Why I believe that Audra McDonald belongs in Lead Actress ina Musical category- Page 2

[Kad]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:06am

The role of music in End of the Rainbow is not what cost Tracie Bennett the award. It was a mix of a good number of people finding the performance and play distasteful, the production not being particularly well-received, and the fact that this was a chance to foster an extremely talented American newcomer.

The situation this year is not at all comparable.

Updated On: 4/23/14 at 10:06 AM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:07am

I don't understand why people are saying things like "Kelli O'Hara will win because she never has and the Tony committee would like to recognize her," or "Sutton Foster just won in 2011 and the Tonys won't want to honor someone again so quickly," but no one has said anything similar about the Cherry Jones/Audra McDonald match-up.

Cherry Jones hasn't won a Tony since 2005 and, yes, if Audra wins she'll complete the sweep, but she won her most recent award in 2012. Not that I always look to BWW as a model of logic and reason, but if you're going to be throwing around information about length of time between awards, or people paying their dues and finally earning a Tony, at least apply it to all categories.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:07am

"rare 'star is born' performance"
What happened to that?

[Kad]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:09am

Oh, I didn't say the "star is born" promise was made good on.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:10am

Oh, I didn't say the "star is born" promise was made good on.

She hasn't stopped working since Venus in Fur, so I think it was made good on.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:19am

Well, Meryl Streep worked a lot before she got her role in KRAMER VS. KRAMER--a role she wasn't even supposed to play, it just happened that Kate Jackson had to back out and Streep was promoted. By that point, she was already known in the NY theatre circle (though she hadn't won a Tony). All this to say, Arianda definitely has a bright future ahead and I've no doubt she'll become one of the great ladies of the stage.
I'm with MichaelBennett on this one. I felt LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL is exactly what I imagine when I think of the term "a play with music." Perhaps if Audra had sung the songs in her regular voice, I might have felt more inclined to think of it a different way. There's just something about the use of the songs that I felt enhanced the play experience rather than turned it into a musical, but really this is a very fine line and it seems more or less arbritary depending on how you look at it. Either way, I feel Audra couldn't care less about winning a Tony or completing a sweep, she's one of the humblest people working today. I think in general fans care a lot more about awards than the actors actually do.

[dreaming]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:19am

givesmevoice-I don't think Kelli is going to win. I have a feeling Sutton Foster may win, with Jessie Mueller the other possibility. I think, if Audra is placed in the play category it will be: Sutton Foster, Idina Menzel, Jessie Mueller, Kelli O'Hara, and Michelle Williams.

I WANT Cherry to win in my heart, but I think Audra is going to if they put her there. I do feel more strongly about this being a 'special event' piece than I did with "End of the Rainbow" (which I felt like a dirty British paparazzi member while watching).

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:20am

"Cherry Jones hasn't won a Tony since 2005 and, yes, if Audra wins she'll complete the sweep, but she won her most recent award in 2012. Not that I always look to BWW as a model of logic and reason, but if you're going to be throwing around information about length of time between awards, or people paying their dues and finally earning a Tony, at least apply it to all categories."

Please keep in mind that Audra won her first three Tonys between a four-year radius. She won for Carousel in '94, then for Master Class (play) in '96, and then Ragtime in '98.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:22am

Tony voters also don't generally seemed to be too swayed by sentimentality or politics. In other words phrases like "over due" or "already won" don't seem to carry much weight with how the winners line up.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:23am

Cherry Jones hasn't won a Tony since 2005 and, yes, if Audra wins she'll complete the sweep, but she won her most recent award in 2012. Not that I always look to BWW as a model of logic and reason, but if you're going to be throwing around information about length of time between awards, or people paying their dues and finally earning a Tony, at least apply it to all categories.

Cherry's play is LONG closed though. That's always a huge disadvantage. If Cherry's show were still open, I would pick her over Audra for the reason you just said.

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:36am

Having seen all of the musicals currently eligible for best musical and also Lady Day, I would say that Audra is not a sure fire bet for best leading actress. She still is the most likely to win based on her track record, but Michelle Williams, Sutton Foster, Idina Menzel, and Kelli O'Hara all give incredible performances too. I wouldn't count them out even if Audra is considered for best actress in a musical.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:37am

I would expect that Audra isn't all that concerned about it. I also expect that if her Broadway career continues the way it has been, and there is no reason to doubt that it will, that she will one day very likely win best actress in a play no matter what happens with this year's tony placement and voting. This is an actor whose dramatic gifts are equal to her musical ones - stellar across the board; of the very first order. And I fully expect that should that happen, soon or later, she will indeed be the first performer to win in all four acting categories open to an actor or actress.

