I still feel Spencer Liff should have been nominated — and won — for HEAD OVER HEELS. His choreography was outstanding and I found myself watching the eight ensemble members more than the principals.
All the major winners had been predicted by practically everyone. I think best revival of a play was the toss up. In a way I was not as excited to see the program as usual because I felt the predictions were probably going to be spot on.
I was a little disappointed that Oklahoma! didn't get orchestrations. That was a very impressive achievement. But I can't say Hadestown was unworthy in that category.
I think Amber Gray was wonderful in Hadestown and she certainly would have been a deserving winner. She's almost a co-lead. But if I would have been required to vote, I probably would have picked Stroker. She stole that show with a tour de force performance that's even funnier in person than on television.
I was glad I wasn't a Tony voter. They were both great, as was Sarah Stiles in Tootsie.
VotePeron said: "Biggest snub was them capitalizing on Be More Chill, without shouting out the show, or as someone on twitter suggested, incorporated George or Joe. Don't pander to the fanbase if you're just gonna give them the shaft."
I wholeheartedly disagree about any sort of capitalization. If anything they were kindly throwing Be More Chill a bone by giving them a performance of Joe Iconis' Tony-nominated song without them having to spend $200K on a performance slot (especially with the show being a financial disaster right now)
taylortrensch said: "I was pretty convinced that Beetlejuice would get scenic design. Damn."
I feel like this is similar to if Hamilton had won Scenic Design over She Loves Me. It's the hot show right now, so people feel as though they need to award many aspects of the show. They are so blinded by that, they don't consider other shows that actually are much more qualified for the award. I didn't see Beetlejuice, but based on the pictures I saw, it totally should have won.
The thing is, she won not because of not despite her being in a wheelchair. Wheelchair is such an integral part of her and her performance and she fully embraces it.
So scenic design: Beetlejuice has a really cool design. The way the house transformed was great. The collaboration between projections and scenic to make the house move was awesome. However whenever we weren’t in the main house set, the design felt compromised. The drops were pretty but when they were on the roof or in the attic it felt less thought through.
Hadestown effectively boiled down their design to two striking looks that transformed brilliantly and simply without getting in the way of their storytelling. The direction, choreography and lighting design all got on board with an worked together to elevate this design. It was perfect for their production. The design for Hadestown was exactly what it needed to be without ever feeling clunky or over produced.
Beetlejuice on the other hand while cool to me often felt clunky and overproduced. That’s a large part of why I feel Hadestown was deserving. (Ps I’m a set designer)
Stroker was fabulous, but I thought Grey was even better.
Bertie Carvel was a fierce, charismatic Rupert Murdoch, and quite deserving, but I was hoping Ben Walker would pull through a win. He was superb in a very difficult role.
VotePeron said: "Biggest snub was them capitalizing on Be More Chill, without shouting out the show, or as someone on twitter suggested, incorporated George or Joe. Don't pander to the fanbase if you're just gonna give them the shaft."
But they could have payed to have a spot. Why would they let George perform for free when all the other shows have to pay? Plus they parody shows all the time. The parody was itself a shout-out imo.
BOM said: "Amber gray and Beetlejuice for best scenic design. I hate to be that guy, but Ali got the sympathy vote."
This is the most ignorant thing I've ever seen posted on a board. I would like to see you even attempt to get on that stage 8x a week and do what Ali Stroker does in a wheelchair. Get outta here with your disrespectful (and wrong) opinion. It's not wanted.
I was hoping for Brandon Uranowitz. I thought Bertie Carvel was fine but found the role as written a little underdeveloped. People voting for acting awards seem to find impersonation impressive. Uranowitz is both hilarious and poignant in his inventive performance.
bwayobsessed said: "So scenic design: Beetlejuice has a really cool design. The way the house transformed was great. The collaboration between projections and scenic to make the house move was awesome. However whenever we weren’t in the main house set, the design felt compromised. The drops were pretty but when they were on the roof or in the attic it felt less thought through.
Hadestown effectively boiled down their design to two striking looks that transformed brilliantly and simply without getting in the way of their storytelling. The direction, choreography and lighting design all got on board with an worked together to elevate this design. It was perfect for their production. The design for Hadestown was exactly what it needed to be without ever feeling clunky or over produced.
Beetlejuice on the other hand while cool to me often felt clunky and overproduced. That’s a large part of why I feel Hadestown was deserving. (Ps I’m a set designer)"
I couldn't agree more, I think Hadestown easily has the best set this season. So simple yet effective and perfect for this production/vision. However, I did expect Beetlejuice to win just because the Tonys tend to favor big flashy set designs over smaller and simpler sets (see last year when Spongebob won set design, a design which was big and flashy but I really did not care for). So I was pleasantly surprised to see Hadestown pull out the win.
BOM if you really hated being “that guy” you wouldn’t say anything like that. Based on your responses to other people, you’re just trying to stir the pot.
