If Audra wins...

[RagzJr]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 8:35pm

If Audra wins the Tony for LADY DAY, will she be the only actress to win an Tony in all four acting categories (actress in a play and musical, featured actress in a play and musical)?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 8:36pm

She'll be the only performer to win in all four acting categories, period. Male or female. Updated On: 5/30/14 at 08:36 PM

[RagzJr]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 8:38pm

That's what I thought! Thanks!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 8:49pm

Rooting for her.

[theatregeek6]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 9:06pm

5th category. Best mic drop from a Broadway performer

[BroadwayStar4]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 9:09pm

It's amazing how she already won 5 Tony awards, though, especially at her age. How is that even possible?

[binau]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 9:13pm

I think she has been incredibly lucky. She is of course very talented but it is a competitive award and she has been lucky regarding competition. For example, Follies closing probably helped her chances winning the award for Porgy and Bess, and The Glass Menagerie closing is probably helping her chances winning the award for Lady Day.

Updated On: 5/30/14 at 09:13 PM

[Playbilly]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 9:19pm

Maxwell was not about to beat her if Follies was still running.

[BroadwayStar4]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 9:21pm

It's still crazy though. Not even the legendary Patti LuPone and Bernadette Peters won that many Tony awards.

[binau]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 9:23pm

Who knows, but Jan had buzz and the Tonys seem to be known for favouring shows that are open vs closed. Even if she wasn't it just furthers the point - if Audra was running against Patti in GYPSY, Alice Ripley in NEXT TO NORMAL or Christine Ebersole in GREY GARDENS who knows what would have happened. She is lucky that she wasn't.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 9:23pm

Don't forget that she'd also be the first performer to ever win six Tony Awards!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 9:40pm

"Don't forget that she'd also be the first performer to ever win six Tony Awards!"

Julie Harris received six (although one was for Lifetime Achievement).

[Depaultheatrekid]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 10:16pm

Audra is indeed a very special case. Her first 3 Tonys came within 2 years of each other beginning at the early age of 24, in 94,96,98 respectively. Then 2004, 2012. Whether or not timing has anything to do with it, is certainly up for debate. Also does favor play a huge part in the voting.....absolutely. Not to take anything away from her talent, because there are very few who can sing AND act the way she can. There is simply nothing that she cannot do (until proven otherwise) Her performance in Lady Day speaks for itself, I think she is a rare gem in our industry. And there is MUCH MORE work ahead for her. I'm guessing she'll take the sixth because of her astonishing work and because a lot of industry insiders are rooting for her to break multiple records.

[Just_John]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 10:52pm

Audra McDonald was nominated against Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens for 110 in the Shade. She just lost that year.

[cknick]

Posted: 5/30/14 at 11:28pm

I would love to see Audra hold the record, but I just cannot pick her over Cherry Jones or any other actress actually acting in a play using spoken words rather than music. I disagree so much with her being in this category. A deserving performance, without a doubt...I just think she's in the wrong category. Sounds to me like it's a setup.

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/31/14 at 12:38am

I disagree so much with her being in this category. A deserving performance, without a doubt...I just think she's in the wrong category. Sounds to me like it's a setup.

The Broadway community had been waiting for your opinion.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 5/31/14 at 12:44am

I think Ms. McDonald is one of the greatest actresses ever to tread the Broadway stage, but I am so hoping Cherry Jones wins. Her performance in The Glass Menagerie is the best this season.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/31/14 at 12:44am

Another win will also push her past Lansbury.

[Joviedamian]

Posted: 5/31/14 at 1:12am

Ragzlr...you're hot! :)

And yes you are right! Updated On: 5/31/14 at 01:12 AM

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 5/31/14 at 2:45am

"Who knows, but Jan had buzz and the Tonys seem to be known for favouring shows that are open vs closed. Even if she wasn't it just furthers the point - if Audra was running against Patti in GYPSY, Alice Ripley in NEXT TO NORMAL or Christine Ebersole in GREY GARDENS who knows what would have happened. She is lucky that she wasn't."

You can play these games all day, every day, but it doesn't matter. She didn't compete against these women (save for Ebersole, who she did indeed lose to) so there's really no point in trying to make an argument that she might have lost if nominated for one of her winning roles in another year. People say similar things about Memphis - if it had opened the next year (Book of Mormon year), it wouldn't have won, possibly wouldn't have even been nominated... but it ultimately doesn't matter cuz it opened when it opened. You call it luck; I call it timing.

Audra won five tonys. And it sure the hell wasn't because of "luck."

[binau]

Posted: 5/31/14 at 2:51am

Just considering the outcome (i.e., her Tony wins) does not explain why she has them or consider the actual behaviour that she undertook to get those awards. I am not saying she isn't talented, but I really don't think the number of her Tony Awards is ONLY due to her own behaviour (i.e., her performances). You can call that 'timing', or luck, it doesn't really matter. The reason it is important is because someone wanted to know why she has won so many Tonys, and this information can help explain (along with her actual performances) why she has. In the end, it doesn't make the value of her Tony Awards any less (at least not to most people I imagine). But it does help explain why she has so many of them.

Updated On: 5/31/14 at 02:51 AM

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 5/31/14 at 3:13am

I just have a problem with trying to mash up years. There's no real way of knowing how things would be if different shows opened at different times. It's also easier to look at Tony winning performance now and view them as the "ultimate." If we had an Audra vs. Alice or an Audra vs. Patti, maybe the one that ended up losing would seem less impressive a role just because it didn't win. An example of this would be Audra's performance in 110 in the Shade - which she lost to Christine Ebersole.

Sure, you can say Audra's timing of her roles sometimes worked to her advantage - but I would not say she had no serious competition each year she won, especially for her earlier wins.

[Melissa25]

Posted: 5/31/14 at 11:57am

I won't be surprised. I saw Lady Day for the second time last night and she was brilliant. What a memorable performance.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/31/14 at 12:11pm

"How is that even possible"

Because there is nothing bad one can say about Audra McDonald whether she's starring, featured, singing or acting. And it's quite possible this year that she will break two tony records not because she was, as usual, marvelous, but because she took an unfathomable risk and surpassed everyone's wildest expectations.

"Audra McDonald was nominated against Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens for 110 in the Shade. She just lost that year."

That wasn't her only loss. She also didn't win for Marie Christine in 2000. The award went to Heather Headley for Aida. The other nominees were Toni Collete (Wild Party), Rebecca Luker (Music Man) and Marin Mazzie (Kiss Me Kate).

I have no problem with her winning this year for Lady Day and have no issue with the category placement; which could have gone either way.

If luck is on her side this year, it's in that her chief competition is an actress who has already won two best actress in a play tony's. I Glass Menagerie were still running, I still think McDonald might very well win. But if Cherry Jones had only one tony award (which might have been the case; Kathleen Turner's astonishing Martha could have arguably beat Jones's Sister A), it might be a very different story.



Updated On: 5/31/14 at 12:11 PM

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 5/31/14 at 12:58pm

Along with everything else that has been said about Audra, it would be a very nice PR opportunity for the Wing and the League if she were to make history twice with a win this year. She's very beloved and an utterly unique talent so, in tandom with the above, I can't imagine her not winning. I thought Cherry's work was certainly at the same extraordinary level, as it always is, but the voters are going to want to be part of history.