Kurt's Tony Picks

         People, I know that some of you are lamenting the cancellation of NBC's Smash, but Tony awards time is upon us in three days time. This wasn't a great season nor it was a bad one, but it was just fine. When I saw the nominations came out, there was some tough snubs for best actress in a play including Bette Midler (I'll Eat You Last), Fiona Shaw (The Last Testament of Mary, which has recently closed), and Jessica Chastain (The Heiress) and for best actor in a play including Jim Parsons (Harvey), Alec Baldwin (Orphans, which also closed) and Alan Cumming (Macbeth). In my opinion, I think that the Tony nominating committee should have think more hard on who to nominate for. Plus, the big annual horse race this year for the award's biggest prize (Best Musical) is between a girl who have worse parents, a dictating principal and a love for books, which in fact is based on one and a movie (Matlida) and a man who inherited his father's boot factory, and has a drag queen for a cool friend; plus it's also based on a recent movie (Kinky Boots). Now, here are my predictions for the Tonys.

Best Musical:

Bring It On: The Musical
A Christmas Story, The Musical
Kinky Boots
Matilda The Musical

Could Win: Last year, the Tony voting committee voted on art over style (in other words, Once beated Newsies for the crown). Matlida got better reviews than Boots, which means that the book-loving girl may take the prize.
 
Should Win: Matilda

Best Play:

The Assembled Parties- Richard Greenberg
Lucky Guy- Nora Ephron
The Testament of Mary- Colm Toibin
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike- Christopher Durang

Could Win: There are no big front-runners in this category, but well-known off-Broadway veteran playwright Durang is now finally nominated for a Tony and voters could reward him one because of this and his past work.

Should Win: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Best Revival of a Musical:

Annie
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Pippin
Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella

Could Win: With rave reviews, thanks to its circus setting, Pippin could have this in the bag.

Should Win: Pippin

Best Revival of a Play:

Golden Boy
Orphans
The Trip to Bountiful
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Could Win: Woolf may have closed, but Bountiful could deliver a surprise win.

Should Win: Woolf
 
Best Actor in a Musical:

Bertie Carvel, Matilda The Musical
Santino Fontana, Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella
Rob McClure, Chaplin
Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Stark Sands, Kinky Boots

Could Win: It's a race between men playing women (Carvel and Porter), but I think Porter could get a photo finish win in the end.

Should Win: But Carvel may still pull a win here in this category.

Best Actress in a Musical:

Stephanie J. Block, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Carolee Carmello, Scandalous
Valisia LeKae, Motown The Musical
Patina Miller, Pippin
Laura Osnes, Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella

Could Win: Ben Vereen created the role of Pippin's Leading Player in the 1972 original production, but some Tony voters may think that Miller's portrayal on the Player is not up to par with Vereen's performance. So, I thinking that Osnes may get a surprise win here.

Should Win: But like Carvel, Miller could still pull a win.

Best Actor in a Play:

Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy
Nathan Lane, The Nance
Tracy Letts, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tom Sturridge, Orphans

Could Win: This is Hanks's first time on Broadway and he received great reviews, so expect him to add his first Tony awards to his two Oscars.

Should Win: Hanks

Best Actress in a Play:

Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Amy Morton, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Holland Taylor, Ann
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

Could Win: Like Hanks, this is Tyson's first Tony award nomination, so I thinking that the Tony voting committee should give Tyson one for recognition of her past work on stage and screen throughout the years.  

Should Win: Tyson

Best Featured Actor in a Musical:

Charl Brown, Motown the Musical
Keith Carradine, Hands on a Hardbody
Will Chase, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Gabriel Ebert, Matlida The Musical
Terrence Mann, Pippin

Could Win: This is the weakest category this year with no prime front runners. So I'm hoping for Ebert to win here. (No, he's not related to the late film critic, Roger.)

Should Win: Ebert

Best Featured Actress in a Musical:

Annaleigh Ashford, Kinky Boots
Victoria Clark, Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella
Andrea Martin, Pippin
Keala Settle, Hands on a Hardbody
Lauren Ward, Matlida The Musical

Could Win: Ashford is a deserving nominee, but maybe she'll win another year. Thanks to a circus act and a sing along in the first act, Martin really deserves another Tony. (She won one in this category in 1993.)

Should Win: Martin

Best Featured Actor in a Play:

Danny Burstein, Golden Boy
Richard Kind, The Big Knife
Billy Magnussen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tony Shalhoub, Golden Boy
Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy

Could Win: No big standouts here, but Kind received more good reviews than the play he's starring in itself for his role as a big movie mogul, so here's hoping he gets his first Tony on Sunday.

Should Win: Kind

Best Featured Actress in a Play:

Carrie Coon, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Shalita Grant, Vayna and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Judith Ivey, The Heiress
Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Condola Rashad, The Trip to Bountiful

Could Win: No big frontrunners, but I wouldn't be surprised for Light to collect her second Tony in a row.

Should Win: Light

Best Score:

A Christmas Story, The Musical (Music and Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)
Hands on a Hardbody (Music: Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green, Lyrics: Amanda Green)
Kinky Boots (Music and Lyrics: Cyndi Lauper)
Matlida The Musical (Music and Lyrics: Tim Minchin)

Could Win: It's a match between Lauper and Minchin, but in the end, Lauper may collect her very first Tony.

Should Win: Lauper

Here's my picks for other categories:

Best Book of a Musical: Matlida The Musical, Dennis Kelly
Best Direction of a Play: Lucky Guy, George C. Wolfe
Best Direction of a Musical: Pippin, Diane Paulus
Best Choreography: Pippin, Chet Walker
Best Scenic Design of a Play: The Nance, John Lee Beatty
Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Matlida The Musical, Rob Howell
Best Costume Design of a Play: The Heiress, Albert Wolsky
Best Costume Design of a Musical: Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, William Ivey Long
Best Lighting Design of a Play: Lucky Guy, Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer
Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Matlida The Musical, Hugh Vanstone
Best Sound Design of a Play: The Trip to Bountiful, John Gromada
Best Sound Design of a Musical: Motown The Musical, Peter Hylenski
Best Orchestrations: Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Danny Troob

I'll be live blogging the Tonys telecast this Sunday starting at 8:00pm. Hope you find me here!