Another day, another dollar is the reality of my mentality. Otherwise, don't even bother.- TLC
I'm most upset about Amber because I truly think Ali will have other opportunities to win the award - I'm not so sure about Amber. She loves downtown and she's such a unique persona that I don't know if there could possibly be another role to show her off like this.
Then again, Andre has to wait over 50 years so...there is hope.
I was also hoping Paddy would pull out a win for leading actor.
I imagine Amber will have more opportunities. She was also great in the Great Comet. On the merits of their performances, I thought Amber and Ali were both great. I would have been happy with a tie. I don't know which way I would have voted.
While André De Shields is fantastic in Hadestown, I believe Patrick Page was more deserving. He was layered, emotional, terrifying, heartbreaking, and moving in a way that sticks with me much more than De Shields’ performance. Not to mention, from both a character and music standpoint, Page’s role is certainly more difficult to play than De Shields’. Again, I think André De Shields is amazing, but I truly believe that the trophy should’ve gone to Page. I hope this show raises his stock enough that he’ll get another chance to win before too long.
Hot Pants said: "While André De Shields is fantastic in Hadestown, I believe Patrick Page was more deserving. He was layered, emotional, terrifying, heartbreaking, and moving in a way that sticks with me much more than De Shields’ performance. Not to mention, from both a character and music standpoint, Page’s role is certainly more difficult to play than De Shields’. Again, I think André De Shields is amazing, but I truly believe that the trophy should’ve gone to Page. I hope this show raises his stock enough that he’ll get another chance to win before too long."
Other than your definition of Page's performance, I disagree with everything you said, but to each their own. I think the right winners won all categories, for a change.
Caption: Every so often there was a rare moment of perfect balance when I soared above him.
ChildofEarth said: "I'm most upset about Amber because I truly think Ali will have other opportunities to win the award - I'm not so sure about Amber. She loves downtown and she's such a unique persona that I don't know if there could possibly be another role to show her off like this."
Yep, so many roles for a person in wheelchair. Who can forget that Fanny Brice, Julie Jordan, Maria, Mary Poppins, Gypsy Rose Lee - all of them were in a wheelchair the entire time! Amber was excellent in her performance, Ali was excellent in hers. Let's not bring someone down to prop up our favorites. Both women were equally worthy of the win, and have bright careers ahead of them - assuming there are Chavkins and Fishes out there keep doing the hard work to bring downtown's diversity over to Broadway. Amber has been in 10 shows over last 7 years according to an interview, she likely already has a project or two brewing. She'll be fine.
Caption: Every so often there was a rare moment of perfect balance when I soared above him.
Hamilfan2 said: "bwayobsessed said: "So scenic design: Beetlejuice has a really cool design. The way the house transformed was great. The collaboration between projections and scenic to make the house move was awesome. However whenever we weren’t in the main house set, the design felt compromised. The drops were pretty but when they were on the roof or in the attic it felt less thought through.
Hadestown effectively boiled down their design to two striking looks that transformed brilliantly and simply without getting in the way of their storytelling. The direction, choreography and lighting design all got on board with an worked together to elevate this design. It was perfect for their production. The design for Hadestown was exactly what it needed to be without ever feeling clunky or over produced.
Beetlejuice on the other hand while cool to me often felt clunky and overproduced. That’s a large part of why I feel Hadestown was deserving. (Ps I’m a set designer)"
I couldn't agree more, I think Hadestown easily has the best set this season. So simple yet effective and perfect for this production/vision. However, I did expect Beetlejuice to win just because the Tonys tend to favor big flashy set designs over smaller and simplersets (see last year when Spongebob won set design, a design which was big and flashy but Ireally did not care for). So I was pleasantly surprised to see Hadestown pull out the win."
I think the difficulty here is separating the set design from how the set is used. What I mean by that is, Rachel Chavkin used the space in Hadestown brilliantly and utilized the set she was given perfectly. But in looking at the individual sets themselves, I feel that the nuances and the sheer creativity of the Beetlejuice set(s) was actually a better design, just in a show that didn't use the space nearly as well as Hadestown did (of course, the ultimate goal is that all of the elements work seamlessly together, so this is in no way to fault the designers of Hadestown, but since we live in a society that nitpicks and hands out individual awards for productions, separating the sets from the rest of the production, I feel that Beetlejuice was stronger). Personally, I didn't have any issues with the drops and the attic when I was watching it and felt that it complemented the main house set well. Additionally, throwing in all of the Tim Burton elements while still making an extremely original design worked perfectly.
But really, both of these are fantastic set designs. I'd hardly say Hadestown was undeserving, but personally, I thought Beetlejuice was even stronger (scenically, of course).
This is the most ignorant thing I've ever seen posted on a board. I would like to see you even attempt to get on that stage 8x a week and do what Ali Stroker does in a wheelchair. Get outta here with your disrespectful (and wrong) opinion. It's not wanted.