2018 Tony Awards on June 10

[Sylvia]

2018 Tony Award nominations: https://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/
http://www.playbill.com/article/check-here-for-the-winners-of-the-2018-tony-awards

Re-posting from the Broadway musicals thread:

The red carpet is on. I'm watching the CBS feed on facebook. The host is okay, but I thought Erich Bergen did a better job last year.

Speaking of, Erich made his Broadway debut in Waitress just a few days ago. I'd totally though he'd been on Broadway before, but he'd only done the tour and Vegas productions of Jersey Boys.

 

[screech]

I'm excited!

There's no one big frontrunner this year, unlike the last few years where it was Dear Evan Hansen, right after Hamilton.

I do have a few predictions though...
- Ethan Slater will win for lead actor in a musical for Spongebob (he's won every other award this year)
- Tina Fey will win book of a musical for Mean Girls
- Spongebob will win for music

 

[Wyliefan]

I cannot wrap my head around "Tony Award" and "Spongebob" in the same sentence. But you're not the first person I've heard make that prediction.

 

[screech]

I know, I thought it was absurd at first. But the songs are good, and apparently it's a great production.

Every show in the best musical category this year is based on source material (Mean Girls, Frozen, Spongebob, and The Band's Visit, which is based on a movie)

ETA: Wish I'd checked it out before but Nikki M James was cohosting the carpet on the Tonys website. She won for Book of Mormon, and was in the hugely underrated TV show Braindead with Aaron Tveit.

 

[screech]

Fun opening number!

 

[debo]

That was a really fun opening on a trite theme. Neither Josh nor Sara have won an award??

 

[screech]

That was a really fun opening on a trite theme. Neither Josh nor Sara have won an award??

Nope. I looked Josh up last year when he was nominated for a Tony. He has never won an award. Sarah has won minor things, like an 'audience choice award', but nothing considered a 'real' award. She's probably going to win tonight though as one of the many songwriters for Spongebob.

Anyway, was not impressed with that performance from Mean Girls. If that's what they chose for the Tonys, it doesn't really entice me to want to see the whole show. Though Grey Henson was fun. I don't think he'll win though.

Congrats to Andrew Garfield! That was a great speech.

 

[VGThuy]

I really hope that Mean Girls is not a hint of the future of contemporary musicals. That was seriously bad.

 

[screech]

Noma Dumezweni didn't look happy with Laurie's win.

Lauren Ambrose's voice sounded amazing, though I found her rather vacant in the face.

 

[VGThuy]

Lauren Ambrose's book scenes and her singing voice blew me away live at Lincoln Center. She is still new to musical theatre so I do think she doesn't have the ease of melding the acting while she's hitting the high notes. That said, the song in the show really worked because it was like she was discovering her voice for the first time and couldn't express it enough.

I'm not a fan of medleys and that performance didn't change my mind. However, I do think it was clear what a well directed and focused musical this was compared to Mean Girls.

 

[debo]

Did Noma stand up when Laurie’s name was called? I’ll have to catch it on YouTube or somewhere.

 

[debo]

I’m pretty sure Audra McDonald won her first Tony for the same role in Carousel.

 

[screech]

Okay, that Spongebob performance was fun. Amazing job by Gavin Lee to be able to tap dance like that! Wasn't expecting them to do a song that doesn't focus on the main character, but Ethan's introduction was cute.

The performances make me want to see Spongebob more than Mean Girls...

 

[VGThuy]

Okay, that Spongebob performance was fun. Amazing job by Gavin Lee to be able to tap dance like that! Wasn't expecting them to do a song that doesn't focus on the main character, but Ethan's introduction was cute.

The performances make me want to see Spongebob more than Mean Girls...

The critics much preferred Spongebob over Mean Girls as well.

 

[screech]

Another fun performance from Sara and Josh!

And the camera people are loving Andrew Rannells. I think they've shown a close up of him laughing 3 times so far.

ETA: Is this a surprise? I know Tina won the Drama Desk award

 

[VGThuy]

It sort of is, but the precursors to the Tonys don't have the same power as the Oscars as there is no overlap in membership and plus The Band's Visit was not eligible for any precursors since it was eligible the year before when it was performing Off-Broadway.

This is a strange number choice for Carousel. I feel Justin Peck's choreography for Carousel is self-indulgent and does nothing to further the story of the show.

 

[screech]

If I were on my way to NYC, based on the performances so far, I'd rank Spongebob as my top choice for a musical to go see, which surprises me, because the idea of a Spongebob musical still seems ridiculous to me. But between this, and the few times I've heard the songs on 'On Broadway' on SiriusXM, paired with an interview with Ethan Slater on that station, it's definitely grown on me.

 

[annie720]

It just started here in MDT. Loking forward to it!

 

[VGThuy]

Ariel Stachel's win is truly a surprise!

 

[screech]

Ariel Stachel's win is truly a surprise!

I thought it was Norbert or Gavin, since they'd won the previous awards this season.

Starting to make me think that Ethan Slater won't win lead actor...

 

[VGThuy]

Best Lead Male in a Musical is really anybody's game. Nobody knows who is going to win that one. For a year where there were only five eligible performances to nominated (and only four could get in), the actual nominees proved to be very competitive with one another.

 

[screech]

Best Lead Male in a Musical is really anybody's game. Nobody knows who is going to win that one. For a year where there were only five eligible performances to nominated (and only four could get in), the actual nominees proved to be very competitive with one another.

Ethan has won every single award he's been up for, but like you said - there's no crossover.

Wonderful moment for the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School students. Many of the audience members looked overcome by the performance.

Had to chuckle at Matthew Morrison's quip about being a former teacher.

 

[VGThuy]

Ethan has won every single award he's been up for, but like you said - there's no crossover.

Wonderful moment for the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School students. Many of the audience members looked overcome by the performance.

Had to chuckle at Matthew Morrison's quip about being a former teacher.

Again Tony Shaloub wasn't eligible. Also, Ethan Slater wasn't given a Theatreworld award but Harry Hadden-Paton from My Fair Lady was. Also, Joshua Henry wasn't even nominated for a Drama Desk award so Ethan Slater wasn't able to beat him there. Joshua Henry may have pulled off a win had he been nominated by the 8-person nominating panel. We don't know. Plus a lot of performances win the Outer Critics Award and the Drama Desk and lose the Tony. It actually happens often.

 

[VGThuy]

Is it me or was the Frozen performance actually pretty good? It actually sold the show's high points for what it is.

 

[screech]

Is it me or was the Frozen performance actually pretty good? It actually sold the show's high points for what it is.

I was just thinking the same thing! I still don't want to see it, and I still find Let it Go to be insanely grating (and shrieky) but For The First Time In Forever was well done.

Pretty sure Bobby Lopez is going to lose the Tony for the First Time In Ever, though.

 

[VGThuy]

Pretty sure Bobby Lopez is going to lose the Tony for the First Time In Ever, though.

 

[screech]

Nice tribute to Chita and Andrew!

 

[screech]

That poor boyfriend! He looked mortified!

 

[VGThuy]

That poor boyfriend! He looked mortified!

I know...I know he meant to be sweet and all, but it sort of made me cringe.

 

[VGThuy]

Off the telecast, The Band's Visit won Best Score. What a year in musicals when Best Score isn't even shown on TV.