2014 TONY Awards Predictions

I will preface this post by saying that these picks do not represent my personal feelings on who SHOULD win, but rather my predictions for who I believe will actually win the Antoinette Perry on Sunday night. I will be live tweeting the Red Carpet & the Awards on Sunday so follow along @barbiebackstage!

Best Play (Prediction: All The Way)

Act One

Author:  James Lapine

 All The Way

Author:  Robert Schenkkan

 Casa Valentina

Author:  Harvey Fierstein

Mothers and Sons

Author:  Terrence McNally

Outside Mullingar

Author:  John Patrick Shanley

Best Musical (Prediction: A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder)

After Midnight

Aladdin

Beautiful - The Carole King Musical

A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder

Best Revival of a Play (Prediction: Twelfth Night)

 The Cripple of Inishmaan

The Glass Menagerie

A Raisin in the Sun

Twelfth Night

Best Revival of a Musical (Prediction: Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Les Misérables

Violet

Best Book of a Musical (Prediction: Robert L. Freedman, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder)

Aladdin

Chad Beguelin

Beautiful - The Carole King Musical

Douglas McGrath

Bullets Over Broadway

Woody Allen

A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder

Robert L. Freedman

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre (Prediction: Jason Robert Brown, The Bridges of Madison County)

Aladdin

Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin

The Bridges of Madison County

Music & Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown

A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder

Music: Steven Lutvak
Lyrics: Robert L. Freedman & Steven Lutvak

If/Then

Music: Tom Kitt
Lyrics: Brian Yorkey

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play (Prediction: Bryan Cranston, All The Way)

Samuel Barnett, Twelfth Night
Bryan Cranston, All The Way
Chris O'Dowd, Of Mice and Men
Mark Rylance, Richard III
Tony Shalhoub, Act One

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play (Prediction: Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill)

Tyne Daly, Mothers and Sons
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, A Raisin in the Sun
Cherry Jones, The Glass Menagerie
Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
Estelle Parsons, The Velocity of Autumn

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Prediction: Jefferson Mays, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder) 

Neil Patrick Harris, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Ramin Karimloo, Les Misérables
Andy Karl, Rocky
Jefferson Mays, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder
Bryce Pinkham, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical (Prediction: Jessie Mueller, Beautiful)

Mary Bridget Davies, A Night with Janis Joplin
Sutton Foster, Violet
Idina Menzel, If/Then
Jessie Mueller, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical
Kelli O'Hara, The Bridges of Madison County

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play (Prediction: Mark Rylance, Twelfth Night)

Reed Birney, Casa Valentina
Paul Chahidi, Twelfth Night
Stephen Fry, Twelfth Night
Mark Rylance, Twelfth Night
Brian J. Smith, The Glass Menagerie

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play (Prediction: Celia Keenan-Bolger, A Raisin in the Sun) 

Sarah Greene, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Celia Keenan-Bolger, The Glass Menagerie
Sophie Okonedo, A Raisin in the Sun
Anika Noni Rose, A Raisin in the Sun
Mare Winningham, Casa Valentina

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical (Prediction: James Monroe Iglehart, Aladdin)

Danny Burstein, Cabaret
Nick Cordero, Bullets Over Broadway
Joshua Henry, Violet
James Monroe Iglehart, Aladdin
Jarrod Spector, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical (Prediction: Lena Hall, Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Linda Emond, Cabaret
Lena Hall, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Anika Larsen, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical
Adriane Lenox, After Midnight
Lauren Worsham, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder

Best Scenic Design of a Play (Prediction: Beowulf Boritt, Act One) 

Beowulf Boritt, Act One
Bob Crowley, The Glass Menagerie
Es Devlin, Machinal
Christopher Oram, The Cripple of Inishmaan

Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Prediction: Christopher Barreca, Rocky)

Christopher Barreca, Rocky
Julian Crouch, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Alexander Dodge, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder
Santo Loquasto, Bullets Over Broadway

