Let The Awards Begin

Awards season is in full swing, and as yet, there's no clear consensus on who the big winners and losers will be. First of all, Playbill has a good article about the different awards that should clear up any confusion about the differences between the Tony's, Pulitzer, Outer Critics Circle, etc. etc. Shortly after the previously discussed Outer Critics Circle nominations were announced, the Drama League and Drama Desks announced their nominees. The Drama League only nominates best new and revival musical, and best new and revival play, and then lumps all performers into one category for a distinguished performance award. Grey Gardens was ineligible for consideration this year because it was a nominee last year, however Spring Awakening is one of the nominees, as is Mary Poppins, and, for some strange reason Legally Blonde made the cut, but Pirate Queen, an original musical, did not. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie Legally Blonde (but not the stupid second one), but I am so over any popular movie automatically getting turned into a musical. Where's the creativity? I'm predicting Spring Awakening to win, but Mary Poppins is proving to be more popular than thought, and could end up winning. Company is a lock for revival, and I'm leaving towards the Utopia trilogy for best play, although Frost/Nixon could be a spoiler, and Inherit The Wind for revival. The Distinguished Performance category is anyone's guess. With 78 nominees, there's almost no way to predict how the voters will go. If I had to guess, I'd go with Brian F. O'Byrne. While all the other nominees are nominated for one performance, he's nominated for an entire trilogy, and while the last play did not live up to expectations, the first two got raves like they were the second coming. After a disappointing Tony loss for Doubt, I think voters will make it up to him.

The Drama Desks are more traditional, everyone gets their own category. This time, Lovemusik came away with the most nominations (12), and Curtains, Spring Awakening, and Legally Blonde all got 10, as did Coast of Utopia. Once again, Grey Gardens was ineligible because of its nominations last year, which is not going to help it at all going into the Tony's, which is too bad because it is really one of the best things I have ever seen. Mary Poppins was almost totally shut out of the technical awards, only getting a tech nomination for Set Design (big surprise), although it is nominated for best musical and has several acting nominations. Once again, the Pirate Queen is shut out, even Steph Block didn't get a nomination. The only major consensus so far is that while Curtains is a major contender for Best Musical, its director, Scott Ellis, is getting the short end of the stick. He has not gotten a single nomination either for Curtains or for The Little Dog Laughed. Maybe the nominators are feeling that he'll get nominated in the other category and leaving him out of the one their considering, but so far he's 0 for 2. He's the Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton of the theatre world. Anyways, I would love to opine all day on the awards season and the nominees we've seen so far, but I have an appiontment and must be off. Next Friday is Ragtime, I can't wait.