the list. Hockadoo!