Best Costume Design of a Play (Prediction: Jenny Tiramani, Twelfth Night)

Jane Greenwood, Act One
Michael Krass, Machinal
Rita Ryack, Casa Valentina
Jenny Tiramani, Twelfth Night

Best Costume Design of a Musical (Prediction: William Ivey Long, Bullets Over Broadway)

Linda Cho, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder
William Ivey Long, Bullets Over Broadway
Arianne Phillips, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Isabel Toledo, After Midnight

Best Lighting Design of a Play (Prediction: Jane Cox, Machinal)

Paule Constable, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Jane Cox, Machinal
Natasha Katz, The Glass Menagerie
Japhy Weideman, Of Mice and Men

Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Prediction: Christopher Akerlind, Rocky)

Kevin Adams, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Christopher Akerlind, Rocky
Howell Binkley, After Midnight
Donald Holder, The Bridges of Madison County

Best Sound Design of a Play (Prediction: Matt Tierney, Machinal)

Alex Baranowski, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Steve Canyon Kennedy, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
Dan Moses Schreier, Act One
Matt Tierney, Machinal

Best Sound Design of a Musical (Prediction: Brian Ronan, Beautiful) 

Peter Hylenski, After Midnight
Tim O'Heir, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Mick Potter, Les Misérables
Brian Ronan, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical

Best Direction of a Play (Prediction: Tim Carroll, Twelfth Night) 

Tim Carroll, Twelfth Night
Michael Grandage, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Kenny Leon, A Raisin in the Sun
John Tiffany, The Glass Menagerie

Best Direction of a Musical (Predition: Darko Tresnjak, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder)

Warren Carlyle, After Midnight
Michael Mayer, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Leigh Silverman, Violet
Darko Tresnjak, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder

Best Choreography (Prediction: Warren Carlyle, After Midnight)

Warren Carlyle, After Midnight
Steven Hoggett & Kelly Devine, Rocky
Casey Nicholaw, Aladdin

Susan Stroman, Bullets Over Broadway

Best Orchestrations (Prediction: Jason Robert Brown, The Bridges of Madison County) 

Doug Besterman, Bullets Over Broadway
Jason Robert Brown, The Bridges of Madison County
Steve Sidwell, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical
Jonathan Tunick, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder

So You Think You Can Dance: The Top 10 Perform!

9:56 Thats it for me and until tomorrow night, keep dancing!
9:55 Its amazing how authentic Clarice looks in this Indian dres...at least to my eyes
9:54 I simply cannot listen to one more comment from NPH.
9:51 Its funny how they have no all-stars that specialize in Bollywood so they use Robert lol. He s so versatile and Clarice doesn't even look like herself. I loved this piece...its so high energy!
9:50 Great solo by Marko....he is such an enigma

9:41 OMG I die! Tori Amos, Ricky, and Allison Holker are too fabulous for words. I missed seeing Tyce do contemporary. Its so great to see a piece that isn't about a love story.

9:40 I love Allison Holker!!!
9:39 Caitlynn.....girl is killing this solo! Yeah she fell out of the turn  a bit but at least she went after it. I'd rather see somebody go after it than play it safe
9:33 There is something about Melanie that seems kind of fake to me.....anyone else feel that way? I'm just not sure what it is
9:29 Perfect song for the concept.........Everybody Hurts. Simply gorgeous....so elegant

9:27 Tadd is so versatile that I always forget he is a b-boy and hot a hip-hopper, contemporary, or even ballroom dancer! That routine, however didnt show much
9:22 NPH needs to be done now. He gave Jess criticism on his facial expression when he was directed by the choreographer not to look at his partner. Why Neil why?
9:19 When Kathryn is onstage you can't watch anyonen else. Will that help or hurt Jess? Also, Kathryn looks like Tony-winner Laura Benanti
9:17 The surprise of the night is that Stacey Tookey is doing a love story?
9:16 I keep saying Jordan sn't a star because even though she has some amazing skills, she just isn't captiving, but she still has soooo much room to grow in this competition

9:09 Nigel has no words for this and I'm pretty sure Neil Patrick Harris has no clue what he's talkng about. He acts like it is a surprise that these choreographers choose the music, movement, and costumes. Ummmm Neil dear, in world world does that NOT happen?

