Tony losses due to category placement

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 6:27pm

Another poster got me thinking when they brought up the fact that Boyd Gaines would probably have five Tonys instead of a measly four had he been nominated as featured rather than leading for "Journey's End." What other examples can you think of where someone lost (or won) a Tony due to leading vs. featured rulings?

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 6:38pm

I think Patti LuPone would've definitely won her second Tony in 1988 had Joanna Gleason been in the featured category.

And while I think he was right to protest being placed in the Featured category, had William Daniels simply consented to it, he probably would've won for 1776.

Updated On: 8/15/11 at 06:38 PM

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 6:42pm

Raul Esparza in SPEED-THE-PLOW.
I understand that there is precedence, as Ron Silver was nominated and won in the same category in 1988 and Esparza was above the title, but Charlie Fox is a supporting role, in my opinion. The play centers around Bobby Gould's experience and Fox is entirely absent from the large middle section of the play. If Esparza were considered Featured, I think he could have easily beaten Roger Robinson, but in Leading, he (or anyone else) didn't stand a chance against Geoffrey Rush.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 6:46pm

I definitely agree with your Patti LuPone/1988 statement. That whole Joanna Gleason thing was ridiculous.

Can anyone share some thoughts on the fact that 2 leading performers were split into leading and featured - for example The Beauty Queen of Leenane - Mag and Maureen are 2 leading roles but Anna Manahan won the Tony for Featured actress to let Marie Mullen win her Tony for Leading actress. It's like Chicago the 2002 movie adaptation - Zeta-Jones winning the Oscar for Supporting actress for what is clearly a leading role.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 6:49pm

The Beauty Queen situation is what I would call "category fraud". Both roles are clearly leading; however, the producers petitioned for one to be considered Leading and the other Featured to increase the chances of multiple wins. In this case, it worked.

A similar example would be the producers of TRUE GRIT petitioning for Hailee Stenfield to be considered as a supporting actress this past year for what was so obviously THE leading role.

Updated On: 8/15/11 at 06:49 PM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 9:50pm

Tony losses due to category placement are usually the result of unwillingness to engage in category fraud, aren't they.

Blair Brown would likely not have won her tony for Copenhagen had she been considered as a lead.

Yet, it's a highly challenging three character play where all three actors were on stage throughout the entire show.

And she was the only girl.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 10:49pm

Rita Moreno for THE RITZ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8nj-mNKApQ

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 10:53pm

She didn't win, but I think that Lynn Redgrave wouldn't have even be nominated for THE CONSTANT WIFE if she weren't considered leading. The role is featured, but Redgrave was above the title because of her stature. That year, there were very few actresses eligible for leading but many in contention for featured. But rather than petitioning her to be moved to featured, she was kept in leading, and she (and costar Kate Burton) were both nominated for a production that had been closed for 10 months.

[ILuv2shop531]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 11:06pm

She didn't even get nominated, but I feel if Lea Michele had been considered as featured rather then leading for Spring Awakening, she would have had a better chance of being nominated.

[mikem]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 11:08pm

The Constant Wife was the same season as Julia Roberts's Broadway debut in Three Days of Rain, and there was a lot of speculation about whether Roberts would be nominated for a performance that got mostly negative reviews. If I remember correctly, there were only 7 women eligible for Leading Actress in a Play, so only 2 people did not get a nomination. I can't remember who the other person was besides Roberts who did not get nominated.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 11:09pm

She didn't even get nominated, but I feel if Lea Michele had been considered as featured rather then leading for Spring Awakening, she would have had a better chance of being nominated.

And she would have lost to Mary Louise Wilson.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 11:10pm

The other person was Cherry Jones in FAITH HEALER, I believe.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 11:13pm

The producers actually did petition to have Lea considered supporting. I guess the voters really did not think she deserved the nod.

I think that by putting both Mormon boys in Leading Actor this year, they canceled out each other's chance of winning. Josh Gad should have been put in the Featured category, where I think he might actually have won.

[mikem]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 11:28pm

I'm trying to figure out by looking at old news articles about the Julia Roberts year. It looks like Cherry Jones in Faith Healer, Ali MacGraw in Festen and Frances Sternhagen in Seascape were all slotted by the Tonys into the Featured category, along with Zoe Wanamaker for Awake and Sing! (Wanamaker was nominated).

It looks like there were 2 other women besides Roberts who were snubbed that year for Leading Actress: Amanda Peet in Barefoot in the Park and Jill Clayburgh for A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, both of whom had less of a chance than Roberts of getting nominated.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 11:31pm

I forgot about both of those performances--and with good reason. They were both out to sea. Zoe Wanamaker being considered Featured is another case of "category fraud," in my opinion. AWAKE AND SING is an ensemble piece, but Bessie Berger reads as a leading role to me. And especially the way Wanamaker played her.

