The Behind The Scenes Awards

Good morning. I am starting to calm down after yesterday. I haven't had any inquiries about my MHF ticket yet, but I am going to go ahead and get the dress rehearsal ticket anyways. I may end up with a better seat than I have for the actual show, and I probably won't get a lot of interest in the ticket until right before the show anyways. Plus, with the first Martinis in the Martin concert having taken place Monday, they should now be unbundling the remaining 3 concerts and I can get a ticket for Heather Headley. Looking to the Tony's, it was announced this morning that the technical awards will be presented in a separate, untelevised, ceremony prior to the broadcast. It will be streamed online on the tony awards' website, but since I have dialup, still waiting for the condo association to wire the entire building for broadband, that doesn't help. Hopefully though they'll post the winners' names as they are announced, so I can at least check in and post the results before the broadcast. This decision raises an interesting question. The committee played around with this format in the late 90's, but at least broadcast the separate ceremony on WTTW and then switching over the CBS for the main ceremony. The last time they tried it, in the 96-97 season, four of Titanic's five nominations were tech awards, and it won all of them, however, was completely inconspicuous during the main broadcast. As Chicago racked up awards, no one who only tuned in to the main ceremony was aware that Titanic had as much momentum as it did, and were shocked when it beat Steel Pier for Best Musical. By doing two separate ceremonies, the committee really increased the surprise factor of Titanic's win. Is there going to be a similar surprise this year and is that why this decision was made so late in the game? Could Mary Poppins, a lock for the tech awards, actually be the Best Musical winner? It's not inconceivable, as I was planning on discussing tomorrow when I unveil my predictions for the best show awards. It would be a phenomenal disappointment and keeping in the awards' recently started tradition of ignoring artistic achievement and giving the top award to a really crappy show (Spamalot, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jersey Boys, etc., and while Avenue Q is not a crappy show, it also beat out a more deserving show). More discussion on this tomorrow. Also, I'm going to postpone my prediction for Best Special Theatrical Event until tomorrow and discuss the director predictions today.

Best Direction Of A Play
Who Will Win: Michael Mayer for Spring Awakening. He's won all the earlier awards, including some awards that were created just so that they could be given to him. If he loses here, it will be shocking. Doyle won last year, and while the Tony's aren't as bad as the Oscars at shutting out consecutive wins (Joe Mantello comes to mind), he doesn't have the momentum this year, while Company is done in the same style as Sweeney, Sweeney was groundbreaking and new, Company is the same thing, it lacks the "wow" factor. Scott Ellis wasn't even nominated for any of the earlier awards, so he's the weakest coming in to this, leaving Michael Greif as Mayer's main competition. The Best Director award usually does not go to the director of the Best Musical or Best Revival, which could give Greif a leg up if Spring Awakening takes Best Musical. In addition, last year was the first split after three years of agreement (Hairspray, Assasins, Spamalot), so another split this year is not inconceivable, but on the flip side, that places the odds at 4-1 for Mayer to win. Either way, it's a deserving win, this is one of the most solid categories of the night.
Who Should Win: Michael Grief. Grey Gardens was one of the best things I have ever seen. He did a fantastic job guiding the story and creating the world of Grey Gardens in two different eras. I'd really like to see him take this one home.
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Twyla Tharp for The Times They Are A'Changing, that was a bitchin' show. Again, JUST KIDDING. I can't really think of anyone else who deserves a nomination more than any of these four. The committee really got this one right, even more so than they did with the Leading Actor nominees. They all deserve a nomination and no matter who wins, I can't complain.
Who Should Not Have Been Nominated: While Doyle is probably the weakest choice this year, again, it's a retread of what he did last year, he still deserves the nomination, especially if it includes recognition of the stage and costume design. I'm happy with all the nominees.