9:05 Sasha is such a dynamo and we've always loved twitch! Nice nip-ups! What is with the back to front grinding in the hip-hop numbers tonight? That was so perfect emotionally and they were so committed to the "characters"...it was almost a little too realstic
8:59 Mitchell is such a strong and emotional dancer. He does so much with so little in terms of technical difficulty
8:58 I love NPH but not as a judge on this show. He is having a difficult time separating the "performance" and "execution" from the "choreography"
8:56 Mary is obsessing over Caitlynn in a big way
8:55 I like that this routine was slow enough that we could appreciate the beauty of it rather than getting lost in the crazy fast footwork

8:54 This routine is hot! Smily little Caitlynn is such an elegant Diva!

8:52 This looks like the same costume my friend wore in her senior college dance recital to Rama Lama Bang Bang. Did she actually do any dancing in that solo? Or maybe she just smiled a lot?
8:48 Wait why is Clarice still on this show?
8:46 I'm obsessed with Ricky and the abilities he has as a dancer, but moreso his performance quality
8:44 NPH is not all about this routine and while I don't agree with him, I respect that he is voicing his opinion
8:41 I love "Take Off With Us" from Fosse  and since Tyce was in the show, he knows the style so well. I love this routine and its so great to see Melody back all the way from season 1. I love that Tyce has made Mitchell the focal pointe of the routine rather than the  all-star

8:39 Not that I wanted to see her n the bottom 3, but I missed watching Melane's solos.....just exquisite. She is so well trained that she makes it looke easy
8:38 You know Tadd is good when he made his all-star look bad
8:34 Does many have to wear some obnoxious shoulder ornamentation every week?

8:31 This routine is not doing anything for me. They don't look like they are in synch at all and the routine just is not entertaning
8:29 Tadd & Comfort....this should be good since they are both hip-hoppers but I absolutely hated comfort on her season, especially when she came back after sombody suffered an injury
8:28 I don't think anyone could suit Jess's personality better than Harry Connick Jr. He showed such amazing control at the end of the pirouette sequence
8:26 Adding a solo round to the competition scares me a bit.....this is the point last year where dancers started to suffer overuse injuries

8:21 I don't think Jordan is necessarily a star, but she does indeed do everything that is asked of her and at a very high level
8:19 Jordan's legs are just nuts. Her leg tricks are unlike any I've ever seen
8:18 Desmond Richardsons routines requre such a high level of technicial training its crazy. I'm so happy to see Brandon back this season, though I wish he were dancing for Alvin Ailey
8:17 Sasha is so fluid in her solos, I love that her movements are so natural and not just tricks

8:11 We loved Marko & Chellsie in that Samba routine. He shows such genuine emotion and is so incredibly humble. I loved Chellsie on her season and on DWTS. She is such a versatile dancer and I love that she isn't built like a stick

A Toast To That Invincible Bunch: My Review of Company

Please dont' think it blasphemous when I say that Company is not my favorite Sondheim musical because I found the New York Philharmonic's production, which I saw in a humble movie theatre, to be impeccably done. It is technically a "staged concert," though my only previous experience with the show is the 2006 Broadway production directed by John Doyle in minimalist fashion. Because this show centers around everyday upper-middle class white folk, the simple staging suits it best. I know this phrase is tossed around a lot, even by me, but I really look at Company as "a play with music." There aren't too many showstoppers or flashy dance breaks, but the book and the story really shine. We open with bachelor Bobby's (Neil Patrick Harris) friends hiding in his apartment to surprise him for his 35th birthday. The play is not linear; it uses a series of vignettes to show Bobby's exploration of marriage through the lens of his married friends and three girlfriends.