[quizking101]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 11:39pm

I think Tony Sheldon had a bigger chance to snag a Tony for PRISCILLA if they put him in the Featured category than Leading...But for Leading, it was really only him vs. Norbert Leo Butz.

[mikem]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 11:48pm

I didn't think it was Cherry Jones because I don't think the nominators would have reached back to Redgrave and Burton if she had been an option. Although Roberts did not give an award-worthy performance, once Jones and Wanamaker were moved out of the Leading category at that final eligibility meeting, the Nominating Committee had very few viable options, which is why people thought that Roberts still might have gotten a nomination even with lukewarm reviews.

And Featured that year was very strong: Frances de la Tour for History Boys, Jayne Houdyshell for Well, Tyne Daly for Rabbit Hole, Alison Pill for Lieutenant of Inishmore, and Wanamaker. I did not see Pill, but the others were all Tony-worthy performances (I personally would have given the award to Houdyshell, who gave one of the most "real" performances I have ever seen; I would actually put de la Tour, who was fine but a bit one-note, at the bottom of my personal preference list.)

Speaking of Catch Me, is Norbert's role really a Leading role, or is it Featured? If Hanratty wasn't being played by a Tony-winning star, I don't think it would be thought of as a lead.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/16/11 at 12:47am

I agree that Norbert was eligible as leading simply because he was above the title and got top billing due to his star status. A shame, since Tveit, Radcliffe, or my former schoolmate Colin Donnell, who WERE leading, could have taken his slot and Butz would have won in the featured category.

BTW, are you sure Lea Michele was entered as featured for Spring Awakening? Because that would have been ridiculous. Wendla is definitely a leading role. Not that she deserved a nomination anyway...


EDIT: Ms. Sarfarti was deemed leading by the Tony committee:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/printthread.cfm?thread=923181&boardid=0
Updated On: 8/16/11 at 12:47 AM

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/16/11 at 8:24am

I didn't think it was Cherry Jones because I don't think the nominators would have reached back to Redgrave and Burton if she had been an option.

Actually, Jones received generally mixed-to-negative reviews for her performance in FAITH HEALER, with many people feeling that she was miscast. I enjoyed her performance (although she wasn't on the level of Fiennes and McDiarmid) but have to agree, to an extent. It's unlikely she would have been nominated that year, regardless of what category into which she was placed.

The featured actress category was very strong indeed. In addition to those you name, there were several fine and deserving performances that weren't nominated: Lauren Ambrose in AWAKE AND SING; Mary Catherine Garrison in RABBIT HOLE; Juliana Margulies in FESTEN (the one bright spot in an otherwise terrible production); Martha Plimpton in SHINING CITY; or Dearbhla Molloy or Emily Bergyl in A TOUCH OF THE POET.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/16/11 at 8:47am

Posting in the Audra McDonald thread caused me to remember this one: Elaine Stritch for A DELICATE BALANCE. Whether Claire is a leading or featured role is definitely up for contention, but Stritch was considered Featured at the Drama Desk Awards and easily won. This was 1996, and after 45 years in the business Stritch had never won a competitive Tony. Had she been considered Featured again, I think she would have won. But she was put in the leading category, where anyone was certain to lose to Zoe Caldwell. So, Stritch lost and at the age of 25, Audra McDonald picked up her second Tony.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 8/16/11 at 9:44am

Joel Grey in Chicago was considered a shoo-in to win.

But the lovely Weisslers neglected to submit him as a featured role, so, because of his above the title star billing, he was automatically considered as a lead and was not nominated at all.

I hate the Weisslers, and this is just one more reason why.

[Broadway Bob*]

Posted: 8/16/11 at 10:02am

Why was the Joanna Gleason "thing" ridiculous?!? She gave an AMAZING performance in one of the leading roles of the show. And if you need proof how brilliant she was just watch any other Baker's Wife in history. NO ONE has ever even come close to touching her hysterical yet brilliantly moving performance. As much as I love Patti (and I REALLY do!!!) Joanna's win was well deserved! And really, the ONLY reason most people think of the Witch as the only lead of the show is because Bernadette frikkin' Peters played the role. There are 3 leads in the show which is more evidenced when more equally cast.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 8/16/11 at 10:15am

In '75 ('76?) I think Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon probably cancelled eachother out for Chicago so that's why McKechnie (who, though she is a talented dancer, was playing herself) won. McKechnie as Cassie was really a featured role but I'm sure the producers wanted as many wins/nominations as possible.

[flahooley2]

Posted: 8/16/11 at 12:25pm

I think Nathan Lane would have won if he had ben submitted in the featured actor category for Love! Valour! Compassion! All the other actors above the title were submitted that way. Although John Glover was also deserving.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/16/11 at 12:38pm

"This was 1996, and after 45 years in the business Stritch had never won a competitive Tony."

The Tony Awards are as much a popularity contest as it is an acknowledgement of a good performance. While Stricth turned in some wonderful performances, she made many enemies over the years.