77th Annual Tony Awards Predictions, Mason Pilevsky
CATEGORY: LEAD ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Brody Grant, The Outsiders
Strengths as an actor include dynamic vocal performances and the ability to say the same words multiple times and make it clear that they have different meanings. This would be a victory for a young actor, playing a rugged role with beautiful vulnerability and an important message for today’s youth.
Jonathan Groff, Merrily We Roll Along
Jonathan Groff is fantastic in every role he plays. The role of Frank in this show is a very aloof, disconnected Sondheim protagonist. While Groff does a sensational job pulling it all together, his performance is less dynamic than some of the others in this category because of the nature of the character he plays.
Dorian Harewood, The Notebook
Harewood makes me feel a spectacular number of emotions as he walks through this show, and a lot of it is in the heartbreak of what is unsaid rather than his delivery of lines. He is a master of subtext and his anguish feels incredibly real to the audience.
Brian D’Arcy James, Days of Wine and Roses
I did not see this show; however, in general Brain D’Arcy James has a beautiful voice and unique ability to command the stage.
Eddie Redmayne, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Eddie Redmayne was asked to do something unique here, which was to take a 3 hour journey from the most absurd performance you could possibly imagine to the most dull, quiet, every-man finish. The beginning of the show was not enjoyable for many because it was hard to understand him. The understanding came at the end, and, for some, reshaped how we felt about the performance as a whole given more context.
WHO I THINK WILL WIN: Jonathan Groff
IF IT WERE UP TO ME: Brody Grant
CATEGORY: LEAD ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Eden Espinosa, Lempicka
Truthfully, I have nothing good to say about this performance. Espinosa exhibited poor pitch, poor tone control, and minimal acting skills. I think she is in this category because people who are tone deaf possibly confuse screaming with emotions and emotional vocal performance with vocal excellence or even competence.
Maleah Joi Moon, Hell’s Kitchen
Maleah Joi Moon’s vocal depth and control are incredible for her young age, and I hold my breath every time I hear her sing. Her consistency is amazing, as is her ability to make each riff feel like it’s the first time. Her humility on and off stage are great. What’s not fully there yet are her acting skills, but they’ll improve with time.
Kelli O’Hara, Days of Wine and Roses
I did not see this show. However, what I admire about Kelli O’Hara as a performer is her ability to take on such a wide variety of genres from musical theatre to opera and ability to transform herself into whatever is appropriate for her current project. I am sure this nomination is deserved.
Maryann Plunkett, The Notebook
Plunkett was a centerpiece around which everybody moved. Her confusion and sadness were palpable. Plunkett succeeded at the difficult task of knowing exactly what to do and where to go while playing a character with no understanding of those directives.
Gayle Rankin, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
If this Tony Award is for acting and not vocal ability, then it belongs to Gayle Rankin. Although she was sheltered from really belting until her last song, Rankin’s voice inflection in her lines and the songs that she spoke through clarified meanings of words that we’ve all known for years yet never thought about.
WHO I THINK WILL WIN: Maleah Joi Moon
IF IT WERE UP TO ME: Maleah Joi Moon
CATEGORY: FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Roger Bart, Back to the Future
A crowd favorite, Roger Bart injects humor into a script filled with action and is the lifeblood of a show that desperately needs this levity to keep the audience from being overstimulated. Most touching of all, at the end Bart’s character shows compassion and empathy without ruining the feel of his character or the show.
Joshua Boone, The Outsiders
Boone embodies the duality of a hardened individual scared out of his mind. His strength and stoicism completely break down in a way that feels cohesive and connected and meaningful and powerful. His performance is gripping as he loses his grip and the audience sees the humanity in the kind of character we’d generally dislike when juxtaposed with Dally and Sodapop.
Brandon Victor Dixon, Hell’s Kitchen
Like the rest of his cast, Brandon Victor Dixon’s vocal performance is truly outstanding. As a character, however, he’s not really given much to work with. He does a great job with what he has, but I don’t think it will be enough to carry the day, because the best moments where his talent really shines are duets—he doesn’t have much in the way of big solo moments or big actor moments.