Neil Patrick Harris is not the egotistical, set-in-his-ways Bobby seen in many productions, but rather he seems genuinely open to considering marriage. Throughout the play Bobby visits four couples where he learns important lessons about marriage, almost as if he were Ebeneezer Scrooge but without the ghosts. The first couple we are introduced to is Sarah (Martha Plimpton) & Harry (Stephen Colbert) who are both "on the wagon". They bicker about how long they'be been free from their addictions, his to alcohol and hers to food, while Bobby tries to intervene and assuage the situation. Colbert is a classic example of why Sondheim is for actors who sing rather than singers who act. He may not be a songbird, but comic timing, well that he has down pat. He and Plimpton have a kinetic chemistry that radiates from the silver screen, particularly when their witty repartee escalates into a hilarious karate match. Despite their fighting, they look forward to sleeping next to one another, which is Bobby's first lesson about marriage.

Susan (Jill Paice) & Peter (Craig Bierko) are the Southern Belle-Ivy League power couple and both actors do a fine job with relatively small parts. Susan is so charming that Bobby "wants to be the first to know when Peter leaves her". To his surprise they tell him they are divorcing. For Bobby, their divorce makes him even more cynical about marriage. Though Bobby is more of an observer and rarely comments on the marital problems of his friends, it is easy to see that Harris' wheels are always turning. He is taking stock of his friends though he cannot yet process what he's seen.

Next we meet Jenny (Jennifer Laura Thompson) and David (Jon Cryer) as they are lighting a joint with Bobby. Thompson is a very giddy Jenny, reminiscent of what she did with Glinda in Wicked, and Cryer is spot on as the very dry David. Jenny is uber-conservative and never swears, but when she is high, David takes great joy in hearing her repeat his obscenities. Bobby finds this charming, especially when David tells him that Jenny doesn't really enjoy pot, but she does it to please him.

You Could Drive A Person Crazy,  one of the more hum-able numbers from the show is a trio performed by Bobby's girlfriends Marta (Anika Noni Rose), April (Christina Hendricks), and Kathy (Chrissie Whitehead) as they discuss his skittish and noncommittal ways. He is their "hobby" and they're "giving  him up". The choreography is simple, but Whitehead stands out as the one with the most formal dance training and leaves the other two in the dust. Though Rose and Hendricks make up for the lack of dance technique in acting and presence, this number could've used more rehearsal. Rose's Marta is the standout among the three overall and her Another Hundred People is a highlight of the show. When she speaks of her love for the city and its energy I truly felt it, even in the movie theatre.

The act ends with Amy (Katie Finneran) & Paul (Aaron Lazar) on their wedding day. Amy has cold feet and can't stand the thought of being faithful to one man for the rest of her life. Amy is one of those roles that can be so tacky with the wrong actress but it is in good hands with Finneran and her Not Getting Married Today  is the best I've ever heard. Harris makes it quite clear that Bobby has feelings for Amy and he all but encourages her to call off the marriage. This is a cruel realization that Amy is off the market as she decides to marry Paul.

Act II kicks off back at Bobby's party and he blows out the candles followed by Side by Side, a song and dance number where he and all his friends sing about the joys of partnership. The choreography is based on call and response between the two-somes and it is a rude awakening for Bobby when he has nobody to finish his steps.

Hendricks' April relies heavily on flighty-ness and though its cute at the beginning, it slows the pace and by the end of Barcelona, you feel you've been watching the same scene for an hour. Things pick up when Bobby takes Marta to visit newly divorced Susan & Peter who are still living together. She is so excited by the prospect of a live-in divorce and adds that to the list of things she loves about New York City.