Best Direction Of A Play
Who Will Win: This one is much more up for grabs, especially if those recent rumblings are any indication, but I'm still going with Jack O'Brien for The Coast Of Utopia. He directed three plays and I think the voters will recognize his effort. However, there's a lot of love for Frost/Nixon, which could spell a win for Michael Grandage. The play awards for Director/Show don't split as much as the musical ones do, so how this plays out is really dependent on who the voters favor for Best Play. However, there's also a chance that Melly Still could win for Coram Boy. There's a good chance Coram and Frost could split, so I still think Utopia will still take at least this one.
Who Should Win: Again, I can't say, but Jack O'Brien put a lot of work into the trilogy and should come out the winner.

Best Book Of A Musical
Who Will Win: With the exception of The Producers and Hairspray (also the only two musicals since the late 90's to be able to claim a Tony's sweep), this award has gone to an original show for the past several years (Titanic, Aida, Parade, Urinetown, Avenue Q, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Drowsey Chaperone), so Curtains is the odds on favorite to win this one. It's also marks Rupert Holmes's return to Broadway and Peter Stone's final show, and while the voters are far less sentimental than the Oscar/Grammy/Emmy voters, I can't see them giving up the opportunity to recognize two such talented men, especially since Curtains is unlikely to win anything else. I can't see anything else winning, no matter what show sweeps or at least takes home the top prize.
Who Should Win: As much as I loved Curtains, my heart is firmly with Doug Wright for Grey Gardens. Not only did he perfectly recreate the documentary for the second act, he created a completely plausible fictional first act to set up the second. The work is genius and he deserves to win this one. While I'm all for original works, especially to protect us from the onslaught of Legally Blonde's, Shrek's, and other assorted, cynically made crap out there, Grey Gardens is a true work of art, drawing on the source for inspiration without blind adherence. This was the best show on Broadway this year.
Who Should Have Been Nominated: It's hard to say. With the trifecta of deserving shows having been nominated, it really doesn't matter who fills the fourth slot, as long as they don't win (see next discussion). This category was Pirate Queen's weakest, so while I've been using that to fill this discussion in most earlier categories, I can't use it here.
Who Should Not Have Been Nominated: Heather Hach for Legally Blonde. Even Mary Poppins shows more originality and deviation from it's source material than Legally Blonde does. She rode the wave of the committee's enthusiasm rather than being nominated for a true achievement.

Best Original Score
Who Will Win: This one is more up for grabs than Best Book, and it goest back to the discussion I started in the Best Orchestrations prediction. By all rights, it should go to Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater for Spring Awakening. It's a gorgeous score that gets better with repeated listenings, and not only do the songs work to tell the story on stage, the album itself is a fabulous song cycle, the work could stand on its own without the stage production. While the term "rock musical" really doesn't apply despite the Broadway establishment's overuse of it to describe SA, it is a contemporary musical, and far better than Rent's score. However, the very negative and arrogant tone Duncan and Steven struck in their early interviews and the liner notes could come back to bite them. However, I think the voters will recognize the achievement over the people behind it and Spring Awakening will win.
Who Should Win: As much I have been championing Grey Gardens, Spring Awakening deserves this one. It's easier to listen to away from the theatre, the songs can stand on their own away from the story, it's a much more far-reaching achievement, and is my favorite Broadway CD of the year.
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Again, with the trifecta all getting nominations, it hard to say. I would suggest The Pirate Queen in place of Legally Blonde, although the score comes nowhere near to Les Miz or Miss Saigon, or even Martin Guerre for that matter. Still, it's better than. . .
Who Should Not Have Been Nominated: Laurence O'Keefe & Nell Benjamin for Legally Blonde. Grrrl power rules!!! Yes, that should be read with sarcasm. While they've been relying on the same crowd that Wicked pulls in, there's a world of difference between an intelligent, thought provoking show like Wicked, and a cynical, money grabbing creation like Blonde. An entire song about Bend and Snap? It's the easy way out, this pile of crap should have been left in the dust.

Alright, tomorrow it's time for the big ones, how will these awards and the politics behind them impact the ultimate winners? Check back tomorrow to see.