I can see reasonable arguments for considering Lady Day a play or a musical. Not that tony placement is always reasonable, but in this case, it could go either way.

No matter what the decision is, someone can surely point to a precedent undermining the decision. "How can it be a musical when Piaf and End of the Rainbow were plays?" "How can it be a play when other awards groups considered it a musical?" etc., etc., etc.

Tomato, tomato, potato, potato, tony in this category, tony in that category, no tony at all, it is one hell of a performance.

No matter which way she is placed, however, it is going to make the competition in that category exponentially more competitive! Accordingly, this will be a very political decision for a whole lot of people.

On that note, I would think the collective interest in facilitating a potential first tony win for O'Hara or Mueller or, though perhaps less likely, a second tony win for Menzel; will trump the collective interest in facilitating a potential third tony win for Jones or, though perhaps arguably less likely, a first tony win for Parsons, or, perhaps even less likely, a second tony win for Daly. Accordingly, I expect the tony's will rule the show a play. But, hey, anything could happen.








Updated On: 4/23/14 at 10:37 AM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:42am

Hogan- I think it's just a case by case thing with the specifics of each "bio musical"--- the dialogue for example in JANIS is mostly narration-- not driven by character development.

Aside from End of the Rainbow, the most obvious comparison piece to LADY DAY is probably Pam Gem's PIAF-- but even there, it's catagory has been debated. It was deemed a play with music during it's first Broadway production and a musical in its last London revival.

It really will be the Tony nominating committee's call- no clear cut call on this one.





Updated On: 4/23/14 at 10:42 AM

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:57am

"Hogan- I think it's just a case by case thing with the specifics of each "bio musical"--- the dialogue for example in LOVE JANIS is mostly narration-- not driven by character development."

I assume you mean A Night with Janis Joplin, which is a very different piece than Love, Janis.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:58am

MB-admin committee, not nominating committee, but yes it is a "call"

Henrik-I think referring to a "collective interest" is bizarrely at odds with the essence of the process. How can something be in the collective interest of people who are competing against one another?

[veronicamae]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:59am

Yes, she sings songs, but the show is not a musical. A musical's story advances by way of the songs telling the story.

Lady Day, the songs complement the story, they don't tell the story. She's telling the story via script, not lyrics.

Of course, that's my personal interpretation of a musical and a play - I have no idea what the "official" interpretation is.

But I sure hope they make a decision soon!

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 11:05am

"Yes, she sings songs, but the show is not a musical. A musical's story advances by way of the songs telling the story. "

There are thousands of musicals with songs that do not necessarily "advance" the story.... So....

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 11:23am

I would say it's more about the integration of the songs with the script- - obviously any good musical or play with music is going to try to have the songs be at least somewhat relevant to the story or theme.

And yes AEA - I was referring to the recent Broadway JANIS

Updated On: 4/23/14 at 11:23 AM

[xxdrewboy85xx]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 11:28am

Forgive me if this has already been asked/answered, but assuming this s deamed eligible in the musical categories it will be under the revival category, but what about if it is considered a play with music? Would it then be considered a new play, or would it be eligible in the revival of a play category?

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 11:30am

"Forgive me if this has already been asked/answered, but assuming this s deamed eligible in the musical categories it will be under the revival category, but what about if it is considered a play with music? Would it then be considered a new play, or would it be eligible in the revival of a play category?"

I think it'll be considered a revival ether way.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 11:30am

It'll most likely be considered a revival, regardless of whether or not it's a musical or play.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 11:30am

It'll still be a revival no matter what.

[xxdrewboy85xx]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 11:32am

Thanks everyone! That's what I assumed, but wasn't sure!

[jnb9872]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 11:34am

My personal interpretation for LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S... being a play rather than a musical is that it is essentially, in live-time, a dramatic recreation of a concert. It obeys the unities, as Aristotle would put it. It is no different, in its use of time and space, than a real-time courtroom drama for example.

A musical, by definition to me, defies the unities by introducing music that is not present in the time and space in the world of the play. So this play, which contains much music but all of it represented within the time and space of the story by the concert that is unfolding at Emerson's, remains a play with music and not a musical.

(Note: defying the unities by introducing music is not the only thing that makes a musical. But it is one of a number of defining characteristics, one which this LADY DAY lacks and is therefore a play in my eyes.)

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 11:34am

Drama League just declared it a musical as well.