The penultimate scene is the show, features everyone's favorite number, The Ladies Who Lunch performed by Patti LuPone as Joanne. In between toasting her first and second husbands, she takes time to recognize that special class of women who "lounge in their caftans planning a brunch on their own behalf." LuPone can command any stage large or small and this is a perfect diva role for her. She puts her own spin on this number that is so closely connected with Elaine Stritch. She really takes her time and each lyric is crystal clear. She approaches it more as a scene than a song and its much more about diction and pacing than pitch and vibrato. She has the tall order of playing two roles: the real Joanne that her husband Larry (Jim Walton) is privy to and the more brassy abrasive Joanne that the rest of the world sees. She does each one impeccably well and the shift in her eyes when Larry tells Bobby that he hopes he can meet the real Joanne one day is a thing of beauty.

The final scene leaves Bobby very confused and Harris seems quite pained as he thinks of everything bad that there is about marriage. "Someone to hold you too close, someone to hurt you too deep, someone to sit in your chair and ruin your sleep." His friends coax him from afar to realize that all of this elements of relationships that he perceives to be negative are just simple reminders that he is alive, something that he has been alone too long to remember. This transitions seamlessly to Being Alive, the emotional heart of the show. Sondheim is a master of the 11 o'clock number. Almost all of his shows feature an emotional catharsis where the protagonist learns a (sometimes hard to stomach) lesson. In Sunday in the Park With George, its Move On and in Into The Woods its Children Will Listen. Its the same as Losing My Mind in Follies  and Send In The Clowns in A Little Night Music.

We never really know what happens to Bobby but back in his apartment his friends leave, thinking he has forgotten about his party, and he reemerges to sit in his chair and grin before the lights go out. A pessimist may think that Bobby has pulled the wool over his friends' eyes and decided to remain alone even after they've shown him the "joys" of marriage. But I like to think that Bobby has finally grown up and realized that he can't make it on his own.

The Tonys Are Not Just For Gays Anymore

As Neil Patrick Harris told us last night, the Tony Awards are not just for the gays anymore, but keep in mind he sang those lyrics while being carried by those sailors over there on the left. Overall I think the 2011 ceremony beat the pants off of the 2010 and here are 5 reasons why...

1) More Broadway & Less Hollywood: last year we had the huge controversy of "Hollywood" taking over the Tonys with Scarlett Johannson & Catherine Zeta-Jones winning two of the big awards and Green Day getting more airtime than any of the nominated performers. This year we struck a healthy balance with TV& film stars like Ellen Barkin & John Laroquette winning two of the featured play acting categories while bona fide musical theatre stars Sutton Foster & Norbert Leo Butz won Best Leading Actress & Actor in a musical respectively.

3) Opening Number: This year's NPH number "the Tonys aren't for gays anymore" was catchy and sassy and beat the pants off of last year's "Broadway/Pop" medley with the awkward blending of Memphis, Come Fly Away, and Fela, though last year had Sherie Rene Scott and her Menonettes which were sorely missed on this year's telecast. However, nothing will beat 2009 in my mind where we saw Elton John, Liza, Dolly Parton, and the cast of HAIR all on stage at the same time.

4) Performances: Anything Goes, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Catch Me If You Can all gave show stopping performances that made me happily forget the memories of Memphis, Fela, and Come Fly Away on last year's broadcast. We also avoided the sound glitches that were so very evident the past two years.

5) The Speeches: I was thrilled to see so many people cry this year as they accepted their awards. This is the theatre and I want emotion darn it! Ellen Barkin started it off and though she contained her emotion during her speech, she burst into tears when she made her exit. Nikki M. James was absolutely hysterical in her surprise win and though we could barely understand what she said, we loved her anyway. Norbert Leo Butz was so genuine and surprised as he accepted his award and dedicated it to his family: his ex-Wicked wife, his father whom he based his character on, and his sister who tragically took her own life last year. The surprise of the night for me was when Sutton Foster went to a crazy place and emoted hysterically, not about her boyfriend or her family, but about her dresser!! Apparently he is the best artist in the world and he's taking his talents to Cape Cod. Loves it! She also thanked her childhood dance and music teachers which is the first thing I'll do when I win my first (or second) Tony!