Sky Lakota-Lynch, The Outsiders
It’s tough to compete as an actor when you’re the broken one in a cast of rugged masculinity. Sky Lakota-Lynch did a fabulous job of saying one thing with his words, another with his inflection, and a third with his body language. His performance was nuanced, and although he was overshadowed by some of the angrier characters, his beautiful voice and commitment to truth really made the closing moments of the show special.
Daniel Radcliffe, Merrily We Roll Along
Although I saw the show with Radcliffe’s understudy, I could instantly see how Radcliffe’s characteristic mannerisms would fit beautifully into the role of Charlie, especially in songs like “Franklin Shepard, Inc.”. The cast album confirms these suspicions for me.
Steven Skybell, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
This role was one of very few that was faithful to the way this show is usually done—and Skybell’s brilliant nod to an older, simpler time in theatre where characters felt more clear and honest, and pursued what they want in a less stylized, more heartfelt way. His simple love story and the way he represented the dignity of Herr Schultz at a time of uncertainty for Jews in our present world that to some degree parallels this one, was much appreciated.
WHO I THINK WILL WIN: Joshua Boone
IF IT WERE UP TO ME: Steven Skybell
CATEGORY: FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Shoshana Bean, Hell’s Kitchen
What a powerhouse vocalist. Every time Shoshana Bean sings is absolutely electric and the energy she brings to the show is undeniable. When it comes to acting, however, she fails to bring emotional significance to her character. In a way, the character of Ali paints more of a picture of Jersey than Jersey herself, and the audience sees Jersey’s character through the lens of Ali’s description more than Shoshana Bean’s acting.
Amber Iman, Lempicka
Amber Iman is a shining star in a show that I wanted desperately to appreciate. Although she can certainly sing this role, the strength was in her acting and her ability to simultaneously be hurt and not accept pity. I felt that her performance fell flat and was understated for the hype at her first entrance on the car, but by the end of the show her nuance really sold me.
Nikki M. James, Suffs
Ida B. Wells is perhaps the most important character in this show, driving home the dilemma of everyone wanting to achieve the same goal in different ways and trying to get a foot in the door in order to open it. Nikki M. James’s portrayal belied a very clear understanding that at the end of the show there would be triumph even though nothing at all had changed for Black women. Her strength and her very real tears (I had a front row seat) were incredibly moving.
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Monty Python’s Spamalot
As someone very familiar with this show, I enjoyed Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer’s lady of the lake. She shifted vocal styles rapidly but smoothly, but it was at the expense of clarity of some of the words. I found myself laughing at her hot takes but alone in my laughter in a theatre full of people straining to understand what she said,
Kecia Lewis, Hell’s Kitchen
Kecia Lewis’s portrayal of the strength of somebody whose body is physically breaking but whose spirit never will was an awe-inspiring tour d’force and she absolutely amazed me.
Lindsay Mendez, Merrily We Roll Along
This role always feels anticlimactic to me, because Lindsay Mendez has a fabulous moment with the fit she throws in the opening scene, but as we go back in time and she regresses into naivety and unrequited love, her character seems increasingly pathetic. Though Mendez is a fantastic singer, I don’t believe this role gives her a fair shot to show off her acting skill.
Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret At the Kit Kat Club
The room shook when Bebe Neuwirth commanded the stage as a character clinging desperately to an antiquated definition of dignity surrounded by chaos. Neuwirth wore this role with all of its bitterness and pain and secret shame in a way that also showed the fiery spirit of Fraulein Schneider that attracts Herr Schultz.
WHO I THINK WILL WIN: Kecia Lewis
IF IT WERE UP TO ME: Kecia Lewis
About the Author: Mason Pilevsky
Next set of predictions drops May 20! Get ready for Design Week!
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