Correction and Predictions

I got around to listening to the All That Jazz CD yesterday and realized that the song that Ann Reinking and the girl who plays the daughter perform actually is on the CD, it's Peter Allen's Everything Old Is New Again. I thought that they actually sang the number, but as I listened to the CD, I realized that they actually lip synced it and danced to it, and a quick check of the scene on DVD confirmed that. The soundtrack does have their comments to each other as the song is performed, but it is Peter Allen doing the singing. However, the disc does omit the closing credits song, Ethel Merman's There's No Business Like Show Business. The disc ends with Bye Bye Love, while in the movie, at the conclusion of that number, we're jarred back into real life and then Ethel starts singing as the credits roll, perfectly capping the movie. I can't think of a better way it could have ended. This omission actually probably is explainable by contracting and licensing issues, and since I do have the song on numerous other compilations, I can easily create a playlist of the All That Jazz disc and then tack her song on at the end. When I got home yesterday, surprise surprise, the Shenandoah CD was waiting for me. Great music, although it appears from the synopsis that the story actually very closely follows the movie, with one very major exception in the second act, that initially when I read I was not happy about, but on more thought I can at least understand why they made the change. I'll have to actually see it and then I can make up my mind about it. It definitely is the music though that strengthens the anti-war sentiment of the story. Now, with that out of the way, on to more predictions:

Best Scenic Design Of A Musical
Who Will Win: Bob Crowley for Mary Poppins. This is the biggest no brainer of the night. The only way this could be ruined is if a large block of voters were in the audience at the matinee performance where the house quit working and the audience was sent home with tickets for another performance. Otherwise, it's Bob's night.
Who Should Win: As grand as the house is, it's another house that has capture my heart, and the award really should go to Allen Moyer for Grey Gardens. He made the house a character, in a much less in your face/hey look at me way than Bob did with Poppins. He brought us into both worlds of the Bouvier's without making a big deal about it. I'd really like to see him take this one home, but based on earlier awards, I don't think it's his night.
Who Should Have Been Nominated: There's actually two shows that should have been nominated. Again, Company nailed the look it was going for and really should have appeared here, unless Doyle actually did do it and got his Best Director nomination as recognition for his work in multiple categories, as happened last year. If that's the case, then Curtains should have been nominated. They actually had scenic designs for two shows; Curtains itself, and Robbin' Hood, the show within the show. Everything felt authentic and I'm really confused as to how this one got left out and the next show I'm going to talk about got in, which leads us to. . .
Who Shouldn't Have Been Nominated: Ann Louizos for High Fidelity. High Fidelity people!!! Really, why? The show flopped, no one had anything good to say about, why is it here? Curtains was far more deserving, and so was Company, regardless of it's eligibility. This is a big misstep for the nominating committee.

Best Scenic Design Of A Play
Who Will Win: Again, Bob Crowley & Scott Pask for The Coast Of Utopia. This is the evening's other no-brainer, although this time there could be a spoiler in the form of Ti Green & Melly Still for Coram Boy, but as I discussed yesterday, that's fairly unlikely. Look for Bob to get his third award of the night here.
Who Should Win: Again, not having seen any of the nominees, it's hard to say, but my heart leans towards Utopia. I'm a big fan of Tom Stoppard's work, and the mammoth undertaking here deserves to be recognized.

Best Orchestrations
Who Will Win: Now it gets dicier. I'm predicting Duncan Sheik for Spring Awakening, but it's not a sure thing, and the reason impacts his and the show's chances at other awards as well. In the liner notes, and in a lot of the early publicity, but Duncan and co-writer Steven Sater discussed at length their initial contempt for musical theatre and how difficult it was for them to create the show because of their hatred for the genre. They struck a very arrogant, and rather ignorant, tone, that they didn't attempt to modify until just recently. They talked about how they wanted to make the show different by having the songs reflect the characters' emotional states and drive the story instead of being showstopping time wasters. Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the definition of every successful musical? Then, they talked about how groundbreaking it would be to have a show about young people, and contemporary issues. So does that make Rent outdated already? Since then, Duncan at least, has done some PR rehabilitation, especially in a recent interview on playbill.com, but is it too little too late? I don't think so. The show's achievement should overshadow it's creators' ignorance. The one spoiler could be Jonathan Tunick for LoveMusik (he's also nominated for 110 in the Shade) for adapting Kurt Weill's music. However, given the nominating committee's apathy towards the show, I think Sheik will win.
Who Should Win: Again, even though his initial attitude really distressed me, it should go to Duncan Sheik. It's great music that has both a contemporary sound and accurately reflects the show's late 1800's German setting. He hit it out of the park on his first try, making this his best album since his debut CD, even without his appearance as a performer.
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Again, I'm surprised by Curtain's omission here. The music is a glorious throwback to earlier times and should have been recognized here. I'm also surprised by Company's omission, after all, Sweeney got nominated, and won, last year in this category for the same concept. It just shows that the competition this year is much more intense, and I think it was a good call to leave it out. While I appreciated the performance, I don't think the style worked in its favor as much as it did for Sweeney.
Who Should Not Have Been Nominated: While I haven't heard 110 or LoveMusik, I think all the nominations here are solid. I will hear 110 by next week and will revise my opinion if needed later.

Best Choreography
Who Will Win: As I mentioned yesterday, this is the most competitive category so far, but only because none of the nominations are that strong. This year's shows were about story, not spectacle, so the choreography for most shows was muted and almost an afterthought, no show really stood out as having great dancing. With that said, I think Rob Ashford is the top contender here, for Curtains. Since it was a throwback and a celebration of older shows, it did have the most obvious dancing moments, and it worked. I think Curtains will take this one, if for no other reason than as a consolation prize for not getting anything higher. It's sad to think of the last Kander & Ebb show coming away empty handed and I think they'll try to give it something here. The possible spoiler would be Jerry Mitchell for Legally Blonde, the only other show with actual danceable numbers. Spring Awakening's choreography mostly consisted of kids running around the stage (although the My Junk number was brilliant), and Mary Poppins was more a recreation of the movie than anything original.
Who Should Win: Rob Ashford. Curtains was a great show and I'll be thrilled to see Rob take the award.
Who Should Have Been Nominated: As I mentioned, Choreography was not a strong point on Broadway this year, so it's hard to think of another show that deserved a nomination, but Grey Gardens again does come to mind. While the second act was fairly devoid of dancing (other than Little Edie's constant "rehearsals"), the first act featured some good movement. While it may not be more deserving, it's at least as deserving as Spring Awakening or Poppins.
Who Should Not Have Been Nominated: Jerry Mitchell. Yes, I haven't seen the show, but it really should not have been nominated so frequently, and any nomination is really undeserved. At least it got nominated here and not for Best Musical.

So that's it for today, I've got to get back to work. Check back Monday as we get into the acting predictions.