I'm in the minority in thinking that he by far deserved the Tony, forget a nomination. It's a little upsetting to hear theatre pundits on and off this board crowing about "something new and original" on Broadway and then bitching about it when it does come along.
PiraguaGuy2: I agree with you. I always hear people complain about the same old thing on broadway...Well, AI ain't the same old thing. I applaud it for it's brilliance and congrats to Michael Mayer. Well deserved.
Funny... I never hear anyone griping about the "same old thing" or begging for "new and different."
These are relative terms - stick around long enough, and everything will remind you of something else.
Better to focus on what you think is good, rather than justifying it by calling it new.
Personally, I didn't find anything innovative about AI, and have never been particularly impressed by Mayer's work (though I would easily rank him above Kathleen Marshall).
I couldn't agree more! He deserved it 100%. The omission of a Tony nomination is completely laughable (as well as nominations for Orchestrations, Actor and Supporting Actor).
The brilliance behind AI is Green Day's Music, not the production itself. (Which I liked, so I"m not bashing anyone.) The story itself failed to move me -- at all.
But how is this all so new? NOT the first rock album to be staged. NOT the first story about slackers whining about the lives they have chosen.
Mostly great and energetic performances -- but I just didn't care. I prefer to listen to the GD cd over the OCR (which I advance-purchased before I saw the show.)
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.