With the 72nd Annual Tony Awards only days away, I am once more honored to regale readers with predictions. Of winners. In key categories. Chosen by me. A masochistic venture at best because, should you be at all familiar with my success ratio over the years, I am embarrassingly iffy at this—a fact that will become wretchedly obvious this coming Sunday night as one after another celebrity tears into an envelope and announces: “And the Tony goes to….” [insert name I did not choose].
This is not to say I don’t get a few right. Last year I think I averaged about 25% and in the Year of Hamilton, I was almost not bad. Still, on average, my overall record tanks just short of dismal.
For now, though, I’m positive… fairly certain… hopeful… that 2017-2018 will be my lucky season. (Should I make it past the 50% mark, I plan on buying myself a celebratory trophy or plaque. Or maybe just a slice—I don’t want to seem too smug with the 73rd Annual Tony Awards only a year away.
At any rate, until Sunday night, the jury is still out.
Griffin's Predictions
Best Play Nominees
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two: Photo: Charlie Gray.
The Children- Author: Lucy Kirkwood
Farinelli and The King- Author: Claire van Kampen
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two- Author: Jack Thorne
Junk- Author: Ayad Akhtar
Latin History for Morons- Author: John Leguizamo
My Pick (And I really think I’ve got this one): Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Best Musical
Erika Henningsen, Ashley Park, Taylor Louderman, Kate Rockwell, Barrett Wilbert Weed, and the company of Mean Girls. Credit: © 2018, Joan Marcus.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
My Pick (Because it is, hands down, the happiest play on Broadway): SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical. (The Band's Visit could be a sleeper here, and it’s so lovely I wouldn’t have a problem with it taking the prize.)
Best Revival of a Play
Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
My Pick: Angels in America (Because I want to be right and because it’s breathtaking, but to be honest I was equally smitten by Edward Albee's Three Tall Women. A tie would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath.)
Best Revival of a Musical
Be transported by Alex Newell, Hailey Kilgore, and the cast of Once on This Island. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
My Pick: My Fair Lady (With a little bit of luck? Not even.)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Andrew Garfield, Angels in America
Tom Hollander, Travesties
Jamie Parker, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Mark Rylance, Farinelli and The King
Denzel Washington, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
My Pick: Andrew Garfield (Tough category… I mean, Mark Rylance? Tom Hollander? Denzel? But Garfield’s luminous performance is, to me, unbeatable.)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Glenda Jackson, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Condola Rashad, Saint Joan
Lauren Ridloff, Children of a Lesser God
Amy Schumer, Meteor Shower
My Pick: Glenda Jackson (Like Garfield, all kinds of awesome and a shoe-in.)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady
Joshua Henry, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Tony Shalhoub, The Band's Visit
Ethan Slater, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
My Pick: I don’t know and I’m pretty sure the Tony voters were split on this one, too. Ok, I’m going with Joshua Henry on the basis of showstopper charisma.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Harry Hadden-Paton and Lauren Ambrose Photo: Joan Marcus.
Lauren Ambrose, My Fair Lady
Hailey Kilgore, Once On This Island
LaChanze, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Katrina Lenk, The Band's Visit
Taylor Louderman, Mean Girls
Jessie Mueller, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
My Pick: Lauren Ambrose – a breakthrough performance in her first Broadway musical. Who knew?
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Anthony Boyle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Michael Cera, Lobby Hero
Brian Tyree Henry, Lobby Hero
Nathan Lane, Angels in America
David Morse, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
My Pick: Anthony Boyle (Even though my gut tells me the most excellent Brian Tyree Henry has the edge. But I’m a Potter fan and Mr. Boyle rocked his wonderfully quirky character.)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Susan Brown, Angels in America
Noma Dumezweni, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Deborah Findlay, The Children
Denise Gough, Angels in America
Laurie Metcalf, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
My Pick: Laurie Metcalf (I know, I know, she just won last year but clearly she’s loved by the voters, deserving and kind of on a roll.)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, My Fair Lady
Alexander Gemignani, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Grey Henson, Mean Girls
Gavin Lee, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Ari'el Stachel, The Band's Visit
My Pick: Another puzzler… these guys were all killer. That said, even though Norbert and Gavin had production numbers from musical heaven, I have quietly impressive memories of Ari'el Stachel’s performance, so he gets my vote.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Ariana DeBose is some hot stuff as “Disco Donna” in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. © Kevin Berne.
Ariana DeBose, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Renée Fleming, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Lindsay Mendez, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Ashley Park, Mean Girls
Diana Rigg, My Fair Lady
My Pick: Ashley Park – I loved everything about her performance.
Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott, Angels in America
Joe Mantello, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Patrick Marber, Travesties
John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
George C. Wolfe, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
My Pick: Marianne Elliott (with John Tiffany nipping at her heels.)
Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, Once On This Island
David Cromer, The Band's Visit
Tina Landau, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls
Bartlett Sher, My Fair Lady
My Pick: Tricky, as each one of these offers giant-sized directorial challenges that were met. Seeing as My Fair Lady was near perfection, Bartlett Sher gets my vote.
Best Choreography
Christopher Gattelli, My Fair Lady
Christopher Gattelli, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Steven Hoggett, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls
Justin Peck, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
My Pick: Justin Peck (he’s got the ballet cred and Carousel is as much about dance as it is singing – and the audience couldn’t get enough.
Best Book of a Musical
Itamar Moses The Band's Visit
Jennifer Lee, Frozen
Tina Fey, Mean Girls
Kyle Jarrow, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
My Pick: Tina Fey (Even though I wished there were a more book – like you can have too much Tina!)
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Gavin Lee as Squidward Q. Tentacles. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Angels in America Music: Adrian Sutton
The Band's Visit Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek
Frozen Music & Lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Mean Girls Music: Jeff Richmond Lyrics: Nell Benjamin
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical Music & Lyrics: Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper & Rob Hyman, John Legend, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants, T.I., Domani & Lil'C
My Pick: The SpongeBob SquarePants composers: Just look at the pedigrees and listen to the album.
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
Christine Jones, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Santo Loquasto, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce, Angels in America
My Pick: Christine Jones (A visual masterpiece.)
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Dane Laffrey, Once On This Island
Scott Pask, The Band's Visit
Scott Pask, Finn Ross & Adam Young, Mean Girls
Michael Yeargan, My Fair Lady
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
My Pick: I want to say Dane Laffrey because Once On This Island had the most obstacles to overcome – in the round. And there was water on the set which is a personal selling point for me. So yes, Dane Laffrey it is.
Best Costume Design of a Play
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
Nicky Gillibrand, Angels in America
Katrina Lindsay, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Ann Roth, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Ann Roth, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
My Pick: Nicky Gillibrand – the Angel, the Angel, the Angel.
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Mean Girls
Clint Ramos, Once On This Island
Ann Roth, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady
My Pick: David Zinn – who took cartoon creatures and turned them into people who were still recognizable as cartoon characters. Brilliant. However, traditionalist voters may well give the edge to Catherine Zuber’s lovely gowns and dashing suits.
I’ll leave the more technical picks to other critics as I await the verdicts – and prepare for my marathon coverage of Tony night, from the red carpet to 15 minutes over running time.
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THE 72nd ANNUAL TONY AWARDS will take place at Radio City Music Hall. The three-hour ceremony will be broadcast live (ET/PT time delay) on the CBS Television Network from 8–11pm and will be available to stream live and on-demand across platforms with the CBS All Access subscription service. For more information on the Tony Awards, visit TonyAwards.com and Facebook.com/TheTonyAwards and follow @TheTonyAwards on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
